The Beaver herald. [volume] (Beaver, O.T. [Okla.]) 1895-1923, 1901-10-10

man forms once freighted with iife's
rnrest merchandise. Soon every hos
pItal, every available space in church
and public building and the most spa
cious Of private homes were 70 have
their quota Of the wounded, the dying.
and the dead. The southern woman was
entering upon that field Of labor in
which she achieved her noblest dignity,
her fame its immortality. Foremost
among those who first gave their en-
ergies, their whole lives 10 the alleyin-
tion Of suffering, the inspiration OF the
hopeless and the despairing, was Fran
ces Brookin. Free 10 dispose of her
time as she would and with an abun-
dant means at her disposal, she made
herself a ministering angel wherever
. soldier suffered. Day and night she
labored, sustained by boundless patri.
otism and an elation for which she
could not account, try a. she would.
She failed In her self-snalysis from
ignorance Of the fact that voice that
has once spoken to the heart Is never
quite silent Afterwards, and that
youth when IL burics its dead tramples
not the sod above II. Fiery hatred Of
the invader possessed her, rs II did
her sisters; bred In the bone and nour-
ished with the mothers milk, 10 could
not be quelled except by years OF gentle
association and q common cause, but
by a strange paradox this bitterness
excluded every stained and bloody
blue uniform or haggard northern face.
Out OF the fight, these were ever out Of
the sweep OF q southern woman's ven-
geance. Upon the suffering prisoners
Frances delighted to lavish the tender
ness OF her nature, now broadened and
deepened by its own ministry; and
something touchingly human carried
her among them, although she was not
conscious Of IL.
For this had come 10 pass: within
the heart OF Frances Brookin there
lived a fiction. the Richard Somers OF
her girlish dreams: Richard Somers as
she had seen him face TO face one night
under the burning match, his voice
ringing strong and true and tender
upon her hearing. Before him, shut
ting him into the sanctity of her room
| suc huu uToPpeu - seh VI h'eSeSe"'
gossa mer, and within that room, seen
only through the veil, the man lived
and reigned and had his kingdom
Through this veil, too, stirred by tn,
breath Of the suffering and the dying
of his own country, he spoke gently
tendcrly TO her in the lonely hours o.
her vigils. The other Richard hst
been dismissed, not harshly or hastily
not in anger, but sadly--a man un
worthy; a man at war with the trutl
and nobleness OF her nature and at wal
with her people. No one knows hoy
such fictions come about, but th
hearts OF most women carry them.
And time had helped Frances, 70
looking back she re-established man.
vital facts that lessened the sadness o
memory; the man must once have bee,
noble-his deeds Of mercy and gentle
ness proved that; innately noble h
must have been when she met him, fo
in the face OF great temptation h
had kept his promise to his friend, eve
to the extent OF shutting his eye
against the girl whose arms had bee
about him, whose lips breathed love fo
: him. And somewhere, despite all tn
trickery. there was still nobility, fo
: silently he had ridden away, faithf,
, to Ais friend. He had lain under he