he unhappy young nun lay expiring in
her room. She had taken poison, although the report was spread in the
capital that failure of the heart had caused her death. How she came
into possession of the poison no one ever discovered. While she was
writhing in terrible agony her half-crazed mother put a cup of milk to
her lips as an antidote. She dashed it passionately aside and the spilt
milk left stains on her dress.

How hard it was to die! Again and again she tore her black hair. Again
and again she uttered the bitterest imprecations and the fiercest cries
for a taste of youth and happiness. At length she stood up, straining
her ears for the music in the ballroom.

And then she screamed aloud:

"Oh, I must dance once! I must kiss once! Let me be happy once! I cannot
die before I dance! Let me go--let me dance--let me--"

She drew herself up to her full height, her eyes glowed like live coals,
she took a few steps towards the door--

"I must dance--let me dance!" she gasped, and fell stiffly forward on
the floor--dead.

End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Gray Nun, by Nataly Von Eschstruth

*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GRAY NUN ***

***** This file should be named 23220.txt or 23220.zip *****
This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
http://www.gutenberg.org/2/3/2/2/23220/

Produced by David Widger

Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
will be renamed.

Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without
permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules,
set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to
copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to
protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project
Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you
charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you
do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the
rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose
such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and
research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do
practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is
subject to the trademark license, especia