The San Francisco call., 1906-09-09
Cupid-ReGee
BS~ Melville Chatter

led to her room, where she knelt Sc
cretly and prayed that she had done
no wrong.
The next night, as she sat behind the
lilacs again, there woke the wary foot
steps until she knew that the outcast
stood before her once more. ~
Last night" she said. you promised
to go. You have broken your word"
Last night" said the Voice. you
were my friend. VIII you help me
again? / need clothes"
Alva. who had always been depend
ent on others, listened with a strange
eager sense of responsibility. She re-
membered that some old clothes lay in
the gardeners deserted hut, but the
door was locked and its key hung in
Sister Annals room. At length she
said. her voice aquiver as though she
confessed sin. Il will try"
But many days passed before she
braved the act; yet when at last she did
it seemed, strangely. no sin at all For
each night. as she sat by the lilacs out
for While. then into the darkness re-
turned. At first IT stayed but mo-
ment to fret at her delayed promise
but sometimes she would question II
OF itself and of the great city without
whence il came. till at length she
grew to know the Voice as one knows
the shifting expressions OF a friend
face. 1t spoke OF many strange scenes
and adventures. and then IL was reliant
as the face OF one who has mixed with
life boldly impetuouSly; it spoke OF
wrongs and enmities, and then 1t was
bitter, as the face of one who has suf-
fered unjustly; It spoke of Aiva and
her surroundings. and then it was soft
almost wistful as the face OF beggar
who watches from without.
The Voice often asked Alva If her
eyes pained, but not once had IL
touched on the cause of her blindness
IT begged her never to remove the
bandage in it's presence, because" il
said. I'm not very nice to look at;
I've been marked, SCARED by friend
a particular friend of mine. Say
There's a man l know; he was in the
fight down on your island, and he left
his regiment with a clean record. But
they don't count--only dirty ones
count When he came back he got in
with the wrong gang and did some
wrong things. Maybe he was wrong
himself. maybe he only did 1t for tho
excitement. There was woman, too
but he got sick of her along with the
other things. 1t was like this: Once
he was sitting at a window and some
body walked by. He thought he'd never
see that Somebody again. but he did
she walked by regularly and he fol-
lowed and found out about her. She was
never alone. but he wouldn't have
spoken anyhow: he just wanted to keep
out OF sight and watch. She was sort
of quiet and shy, and her face made
him think of some singing he'd heard
in a foreign church. 1t got him dead
sore on himself: she was that kind.
So he made a clean breakaway, even
from the woman. but she heard about
that Somebody and suspected and took
her revenge on her ike-like what she
was. Then. being on the inside, she
told some things that fixed him. 1t
was the penltentiary, but instead OF
putting penitence into him II took 1t
clean out. II was his first trip, you
see. One night he swan the river and
got away. He was going to fix that
woman and everybody else. he didn't
care who. But something happened in
stead; you might call II missionary
work Well. he wasn't Mt for mission
aries and he was sick of the other sort;
and that's him all over--a bad cent"
Il don't believe he was really bad
said Alva. He was too brave" And
after little silence the Voice re-
turned