Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1894-06-15

hospital nur-cj - - .',crs Wi.u devote
thcir lives tOwov',s 81 r.ry.
Iut a!l thcir !ia.!nt, could not recon
ellie me - tho >..,a.. t.. ,.o.5 ~ before
iao IL recovered Ii,'Y. ~ rae 40 nope
chat 1 shouid not be i.i.., Il lived, aad
from the Ic.iing depths al ny 5. / heart
this thought hail torn III hit made lie
worth the having
One day had seemed moro bitter than
nny Of it, predecessors \ comrnGc had
died near ne. And lived! \ blocllnc:s
Of darkness WIS upon M. could not rest.
could not siu,p. could not taste the
food they urged nlc to i'riakv Of. even
wcpt, ], n soldier. Tf"a prayed To die.
Ii the midst 81 that prayer u strange
thing happened to me. felt form bond
Owes c,c. inhaled thr pcriumc Of breath
as sweet as nCiy mcNn Lay. Two lips
softer than rose lcayCs pressed II kiss upon
my closed cyclit,i, and a tear dropped upon
my forehead.
lnyoluntarily'I stretched forth NY hand
IL caught n womans fingers. They
wrcnchcd themselves from nc, but left in
my clasp IA ring.
Who is this?" | cried. Come back!
Tell me- Who H. thsF"
There was no ar r. heard q soft, re
treating step ana nothing mere. The
womun who had kissed me, whoever she
might be, was gone
! slipped the ring on my finger and fell
into IA rcvcric. Who could this have becnf
Whose lips had tOuchCl my lips? Whose
hand had ! held? sister \ Satha was largo
and stout and elderly. Sister Estclc was
hard and thin, and her hands Mcro always
as cold as ice. Then nuns were not given
TO the wearing Of jcwclry.
questioned Sister Agatha after awhile
as 10 who had visited the hospital only
tho mother Of Antoine, she said, but
knew that those juicy lips, that warm,
1uttcring little hand, were not those of
any mans mother.
1t was "a little incident, but it employed
my head for the day. You laugh but you
must lie wounded ana weak and blind
and far from homo and kindred TO know
the value Of u woman's kiss aud of pity
ing tear
For one or two days listened for the
return of that gentle mystery. For ono or
two nights ! dreamed Ct her, Then
stopped dreaming. Life dnwncd anew for
me. opened my eyes one morning ana
saw ray Of light. / opened them the
next TO see family and dimly the outline
OF the long room. ] was no longer blind
should be myself again!
Hope healed my wounds grew well
miraculously. Ere left tho hospital told
the good Sister Agatha cf the kiss
She looked at me solenlnly and fell TO
crossing herself.
My child, " she sail, at was the Ma
donna. 1t is a miracle. Shc has healed
you.
"But the ring?"
The Madonna gave roses TO st. Cath
airline. Why not u ring To you!" she said.
SO the story ran about the hospital. l
knew that | had held n mortal hand IN
mine, and that living human lips had
touched me but who would have blightcd
tho nuns pretty faith by persistent con-
tradictiony
Five years kad passed The war was
over. was in my native land again.
had almost forgotten my period Of suffer
ing In tho hospital. but had not forgot
ten that kiss ! still wore the ring upon
my finger and l still hoped, absurdly
enough, TO know one day to whom it had
belonged. l was constant to memory
vague as It was beautiful.
About this time my brother Henry mar
ricd and brought home his wife, lovely
girl, who won our hearts Mt once She had
but one living relative sister who had
been educated abroad and who was coming
to visit her very soon. She was said TO be
beautiful, and Henry spoke Of her often.
1t would be lucky thing for you II
you could win her heart, " he said "She
is almost an angel,
] smiled and shook my head.
hot hat II ! al a.
he said. Laura Is a strange girl She re-
fuses every offer. She Is two and twenty
now and has had several, but Emma tells
me that she will never marry until she
gets over queer fancy of hers. You'll
keep Il 10 yourself II tell you, Ferdi-
nandf"
promise II.
THE girls are orphans" said Henry,
and Laura was educated ut convent in
$500. BY some strange neglect she re-
manned there during the whole Of this last
terrible war. The convent was safe enough,
and she had no fear, bl.t IL was outra-
geous. We'll, to cut n long story short, there
was hospital at -, and IL was filled Of
course with wounded soldiers. The girl,
Just IL then, used at times go with the
nuns, and protected by their costume to
Viz llpSplbui iliiN4 ~ I'tiuAllhl HOullR Oul-
GER who had lost his sight attracted her
attention She used To watch him from
lfar and think of him when she left him
until she fell i'm love with him. At last,
one day, when ne had been suffering very
much and had, as she thought, fallen
asleep, her feelings oycrcame her. Tho
sisters were busy elsewhere and she crept
up to him and kissed him. Ho VAS noe
asleep, it seems. He caught her hand, and
'he, in pulling 1t away, lost a ring from
her finger.
4 week after this went TO meet the
evening train trpn london commissioned
10 escort Laura Leo Ga CAP Old home.
When l first spoke 10 her, siic locked nj
me In singular way, and her color came
md went rapidly. AS for me, it seemed
.h.lt ] had known her all my life. How
old her ri.G story do not know, but tell
t did on my way home. And the ring
hat had snatcbed from her nand adorned
. hgain-a bctrothal ring - when we
crossed tho threshold Of home together.
Oncc--a year ~ two agony wife and
visited the continent, and stopping nt
49, went 10 its hospital. : sister who
vas quito unknown 10 us showed lis
through it. over Qnc .ct was q little shrine
md a picture OF the Madonna.
1T was here" said the nun, that Our
.o1y Uraciouslv narforrnc Oh a I'M irac1a Sha