The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1894-02-15
CHAPTER I.

niSttAhpOhos hO bhiihlhBt VI btI ltS VI
buildings, shoots upward from an emf
nence that gives the monastic structure
conspicuity strangely in contrast with
the lives of its gentle inmates-some of
whom daily visit the city to teach in
the parochi. schools assigned to their
order; others who care for the orphan,
making their lullabies-even more tal-
der than motfer's-a soothing, pray
ertul song of heavenly praise and ap-
peal i'll reparation for the manifold sins
of humanity. ..
In the convent reception room, in
the first year of the last decade Of the
present century, two lovers sit opposite
the superior, Mother St. Gertrude, the
three engaged in conversation which
deals with the two young people, and
yet the nun takes more than passing
interest in it. She stands in the rela-
tion of a mother to the girl.
Mother st. Gertrude is a woman of
medium height. She is nearing the
half century mark, but the happiness
enjoyed in her community has kept the
burrows of time from touching the face
that looks out from her hood like a
Raphaelistic picture of the Madonna in
sunshine, and not dolorous. The man
agement of the large institution over
which she presides, embracing branch
establishments calling for much iudg-
ment and knowledge of financiering,
necessarily gives her a deeper insight
into the ways of the world than the
average nun can ever gain.
Thu M in tha rnI t1nr
have had the most buoyant of dlsposi-
tlons; the deeds that earned their can
onizution-acts of startling miracle and
surprising rtification-havlng been
drawn from the catacombs of ecclesias-
ticisni, where they had been preserved
with the embalmment of-what? HUI
NOR, sweet and subtle; fancy, free and
tlorid humanity, broad and blessed,
all exercised in exercising evil by ex-
citing JOY and awakening the people
into a new life that leads to the eternal;
the holiest OF men and women who
have walked in the shadow of ascetism.
disseminated in their wake the light
and incentive to pleasure that kept
their memories hallowed until the
church placed upon them the aureole
OF bencdiction.
OF this type is Mother St. Gertrude,
a pleasant woman, with mind as sus-
ceptible to mirth as her heart is to suf-
tering, her interest in all her friends,
worldly and religious, not ignoring any
feature OF their lives.
Laurence, you know your own
| mind don't youY' she asked, address
,t..4l Ice,
yen may change, ii her ancestry turns
out to have been plebtdan "
Nonsense, said the young man.
"The aristocrat of today was a barba
rian yesterday. The old aristocrat was
dethroned and the title contiscated by
!he savage conqueror who assumed
| generally with poor grace, an air Of
| gentility he fancied was in keeping
with his stolen grandeur. The rank
Is but the guinea $ stamp, you know. -
Laurence Mangan was about 26 years
Of age. tall, athletic, manly He was
newspaper man whose caustic articles
had made hlm feared as his honesty
| had made him respected by the politi
clans whom no had often thwarted in
/ thcfr designs upon the city and county
treasures. His bearing indicated self
dcpendcnce-never vanity nor offensive
| pride His features We're handsome.
| his character chivalric. A ByTonic
brow. surmounted by curls that distin-
| guish the sculpture typical of the Greek
gods, rose above eyes whose sparkle--or
fire, il yon will gave you no better
idea OF his mental strength than Of his
physical energy
isabel Lo Clair, aglow with the
health and beauty of 90 summers, look
ed at him afehly, gratiiied with his SEN
timents, but apparently still mistrust-
ini as ii something hidden in the fu-
ture were yet to come between them.
| Laurence, she asked, are you sure
Mother st. Gertrude has told you allE''
OF course. interjected the nun. ~
will repeat it, because | know it will
give yon more satisfaction.
| =" You needn t, said Laurence. Let
me assure Isabel that it is herself, not
her ancestry, | am in love with. Cir
cunstances may undermine the romance
| 1 have built around her birth, but it
cannot change her character. The sins
Of our ancestors, by commission or
omission, mar not us, unless we brood
upon them. and the false social spirit re-
?ects us through fear OF Their ebulhtlon
IN ourselves. But, believe = and IN
the enthusiasm OF the moment he step
ped forward, lifted Isabel from her
chair, and pressing her to has bosom
kissed the upturned face-"l believe
with the poet Moore;
"oh, what was love made for, If It's not the
same me.,.-, .-.-==z..,
gory 3p9 md rH sSamnp mSn '''i'et''' ''''o"s"
Iknow not, ask not, IL quilts in that heart.
] but know that love thee, whatever thou
! ~
he iii,ea @ IN, nls Eyes 40 hother CT. s,, ger, ,
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meant W etiiae one VI tle o'liei, prop