Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1908-10-06
CHAPTER xxi. (continued)

to the awful strength of her grief. She
had even refused to see her father I'm.
til after the funeral.
But when the quiet and simple cere-
mony was over, she allowed her nus
hand to return to Tankerlane Court
alone. and she drove back with sam
pene to the farmhouse where she had
been born
"Poor thing said the wife Of ia
borer, as she watched the carriages
leave the gate of the churchyard. It's
comfort she's wanting with that hard
face. It's good cry'd do her good.
Seems to me-" replied her husband
slowly. "as it's the Judgment OF the
Almighty. Nothing good ever came
Of them secret marriages. | don't mold
with hidin' things up"
seThen you tain't Christian his
wife retorted hotly. sThem thoughts
didn't come to you fete time, when
Won drunk more of his beer than was
good for you and I had to lead you
home like dog. That's not Chris
tian charity. If were you. Id pray
for 'em both next Sunday In church,
and ask pardon at the same time for
I'M Christian back-biting."
The man spat on the ground, and
followed his wife meekly up the vii
ilage. But his words had voiced the
common sentiment The death of the
child was the Judgment Of God"
Somehow, it had TRANSFERRED that the
two bereaved parents had not been
united in a church, and registry Of
flee, to those who had never seen one,
!savored of actual immortality.
But Laura, who neither knew or
cared anything for the popular verdict
on her bereavement, drove back In
silence to the farmhouse under the
hill, and when she I'D her father were
alone in the same room, where she
had sung Tosti's Goodbye" more than
two years ago, her grief found vent
at last in tears, and she broke out into
a storm Of weeping that convulsed her
whole body.
Old Sam vane took her in his arms,
and spoke to her as he had often
spoken in the days of her childhood,
when some tiny grief had brought
tears to her eyes.
"There, there, Laurie" he said
gently, "'twill all be well with zee,
see if 1t won't. 'Tis the Lords WILL
little one, the Lords will, and faint
for us to cry out"
"Oh, you do not know" she moaned,
''you do not know" And then, thrust
ing his hands away from her, she
clasped her bands in a wild fury of
grief. ooh, Cod she cried, "What
have l done? Where was the sin?
Where was the SIM"
Her father looked at her in terror
Her eyes glittered with light of mad
ness, and tress of her glorious au.
burn hair, loosened by q wild thrust
of her hand, had fallen over her shout
ders. She looked like some fallen
angel breathing out rebellion against
God.
Laurie, Laurie cried her father,
"you must be yourself, child: You
must not look like that TITS the Will
Of the Lord, the will of the Lord
There is no God" she answered
coldly, and her voice was more terri
BILE in Its calmness than in It's fury
mo God would suffer such things In
this world. I say that there is no
God, and l mean 1t from the bottom
of my heart"
Alas, poor soul, like many a one be-
fore her, she fancied for the moment
that she was the central fact in the
scheme of creation and that the JUS
tice Of the Universe must stand or fall
on the merits Of her own individual
case
"Silence. child said her father
,sternly, ARE you seeking the portion
OF the blasphemer? I will not listen
to zee, Laurie, and If you talks like
that in my hearin' you leave my
house. thought ZEE had more grit.
'Twarn't thus spoke when your
mother died-my dear old comrade
OF twenty year'n more. IT'S the Lords
will that those we love shall leave
us"
: He spoke harshly, though his heart
ached for his daughters misery. His
shrewd mind already guessed that
there was something more in the girls
heart than sorrow for the loss Of her
child. But he forbore to aggravate her
grief with any attempt to learn the
cause of 1t.
IT'S the Lords will. Laurie" he
repeated more gently. and these words
represented all the philosophy of his
simple life.
She did not answer him, but. seating
herself in a chair, she gazed round
the room, as though trying to find
something which might divert her
thoughts from her present sorrow.
Her father watched her anxiously.
1t all looks the same" she said
after long pause. Tell me all about
yourself, father. I did not come here
to make you miserable. I came to re-
ceive your forgiveness"
you've had that a long time,
child the old man answered though
I don't deny as it were hard at first
and mortal lonely"
Il know, know" she cried. 81 am
ashamed of myself. But he would
not let me write. Old Sir Robert
She paused. She had no wish to Ut
ter the lie in SO many words, and her
father would understand
"Ay, he were a proud man." Sam
Vane said grimly. But tell me,
Laura---"
There is nothing to tell" she in
terrupted quickly. II want to near
all about yourself
He told her the story of his quiet