The Grenada sentinel. [volume] (Grenada, Miss.) 1868-1955, 1908-08-15

robbed n Of the blessings which
were possessed, and all too lightly held
and then lost. And this woman sit
ting there In the slave market await
ing the buyer was perhaps more mis-
cradle than any of the rest because
she had fallen farthest.
Memory crowded in upon her with
relentless persistency. In the whirl
of the gay life which she had led it
had been easy to forget, and when
visions Of the past had come to vex
and trouble her she had plunged with
greater abandon into the life she was
leading, but now, deserted by her for
mer friends and lovers, homeless and
~friendless and reduced to the condi-
ton Of a slave, she no longer was
free to find relief in deeper excuses.
Sh had at last reached the depths.
and now while she waited there was
nothing for her to do but think, think,
think. 1t seemed as though 1t would
almost drive her to madness. Once
she had been a happy wife with chill.
dren about her. In a mad hour she
had yielded to the temptation which
had come, and step by step she had
been led into the paths of sin. and
now she was drinking to the bitter dregs
the cup which sin had filled for her.
A shudder shook her form at the
contrast between what had once been
hers to possess and enjoy and what
was now her lot, and the first real
pang of repentance which she had
known came to her as she sat there
and waited for she knew not what.
Hosea" and she half whispered the
name as though she feared to speak It
Hosea has long since forgotten me,
and we'll he might. l did love him.
/ know it now. But in my insane folly.
my vanity, my love of pleasure, I cast
aside all that was worth having in
life. And now, now! Who is there
to remember me? Who is there to care
what becomes of Gomer?" and with a
choking sob she ended her s%oliloquy.
Time was when lover and gay
friends had filled her lap to the full
with gay pleasures, but when beauty
had begun to fade and the spell of her
charm had broken, the lovers had left
her n by one, and now there was
none left to care what became of her.
Not even Hosea" she had cried, with
unutterable anguish.
Oh, what penalty does sin exacti
When the sin has come to its full
with what crushing weight
docs II nunrnnU0r tho hoa-t J~{;--
to madness and self-destruction-
And SO it was to Conner that there
the promptings to end her mis-
cry in self-inficted death.
1t is but a step from meditation to
One standing on the brink
needs but to lean in the direction
rash impulse draws, and crashi-out
goes the life upon the jagged rocks
below. A voice at the fateful moment
might stay the leap. So with Conner.
of all about her, save the
desperate resolve that she would end
Ter miserable existence. there came a
voice from somewhere she knew not
where. and 1t stayed the hand that
vas at that instant ready to plunge
he slender blade into her heart. A
7oice that carried her back again
through the years and brought her in
memory to the happy home which
,nce she could call her own. A voice
hat came to her out Of the throng
hat made her start and look I'D.
While from her lips there burst the
me word:
Hosea"
But one but strange faces were
about. She saw her owner's form
t a distance, but he seemed not to
e concerned about her at that mo-
nent. But that voice had come to
er, and it stayed her murderous hand.
he knew not why. And she waited
lmost eagerly, and scanned the faces
II about, but not once again did she
ear that voice, and search as she
light through the throngs that surged
l the market place, she saw not the
Ice that she knew now she loved. And
hen her master came a little time
tier, and gave her into the hands Of
stranger, indicating with a nod of
lie head that she had been sold. her
cad sank in detection upon her
reast and listlessly she arose and fol-
What strange days those were that
She never forgot the voice
lie had heard in the market place,
ut that voice did not belong to the
ranger into whose hands she had
of that she was sure. But she
as conscious that there was some
ing strange about her new condi-
The ~indignities usually shown
a slave were wanting in her
Ise. In seclusion and quiet she was
leltered, and having little else to do,
10 thought, thought, thought. How
first pang of repentance felt on
at day in the slave market devel-
ed and grew into the flood of heart
rrow over the ruined and wasted
If only she could see Hosea and
Ii him of her repentance and ask his
rgiveness she felt that peace would
in her heart.
with this thought one
- L4 10000 T.. A.