San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1897-12-26
.WhQt.cas Strong thinking Off

Self fesuke always followed closely on
the heels other silent condemnation of
the shortcomings of those who loved her
80 well. -ess.-p 80
"Itdoes not matter It must not mat
ter Il shall not matter. They are my
people. / am theirs If they made a
mistake in seAding me away, it was the
blun6ers of loving, ignorant ambition,
and ii shall not oe visited ON them But
it gals, o nay dear Lord, it gallsl Give
me strength.to bear it and. to hide it
FROM every.eye but thinep'
This, her prayer, she had poured out
afreah that morning, kneeling among
the fallen leaves that carpeted the earth
about GaBriella's tomb "You loved me.
sweet. when we were two ignorant lit
tlegirls, knowing nothing of the social
bars that herd all humanity into differ
emit pens for different service II only
you; could have staid and gone, Bella
minei's i-.-.'S
Having thus quieted herself like q
weaned child, her sketching had pro-
ceedbd very satisfactorily until the iliad
Of Sarah James woes had pierced her
earG and broken up her working mood,
not to be recovered that day.
Seth would be coming for her present
ly, and together, perched high ON the
wagon, with its cargo Of seed cotton ris-
ing in . dazzling pile behind their
backs, they would ride home under the
faraway blue Of the October sky, crush
ing the plumes of the goldenrod that
lined the narrow rutted road beneath
the ruthless iron tires of their clumsy
wagon wheels, and while the mellow
song Of the care free cotton pickers
hoated; to her ears, punctuated by the
short stertorous breathing of the steam
engine IT the gin, Seth would entertain
her with the weights" picked by each
hand, and tell her how the race between
the champion pickers progressed She
must be very much interested in it. She
owed It to Seth.
From where she sat on the moldering
brick steps she could see the willow
fringed pond near by the ginhouse.
They were ginning that day. Woolly
while clouds Of steam escaped in swift
jerks from the short, black pipe that
pierced the ginhonse roof and lost them
selves in the upper, blue. The whir Of
the, machinery, the whining Of the
great rubber bands, the tearing teeth of
the saws were all mercifully deadened
to her carr Shs was glad they had put
the family burying ground as remote as
possible from all that rattle and chatter.
1t seemed an, especial Intrusion into
the holy calm Of that October day.
Another long, quiet hour passed.
The lace patterns of the elder bushes
were losing their nice exactness Of out
line and growing blurred. What pile
of cotton Seth must be weighingl She
settled her turban more securely on her
head and eretraced her steps to where
she had, left her drawing materials all
scattered about on the low fiat stone
that covered the remains Of some long
forgotten Strong. She gathered her
craXons and ,sketchbook into her satch-
lei with reluctant ingerA
Here, and here only. the peace that
paaeeth 81 4. deHstandins abides with
AASSSE tS>scE., AIT
She, clasped her mall hands and
stood locking, ont over the gentle land
soaps with .yearping eyes. Graveyard
point, as the promontory she was
standing on was called, lifted its green
head full 200 feet above the water level.
Across the many tinted vines that
wrapred the tall forest trese in royal
mahtles Of scarlet and gold she looked
down upon the fat bottom lands that
LAY green and moist at the foot of the
lcliffs. Il was down there that Strong
was making hermit Of himself. Why,
mo one knew.
She was thinking Of him. Sorrow
fully. pitffully, fenderly Perhaps no
Ione could come as near comprehending
his dark. mood as she could He had
found it impossible to take mp the old
Eife just where he had dropped it before
Egoing to Shingleton. But why shonld
he have tried TO do it? de was man.
The world was all before him. He could
have gone out to g-apple with it. She
was woman That meant so much in
the way of restriction and limitation.
She could only stand and wait.
Neck or NOTHING iacl,s5 3ss>ls; a