The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1902-05-03

MINNEAPOLIS JOURN
which endeavored to hold her to bet
ter life; and thouShst knew che false
construction which might be put upon,
these expenditures, not only by my father
but others. / spared no means, stopped
at no extravaganza which might add one
more allurement to the nest I had made
for my weary and bedraggled one.
"The woman who had orders to keep
this house in continual state Of readi-
ness for it's fitful visitant was as discreet
as she was sympathetic. She may have
surmised my secret, or she may have
an .ill-conceived philanthropy.
~ could never tell BY her manner. But
knew she, treated my poor one we'll.
Time after time has she opened the door
to disordered and dishevelled creature,
whom next morning found sit,
ting in bower Of roses, fitted
out in dainty cashmeres, and
and shone again. Nay, have come upon
her on her knees before the bruised and
frozen feet upon which she was thrusting
slippers of downy softness, which made
my darling laugh until their very softness
became burden, and she threw them off
TO dance nave never fingered over
these sights, but 1fhave imagined them
over and over with tear-t1ll eyes, for,
explain tt as you will, every backward
slip made by my darling toward the preci-
pice ever saw yawning for her strength
ened the hold she had upon my. heart, till
the pity with which regarded her filled
my whole bosom to bursting.
But the wild hawk cannot be tanned.
She would vanish from our care Just when
we thought 1t was becoming dear to her,
and my wild pursuit would begin again,
to be followed by chance findings and re-
newed disappointn1ents. She was not to
be held, though in the hope Of doing 50,
have spent many stolen hours IN the little
house, reading to her, sacrificing my good
name and the regard of my relatives just
to win back one innocent look to her face
and keep her amused and contented With
out the help Of the accursed drug she
slipped away from us in spite Of all our
efforts, and during this year returned
only once. j..
"Yet i think she has felt more drawn to
me this year than In all the time of our
marriage. But she felt her unworthiness
more. She had listened to the hymns
sung by the Salvation Army on some of
the downtown corners, and, Being sus-
ceptible to impressions Of this nature, had
followed the singers into their halls and
heard some Of the good words that are
L
| laughed at what she heard, but oftener
was seen to cry, and once she herself
sang till. as they said, the very heavens
| seemed to open. When heard this, l
could not keep away from these meetings,
though never came. upon her at any one
| of them either on the east OF west side.
| She seemed to anticipate my approach
| there as elsewhere, for: often have been
assured that she had just that minute
gone out, and must be somewhere near,
! though I never succeeded in finding her.
| "This looked to me then like hate, but
now I think it was simply shame; for
when she knew that death was upon her
she sent for me; and, seeing the old look
of forbearance on my face she threw up.
her wasted arms, and, painting like a child
who has reached it's mothers arms at
| last, turned her tired, tired face. towards
nay breast with d feeble 'Forgive!' and
! died. .--....,.:. -.....j.. =
.''You cannot know the heart of man
who has followed hisrlost lamb for years
through tangled thickets and by headlong
precipices, and 1T may seem strange for
me to pour into ears so hardened and
necessarily so unsympathetic9 the sacred
secrets Of my soul But my position is 8
strange one and my story one that must
| be told in its entirity for you to under
stand why that-snile upon her face IS SO
much to me that my sole prayer at this
time is to be allowed to remain in sight of
it for one hour: She has loved ME always:
not as | loved her, not to the point Of
saving me one heart ache or spar
ing me one cratic impulse Of her
ungoYerned nature, q but. still better
than feared;5 better than her conduct
| would show. For when / came to lay
her head down again upon it's pillow, i
found tied about her neck and fast
9ns I 1a aGr chilling rnE palm this
+ ..she might have. pawned it for a dollar
during any of the many crises Of her
miserable life" ~ ii. .4ss. -. a-s 80
He paused, put the token back IN Ills
breast and. added but one more word
t "When she was alive, and well, with
vigor in her dancing foot. and deathless
unrest in her gypsy heart, she, chafed al
! But when the final shadow settled and
she felt all other props give way, Their
| her. poor arms rose in recognition Of the
! love which had never failed her. There
was an indescribable, tone Of triumph in
his tones. "She had need Of me IN hei
dying hours; she smiled
He paused, and his eyes, which had beer
| hxed on her form, rose instinctively, no,
! to the dingy rafters overhead, But to the
heaven he saw above those rafters. For
him her spirit had fled upward What
ever, We might think 81 her, fo hirh shl
! was henceforth a being blessed ana ia tfi.
cred Into refuge from which she Wo,1Id
neyermore seek or Wish to escape.
It was hard to break iYto TIM cali,
hopefulness with words of stern III sin.
lister meaning. But Mr.. Gryce had Id
| choice. - y ;
What, then, IL Your special desire u
asked that bf1cer.
WI. GillespIe,g ewes fell,, and for i mo.
/ q have retribution Is make to he,
memory. II wish 70 take her to my owf,
house and bury her ifr6an there 81 rnS
| wife, The humiliation from which fny
pride necofled I'll the old days han been
melted out to HE tehio1d. IN ho ionkei
! Wish TO evade my, Tesppnsf biiitfss.n
HIS exDr ession as he said this was yars
diHernt from the Smile / mad sarprIsed oh
his face the night he Stoopad oyer Hi
/ dead father. Yet the one BROUGHT m IN
other, ana, III q measure. acted as {
mutual interpretation BY means of II
| and the determination he had lust ex.
pressed, could comprehend the feeling
of that moment, when with police in the
house and the whole family subjected tc
a suspicion which involved it in the ut
most disgrace, he contemplated the feat.
ures Of the man whose pride found the
hemisphere in which he lived too small
to hold both himself and the daughter
whose worst fault was proclivity t.
dance and sing. - (
Mr.. Gryce,3 who had no such memories
to reconcile, was meanwhile surveying the
i vOllnQ man with q cr,rioyo 1a,3+o4:.~