Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1908-11-05

him strength to bear his sorrow. Let
me dedicate my life to Thee. Keep me
| from sin, from the very thought Of
sin Help ne, oh God for am weaker
than child
| She buried her face in her hands
| and there was silence. and in that ST.
! lence she cast out the devil from her
heart.
/ The new life had begun for Laura
Tankerlane, and the past was dead.
CHAPTER XXXIX.
| A year passed by with steps that
dragged slowly and painfully for all
those concerned in the tragedy which
sprang from Ben Hollands death in
the Round Plantation.
Leonore Jackson had flung herself
heart and soul into her work. and had
tried to forget her sorrow in the ex-
citement and toll of her art, in the
applause Of thousands, in the wild
pleasure which comes to all those
who can move the hearts of their fell
low-men. Triumph had followed tri-
umph and she had attained position
second to that Of no actress in the
world. In the portrayal of those char
acters which called for tragic inten-
sity she had no living rival Passion, |
hatred, revenge, fierce love which con-
sumes the heart. and fires the brain.
the extreme agony of mental sorrow,
all these were emotions which she
gave to her spellbound audiences as
though they were part of her own
life, She was acclaimed as a mistress
of her art, and little did the critics
think, when they spoke of her mar
velous realism. that she was only bar
ing natural heart and soul to the eyes
of the public.
John Shi1's life was the exact an
tithesis to Leonores. What Leonore
:, vainly sought in passionate excitement
\ he sought in study and solitude, and
he sought equally in vain. All the days
were the same to him, and for that
Il matter all The nights as well, save
when he slept. He lived in his endless
gloom as the Prisoner of Chillon
might have lived. The whole world
was open to his feet vet his blindness
shut out everything like a prison wall
He sought forgetfulness in the silence
and found it not
- And during that year he devoted
vast sums Of money to charity. but he
Or was much hampered by his infirmity.
Of and most of that real work which con-
stitutes true philanthropy had to be
or tried to take an interest in the sor-
: rows and necessities Of others. but
was only partially successful They
H. seemed too far away from him, scarce
he ly more than characters in some book
IN unreal phantoms that cried out for
er help. He gave freely. but he took only
er passing interest in either his gifts
III. or the recipients of them.
So He needed much to occupy his MIND
ut in those days of darkness, and he
Tn sought distraction in a thousand ways
ee He was man who had read little
he For during most of his life he hat
lis been generally too tired out will
ce physical eXertion to care for anything
cir but novels. Now, however he set Il
of work to cultivate his intellect, and HI
be employed an educated man to reat
o" aloud and discuss works of real I'm
SIS. portance. books that required though
ed and careful study He listened to
de- long course of philosophical works
mis- from Plato to NietZche, but found n
ed comfort in any of them.
ess Laura Tankerlane, after that on
he brief moment OF temptation, returne
i'm to her good works and her religion
ev- and during that wear many hundred
TIL of people had good reason to bless he
,|s, name. She was, indeed the true Lad
the Bountiful, type rare enough in thes
of days when most of the great ladie
led are so occupied with bridge and go
sht and the claims Of society, that the
have barely time to look after the
eet own children. and certainly no time t
the spare for the children Of other
Through all the wide area of the Tai
ful kerlane estates she passed like a
hn- will, u-inoc pp 1ioht The al
child. the surly laborer, the peevis
way housewife, the drunken thief of
to gypsy all found friend alike in Il
ing beautiful Lady Tankerlane.
up No act of kindness was too trivi
DOR, for her personal attention, no cost
DDS scheme of charity too great for h
to personal supervision. She had know
day deep sorrow, and could help others
off their grief She had known tempt
was ton. and could helm her frail siste
OF to fight AGAINST it. She had know
be love, and she could detect and cheri
lry. the spark Of it in the hardest hum:
the heart.
ned And of all the three who We're II
sep ing to forget, she alone found sor
9th comfort in her work. and came neare
ACE to happiness But she bore the mar
of suffering on her white face, a
she her beauty seemed almost too tr
ling for this rough life. 1t was the opini
able OF the countryside that she was r
,eak destined to live to old age.
out "'Tis the sperrt,' said one old Il
" a mer, "'tis the blessed sperrit witt
low her as burns away the flesh. G
ould bless her, and bring back the roses
lien her cheek. I'm thlnkm she 1ret'
his away"
to He was not far from the tru
He Laura Tankerlanes health was bre
How ing down under the strain. She b
her thrust all thought of John Shil ash
md? but the struggle had wounded her
, to the heart. Tie outward calm only c
to a cealed a fierce unrest, which promp
,ong her to toll day and night for the e
They OF others. Like Leonore, who |
4 to flung all her soul into her art, she
walk flung all her soul into religion {