Fulton County tribune. (Wauseon, Ohio) 1883-1925, 1921-03-17


little shake of her head.
A deeper concern shaGowed his face.
He asked tenderly: what is it, dear?
You must tell me ."
ITS going to be so hard" she said
reluctantly, ''to say what 1 must. 1
can't think how to begin, except in
the bluntest way"
do not be afraid. Tell me frankly
how 1 have failed you, in what respect
have fallen short"
But you haven'tp
"Then what it was 1 did to make
you run away from me-"
''Pm sure you could have done moth
ing"
"Still, you ran awayw
"No-I didn't"
He demonstrated sharply: LEO
nora !'
I'm not" she declared desperately
-''Tm not Leonora."
"What! !"
81 am not your wife, Mario"
"One moment =" Clouded with
doubt, his eyes challenged ,the candor
of hers, but found it f1awless. At a
loss-"What are you saying?" he NUT
tered.
"The TRUTH" she affirmed. "Oh, I'm
sorry. Mario, so sorry"
"But 1 don't understand :"
She sat up, closing his hand within
her own.
"I'm so sorry" she iterated-"but 1
must tell you, can't avoid telling you: {:
Leonora is dead"
He disengaged his hand and stood
up sharply.
"Leonora !"
"Is dead. She was killed day be-
fore yesterday"
"Are you out of your mind? Or am
II"
"Please listen-don't make it any
harder than it is. Carnehan murdered
Leonora while you were away, in town.
You see, he wasn't killed in the fire,
after all-he's alive. The identified
tion of the body as his was a mistake
or a ruse to further his escape 1
saw him last night. He was in that
place"
ST know Carnehan is not dead. But
what is this nonsense you are trying
to tell me?"
She repeated: "He killed Leonora.
He met her"
The man gave gesture of exaspera-
ton.
"But one of us is mad I"
"No, Mario" she said gently -
neither of us"
'But see you-with ny own eyes
I see you sitting there, telling me this
atrocious thing, that you are dead!"
'Not l, but Leonora-"
"But you are LeonoraI" I"
81 tried, TO begin with, to tell you
wasn't"
But see you'll tell you, see
you"
'It's true, 1 believe, I look like
Leonora-"
Look like her " He laughed short
ly. "You are her!"
But 1 am not" she persisted pa
tiently. "Please, Mario, please listen
to me before you question my sanity"
He was briefly silent, in a dazed
stare, then made sign of impatient
Difference to her wish. go on" he
bade her thickly.
With what calm she could, but with
resolution, she sought to win credulity
from him by dint Of repetition: LEO
nora is dead. While you were away,
day before yesterday, Carnehan found
her here and killed her"
''How could that be, and the serv-
ants not know?
.'I only tell you what l know. I
don't imagine Carnehan came to the
house, 1 think he must have waylaid
her, or met her by some accident, in
the woods. 1 think Leonora was rest
less and lonely, unhappy without you,
and wandered away during the after
noon, perhaps walked down the road
toward evening, to meet you. If you
remember, you promised to be home
before dinner. And that gave Carne-
han his opportunity for revenge. He
trapped her and killed her-I don't
know how-threw her body into a
lake"
Enough" Mario silenced her saw
agely. "It is not your sanity I ques-
ton, but your good faith. How can
you lie TO me so abominably?"
"Ah, Mario!" she uttered sadly-"if
I could only make you believer
''But why should you wish to? My
God! what have done, how injured
you, that you should wish to break
my hearth"
81 would rather mine broke, if it
would save you this suffering"
He rounded on her in a fury which
subsidized as he perceived anew the un-
| impeachable honesty of her counte-
nance.
''YOur voice is sincere" he protested
in amazement, "your look is kind
But how can 1 accept the testimony
of my senses when 1 hear you lie?
You do not love me-"
She was mute in fear lest she betray
herself if she attempted to answer
| that.
"You no longer love me-" he insisted,
did for a time, no doubt; but it was
not so, you had deceived yourself, you
wearied of my love. Then, at the
first opportunity, you ran away from
me, ran back to lose yourself from
me in that life from which-in my
vanity, 1 thought-my love had saved
you"
Melancholy yielded to a surge of in
dignation. "And when find you there,
in that vile den, in peril of your life,
and rescue you and bring you back,
you thank me by making up this pre-
posterous tale, with your own tongue
you tell me to my face you are dead,
you attempt to deny the fact of your
own existence! What am 1 to believe.
then? THAI you are a vision, a crea-
ture of my imagination, a ghost? All,
| have done A child would not at