The Concordia sentinel. (Vidalia, Concordia Parish, La.) 1882-current, 1920-08-21

benign, humorous; yet just at all
times-a man who is never to be
turned aside from principle by idle
sentimentality. Doctor King is not IN
like him in this unflinching fealty to
duty and to honor.
These two persons put their heads
together to decide that since Mrs.
Richie leads such a solitary life and is
abundantly able, she is the one to take
the homeless David. The cOnspiratOrs
proceed with extreme caution. The
child is brought to Doctor Lavendar's
house, and Mrs. Richie is given the OPP
pOrtunity to see him.
He is a quaint winsome, appealing
little fepOw-a decided personality,
and one of the most delightful and
consistent child portraits in modern
fiction. His greatest attraction lies In
the fact that one can never be sure
what he will say next. Once, when
Doctor Lavender is telling him story
he keeps his eyes fixed so intently on
the mans face that the old gentleman
is much flattered.
"Well, well. you are great boy for
stories, aren't your" remarks the de-
lighted minister
"YOu've talked seven minutes" said
David thOughtfully, land you haven't
moved your upper jaw once"
As can he imagined the child makes
instant conquest Of Mrs. Richie, who
insists on fitting him put with tiny gar
ments. and brings him in triumph to
the STUFFED Animal House."
Day by day the tie that binds her to
David strengthens until we see this af-
lection the dominant motif Of her
life. It even OvershadOws her love for
Prior, although it is some time before
she is conscious that it does so.
In the meanwhile, quite by chance,
the security of her miniature world is
shaken to its foundations. There lives
in Old Chester a youth much Mrs.
Riches junior, Sam Wright, who has
drifted into the habit Of calling on her,
and who falls in love with her. II is
the blind worship of one who has
never known passion, and in an at
tempt to break up the boys infatua-
ton his doting grandfather comes to
Mrs. Richie and half in irritation &C
cuses her Of not being a good woman.
The shot is random one, but the in
slant the charge is made the speaker
realizes he has hit upon the truth
IIelena's anger at his gibes and sar-
casm is like the whirlwind.
But the Lord was not in the wind.
1t is Sam Wright's suicide that first
brings home to her the gravity of defy
ing social responsibility. What she has
hitherto regarded as q scOrn for con-
vention she now sees to he crime
against humanity. All her being is
rocked with self-reproach.
But the Lord was not in the earth
quake.
1t is not until Doctor King forces
her TO confess her guilt, and tells her
she must give up David, that we reach
the climax Of the drama. Then all the
wild mother instinct of the woman
leaps into being. She is a lioness fight
ing for her young. She will give up
Prior; in fact she does give him up.
But she will not part with David. She
begs, brides, prays; but Willy Kings
conscience will not permit him to lis
ten to her entreaties. She must send
the child back to Doctor Lavendar, or
he must acquaint the good minister
with the entire story.
In an effort to fOreStall this action
Mrs. Richie herself goes to the rectOry
and before she leaves it she looks into
the face of her own soul and pro
nounces her doom.
1.-THE whirlwind Of anger had died
out: the shock of responsibility had
subsidized; the hiss of those flames of
shame had ceased. She was in the
centre of all the tumults, where lies
the quiet mind of God"
When DR.. Lavender asks her If she
thinks herself worthy to keep the
child she humbly whispers: NO"
And after the fire, the still Small
Voice.
At last the woman's conscience is
aroused, her repentance is sincere,
and we have the true awakening of
Helena Richie"
How wisely DR.. Lavendar meets this
crisis in the shattered life, allowing
her to taste to the full the dregs of
remorse and suffering; and yet how
mercifully and gently he leads her up
ward toward hope and desire for res
titutiOn constitute the remainder Of
the story.
The kind old man suggests that
she make her future home in distant
city where her past will not follow
her and where she may start anew,
and he asks that on the morning
of her departure she come to him for
a package which he wishes her to take
with her on her journey. The reader
shares her shock of joyous surprise
when David energies from the corner
of the stage-coach crying:
'Tm the package !"
"Dr. Lavender took both her
hands. -. Helena he said, your
Master came into the world.as little
child. Receive him in your heart by
faith, with thanksgiving
So ends the novel.
To tear the skeleton of the plot
from its exquisite setting is almost