The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-08-25
1757 ..e. 181A


1 word from her daughter. At last yes | se1 which stopped on 4ts way to the ln- dies brought her a letter in which Vfr- ginia, in a guarded manner that sne might spare as much as possible her mothers feelings. let it be known that she was far from happy in her new sur roundings. There was postscript m which the girl spoke to and of Paui only |.
 The young man had been astonished when In the body of the letter he olo not see any mention of himself; but the postscript consoled him He nad yet to learn that woman leaves her dearest sentiments for a postscript Virginia had written many letters before this one, but they had miscar- .. ried or had been suppressed by her aunt. But from now on they heard, from time to time, of their dear one far off across the ocean and gleaned from what she wrote the trials to which she was subjected. Her aunt had taken the girl to form her. had sent her to a convent school and had then introduced her into society. S
 She had selected rich old noble man of disreputable life for Virginia's husband and was striving with all her power to bend the unprotected girl to her will Paul was still inconsolable for his loss, and as time passed and he developed into a man he acquired re- served bearing entirely different from that of the frank and unsophicated child of nature. who had seen Virgin las ship sink below the horizon. Some day Virginia would come back to hIm' That he strove to believe-and yet he feared.
 His new requirement of reading was, after all, only a curse to him. for It aided him to a knowledge Of cases similar to his own, in which one or the other of the separated lovers had at last proved unfaithful to the carry vows. The happy valley was happy no longer; for Paurs grief and Virginias absence affected all who dweit there
 At last there came letter from WIT ginia saying that she was to sail TOT home on a certain date in a certain ship. Wild was the joy at this news: Her aunt had disinherited her ana sent her back in a rage because sne would not marry the aged noble. but what if she did come back poor as she went? Was she not still VirginiaT
 The days ragged like dead to the im- patient ones. but at last the ship on which the dear girl had sailed was signaled in the offing and the people of the vaIley--the happy valley once again--were beside themselves with joy. The ship was far out at sea ana there was a fiat calm, but when the pilot came back from visiting her ne said she would probably anchor in Port St. Louis the f0tIowing morning
 That night, out of the flat calm Of the treacherous Indian Sea. there came up a great hurricane. The ship was driven toward the coast and tried to make an anchorage between the Isle or Amber and the main island. News or this was brought to Port St. Louis where Paul had gone to await the landing of Virginia. He hurried across k1s Nnf a h. dicated spot.
 He arrived just as a gloomy and stormy day was dawning; and stand ing amid the crowd which already had collected on the beach saw the ship, at no great distance from the land, making a nightly effort to escape from the currents that were dragging her on the rocks.
 There was a tremendous thunder or the waves, a vast signing of the winds, which now were dropping in their fury, and amid these sounds