The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1911-04-01
she Had Confidence Ia God.

She Had Confidence Ia God.
not more faithful. ~acceptant and de-
voted. Yet this was a very human
man In spite OF all these things. a
man OF, splendid yigor and health with
all a mans impulses, hopes. dreams
and aspirations. And he loved her.
lie. too. sat upon the white sands
OF the gemlike island and looked out
into the far blue OF the Pacific wash
ing the distant shores and lands peo-
pied with strange creatures Of history
and romance and he, too, wondered.
He had had 10 experience with men
and the world aud he ionged to get
away and to take her away.
She had long since discovered that
he was e. gentleman. an innate gentle
man: that he had been well born, and
she had seen TO It herself that he had
been well bred. Yet no mortal man
eyer went through greater fires Of
unknown and mysterious Temptations.
than he. He forced himself not to
speak words that Turned. He checked
the free course of; thoughts shat bub-
BLEED and seethed within his;brain. and
the relationship between them re.
manned tibet Of m~istress3 and man.
teacher and taught; friend; and friend.
tIt wss he who; SOL aiptained;ltt, though
of thfs she was unaware Sii.
And heii Too, kpged for some hour
to,conie when he might withtright and
ideseney ii ydigbity sspeaksthe words
which some day he must speak or die.
He was not yersed In the ways Of
Women. He had no store Of knowl.
edge, no LESSON Of experience to fall
baekGpon. He knew but one woman.
He could not predicate from any petty
maxim. or from any ancient %aphorisnl.
or from any worn out philosophy.
what she would or would no dounder
certain conditions. Indeed. he only
thought that he loved her and he must
tell her or die in the. concealnent:
Ard so matters ran on and on" It
needed but Il spark to ignite the pow
der, 1t would have seemed. and yet
u vast cataclysm of nature only
brought about the explosion He had
never touched her except to take her
hand. Her person had been as In.
violate to him as II she had ibeenta
star above his head. And she had
been careful under no circumstances
10 allow more than that. Their hands
had clasped often. Indeed, with every
Good night" AND Good morning" the
circuit OF touch was made and broken.
but that was all. They usually parted
ut night on the sands where, she had
first been thrown ashore. lie would
away from him In the darkness toward
the cave that was her home. She
had impressed upon him how she
trusted him. the absolute assurance,
the entire confidence that she had
that he would respect the agreement
between them nnd he would have died
rather thnn have ~transgressed the law.
stepped over that imaginary barrier.
as potent az the circle Of Richelteu,
which kept them apart. I
And yet she would never know
what horrible eonstraint he put upon
himself. How lie stood with clenched
hands and quivering body and stared
after her, long after she had gone. She
would never know how that intensity
Of longing grew and grew until some.
tisies he felt that he could not over.
master it. She would know how
he plunged away staggering through
the woods and threw himself down
upon the sands OH his side Of the
island. disdalnlng even the rude shell.
ter Of the cave which wus his home,
and fought It out. Sometimes she
saw evidences OF internal conflict In
his soul the next morning. The calm
serenity, the indifference, the animal.
like satisfaction with which he had
faced life when she first knew him
had long since disappeared. There
were deepening lines upon his face
which told OF thought. OF struggle. and
OF character thus developed by these
two potent factors in shaping human
destiny.
And he could never know what was
in her mind. either. He never dreamed
that she could love him. She was so
far above him. so supreme In his eyes
that the possibility meyer occurred SO