The Washington times., 1903-01-25

.
morning. Persuasion. ertreaty. warn
! ing, command-aU were blended in
one masterful tide Of eIoquence. He
besousht his hearers to take home
to themselves The thought that they
could have no secrets from the Lord.
From the dark background Of the
pulpit the fair face Of the bishop. with
the gaslight falling fun upon it. shone
out like that Of some plying angel as
/ ne cried out beseechingIv:
20. beloved. do not say to your
selves, The past is past, there IS no
use meddiing with that II is quite
+ enough we henceforth live soberIy and
/ honestly ana at peace with all men
beg Of you not 10 drug your con-
! science with any such shameful ne
( penthe as that While one sinful act
/ Of the past remains unatoned for by
/ such admission Of It on vo4,-
/ part as viii prevent in any de-
/ gree its bitter fruitage. and right. as
/ far as may be. what was done = miss
until all this is done bz Won. thazact
! does not belong to your past. IRE
mains your sin Of the present mo-
ment"
+ Lower and lower sank the speak er's
voice as he neared the close. but still
/ each syllable might be heard dis
/ tine1iy throughout the church. till he
ended with words that smote the ear
/ ike the awful utterances Of remorse-
/ less fate:
The gods are just. and Of our-pIeas-
ant vices arzz5 --s.
Make instruments to scourge rs.
The service over the bishop and
/ rector returned 10 the rectorv. the
/ former on the plea Of fatigue going
+ at once TO his room. glad to be alone.
From his window ne could see the
/ glitter Of the lights on the Canadian
! shore, and the colured lamps Of the
/ ferry boat sliding back and forth
( across the river like some gigantic
/ shuttle But these were not needed 70
remind him Of Helen and her boy
+ over on the opposite shore where the
lights glittered so braveIy. His bov
as well as hersi Why should he not
claim this son Of his before ali the
world. and act 2 fathers part toward
him henceforth? Had he not fust
been telling his hearers TO face the
consequences Of their evil doing and
TO set the crooked stright?
{ Lest by any means, after that
have preached TO others. [ myself
should become a castaEay." he re-
peated to himself as he stood by the
window.
In the room below the rector was
remarking rather severely to his wife
that for his part he felt that entirely
I too young men were now being raised
to the episcoDate, and that sound
learning and gravity OF department.
were made Of very little account in
the church nowadays. so far as his
imperfect vision extended. To this
his wife made no reply, being q wor-
an Of great discretion: but she knew
very well what Was the immediate
cause Of her husbands gloomy views.
The much-envied bishop above
stairs was meanwhile longing for the
night 10 be over, that he might return
to Fort Edward and say TO Helen that
he was ready to give up everything
for her sake and the boys. and take
them both to some distant place
where no one could know anything
Of their past.
But was he ready? To go now to
Helen with this proposal. and gain
her acceptance Of it. meant that he
must sacrifice much that was very
sweet 10 him. Name. as vel as coun-
try, must be changed Perhaps even
in some remote place the story Of his
youth, distorted and exaggerated.
might follow them and suIIy the fair
name OF his wife. It might some day
come to the knowledge Of his son.
and cause him to turn from the man
he now revered. Of what avail. then.
the sacrifice Of present honors and
dignities? The setting right in the
case would prove a moekeryr only. a
misera bic failure.
But, again. how could he remain
longer in his office? He who had
once brought shame upon d woman
still living-he who was the father Of
an illegitimate son? What hypoc-
risy could equal this? And he thought
with a great yearniHg of the beauti-
fuI woman who had forgiven him
because she loved him, and of the
boy who adored him-the boy who
was his son.
The night passed and morning
brought with it the necessity for
prompt decision, for he knew that r
he did not return TO Helen this morn
ing with the settled purpose Of max
ing her his wife at some definite Pc
Rod not far removed, it would be
useless TO look for her consent at a
later time after weeks of indecision.
To take the morning train for Chi
cago meant for them both the main
tenance of things as they were. To
remain till afternoon. meant fha fr.T