River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1904-12-01

was visible, anu d D1uS udE5 OL tdAuAO
smoke and incerse still hung high up
where a beam of sunlight fell upon it,
all afame with the color Of the glass.
That was enough. The priest reassert-
ed himself over the man. His hand in
stinctively and mechanically sought
the pectoral cross.
"I do not need you, Jenkins" he
said, and as the sexton withdrew, the
scene was continued In fact, the three
people had stood there in stiff rigidity,
looking almost comical, as If they were
posing.
Again the rector asked, this time
calmly and with an almost dangerous
suavity: where is my sister whom
you married."
The light of battle came into the eyes
Of the man, but he was evidently mysti-
fed by the question, and the clergyman
went on:
'You married my sister 20 years ago
my sister, Marion Poindexter. re-
member you was at the wedding"
YES" came the level answer, Il mar
ried Marion Poindexter, from whom
have since been divorced"
"But why divorced?" asked the cler-
gyman.
al have told you that it was not my
fault; that was the innocent party, re-
piled the man.
The young girl kept silence. She had
found the strain too much for her, and
had seated herself and sat upright, look
ing with a sort of impotent surprise
upon the proceedings. Now and again
she ventured to regard the priest, and
troubled look came on her face, but
when she turned her eyes upon the man,
the trouble cleared and confident love
shone out in her whole attitude.
How do / know that?" asked the
priest.
The man pulled out his pocketbook,
rummaged in it for moment, and then
handed the priest letter.
Here is the last letter that she wrote
to me-" he said, ''the letter upon which
the divorce was granted"
The priest read it gravely, and with
out the slightest sign of emotion; then
he handed it silently back. Both stood
still for moment, and it was noticeable
that the hand of the priest again closed
on the pectoral cross.
at is a shameful story" he said, at
last. Where is she now?"
"She has left the man for whom she
left me, and is now in Denver with the
vilest," he said.
lrF ncih1n @hSo
thing. She was innocent when she mar
ried you," said the priest; "she was
only 49,"
"She was never innocent" the man
replied, deliberately. 'She was never
innocent" and he looked haggard man
Of 60. ''She was always the slave of her
senses. Sometimes it was colors and
perfumes, sometimes worse"
The priest instinctively touched the
smooth silk cassock, and his bea Ltiful
hand looked white and delicate against
it. The breeze, blowing softly in, opened
the door of the church, which the sex
ton had not properly closed, and the
odor of incense, Of lilies and candle
smoke and the perfumes of the rich
dresses of women penetrated the vestry,
languorous and sensuous and sweet.
The priest turned to the woman.
"You have heard us, he said. He mar
ried my sister. He has made an outcast
of her. Will you marry him?"
YES" murmured the girl, very softly,
but very firmly.
''You will marry this man who took
my sister at 10, and is leaving her amid
the vilest? She was so pretty"-and
something like a sob caught the even
voice for a moment. "You will marry
him."
Eyes, / will marry him." and the an
swer was firm, confident and strong.
But he will throw you away, as he
has thrown her." pleaded the priest.
What care for the future? I love
him now" said the girl.
80 did my sister," replied the priest.
"But | am not your sister," said the
girl. Your sister was sure of nothing,
not even of herself. / am sure of my
self"
The words were spoken quietly and
SLOWLY, III du even lSNSl NO1CCs "1lhOub
a touch of anger or of passion. She was
strong and unfaltering, confident of her.
self. She had no need of outside slim
illus She was self-sufficiept. Even the
man who had won her looked small and
insignificant beside her, and the priest
merely an epitome of culture-hardly a
man.
There was another of the awkward
pauses which the priest broke. II can
not marry you," he said ''You see, it
is impossible; 1t is against the canon"
The man and the girl moved towards
the door. The clergyman raised his
voice. Il shall go to Denver he said,
"for my sister. If what you have said
is false, the Lord will judge you
IF what he said is false, he will reck-
on with me-" said the girl.
And the two went into the sunshine.
where the roses hung thick in the
churchyard. The priest watched them
UP the path, then turned to the little
oratory which led off the vestry, entered
and closed the door-Overland Monthly.
STRANGE HAPPENINGS.