The Comrade. (Winnfield, La.) 1890-1914, 1910-09-16
CHAPTER x.
Hearts Awakened.

long, eventful voyage. Yet no motion
to which she had ever been subjected
not even the widest pitch of the
storm which had finally cast her away,
produced in her such strange emo.
tons as she experienced then. For
the earth itself was trembling, quiv.
erlng, rocking. The cave wall above
her, seen dimly by the filtering light
OF very early dawn which came
through the opening, partook of the
mad, fantastic motion In another Sec
ond she realized that 1t was an earth
quake. The air seemed filled with a
peculiar ringing sound of storm.
Her bed, of course, was the soft
sand over which grass had been
strewn. She lay, therefore, on the
floor and could not be thrown down,
but she was rolled from side to side
in a way which paralyzed her senses.
Never In all her experience had she
known such a sick feeling Of terror.
When the foundations of things are
shaken, when not merely the great
deep but the solid earth is broken up,
humanity stands as if in the presence
OF the power of God She lay resist
less, staring, praying, wondering
whether the shaking rock over her
head would fall and crush her.
In a moment the instinct of life
quickened her to action. She rose to
her knees, staggered to her feet and
tried to make her way to the en-.
trance. Walking wasA terrible. The
earth seemed to have shaken for
hours, and yet the duration of the
shock was really less than minute
It's violence was terrific. Just before
she reached the opening, 1t stopped
with one tremendous shock as sudden
ly as it had begun The next second,
with roar that sounded like a thou
sand pieces of artillery, the gray ha-
zy light In front of her was blotted
out by falling mass of rock which
just escaped her. The face Of the cliff
had given away. In deeper, intenser
terror than before she threw herself
against the barrier. It was as hard
and as unyielding as the other walls.
No light came to her even. She was
imprisoned alive in this rocky sepul-
cher. She sank down on her knees
and buried her face In her hands. She
murmured words of prayer.
Her mind few to the other side of
the island, to the man. Was he, too,
entombed? Was this the end of her
labors? Outside she could hear the
wind roar and the waves laundering
with awful violence on the shore. Be
fore the earthquake had come the
storm. There was still some connec-
ton between the cave and the outer
air, 1t seemed, for she was now con-
scious of lightning flashes. After the
storm, came the fire. Her mind went
back to what she had read from the
Bible few days before of Elijah's
despair. Therefore in like case she
listened with all her heart for the still
voice Of comfort to her awestruck
soul. It did not seem to come. She
was doomed; she would never see
him again, If indeed he were yet alive.
She knew her feeling for him now.
She slipped forward and fell fainting
on the sandy floor Of the cave. And
still the voice was there. Presently
it came to her, as the voice of God
usually comes to humanity, through
the lips of man.
After a space, how long after she
could not tell, she was conscious of
a human cry through the wild clamor
of the storm. A voice that she knew
and loved was calling her by name.
Was it some wraithlike fancy of the
storm? She rose to her knees, sick
and faint, and listened. No, it was
a human voice, his voice, her name.
The cry was fraught with frantic ap-
peal. It thrilled and vibrated with
passion. 1t told her in that awful mo-
ment story which she had not read.
It revealed to her imaginations of
which she had not dreamed. She was
fascinated with what she heard. She
forgot for the moment to answer. Ali
the woman In her, the eternal temi-
nine In her, listened. Her bosom rose
and fell, her heart throbbed, her
pulses beat. Alone with that wild,
passionate, appealing, frantic cry, she
forgot the earthquake, she forgot the
prison, she forgot the storm, she for
got the world. She only realized that
there out In the dawn, man, the man
Of oil the world, who loved her was
calling her name. The old call Of
manhood to womanhood, Of mate to
mate.
She rose instantly to her feet. This
time it was the beating Of her heart
that pitched and tossed her body, She
leaned against the rock wall and then
she called his name.
Man." she cried, "are you safe?'
Eyes, was the answer. "And
your
Entirely so, save for this prison
Thank God!" came family to her
from beyond the wall. Thank God,
hear your voice. / shall have you out,
never fear.n