The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1902-04-16
The Faith Of a G>oman.
BY Gertrude Potter Daniels.


emotion Of any sort, moved away. You'll
find out by tomorrow that it's all nom
sense" she announced, as she disap-
peared.
ut is here" she whispered, stopping
before door
In spite of all he could do, Grayson
was uneasy. Following the girl and NOV
ing noiselessly, he entered the room.
For moment the dimness prevented him
from distinguishing objects clearly. But
bit by bit it all lay before him The rich
ness of the furnishings and the decay
i everywhere so evident; the room abomin-
ably dirty, heavy with Crime and filth;
the air reeking with the smells of age.
| Reaches crawled lazily in and out of the
creviceS in the woodwork Once a large
rat scurried across the floor. At the sight
of it the man lodged back in horror.
over between two windows stood an im-
! mense desk made of black wood and in
laid with silver wires Plunged or her
knees before it Graysons eyes made out
/ the figure of woman, her body rocking
too and fro with a persistent regularity.
Presently the distant figure arose and
the mans eyes Widened in establishment.
He saw that she was as white as the
dead, with eyes that burned deep in their
sockets and face from which all express
sion had fed. She was arrayed in wed
! finery taken from the tomb
Pushed back from the face, but falling
over her head and to the boCtom of the
! bridal dress yellow with years, hung the
limp veil, ragged and frayed Covering
| the emaciated hands were long gloves,
rotte,- and torn. Her feet were high in
tiny slippers, broken through where the
satin had long since refused to hold to-
| getner. She might we'll have been the
/ bride of death.
Go to her, whispered the girl
| The man obeyed, wondering what he
ought to do or say, willing TO have given
| at that minute years OF professional life
! for knowledge broad enough to encom-
! pass a case like this. He told himself
| that, perhaps, if the woman would come
1 to him voluntarily, the skill Of question
| ing her without arousing antagonsim
/ might arrive instnctively.
! But the opportunity for those questions
| never came. SUDDENLY the woman raised
| her head. She met Grayson's eyes full
! upon her. For moment she gazed spell
! bound, then straight as a child who in
trouble goes to the one it loves for help
and comfort, this woman went to Gray
| hardly any surprise 1t was as if she had
| looked for him daily all her life.
But the transition in her face was
! stupendous. All in a moment the lines
| of hardness and the scars of suffering
| were obliterated by a radiance of divine
happiness. Silently, swiftly, but very sure
! ly, this woman came with a bound out
from dementia of hideous sorrow. A
! strident cry broke from her lips.
II knew it! l knew it!'' she gasped
Charles, / was right. You meant it as
test to my love. 1t was not desertion
No no. never that did not know what
would become Of me. Yet I never really
doubted. Oh, it was not desertion! 1
loved you too much to believe such a
thing. But sometimes / was afraid. 1t
+ has been SO long, so many, many years. -
She threw herself into the mans arms,
caressing him, fondling his hands, talk
/ ing all the while with pathetic rapidity.
/ But while the doctor was all at sea, some
/ thing told him that this was not the
| chatter of insanity.
Presently she held a letter out to him;
/ a scrap of paper that had not left her
hands. when this came to me on our
wedding day, l was here, dressed like
! this-waiting for you. First l was
! frightened. l screamed. l remember that.
Afterward I seemed to wake from my
| fright l knew it was not desertiOn. L
| tried to be brave and not to mind. /
never once blamed you, for you could
| suffer. But my father would not under
| would hunt you out and kill you. l for
| got my own grief in talking explaining
/ to him. Finally 1 saw the tears in his
| eyes and l knew he was understanding at
| last
Il have been faithful to the day. Every
! anniversary l have come to this room in
my bridal clothes and waited from dawn
/ till dark, l knew you would come if I
waited long enough. Some OF those days
were hard, but l always trusted She
pointed to the letter again. Il always
read this, too, on the anniversary, and
| though l never meant to, the scream
would come just as did on that day long
ago.
The woman's body was shaking with
excitement and the girl had crept up to
her side, tears Of pity trimming in heI
eyes But Grayson was speeches.. Dur
ing that torrent of words some sixth
sense was suddenly born in him-a sense