The Washington herald., 1917-03-10
Folk We Touch In Passing
~ JULIA CHANDLER
ACCORDING TO HER FAITH.

When It became generally known that
The Man contemplated divorce the COM
mendation Of his friends dispelled any
fragment Of doubt that remained in his
mind
For. one and ali. his business associates
and eliminates applauded his courage
telling him that he had no right to en-
cumber his career with . woman who
made no effort to keep up with his po-
sition. his friends, and his social place
IN . successful world
And while his friends thus aided The
Man IN tustifying the action he was
about to take The Woman sat alone in
the home she had made for him. the
of memory which took her back along
the road to yesterday when she stood in
the soft draperies Of her white satin
gown enveloped by the bIIiowy folds Of
her wedding veil
She could not remember which had
dominated her-emotion, love, or pride
when she heard his clear, manly prom
ise to love, honor and cherish" a. they
should journey down the fun length of
lies road. 80 intermingled had been the
two.
The salary Of The Man In those Tar
away days was 30 ridiculously small that
II was an amazement to everybody that
The Woman managed to exc out q COM
Portable little home. and few there were
who stopped to consider how It was done
least Of all The Man
And always. as The Woman did with
out that The Man might have. she told
herself that love compensated for every
sacrifice, and found comfort in the belief
that the bye and bye held brighter thinga
Then came the children, four Of them,
and. although The Mans appearance OF
Woman's ever Increasing sacrihce. had
won for him several promotions the
mother OF the little brood sometimes
FOUND the tears near the surface when
she WHISPERED her reassurancs Of bye
and bye"
She worked from sunrise to sunset and
often beyond that
The Man leaned upon her Judgment He
drew Inspiration from the sweet clean
nome made for him, and the wholesome
lovely children sent out to meet him at
the close Of each day when he returned
from work.
And II. sometimes, The wornan's heart
was still 50 young that she viewed her
habitual shabbiness with Q sigh. and
stfned longing for . new and pretty
frock she repeated her hopeful slogan of
bye and bye"
At last 1t came. The children were
grown and The Woman's youth was a
spent thing. And she looked upon the
fulnlled promise Of the years without any
sense Of Joy. Her bye and bye had
come to pass and she was too tired to
care IN the leasti
Then one day The Man told her that
the place he had achieved In the business
world demanded much Of his wife. that
~ 49, a
light, to entertain his friends As became
his standing
Tho Woman listened and was silent
She was awkwardly conscious of her
work-statned hands, the stoop of her
tired shoulders. She knew that her life
as numbered by years-was but at its
prime. Nevertheless age was upon her,
and for the first time since she began
TO walk hfe's road with The Man she was
afraid.
For she knew Of a certainty that the
demand he made upon her was impossible
OF fulnllment
So IL came about that the spring sunset
oathed the patient face of The Woman in
ITS golden glow as she sat in the home she
had made for the man. while memories Of
the years into which she had poured the
full strength Of all her radiant, splendid
youth took flight, leaving her to face the
desolate present-alone.
But the habit OF faith was strong upon
her.
Bye and bye" she murmured.' "Bye
and bye he will find that he is giving the
real for the unreal, life for its counterfeit.
abiding happiness for its sham, and ne
will come back
So. ultimately, according to her un-
sverving faith and her very great pa
rfence The Woman. realized the full sweet
measure of her bye and hve"
Copyright. 1sl7J