The Penn's Grove record., 1921-02-04

~ n 44N4N0 S4NO
sands out against a background of
high-bOrn Virginian ancestry-a back.
groundsOf jewels, brocades, fans, and
satin slippers; of balls and minuets /;
Of wide-reaching plantations and
slaves. The Major has been one of
those who has %herOically fought in
the Revolution, and to whom the
Southern beauty out of patriotic
gratitude has given her hand, brave
ly following him into the Kentucky
wilderness. Unfortunately, although
neither of the pair confess it, the mar
riage has been an %uncongenial one.
Both, however, are too noble minded
to do otherwise than be true to the
union that holds them together. Yet
there is a scar of disappointment be
meath the surface, and in the woman's
heart a WEAKNESS and longing that
nothing satisfies. During John Gray's
visits to her niece Mrs. Falconer has
become deeply interested in the young
s~choolmaster. who is about her own
age and whose tastes she shares. Be
tween them a companionship has
sprung up which each honestly mis-
takes for friendship.
Amy's attraction for the man has
been an untutored impulse Of the
senses; but Jessica Falconer's power
over him is one of deep spiritual in
SEPARATION.
When he awakens to the discovery
that in reality it is Mrs. Falconer
whom he loves his reverence for her.
her purity, and her loyalty to her hus-
band all bind him to silence. She also
loves him but is in honor bound to
give him no sign, and hence with their
love unspoken he goes East ~ostensibly
TO O the legacy he expects to
inherit, but determined never to return.
The lawsuit for his property goes
against him and he is cast into jail for
debt, from which ignominy the eff
forts of friends release him. He is a
proud man and wishing to pay this
debt of gratitude he proposes to marry
the daughter of the family that has
befriended him. Before the marriage,
however, he tells his future bride quite
frankly that he loves someone else who
is not free, and it is with this knowl-
edge that she accepts him. While the
wedding is in preparation a letter
comes to him from Mrs. Falconer an
nouncing the death of her husband,
and in the silent hope that his fiancee
will give him his liberty he %acquaints
her with the change in his prospects.
We gather from the text that the girl
is unwilling to give him up, and as he
is too honorable to demand his free
dom he carries out his pledge.
All ignorant of this turn of events
Mrs. Falconer in the meantime is so
sure of his love that she erects in
distant Kentucky a stately mansion
modelled after the home of her early
youth. She is still in the thirties and
beautiful, and deluded into the belief
that at last her dreams are to be full
filled she makes ready for her mar
riage. A paper telling of Johns union
with omeone else rudely destroys her
paradise. Twice she has missed the
prize of happiness. The intense joys
of wOmanhoOd she is never to know.
81 shall go softly all my days." she
murmurs.
Time sweeps on but her beauty does
not fade. She becomes the great lady
of the Southern settlement and at her
home Aaron Burr and many another
famous American is entertained. More
than one man lays his fortune at her
feet and goes away disappointed.
There are women who never expert
ence the heights and the depths OF
life. Gazing deep into their eye we
are reminded Of the light of dim
churches-They are the women who
nave missed happiness and who know
it; but having failed of affection give
themselves to duty. 1t waS into the
company of these q%uieter pilgrims that
she had passed"
One day long afterward when she
is alone in her garden she sees coming
toward her a magnificent young fellow
al the brink of manhood.
He lifts his hat with courtly gesture.
81 am John Gray, the son of your
old friend. and my father sends me
to you to stay if you will let me. And
he desires me to deliver this letter"
"John Gray.' she cried. "You John
Gray! You'll Take off your hat"
For a moment she looked at his
forehead and his hair; her eyes be-
came blinded with tears. She threw
her arms around his neck with a sob
and covered his face with kisses.
Alone in the solitude of her bedroom
she reads the letter.
John tells her that he loves her, that
he has always loved her: and that it
is the fire of this love that through
the years has kept his ideals aglow.
"Many a time this candle has gone
ont; but as quickly as I could snatch
my torch-with your sacred name on
NY lips-it has been %relighted."
eff" he adds, 81 have kept unbroken