Ceredo advance. [volume] (Ceredo, W. Va.) 1885-1939, 1908-09-02

Nele poSSeSSco, anu al TOO ngntiy Sclo
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 II
had been easy to forget. and when
visions OF the past had come to ves
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 waa
nothing for her TO do but think. think.
think. 1t seemed as though It would
almost drive her to madness. Once
she had been 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 dreg,
the cup which sin had filed for her
y 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
pans 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 II
- Hosea has long since forgotten mo
and well he might I did lore him
| know ii 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
10 remember me? Who Is there TO care
what becomes of Gomer?" and with
choking sob she ended her soliloouy
Time was when lover and CAV
friends had filled her lap to the fun
with gay pleasures, but when beauty
had begun to fade and the spell OF he,
charm had broken, the lovers had left
her one by one, and now there wa.
none left to care what became OF her
Not even Hosea" she had cried, with
unutterable anguish.
Oh. what penalty does sin exact!
When the sin has come TO It's full
fruitage with what crushing weight
does 1t overpower the heart, driving
often 10 madness and selfdestruction
And so 1T was to Conner that there
came the promptings to end her mis-,
cry in self-inflicted death.
1t Is but step from meditation to
action. One standing on the brink
needs hut to lean in the direction
rash impulse draws, and crash,-out
goes the life upon the jagged rock,
| below. A voice at the fateful moment
might stay the leap. So with Conner
Unconscious of all about her, save the
desperate resolve that she would end
her miserable existence, there came q
voice from som ,where she knew not
where, and 1t stayed the hand that
was at that instant ready to plunge
the slender blade into her heart A
voice that carried her back again
| through the years and brought her In
memory to the happy home which
| once she could call her own. A voice
| that came to her out of the throne
| that made her start and look up
! while from her lips there burst the
| one word:
Hosea"
But none but strange faces were
all about She saw her owners form
at a distance, but he seemed not tc
be concerned about her at that mo
ment. But that voice had como tc
her, and II stayed her murderous hand.
she knew not why. And she waited
almost eagerly, and scanned the faces
all about, but not once again did she
hear that voice. and search az she
might through the throngs that surgec
| in the market place, she saw not the
| face that she knew now she loved And
whom her master came a little time
later. and gave her into the hands OF
stranger, indicating with a nod OF
the head that she had been sold, heI
head sank in detection upon f1er
breast and listlessly she arose and fol
| lowed
| What strange days those were thar
| followed. She never forgot the voice
she had heard in the market place
but that voice did not belong to the
| stranger into whose hands she had
come, of that she was sure. But she
was conscious that there was some
thing strange about her new condi
ton. The indignities usually shown
towards a slave were wanting in her
case. In seclusion and quiet she was
sheltered, and having littlo else to do
she thought, thought, thought. How
the first pang OF repentance felt on
that day in the slave market devel
| oped and grew into the food Of heart
sorrow over the ruined and wasted
life II only she could see Hosea and
tell him Of her repentance and ask his
forgiveness she felt sAat peace woult
be in her heart.
Overwhelmed with this thought one
| evening aa She rnafnh In Tho hr-n hle