Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1891-04-26

Good night, dear Sister Paul. VIII YOU
say L prayer for me-" She added the
| question suddenly, by an impulse of which
she was hardly conscious.
Indeed ! wil-with al my heart. my
dear child" answered the nun, looking
earnestly into her face. You are not
! happy in your life she added with a
| slow, sad movement of her head
| ''No-I am not happy. But will be-
II fear not said Sister Paul, almost IN
| der her breath, as she went out softly
| UnOrna was left alone. She could not sit
| still il her extreme anxiety. 1t was ago
ming 10 think that the woman she longed
: 20 see was so near her, but that she could
not, upon any reasonable preteXt go and
knock at her door, and see her and speak to
her She felt also a terrible doubt, as 10
whether she would recognize her at first
sight, is the same woman whose shadow
had passed between herself and the Wan
dcrcr on that eventful day, IL month ago.
The shadow had been yelled. but she had q
preScient consciousness of the features be-
meath the veil. Nevertheless, she might be
mistaken. II would be necessary TO seek
her acquaintance By some excuse. and en-
deavor to draw from her some portion OF
her story, enough to confirm Unorna's Sus-
piciOnS or TO prove cOnclusively that they
were unfounded. To 60 this, Unorna her
self needed all her strength and GOODNESS,
and she was glad when a lay sister entered
the room, bringing her evening meal
There were moments when Unorna, in
favorable circumstances, was able to sink
into the sO-called state of second sight, by
an act Of volition, ana she wished now that
she could close her eyes and see the face of
the woman who was Only separated from
her by two or three walls. But that was
not possible in this case. To be successful
she would have needed some sort of guild
ing thread, or she must have already known
the person she wished to see. She could
not command that inexplicable condition as
she could dispose of her other powers, at
all times and in almost all moods. She
felt that if she We're at present capable of
falling into the trance state at all, her mind
would wander uncontrolled in some other
direction. There was nothing TO be done
but to have patience.
The lay sister went out. Unorna ate me-
Chemically what had been set before her.
and waited. She felt that a crisis perhaps
more terrible than that through which she
had lately passed was at hand, if the stran-
ger should prove to be indeed the Beatrice
whom the Wanderer loved. Her brain was
in j whirl when she thought of being
brought face 10 face with the woman who
had been before her, and every cruel and
ruthless instinct of her nature rose and
took shape in plans for her rivals destruc-
ton.
She opened her door, careless of the
draught of frozen air that rushed in from
the corridor. She wished to hear the lady's
footstep when she left her room to go to
the church, and she sat down and remained
motionless, fearing lest her own football
should prevent the sound from reaching
her. The heavy-toned bells began to ring,
far off in the night
AT last II came. the opening of the door,
the slight noise made by q tread upon the
pavement She rose quietly and went out.
following in the same direction. She could
see nothing but q dark shadow moving be-
fore her towards the opposite end of the
passage, farther and farther from the hang
ing lamp. Unorna could hear her own
heart beating as she followed. first to the
right, then to the left. There was another |
light at this point. The lady had noticed |
that some one was coming behind her and |
turned her head to look back. The delicate, |
dark profile stood out clearly. Unorna held |
her breath, walking swiftly forward But |
in a moment the lady went on. and entered |
the chapel-ike room from which great |
balconied window looked down into the |
church above the choir. As Unorna went |
in she saw her kneeling upon one of the |
stools, her hands folded, her head inclined. |
her eyes closed, black veil loosely thrown |
over her still blacker hair and falling down |
upon her shoulders without hiding her face
Unorna sank upon her knees. compress
ing her lips to restrain the incoherent ex-
clamation that almost broke from them in
spite of her, clasping her hands desper-
ately. so that the faint blue veins stood out
upon the marble surface
Below hundreds of candles biazed upon
the altar in the choir and sent their full.
yellow radiance up TO the faces of the two
as they knelt there almost side by
side. both young, both beautiful, but utterly
unlike. In single glance Cnorua had un-
derstood that it was true An arms
length separated her from the rival whose
very existence made her own happiness an !
utter impossibility With unchangine. un-
willing gaze, she examined every detail of
that beauty which the Wauderer had SO
loved that even when forgotten there was
20 sight in his eyes for other women.
lit was indeed such 4 face as man would
find it hard to forget. Unorna. seeing
the reflection of it in the Wanderers mind. |
had fancied it otherwise, though she could
not but recognize the reality from the i'm
preston She had received She had i'm
agined it more ethereal, more faint. more
sexless, more angelic. as she had seen it in
her thoughts. Divine it was, but womaniy
beyond Unorna's own. Dark. delcately
aquilinc, tall and noble, the purity it eT-