Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1908-04-10
"HER BURIED GOODNESS"
By MARGARET Osborne.

he pleaded. She listened silently, and
unconSciOuSly her hand stroked the
slossly curls that were tumbled in
such confusion on his head. He was
for her love. At last she spoke: Neil,
= she said, take this chair and listen
| want to tell you story" He
obeyed, still avoiding her eyes, and
she looked into the fire some seconds
before she began.
There was once a mainland there
was once a girl, and they two loved
The man said to the girl, When shall
We wed?' and she said, In September,
on the day | am eighteen years old,
and it was then June, and they were
happy. The Summer came and was
passing and it was August. And they
were thinking always of the wedding
and the days We're full of joy But a
fever came and smote the man and
he lay as one dead; and the girl stood
by and saw him suffer and she wept.
She held his hands and saw him die
and she went to the graveyard and
stood close by the edge of the deep,
dark place where they laid him and
she felt the tears dry from her face
and heart. And she said to herself,
There is no God, else this man who
| love would be yet by my side, and
if there is no God, need no goodness,
so | will bury all of the goodness and
brightness of my nature under this
damp, dark clay that is covering him
who love- They filled up the grave
and the heavy echo of the 'thud, thudn
sounded for many weeks in her heart.
And the Winter came and passed and
Spring appeared and the girl was lone.
ly. She met man who said, L have
mother who Is old, feeble and i'll
come and lie to her a comfort and
will love you forever And the girl
remembered how he had been ill, and
she wed him and came to care for the
woman who was old, feeble and ill.,
She left all her friends that were dear
to her far behind and the scenes that
had been familiar from childhood, and
went as stranger into a strange land
And her life was hard. and she was
good no more. for had she not put all
hor UOO1nacc an1 lnvo ,pdar that ,lay
that still sounded 'thud. thud,' in her
heart.
But after year little fairy daugh-
ter came to her and she called her
Ladykin.' And the woman. said to
the child, For you, wish l had my
goodness back again Two years went
by. and the woman met a man who
was sad, and she felt great pity
arise in her heart for him. She, too,
was sad Then she came to love him,
and the man came to her and said,
come. you are not happy: come away
| with me. l will show you a life that
Is fair where all Is joy; leave this
empty life and come into a dream
| world with me- and the woman said,
L love you: will go tomorrow far
away and be free But after he was
gone she crept away upstairs and
looked at 'Ladykin' as she slept and
her heart failed her, almost, yet she
said L must But mist came before
her eyes and out Of the mist arose the
form of the man who had died, hold
ing a silver tray, on which she saw
was the goodness of her nature that
she had buried with him, and he said,
Take back all but one quarter OF it
that l must keep Then she took the
three-quarters of her goodness back,
and the good and evil in her waged
fiercly in battle. the one bidding her
stay and preserve her honor, the other
tempting her with love and the hap
piness of a dream-world. And the
good won partial victory and she
wrote the man she loved that she
could not go on the morrow and bade
him come again, for the evil still had
some power, and she hoped he would
repersuade her to go. And he came
and pleaded long and - and the
voice paused, but presently the woman
turned to the man and said: Neil,
this story has to have an ending. You
must decide. You are a handsome
man. but know you are more. /
, know you are honest and true II you
still say come will follow you.
| though it lead to dishonor and shame"
The man looked long at the fire and
the woman waited. At last her "Well?"
aroused him.
"Gala." he said. forgive me. l
have wrongeG you, but did not know
forgive me, il you can"
You have done no wrong. Neil. and
have nothing to forgive: but you
must 60, now. and. Neil, you must not
come back" She held out her hand,
he took it moment and then went
silently out into the street and the
woman turned sadly back to the sordid
empty life. wondering. if, after all, 1t
was worth the while to follow the path
Of virtue. Yet when the woman who
was old and feeble and I'll called her
name. she smiled brightly and kissed
her withered cheek with a tenderness
that was new.
Lighting Without Wires.
The claim is made that Harry M.