Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1918-09-20

y )" 81 A"Nc' ~ seSAncu uDSuFQ 10 ~
d lieve that a tender girl like Roso Y,
roma could long have withstood III
& hardships Of this hldeous place s,stron.
er people than she had succumbed b
the hundreds. Even now the hospItal
were full, the sick lay INTENDED 4
their novels. No one, so far as O'Relll
knew, had undertaken to estimate hoy
: fast they were dying or the number o
dead which had already ridden out o
Matanzas In those rumblIng wagons
but there were many. What cbanc,
was there that Rosa had not beer
among the latter1
AS he breasted the summit Of Ia
Cumbre, O'Reilly beheld ut some dis
lance a bent figure Of want. 1t was @
negro woman, grubbing In the earth
with a sharpened stick. After q sus.
picious scrutiny Of him she resumed
her digging.
Nothing but a heap Of stones and
plaster remained of the varona home.
The grounds, once beautiful v when
neglected as in Donna Isabel's iime.
were now a scene Of total d~esolatIon. A
rev orange trees, to be sure, remained
standing, and although they were cool
n green to look at, they carried no
fruit and the odor Of their blooms WAS
n trial and a mocke7y to the hungry
visitor. The evidences Of Cueto's van.
dallsm affected O'Reilly deeply: they
brought him memories more painful
than he had anticipated. Although the
place was well-nigh unacceptable.
nevertheless 1t cried aloud Of Rosa.
and the unhappy lover could barely
control the emotions 1t awakened. It
was indeed a morbid impulse which
had brought him thither, but now that
no was here he could not leave. Un-
consciously his feet turned toward the
ancient quarry which had formed the
sunken gnrden-his and Rosa's tryst.
Ing place.
O'Reilly desired above all things to
alone at this moment, and so he was
annoyed to discover that another per-
was before him-a woman, evident
ly some miserable pacifco like himself.
She. too, appeared to be looking for
and he almost stumbled over her
rs he brushed through tho guaya
fringing the depression.
Ills sudden appearance alarmed the
creature and she struggled. panic.
stricken, out of his path. Her rags
could not conceal the fact that she was
reformed, that her back was crooked.
80 he nuttered q reassuring word TO
ler.
mis- place was more as he had left
t-there was the stone bench where
he had said good-by to Rosa; yonder
vas the we'll
"Senorr Johnnie heard himself ad-
by the hunchbacked woman.
Ter voice was thin, tremulous, eager,
ut his thoughts were busy and he
'ald no heed. "Senorl Do you look
something-some one"
"N-no. Yes" he answered, abstract
Oily. "Yes, l am looking for some
one" K
something you have lost?" '
Something I have lostr" The cues. {
Ion came to him family, but 1t was so I
4 tune with his unhappy mood that 1t
lrected him strangely. He found that s
is eyes were blurring and that an !
cnins lump had risen into his throat. I
his was the breaking point. {
oReilly's hearing, too, was going '
7rong, for he imagined that some one
'hispered his name. Godl This place q
not dead-it was alive-terribly G
i've with memories, voices, a pres l
nee unseen yet real. He laid hold of
nearest bush to steady himself. he t
losed his eyes, only to hear his name s
poken louder. y
"O'Rail-ye!" 4
Johnnie brushed the tears from his 0
'shes. He turned, he listened. but u
lere was no n to be seen, no one,
lat Is, except the dusky cripple. who s.
nd Strengthened herself and was fac. h
lg MIN, poised uncertainty. He looked l
her a second time, then the world l
egan to spin dlzzily and he groped his
NY toward her. He peered again. IL
oser, for everything before his eyes W
swimming.
Inc woman was thin-little more 81
IAN a skeleton-and SO frail that the a
appeared to sway her. but her b.
'ce, upllfted to the sun, was glorified. b
Reilly stood rooted. staring at her j
It'll she opened her eyes, then he al
'lced a great cry:
Rosa" What more he said he Il
'ver knew. ... "a
lie took the misshapen figure into
s arms, he rained kisses upon the y
nched, discolored face. But Rosa u
d not respond; her puny strength y !
"a flown and she lay inert In his en- u
ace, scarcely breathing. 81
Dazed. doubling, astounded. IL was ",
me time before Johnnie could CON.
nee himself of the reality Of this mo- =,
.nt, and even then words did not =,
to him, for his mind vas In tur.
oil. Joy, thanksgiving, compassion-t r.
emotions-mingled in n sort ..
ueiirlum' too Wild for coherent "