Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1909-07-09
THE GROWTH OF PITY.

thought; a man of no more than 20
years of age, whose hair was yet sill
ver-white and whose face was stamped
with the lines of some bygone sorrow.
The thrushes sang their merriesi songs
| in the branches, and from the woods be-
/ yond came the clear call of a cuckoo
But neither the beauty of the morning
nor the songs of the birds sufficed to
rouse John Lyall from his sad absorp
| ton. He passed slowly down the hill,
| looking neither to the right nor the left.
| From corner of the vicarage garden,
where a gap in the thicket of laurel and
rhododendron gave a glimpse of the
road, a girl stood and watched him as
he passed, a girl with masses of dusky
hair and dark eyes that wore an ex-
preston habitually thoughtful even
when they lit up with mirth She raised
her hand to call the attention of her
| father, an elderly and benign looking
man who stood not far off in the garden,
admiring the blossoms of a laburnum.
Attracted by her gesture, he came to the
wall
''See, father" she cried pointing down
the road, there is the clergyman | told
you of yesterday. You wouldn't believe
me. Confess now that you were wrong
"Ah, yes, my DEAR" said Rev. Mr..
Halves seriously, 81 confess at once
Last night | heard all about him. He is
missionary and has been in China"
HE looks young, and yet his hair is
white" she said thoughtfully.
His is a sad story-a terrible story"
answered her father gently. Mr.. Lam
bert told it to me last night He went
out there four years ago, taking with
him his young wife. They seem to have
been very much attached to each other
They Were given charge of small sta
ton in the Notwithstanding upon
the Yang-tse river, l believe He was
doing good work there. He had school
and hospital. Then disturbances came.
Printed lies were circulated among the
natives, their passions were excited. and
the nearest mandarin was too far off
to render any help. They burned his
school. For a time he defended himself
| in his house until that, too, was burned.
He was struck on the head, rendered I'M
conscious and cast into the river His
| life was saved by few faithful mem.
bers of his flock He was taken down
the river in a junk and sent home CO
Europe to recover"
And his wife?" asked the Girl. with
parted lips.
"That is the saddest part of his
story" answered her father gravely.
HE was forced to shoot her with his
own hands, to prevent her from falling
into their power"
The beauty of the morning darkened
before the girls eyes She stood silent,
a shadow of pain upon her forehead
Poor mani" she said with sigh, st
must be terrible for him to think of"
'Mercifully, he does not think of it."
replied her father THE blow he re-
ceived seems to have affected his mind.
He has no memory of it, He does not
even know that he has been in China.
| At times he even talks OF going there"
Edith Hawcs passed into the house,
| filled with pity for the man whose story
she had heard His face. with its lines
OF suffering, haunted her She was Nv
nature and by training deeply religious,
and in her eyes the man who had suf-
fered so much for his faiths sake be-
came invested with the halo of the mar
tyr She pitied him from the bottom of
her heart; and it needed only time and
opportunity that that pity should ripen
into love.
Two days later she met him at a gar
den party at the Lamberts', Mrs Lam
bert introduced them casually and bus
tied off to attend to other guests. So
che threads of their fate were inter
woven. She stood looking at him with
plying interest; he at her with an ar
rested attention that had in its inten-
sity something that was almost painful.
you go to China shortly, / believer"
she stammered in the effort to make
conversation.
Very soon" he answered quietly. My
work will lie there. 1t is, hear, a most
interesting country
She was startled as she realized his
lack of recollection. True. her father
had told her of it; but to gather it from
the mans own lips gave her shock. 1t
seemed to her that he must have spoken
in much the same way four years ago,
when first he went out
You are interested in the work 2" she
asked after pause.
Very much,' he answered 1T has
been my life's aim"
That was all that passed between !
them. There seemed no more to saw.
and she moved away. He stood looking
after her.
"She is very beautiful" he unused
strangely beautiful She is like some
one, | wonder" He broke off and
passed his hand across his forehead with
a gesture of pain.
Edith, too. was thoughtful.
This is the man who is to be my hus-
band" she kept saying to herself. 'This |
is the man who is to be my husband"
There was only vague wonder with |
in her at the knowledge; no doubt at all. |
When at length the marriage was ar
ranged. it was not without considerable !
opposition on the part of the vicar. |
Greatly az he admired the missionaries |
character, he looked upon his loss of
memory as a mental weakness. and /
could not consider him desirable hus,
band for his daughter Moreover. Mr..
Lyall was fully determined to 90 to
China; and Edith not only accepted his
determination, but even sustained him
in it. In the end her quiet persistence