The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1904-12-03
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encs at her sewing
dow Il, e Ion g vista
he neigh borss could not re-
mem tine when the patient
faess th e wind oW had not bent lover
mac fne Living all her
Hfe ssn tile outskirts of an old fash
ssfoned yilIage sin a country parish OF
ouisiaIfa. fissH Patience was land
tIe:5 brown woman
CHEEKY ace wi til faded blue eyes
IN gray hair drawn into an un-
com roTnisingsk knot at the back OF
head She had neither%youth nor
ever a patient, long
eFing sotlls looked forth from hui
hat soul was hers. She
iped tiny brown cottage at the
FOOT of q hi a mile from the vii
ii, confined to her bed for
her sake. ISIS Patience.
led IN sssantl " For medicine
cost money, ana doctors bills are as.
prom and iinfaiIing as the seasons;
81 lses and tide, wal t for no
j
ears6 came and went, and Miss
affancg grew old and Older; but her
heart Temaine Eas simple as a child's.
Th@ra no pleasure in her life;
Z I'D rscraati ton no matter how small
work that she obtained from
B villa and the adjacent planta-
kept her constantly employed
ana WasSne ither time nor money
her lonely, uneventful life
she had erished but one am bition;
Re desires tos vi sit the city Of New
s5rIea hundred miles away. to
ifrless he Mardi Gras festivities.
heS great city been a thou
ana mil les tlistant instead of hun
Fo,ild lot have seemed a
MOI. tlnd erta king.
In fact8it u was simply Impossible
Ihe aeI1ine mus not lie idle; the
4 mon for She trip could never be
mar and ST hen-zswho would stay
invalid !. 4 and nurse her like
ience22
Year saft ter year, Mardi Gras came
and passed Ex cursion tickets for the
1our had reduced the expense
mum, but Miss PatIence's
on seemed as far from realiza-
!. ton eyer
lore than once She had been be-
soug kind disposed neighbors
acconn pany hem upon the annual
more than one had offered to
defray the expenses of the trip, but
those who offered once-never did it
agar. For the look of quiet rebuke,
and reserEed dignity with which the
inYi cations were declined proved bet
teIst han a whole homily, that Miss Pa
sience though poor, was proud She
cou1d accept favors from no one; and
though She was very grateful, and
the blindness touched her like a cool,
soft 1and laid upon fevered brow,
she preferreds$ Ito eat the hard, dry
Il bread OF Independence.
En- ambition was still unfulfilled;
; 8yef as the years went by, the desire
Id nos5fade from her heart. but rath
increased in strength.
0ne day Miss Patience read in an
ssold s$neWsp In which some WORK
had been wrapped, the pathetic little
poem called Carcasonne, the touch
ing story Ola French peasant who
had lived and grown old within the
Very shadow of the city of Carcas
SIS 5onne but had never once beheld it:
wonders
SPoxert y-hard and grinding hat
kep Thin iii chains and, although
This one ambition and dream in life
waste Svfsit Carcasonne, it seemed a:
far away and unattainable as Heav
ca But, finally the day came whe1
I the money was his, the means will
Which to crafty his hearts desire
but alas came too late. 1t foun,
sSs him dying and the money had onl,
come in time to bury him away out o
Ess$sS ght. Each m ortal has his Carcas
gonne ESQ ends the poem).
Miss Patience read it with tears i,
iss5Ss Ter faded blue eyes.
sss New Orleans is my Carcasonne
q reckon. Il the old lady said, trying
hard to fine a smile amid the tears
& but awt seems to me faint an,
thanatha poor Frenchman's