The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-10-29
CHATTER xxxvIII. The Nasx life.

Tn three weeks time Laura Tanker lane returned to LAyerstone with her husband It was known that she had been seriously i'll, sbut no one suspected that she had left Tankerlane Court in order to join her life with that of an- other man, and that she would have done so but for the intervention of Providence. It was generally reported that the death of her child had been the cause of her illness and that her mind had been slightly unhinged by pain and sorrow. Tankerlane did not trouble to contradict these rumors He wished 1t to be clearly understood that Tor the present,at any rate, Lady Tam kerlane would receive no callers and accept no invitations. and 1t occurred to him that the theory about his wife's state of mind would provide an expIa- nation of the life lived at Tankerlane Court. They each had their own suite or apartments. and rarely met for more than half an hour each day
 Laura, worn out with illness and sor row, accepted this life as many home, less outcast has accepted the quietude of prison cell. After the storm and etress of passion, :t had q dull peace Of It's own that at any rate provided rest for mind that had been tossed on the winds and waves Of great love.
 Her illness, indeed. had wrought a change in her views of life. She real ized that God had intervened to save her from sin and that He had spared her life in order that she might use if for the happiness of others. She thrust John Shil out of her thoughts, not be- cause her love for him was dead, but because she saw the sinfulness of that love- There was nothing to take it's place but a quiet desire to better the lives of other people, and help those. who were too weak to help them selves. [
 She was ripe for religious enthusi- asm, and in the hands of a great and fervent teacher ishe might have de- Veloped religious mania. But the quiet and learned rector of Laverstone was not the man to set human soul on fire.
 The poor" he said, fare always with us. And they do not only want money. They want sympathy
 And so it came about that Lady Tan kerlane began to devote her life to good works, and never in the memory of living man had the district round Lav- erstone enjoyed such a period of pros perity and bounty. Tankerlane, anx- ious to win his wife's affections, wrote checks for everything that was wanted. Churches were rebuilt and redecorated, livings were re-endowed, and the Rev. John Hardy was not forgotten. Schools and hospitals were presented with what they required to make them eff ficient. Food. coals, blankets, even books were to be had for the asking. And none of these gifts were dispensed in the cold and judicial manner which belongs to well-regulated charity. Lady Tankerlans herself inquired into every case, and often her presence and the words of comfort which came from |. oR cipient than the gifts which followed
 Such was the life which Lady Tan kerlane had elected to lead, and for a whole month it continued. And, then, like a stone dropped into a peaceful lake. there came letter to Tankerlane Court.
 The envelope was addressed in a handwriting that she did not know, but 1t bore the postmark of P4nge. And, when she opened 1t, and turned to the end, she saw the name of John Shil. but the signature was not in John ShiPs handwriting.
 The letter from John Shil was an all most illegible scrawl, for. though the envelope had been addressed by his secretary, he had been obliged to write the letter himself. But Laura set to work to decipher 1t with as much case as Syriac scholar gives to some price, less fragment of stone, and she finally mastered every word of it.
 It ran thus:
 Dear Laura--In the first days of my sorrow and darkness 1 resolved that it would be better to keep silence, and never write to you again.
 But after much thought-and I have had many hours in which to think II have decided to break my resolve, firstly. because it Is possible that they have told you nothing of what has happened to me, and it is right that you should know, and secondly because at last have learn ed the truth about your marriage to William Tankerlane.
 Firstly, then, Laura, I must tell you that I have lost the use of my sight, and Sir William Carr. the great oculist, informs me that I shall be blind all the rest of my life
 Secondly. I have learnt why you re- fused to marry me, and why you mar Eiad Tsnksxlape. I also know that