Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1884-02-21
gu Original Storg.
Written for the Yorkville Enquirer.
CELEsTINE.
THE STORY OF A MISTAKE.
CHAPTER TX.

IL
ing woman, as she tossed in painful unrest
on her pillow, in the quiet upper-room OF q
house far away from her own home. Kind
faces bent over her, kind hands ministered
to her but one face she was dying for the
sight of was not there, and would never look
upon hers again; one hand whose touch
would have soothed her, she would clasp
nevermore on this side of eternity.
Such was the mandate Silas Warren had
uttered, when he learned what his wife had
done.
ssSay to her that I forgive her, but that 1
can never receive her into my home or look
into her face again. She has brought dis
grace upon my nai-le, and henceforth we
can have nothing in common"
To no one did he breathe hint OF the In
ward anguish that consumed him /; cold,
stern, and self-contained, he hid the wound
in his own breast, and went about his duties,
as soon as his health permitted, with the
same unflinching regularity as before;
Through confidential agent, he arranged
that Celestine should be comfortably lodged
and provided for, among people who would
be kind and see that she wanted Tor MOTH
ing; she was to receive quarterly certain
sum which would be amply sufficient for
her maintenance but all this was to be
done without any intercourse between him
self and her, nor was her name ever 10 De
mentioned to him again. Miss Latimer,
who with an aching heart once ventured to
put in plea, wasso efectGally silenced that
she never dared revert to the topic again ;
and in the parish where during her brief
soiourn she had been so loved and revered,
the minister's wife became only sad men,
ory of the past.
She had prepared herself for her journey
home, on the day following her fatal step
xIn hoo pofh q
gram stopped her, bidding her remain where
r She was untilshe received farther directions.
Next had come brief letter from Mis-, I1ot
inner, written under dictation, and telling
her Of her husbands decision after hearing
Of the offence which she had been guilty OF.
Half stunned, yet still hoping to win his
pardon by full explanation of the feelings
and motives which had prompted her to the
violation of her duty, she had written him
long letter, full of expressions of contri-
ton and agonized prayers for forgiveness,
and enclosing check for the money she
had so dearly earned. "It was for your
sake, because you were dying for the neces- &c
saries of life, that / worked for it," she
wrote and it had come back to her in an
envelope with these words written upon it,
"The wages of sin is DEATH"
Silas would not have touched the money
to save himself from starving he had put it
from him shudderingly as the bribe of Sa-
tan, and enclosed it again in Celestine's own
letter, which he returned without any 9TH
er answer.
Then she went to quiet country house, a
few miles out of San Francisco, where prep
: arations had been made to receive her, and
! where no one knew of her history or her
disgrace and day or two afterwards had
fallen i'll of brain fever, which now threat
ened her life.
Mrs. Brainerd, the head of the establish
ment, was warm-hearted, motherly per-
son, who had reared and parted with large
family ofdaughters, retaining with her now
only the eldest, who had never married, and
who was her active co-operator in all deeds
of charity and benevOlence. When Celes-
tine fell i'll, they consulted as to the eX-
pediency of hiring nurse for her, and final
ly decided to take the duty of nursing her
upon themselves.
'sShe has evidently seen great trouble,
should be so lonely and friendless in the
world" said Mrs. Brainerd. "She appears
to me to have something on her conscience,
that she's blaming herself for; Heaven
grant it mayn't be crime! But we need
not fret ourselves about that, only do our
duty by her as Christians; if she is guilty
of any evil deed, it is between her and her
Maker, and we should not try to pry into il"
"We cannot judge her by what she says
in her delirium, mother" replied the daugh-
ter, Christiana by name. "Fever makes
folks talk in terribly strange way some
times, and fancy all kinds of strange and
unnatural things"
every true, my child" replied the old
lady. ''At any rate we won't call in a
stranger and hireling to wait upon her as
long as she is in this unconscious state, but
do it ourselves, and keep what we hear to
ourselves lest any mischiefmight be made"
So these two good women, strangers
themselves to the poor waif thrown upon
their hands, yet friends and sisters to her
in the truest Scriptural sense, tended her
to her with tenderest care, as if she had
been one of themselves and listening to her
with pity, but laying no store by, the words
of frantic self-accusatiOn that fell continual
ly from her parched lips.
This stage of the illness passed, and was
succeeded by one of complete exhaustion.
1t seemed for a long time as though nature
would not have the strength to struggle out
of it. And the two nurses thought, looking
on the poor, wasted, sorrow-llned face, that
Heaven would show greater pity in taking
her now, than in sparing her to renew her
conflict with world that seemed to offer
her nothing but bitterness. Slowly, hoWev-
er, the exhausted forces began to rally, and
the physician, who had attended her, pro-
nounced the crisis over.
After weeks of prostration, she was able
to move about again; but by degrees it be-
came evident that the handspring of life
had been shattered-the vital sources had
received fatal blow. and it was only a
question of time, how long she would linger,
deprived of every motive power which had
been her support.
She was very quiet, very tranquil now.
A strange peace seemed to have succeeded
the storm which had buffeted and torn her
with it's fury, and left her stranded on
a desert, yet calm shore, out of reach of the
cruel waves. Shekept much to herself, en-
ploying her time in writing, and in simple
needle work, butmost often thinking, think
ing with far away look in her eyes, that
went to Mrs. Brainerd's heart, as that good
woman declared, cit made her look as if she
belonged already to another world" she
said. She accepted, with gentleness and
gratitude, all the attentions offered her, yet
was manifestly happier when alone than at
to refrain from urging her to join their COM
pany or take part in their concerns, wisely
Judging that they showed truer kindness in
leaving her to herself.
Again we turn to the pages of her diary,
which give US an insight into her feelings
and reflections at this time.
Nov. 10Th, 1S-.
The tint of decay is on everything about
me, and I, too am fading with the leaves.
From my window | can look out on the
woods, and see the crimson and orange and
golden hues of the foliage which has not
vet fallen from the trees. Would that