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A DREADFUL ' TEMPTATION. Coe es wae
a and wept and wailed over it as ‘though it had been the dead
_ hody of poor Lora herself lying there all wet and dripping _ ee
with the ocean spray before her anguished sight. Ne
Then Ninon begged her to listen to what she had to say WN aS
fur ther.
‘The gentleman i is going to senda vehicle for you ‘that.
y ou may go and see the body, if you wish—I can hear the
roll of the wheels now! Shall I help you to get ready?”
Xenie looked at her mother with a dumb i Anquiry on her os
a beautiful, pallid features.
dear, if you can bear it. ‘Perhaps, after all, it.
ich she felt to be a vain one.
So, with Ninon’s aid, Xenie changed her wet and drab-
- ~ bled garments for a plain, blact k silk dress, and a black. hat ee
- and thick veil.
Then, leaving the maid to take care of her mother, Mrs. a |
St. John entered the vebicle and was driven to the lace
_ where a group of excited villagers kept watch over a ghast- oa oF
- ly something upon the sand—the mutilated semblance of.a 3 |
-- human being that the cruel sea had beaten and buffeted be- .
- yond recognition.
It was a terrible ordeal for that young, beautiful, and lov- ann
o ‘ing ‘sister to pass alone.
_ As she stepped from the vehicle with a. wildly: beating a
heart before the curious scrutiny of the strangers around”
her, she involuntarily cast a glancearound her inthevague,
_ scarce-defined belief that Howard Templeton would be upon | |
the scene. But, no, there was no sign of his presénce. |
_ Strangers advanced to lead her forward; strangersques-
_ tioned her; strangers drew back the: sheet that had een.
. reverently folded over the dead, and showed her that ghast- ooparsyd
. dy form that all believed must have been her sister. ns
She knelt down, trying to keep back her sobs, and looked.
~ at the form lying ‘there in the awful majesty of death, with
the cold, drizzling rain beating down on its swollen, -dis- vite
colored features.
oc vs .
a may Yes, 0 our darling, ” said Mrs. Carroll, with a heavy 7
sigh, even while she tried to cheat her heart by the doubt oes
How could that awful thing be Lor a—her ¢ own, Deautifu 1, |
oe tender Lora? —
And yet, and yet, that eautiful, long, black: hair that!
fine, embroidered night-robe, hanging i in tattered remnants)’
now where tlie sea. had rent it—did. they not belong to her
_ sister? Sickening with an awful dread, she touched one 08,
-». the cold, white hands.
~ . Itwasa ghastly” object now, sw ollen and livid, et. you
- could gee that: once it had been: a beautiful hand, | clicate, ae
dimpled, tapering.’
Aad on th 10 slender third finger, deeply imbedded in the
eo eee 7 a
\ Sa pis eS . -
wee oe
Foy aes mene rtmreemmpse me elas
SOT mcrae meer,