Year: 1878




For weeks she raved in wild delirium
of the murderous hand, of the great
muscular arm with the scar upon it,
and called upon them all to save her
husbands life; but she was young, and
had n fine constitution. Alter a while
her health returned, and, at last, her
mind regained its equipoise.


She removed from the city and took
up her abode in lonely country place,
with a favorite sister for companion,
She had resolved, as all widows who
have loved their husbands do at first, to
remain a widow forever. And indeed,
though many men would gladly have
tempted one so young, beautiful and
wealthy to change her mind on this
point, she seemed to care less for any
one of them than for the kitten which
purred upon her knee, or the little
black-and-tan terrier which ran by her
side along the garden paths. She was
nineteen when her husband was muir
dered; at thirty-two she was still true
to his memory,


Is any one forever utterly true to
another's memory out of romance
any one who does not die young? | fear
not. In this, the lapsing summer of the
woman's life, when she pretended to be-
leve that autumn had actually come,
temptation to Inconsistency assailed her.
For many years fine house upon the
neighboring estate had been empty, but
now there came to take possession of it
gentleman not yet forty. A widower
with plenty of money and no children;
handsome man, well built and stall
wart, with magnificent black hair, and
eyes that were like black diamonds.
Spanish eyes; indeed, he called himself
n Spaniard, and his speech betrayed a
foreign accent.


The dark eyes and the blue ones met,
few ncighborly words exchanged, a
call followed soon. Mrs. Halifont felt
new emotion creeping into her heart.
She felt pleased and hattered by this
strangers admiration. Then she knew
she was loved, and rejoiced, and so
discovered that she herself loved again.


At first she was angry with herself;
then she wept over her Inconsistency, but
at last she yielded utterly. After all,
it was the love that made her untrue,
Since she had loved, she could never
pride herself on being faithful again,
and SO she listened to the sweet words
that, despite herself, made her happy,
and promised to marry Colonel Hum
phries.


When a widow does marry second
time she generally contrives to make a
fool of herself


Mrs. Halfont had certainly not done
as foolishly as some widows do. She had
neither chosen little boy, or titled
Italian without money enough to keep
himself in macaroni. Her future hus-
band was older than herself, and too
rich to be suspected of any intention of
being fortune-hunter; but, after all,
no one knew him. He came into the
neighborhood without letters of intro
duction to any one, and whether he won
his fortune by trade, or came to it by
Inheritance, remained mystery.


There were those who shrugged their
shoulders and declared that Mrs. Hall
font would regret not having chosen
some one of whom more was known
some retired merchant, some gentleman
of fortune, whose father had been known
to her friends. Nothing, to be sure,
could be said against this Spaniard or
Cuban with the English name but who
knew any thing in his favor?


However, no one said this to Mrs.
Halifont, and if any one had, words
never changed woman's fancy yet.
Mrs. Halifont believed in Colonel Hum
phries, and meant to marry him.


Indeed, the trousseau was prepared,
the wedding-day fixed, all was ready,
and Ida Halifont believed herself to be
very happy woman. She once more
built castles in the air. Her old sorrow
seemed to fade away in the distance.
She was girl again.


At last twenty-four hours lay between
her and her wedding-day.


She was busy in her sewing-roOm on
this last day finishing some ruflles in
lace and ribbon, and singing softly to
herself, when suddenly the house was
filled with cries,


An old man-servant, while cutting
the grass upon the lawn, had wounded
himself seriously. The doctor was sent
for at once, but he was not at home, and
meanwhile poor Iebedee was bleeding
to death.


Suddenly Ida Halifont remembered
that Mr.. Humphres had said that he
understood wounds as well as though he
had been bred surgeon. Without this
it would have been natural for her to
call on one who was so soon to be her
protector in moment of anxiety. She
wouJ call him herself. that there might
be delay; and, seizing her garden
hat, she ran along little path that led
from her ground to that of Mr.. Hum
phries, climbing a low fence, to save
time which would have been lost in
reaching a gate, and so gained the rear
of the dwelling, of which tomorrow she
would be mistress.


She thought herself terrified and dis
tressed. She felt rather injured in that
such an unpleasant thing as the wound
ing of poor Xebedee should have hap
pened on the eve of her wedding-day.
Ten minutes after she thought Of her
self at that moment utterly at ease
wondrously happy-for as she reached
those windows and peeped half timidly
through the curtains, thing happened
that made all she had ever suffered ap-
pear as nothing.


The room, the window of which she
had approached, was one that opened
out of a conservatory. She saw Colonel
Humphries busy with some rare plants
he had just set out to the warm sun
shine that fell through the glass. He
had taken off his coat, and rolled up his
sleeves. Now he left the conservatory,
and coming forward, proceeded to wash
his hands in basin of water that had
been set ready for him. He was close
| l. IL ual;fnnt Ho did not 400 her