The Neihart herald. [volume] (Neihart, Mont.) 1890-1901, 1899-10-07
MY POOR WIFE.
BY J.. P. SMITH.

BY J. P. SMITH.
CHAPTER XvIII.-tContinued.)

Il made cautious inquiries, and
found to my surprise that my miser-
able identity a quite lost. l had
given no hint, uttered no name during
my stay there, that would lead to dis
covery. / learned that the clothes |
wore when taken up by the police
were mere rags of the coarsest, most
loathsome kind, and a bit of soiled pa
per bearing the name Elizabeth
Thompson found in the pocket of the
dress served as my certificate of bap-
tism, and so Elizabeth Thompson l re-
manned to all who met me during
those seven years. When and how m
clothes were changed and stolen, as
they undoubtedly were, l don't remem-
Der. After three years I was dis
charged as cured, and, as | had shown
some ~capability for nursing during an
epidemic that visited the asylum, a
kind nun who had charge of the Cath
Ollie ward offered to get me a place as
attendant in a hospital, where l re-
manned some time"
"And you never thought OF me
never longed to see me, to know how
/"
She laughed bitterly, as she waved
the eager interruption aside, with a
gesture Of pain.
Never thought of you! All, you
will lever know how you filled my life,
can never understand what I felt-and
suffered! knew you must believe me
dead, and | knew the best thing for
your happiness, your peace of mind,
was to let you remain in that belief.
I struggled to keep away from
you, to learn nothing about you;
but, when nursing a patient whom I
casually heard had lately been in do
nestle service in the neighborhood of
Colworth, | could not resist the temp
tation of questioning her. From her
l learned, Paul, hat Mr.. Dennys OF
Colworth was married to a Miss Stop
ford, with whom he had inherited a
large fortune, that he was very happy
and prosperous and the father of three
beautiful children.
This news allayed all my doubts,
drove every lingering spark of hope
and happiness from my future. l
begged the reverend mother who had
procured me the place in the hospital
to accept me as a novice; but she hesi-
tated for some time, knowing of the
faint In my blood. However, after a
couple of years, seeing no sign of a
relapse, and getting a very favorable
opinion of my case from the asylum
doctors, l was received into the con-
vent, and on application allowed to
join the mission going to New Zea-
land.
eve were to have sailed next week,
and as the time drew near a terrible
restlessness came over me, a longing
so intense to breathe the air you
breathed once more, that l felt l
could never be a useful and contented
servant of Heaven unless my longing
were gratified. l appealed to the rev.
erend mother, and she with her usual
goodness gave her consent. l arrived
at dusk that-that blessed night, in
tending only to say a prayer for you
and yours at the cross preserving my
memory, and then steal away as / had
come.
"At the station I saw your brother
accidentally, believing him to be you
his features are wonderfully like
what yours once were. l found to my
utter bewilderment, and l think relief,
that my love was dead-completely
dead, that Edith's husband was moth
ing to me.
II wandered out, pondering the
meaning of this discovery, and saw
o stretched across my grave. At
the first sound of your voice, at the
first glance into your worn altered
face-ah, beloved, l knew that 1 was
not free, and could never be, no mat
ter what gulf divided us. I tried to
save you as l t~hought-to leave you;
b~ut-but-"