The evening Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1918-1920, 1919-03-25

through with them the same exper-
fences and looked upon the same
scenes and whispered condolences toe
intimate and sacred perhaps to be
spoken .aloud-they have gone one by
one upon that purple journey. And be
cause they have gone, every gray
haired saint is not afraid to set out
ALSO
what we are met today for is
merely to show our sympathy for q
saddened sister who must endure q
pittance of loneliness before the re
| adjustment of her life too, is made
And yet in the experience she is but
having the depth and beauty and a.
tenement of God and His universe
brought closer to her. By an hour OF
bittersweet heartache she is robbina
the Great Transition of its pagan
shadows and learning the turns in
the footpath to peace. Life will be
vaster and still more beautiful thing
to her as the days. go by and the
years roll on and she comes nearer
and nearer to the heart Of the sunset.
She has loaned this man to eternity
to make her own journey thither the
easier; she has added another soul to
those she will rejoice to turn her
steps toward when God walks in d
Garden in the cool of ife's day!''
Such was the sentiment of Dir.
Dodd's sermon over Jack Purses bier
And strange to relate, so beautiful
was the suggestion, so rich his voice,
so mellow his heart, that no one
not even Mary herself-sh the
customary tears.
She walked up to the flower smoth-
cred, satin pillowed bed and stood for
a moment looking down upon him.
Goodbye, Jack dear" she said
"When the boys have all joined you
over there, then III come toop'
| remember that as Sam and
drove homeward in the keen late
winter afternoon together, above the
jingle of the sleigh-bells and the
crunch of the runners cutting through
the snow-crust, the editor cried as
though from the depths of his soul!
ooh that I could believe it, Bill!
Oh that we were sure of it!''
We left the steaming horse at the
livery stable and walked up Maple
Street together AS we parted be-
fore my gate, Sam added:
"1n all that sermon or in his prayer
nowhere did DR.. Dodd once speak the
word DEATH"
eyes," / replied $50 l noticed"
But | was thinking of something
more important than that.
was thinking of Mary, left
alone with those little children.
We do not understand, being ordin-
| airy thick-skulled males, how Mary
Purse survived that blow. She must
have gone through hell the first week
following the placing OF Jacks body
IN the vault for burial in the Spring
Our wives went out there to console
her and brought back stories of hel
cheerfulness, her poise, the wonder.
full tenderness she exhibited toward
her fatherless boys And then, =.
then came an episode with which il
is fitting to close this portion of oul
narrative and move on out of scene.
| of struggle and grief and heartache
| into those of success and glory ano
great peace. About seven days after
| the funeral, Mary Purse came into
our office.
| 1t was Saturday afternoon The
| paper had been run off but the boys
and girls had not been paid off MOI
the shafting stopped whirring in the
basement. Crowds of farmer folE
were milling up and down MAR
street, patronizing our barber shops
occasional individuals dropping il
now and then to insert classified ads
OF pay their subscriptions to the
Weekly. Sam Hold looked up from
the exchange he was reading anc
there in the private-office doorway be-
tween our two desks, stood Mary
She was in mourning but not NOR
bidly so. Her face was drawn, hel
hair was grayer than ever.5 She was
not thirty-fve yet somehow Mary
Purse had mellowed. Grief and ter
rible trouble affects some folk thai
way. Others it makes mean and cy-
nical and hateful toward their fel
lows and their God. But Mary
Mary was one of those whom thu
vicissitudes of life were mellowins
and deepening, one of those whom
it is good to have around because Of
what they have suffered.