Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1901-04-07


~ allad With tears.
~ mother n dead!. ~ answefsd,
~ quietly. sshe died n Naples twQ
months ago
aAnd YOU are alone in the world?
nv poor child. This will never Do
You must let me help you IL ! can.
mo nor she cried, this time al
most fiercely. II: do not require any
help. / a support myself quite we'll"
Il shall have to be convinced of that
before / let you co." ne answered.
London is not the sort of place for a
young girl to be alone in, particularly
when one is a foreigner and poor"
ssYou were always kind to me-" she
replied. sbut I cannot let you do more.
Besides you are going to be married.
Is that not so?'
1T is quite true" he answered; "but
how did you heal of it?'
she looked confused for a moment.
Il cannot tell you." she replied. Per
haps / saw it in the newspapers. o
are famous, and they write about you.
Now | must be getting home
An empty cab happened to pass at
that moment, and Godfrey hailed it.
Get in" he said, when the vehicle
had drawn up beside the pavement. Il
am going to see you home. This is not
the hour for you to be alone in the
streets"
"No. no." she protested, even more
vehemently than before. Il cannot let
YOU do this. | can walk quite well.
1t is not far, and I have often done it"
seTeresina, you must do as | tell
you" said Godfrey, firmly. Il insist
that you get in and that you give me
your address"
She hesitated for a moment before
she replied. Then she said:
mo. Is Burford street, off the Tot
tenham Court road"
Having given the address to the driv-
er, Godfrey took his place beside the
girl. He was thankful, indeed, that he
had met her, but the circumstances
under which be had found her, dis
tressed him more than he was able to
say. As they drove along he e%ndeavor-
ed to elicit some information from
her concerning her present life. She
was not communicative, however. That
there was some mystery back of it all,
he could see, and the more he thought
of it, the more unhappy he became.
Poor little Teresina. He remembered
her as she was when she had first
sat to him for the picture which had
made his name; and as he looked out
upon the falling snow and the miser-
able streets with the dark figures sour
rying along the pavement on either
hand. and thought of her future, his
heart sank within him. He wondered
whether he could persuade her to ac-
cepI a Sulnc1enC sum OF money from
him to enable her to return to her own
country and to live in comfort there.
He was rich, and after all it was not
only his duty but his pleasure to help
and old friend. AS she seemed so dis
tressed at meeting him, he resolved
to say nothing on the subject then,
however; nevertheless, he was deter
mined in his own mind that he would
write to her on the morrow and make
the offer, whether she accepted it or
not. At last they came to a part of
the Strand which was more brilliantly
Illuminated than elsewhere. AS they
came within the circle of the light,
Teresina put up her hand to push back
her hair, and Godfrey noticed that
she wore a wedding ring upon her
third finger. This gave him food for
reflection.
'Teresina," he said, why did you
not tell me that you were married?
! thought you said you were alone in
the world"
My husband is dead" she answer
ed, with what was almost a note of