Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1884-09-18


A WoMAn's FArTH.-They were
lovers. All the romance and senti-
ment of the world was theirs. There
is something unfathomable in this
thing called love. It tyrannizes over
body and soul as no other feeling can.
1t creates happiness from the greatest
sorrow, light from the deepest dark
ness.
Through her tears as they parted
shone such light of love that he al
most dared call her wife. She knew
that she was loved in return, and that
knowledge created faith in her heart
which was to endure even to the gates
of'Heaven and beyond.
"In year, he whispered as he
left her.
And she answered:
II will wait year--a lifetime +
When year had passed and no
word came from him they tried to
shake her faith by creating doubts.
Men had no constancy, they sneered |;
men would wiring woman's heart
and have no pity. Tears came to
her brown eyes, but again she answer
ed:
HE will come back to mel
When the one year had become FIVE
the old sailors in the taverns and lofts
shook their heads and said to each
other that the ship had surely been
lost and that her young captain would
never be heard Of more. Wives felt
a pity for the.heart longing and wait
ing through such uncertainty, and
they whispered that it would be no
sin TO love again.
II shall see him again--he will
surely returni" was the answer OF
Faith, with her sorrowful face and
aching heart.
The five years became ten. The
brown hair was streaked with gray,
and the girls fair face had become
the face of q woman who carries a
sobbing wailing misery in her heart.
Men showed their cruelty by seeking
to awaken new love- women exhib-
tied their bitterness of heart towards
their own sex by ridiculing her faith.
But the light Of a never-dying herolsm
burned in her eyes as she answered
them
HE gave me his promise--I am
Watching for his ship f.
And the ten years became twenty
Men and women had gone to their last
rest until scarcely one was left who
remembered when the lost ship sailed
or who was her captain. But there
were children who had heard her story,
and as they smoothed down the gray
hair and soft hands they whispered
ut is SO sad II And be was lost at
sea ?"
Lost |" she answered. AYE even
though the whole world told me so ]
should wait and watch for him T.
And twenty years become thirty,
One night when the storm-vexed sea
dashed the shore in fury and the men
uttered brief prayers to God as they
turned their faces upon the ships
making a brave fight for life, Faith
lay dying.
The end had come. A human heart,
troubled and SCARED by waiting in
Windy hoping, to be ever disap-
,pointed-was about to be stilled. For
O moment the storm lulled, Just as a
man drawa-a long breath before dash
ing into some great peril. AS il
screamed and roared again in its ven
geance, Faith lifted her thin hand
and whispered
'He is coming back to me / shall
see him again and hear his voice once
more I
The nurse moved nearer aud whis.
pered kind words, but Faith waved
her aside and cried out.
do not come between us hear
bic footsteps--he is here / loved him
and my reward has come at last Let
me clasp his hand-let me look into
his eyes'
And again the storm lulled, until
the gale died to sobs and whispers
and the roar of the aurf sounded miles
away. Before the fury gathered itself
for fresh attack two spirits passed
out of the old house hand in hand and
afar on the path to Heaven. She had
listened, and his footballs had at last
echoed in her ears. She had watched,
and her glazed eyes had at last been
gladdened. She had waited, and he
had come to be with her through the
narila of the DARK vallav