Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1873-03-01

for they must all know the story. sTsn tbs
roagnest on then-the story OF my husbands
lad not teen DEF med WORTHY TO hesf IL stTaet
me 70 the heart. '"' !" S'' ~eA
could d1s H. Rs' S S,sa m, &c ,l's said; how
fever loved me even wen enough to trust me me
Gle has loved YOU ai~sys," risseta said
/ though you have th been wrong he ~
lsved you better than you IA " iorrJbf,,. ss
he has been wretched through yc1r Ss., a.s
ana coldness 1t was his despair that made him
seek me when he brought Jancy o. Rs s-rh
borough. He knew that you had leXe.i mn
| and ~ came 10 me f0r comfort ana helm Al
you would go sway-yoa. with the past ali
You, with your little chld's white soul 10
hold You to purity and faith GeEgaSe' Ger
| There was a moments silence in which
| crouched shuddering in my chair. my face
buried inmy hands. And then there ca me be-
ne attn the window the ssand ~ mans k,otst ,ps
ana the sound OF a speaking i'm a low
voice Has words might-bsve been an echo Of
l.isheth 3, hut that the one soice was che voice
ei the tempter. aud the other the vo,ce OF the
rescuer'
'Gervssci Gerrasel-
It was Ralph GwnnRe.
| ny strength was ebbing away fast. coul
To- no. nase SPOKEN to him IL would, but LSbeth
rose ana went 20 the window as calm in her
Nomaniy strength OF purity a. eN sr She had be,n
IN her calm womSn's life.
xo,c assl Ip she said. her grave. pure-toned
voice cropping upon she stli a. ght sir like the
no''e oil spirit, Ralph, Geryase II here-wish
He did not reply. and not another word xas
| uttered between them. She came bs~L :, ne
a has footsteps did away in the ,iist,nrs anB
found me shiyering from head to foot. vet burn-
"Better 20 have let me 60. I.iSbeth ., saia
| weakly. "better 20 have let me So away and
| lie. ioT should have died, Lisbcth-I am living
now Ana as she caught me ia her arms again
the dark room seemed 60 blaze M into s,df ian
| light aud then fade OF. and a. the shadows
closed around me felt that the end of lie had
| come.
Weeks Of intermnsbIe wsnderincs in some
mysterious, barren land 81 miSery-weeks OF
interminablc watching hdeous panoramas that
seemed 10 pass and rePass and pass again
| weeks, nay, II appeared ages, of ssaering
| through old wrongs, and loves and hstes-and
weeks OF waiting restlesSly with frantic lima
uence Tor something which never came and
lever would come-for some stop ping-place or
| snuttng out OF the crOwding faces did not
| know and was constantly scanning and striving
| to ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF such SUFFERING Wiz
| Row and then blank or a III m sense OF strur-
shng CONSCIOUSNESS, and then one day hong
pIank ended by my opening my eyes heavily
upon which lay.
did not speak TO her-I could not Myweak-
ness was so great, my power over nv lanyuid
limbs so utterly lost. that 1 gazrd an at her
without even trying to address her only think
ing hah unc"nseiously OF stories had heard of
people who had fallen into frances and retained
the spirit of life without the power of motion
Was in such trance" No for Lisbeth N-as
peakIlhg 60 me and could hear her quite dls-
tihctiy, though could not reply.
"hou must not try to speak Gervase" she
was saying-'you must not try 10 think even
You are getting better and Won must sleep"
heard her first words plainly enough hat A.
sie ended her voice seemed to die away into the
TO me.
This was my first awakening after the nIclt d
had fallen into her arms, and after this first
awakening there were no more OF the intermin-
u "a M Fnr~E n
enough 10 open my eyes. But 1 lay there
with my eyes shut 1 grew strong eDo1rh in a
DAY or two to listen to the hrshed voices OF the
lecpie WHO were in NV room, and in the end TO
distinguish them one from another I hear,i
l-isbeth's voice often, calm and low and sweet
heard Hugh's sOftened until it was like wo-
mans. heard voice that knew to be the
doctors heard other voices strange =, me
but first of all and before all heard my hus-
bands i did not hear it once or twice. OF at
STATED intervals: day aud night without AN hour
OF absence. felt Lisbeth's touch often: I fen
Hagh's. | felt HANDS that were kindly aud
tehoer enough, but there one hand that
never touched me without drawing me farther
was my husbands.
And at length I found myself awake again.
first upon my husband seated at my bsdsiie.
and when 1 made an effort to speak found
strength enough 70 utter single word:
He brought her 10 my side with a gesture. and
rs ne turned towards the light his haggard face
was q wonder to me; but had only power, wien
Lisbefh bent over me, to saw TO her one thing
il myself
III live" said, 1.he must know. If-Idie,
will" "e
The weak tears began to roll down nv cheeks,
ana could not stop their flow, and 1 saw that
..YOu win not die )" she said: lyon will live IN
retrieve the past. lie knows ali-he read your
letter; E9ger, speak to her."
He laid his hagSard face near mine upon the
pillow, and the old glow of our bridal DAYS was
in his eyes.
"You shall not die. ;" he said; lyon cannot die
YOU down to the valley Of death, and brought
you back, and claim You, rs God is merciful.
have loved you through all our misery, bat
The blame was mine, not yours God forgive
me for the wrong 1 did your tenderness. You
love me-yes, you love me: You must love me
shall be my first sacrifice. that win deny my |
self the bliss Of hearing your voice, since to |
p. ak might fatigue you. Do not try 70 speak. |
your hand upon my cheek"
Not a word Of the wrong had DONE not a /
word OF the misery had wrought for him, not |
. word of distrust or reproach; had come up |
nom the grave and the gates of Heaven seemed H
opening to me- 1 tried TO speak, but could not, /
PASSION of ;oy i ton S ana evernSwng with the
express. But found strength at last to move /
and STIRRING a little i'm the very faintness of /
l. ndnu ureon NV husbands II
cheek, my head upon his arm, and SO was |
clasped to his breast.
He loved me-he had loved me ALWAYS though /
he had tortured himself with the belief that NV |
love for him had died. He was unlike most |
men, as was unlike most women; he could not |
speak in common words Of what lay so deeply
locked in his heart. But tortured As he was,
he had hoped as I never hoped. He had come
To Lisbeth for comfort because she loved me-
ard she had given il to him. Lisbeth knew
what did not know myself, that il was my dis
trust and love that was wearing my life away,
and in her silent woman fashion, she watched
and restrained me when was unconscious Of
her power.
did not see Ralph Gwynne again until three
happy years had passed, and In passing had
made my life like Lisbeths. Then, As 1 stood |,
one night In the brightly-lighted hall of our |
home, holding my child in my strong arms, as 4 |
greeted my husband man passed by upon the |
pavement and looked in at me. As the light |
from the hall lamp fell upon his face saw il |
was Ralph Gwynne, and that he knew me-
FANNIE E. HoDGsoN.
In SEARCH OF HIS W1YE.-A few days ago
man who seemed to be laboring under consider
able excitement appeared at the ONCE Of the
Crawford House and enquired of the clerk in
attendance: 81 say, Is my wife here?" The