Convert / by Charles Buckner Hudgins

THE CONVERT
By
CHARLES BUCKNER tHUDGINS
New York and Washington THE NEALE PUBLISHING COMPANY
1908

n
Copyright, 1908, by THE NEALE PUBLISHING COMPANY

CONTENTS

Chapter

Page

I A Discussion ....."....... 9 II Concerning Women ...... 15 III The New Trustee is Intro
duced ............... 23 IV Reuben Reinhardt Has a
Vision ............... 33 V The Gossips ............ 42 VI Park Place ............. 48
VII More Ghost-Stories ...... 55 VIII A Possum Hunt ......... 67
IX The Firemens Banquet ... 76
X The Teachers Discuss the
Judges Speeches ....... 88 XI Mount Alto and its Hermit. 96 XII The Christmas Tree ...... 108 XIII Two Christmas Presents ... 116 XIV The First Lesson ........ 129 XV The Fox Hunt .......... 140 XVI A Country Dinner ....... 147 XVII Another Hebrew Lesson ... 157 XVIII The Judge Delivers an Ora
tion ................. 165 XIX The Legion of Honor ..... 175 XX Aunt Chloes Death ...... 182 XXI Judge Reinhardt Speaks
i Again ............... 187
XXII The Picnic at Chickamauga. 196

The Convert

Chapter
XXIII XXIV XXV
XXVI XXVII XXVIII XXIX
XXX XXXI XXXII XXXIII XXXIV XXXV XXXVI

Page
Lookout Mountain ....... 210 Romes Memorial Day .... 221 The Judge Celebrates His
Birthday ............. 232 An Accident ............ 240 Ruth at Virginia Beach .... 250 Ruth Writes a Letter ..... 260 The Lover Comes ........ 272 The Judges Convalescence. 281 The Storm and Wreck .... 288 The Wedding ........... 296 Comments on the Marriage. 302 A National Tragedy ...... 307 Home Again ............ 314 The Convert Converts .... 322

THE CONVERT

CHAPTER I
A DISCUSSION
"Hes a woman hater, girls, our new trus tee, so they say I How very unfortunate for us! Surely, he must be a victim of disap pointed love! Who could have been so heart lessly cruel, so very unwise, as to jilt such a noble man! You may depend upon it, there is a secret cause for his being a woman hater! It is an unnatural condition for any sane man to be in! Why, he is handsome and intel lectual, he seems to have a fair income, and he enjoys the unquestionable respect and confi dence of his fellow-citizens, else he could not have been elected to so many offices of honor and trust; he could not stand so high in die Masonic fraternity of the State of Georgia, and last, but not the least, of the honors heaped upon him, his election to the exalted office of trustee of the public schools of Rome!"
The speaker was Ruth Rex, a whole souled and sympathetic young woman of twenty-five, who for the past five years had been one of the most popular teachers in the public schools of Rome. She was one of those for tunate teachers who not only easily win the

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The Convert

respect and love of all the good pupils, but also that of the little embryo men and women considered "incorrigible" by other teachers. If her sister-teachers failed to control any obstreperously bad boy or girl, it fell to the lot of "Miss Ruth" to tame the seemingly unruly little savage, and in such cases she never failed. Some people said that she must hypnotize her pupils, she had them all so completely under her will. But she truthfully denied possessing any such mys terious power. The true secret, if there were any secret at all, was this: she was always conscious of the fact that whatever the out ward appearances to the contrary, there ex isted in the heart of every child certain poten tialities for good. She was a quick and cor rect reader of character, and understood the fickle moods and the uncertain elements of human nature, and she was naturally gifted as a teacher and leader of children. The per sonification of good nature, she was always firm. Her "no" meant no, and her "yes" yes. She never scolded or threatened, but calmly and sweetly ruled with the rod of loving firmness.
Ruth was endowed by the Creator, whose faithful servant she was, with the power of inspiring all who knew her with the utmost confidence in her ability, and with the highest esteem for her character. Therefore, she was

A Discussion

11

not only almost idolized by her pupils, but was a general favorite with the school teach ers, the Superintendent, and the Board of Trustees. The "girls" to whom she ad dressed, as the lawyers would say, her "afore said remarks" about the new trustee, were her seventeen sister-teachers. They were all waiting, in one of the school rooms, for the coming of the Superintendent to give them some instructions. One of the teachers, Julia North, the self-appointed spokeswoman for the others, replied in a rather defiant tone, with a cold expression in her gray eyes and about her firmly compressed, thin lips,
"I do not care if our new trustee is a woman hater, and he may or may not be worthy of the very extravagant compliments Miss Ruth has heaped upon him; but, girls, he is a Jew. Think of it, a Jew trustee I As if we did not have enough eligible Christian citizens from whom our wise city fathers could have selected a new trustee, that they had to turn to this unconverted Hebrew. I, for one, am indignant and entirely disgusted, and hereby utter my protest against such in excusable inconsistency!"
"Oh, Miss North, how can you be so nar row minded and prejudiced?" exclaimed Ruth Rex. "You know in our beloved home of the brave and land of the free, in the eyes of the law and Constitution, all are born free

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The Convert

and equal; consequently our public schools
are kept non-sectarian, and the children the descendants of every nationality and color,
and of every creed and no creed, Jew and Gentile, Greek and Barbarian all can come
and be given the same instruction. The Jews are large property owners and taxpayers,
some of them our most successful financiers, merchants and lawyers, many of whose chil
dren are in our public schools, and if their fathers are competent, why should they not be represented on our School Board? And
for that matter, why should not their sisters and daughters be equally eligible with us Christians for the position of teachers?"
"Did you ever hear the like of that?" re torted Miss North. "Why, girls, I believe that our dear Miss Ruth is going to set her cap for this Jew trustee! But we shall see
if even her charms can succeed in adding this woman hater to her long list of captive ad mirers. It would not surprise me to hear of this woman-hating Hebrew making love to our model teacher before the end of the term. But really, Miss Ruth, for the sake of argu ment, you might as well say that as the negroes own property and pay taxes, they should have one or more of their own race on the School Board, and their sisters and daugh ters made teachers, and their children allowed
to attend the white schools."

A Discussion

13

"No, no I" Ruth Rex cried, "that would be
neither wise nor expedient for the whites or the blacks. For it is contrary to human nature for the white and black races to mix on perfect equality. As you know, we build
good school-houses for them all through the
Southern States, and pay their teachers well,
and when we can find competent negro teach ers, we hire them; but they must be kept
separate from the white schools. And, for the same reasons, we can not allow negro trus
tees to help direct either the white or colored free schools. As to your jest about setting my cap for our new trustee, you know that such a thing is most absurd. I am a Chris
tian, and I would not change faith for the richest, handsomest, and most highly honored Jew in the world. But while the Jew in ques
tion continues on the Board of Trustees, I advise you all to do as I intend to do, which I consider as our imperative duty, namely, to respect him in the very same way as we re spect all the other trustees honor to whom honor is due, both to the Gentile and the Jew! But be careful, for little pitchers sometimes have big ears I see some of our Hebrew children playing under these win dows." Glancing out into the hall, she added, "A little bird of the passage may
carry our idle words to some one we may least desire to hear them."

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The Convert

"That monstrosity called the woman
hater, " persisted Miss North, "I fear will
have all us women turned out and men ap pointed in our places."
Sentimental little Miss Cole only laughed. She looked upon every unmarried man of her
acquaintance, whether bachelor or widower, as her possible lover and husband in the not very distant future, and it was whispered that
she had joined the happy group of maiden teachers because so many of them married
not long after becoming teachers, and it had got to be considered a short and sure road to matrimony. However, Miss North had
proved the exception to the rule. She was so incredulous of anything good in men that she
was accused of being a "man hater." Be that as it may, the fact remained that she looked upon men with so much suspicion that not one seemed to desire to linger in her presence long
enough to undeceive her.

CHAPTER II
CONCERNING WOMEN
"I do not believe there is, or ever has been, such a thing in the human form as a genuine woman hater or a man hater, " said Miss Cole, or "Miss Sentimentalism," as they called her. "From the remote ages down to our own day, by the foreordained counsel of God, there has ever existed a deep-rooted and innate love between the sexes an Eve made for each Adam man and woman created for each other by the all-wise Creator, to live lov ingly together till death them do part, in that happy state of marriage which Tennyson pictures in The Princess j
"Seeing either ser alone Is half itself, and in true marriage lies Nor equal nor unequal: each fulfills Defect in each, and always thought in thought, Purpose in purpose, will in will, they grow, The single pure and perfect animal, LTihfee."two-celled heart beating with one full stroke,
"Good for Miss Sentimentalism!" cried somebody, amidst the general hand clappings and hearty laughter of all, save the stern, cynical Miss North, who, after sufficient quiet was restored, arose from her seat and said,

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The Convert

"My dear young friends, as the Superin tendent, man-like, seems to have forgotten his appointment to meet us, while waiting his long delayed coming we have, by common consent, resolved ourselves into a debating society a sort of new womans club meet ing, as our so-called lords and masters would call it. Without desiring to dispel the fair
dream of our sentimental friend, I feel it my
duty, as your senior teacher, to inform her
and you aU, who may possibly entertain any such delusive ideas, that the history of the nations of the world proves that in all ages men have lorded it over women, because, being physically the stronger, they could do it with impunity. They have forced them to
be hewers of wood and drawers of water,
and like beasts of burden they have made them toil in the field and spend their lives in
domestic drudgery, rearing children, feed ing and clothing also their husbands and brothers, while the men, lazy, domineering and intolerable nuisances, have loafed around sleeping, smoking, eating, and drinking, amusing themselves with their all-too-willing female slaves they made of their wives, daughters, and sisters. In the early and middle ages, monks, bishops, priests, and deacons and laymen, though calling them selves Christians, followers and imitators of
the lowly and holy Son of the Blessed Virgin

Concerning Women

17

Mary, have taken vows of eternal separation from women, as if they were the root of all evil; have stigmatized them as she devils, and shunned them as they would Satans own imps, kept on earth for the express purpose of ensnaring them and leading them poor,
weak things to perdition! To this day of boasted gallantry and appreciation of the fair
sex, as they call us, whenever we hear of any crime being committed, any great wickedness of man, how often the expression is heard
a womans at the bottom of it! My advice to you all, my sweet Innocents, though un
sought, is freely given, without money and without price beware how you listen to these gay deceivers, who before they win you to an unconditional surrender to their authority
and selfish will, would worship you as dear angels, and after marriage you will be forced
to slavery, to be their playthings, to lose your identity, and become completely absorbed in
the tyrant man. Yes, there have ever been, even amongst supposed Godly men, woman haters, and I am quite sure that our sex has had ample cause to make them all man
haters; that is, all who are not love-blind." Such a tirade on man by one of so much
learning, and still more years, might have ended the discussion, though it did not con vince some of her hearers, if Miss Cole had

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not just then recalled an ancient story which she could not resist the pleasure of repeating, not only for arguments sake, but also to show off her recently acquired knowledge of church history. She was an enthusiastic student of church history in the Friday-night class of her scholarly pastor, and from his lectures and books she had learned much about the ages of persecution, the past and present
periods of heresies and schisms, which doc trines were orthodox or heterodox, according
to the six holy Ecumenical Synods, A. D. 320680; the Dark Ages, 680 to the sixteenth century; the schisms of the Western and
Eastern Church, and the Great Reformation of the sixteenth century. All these historic events and dates she had studiously fixed in her mind. So, with secret feelings of pardon able pride, she fixed her eyes intently on the oracle of the school, Miss North, and began her little speech.
"Between the middle of the third and fifth centuries!"
"My, how rapidly she makes us travel upon the wings of time! A moment ago she took us back to the beginning of the year one, when our first parents were lovers in the Garden of Eden, but now we are only to stretch our mental vision to 1500 years ago! Truly, we have something for which to be thankful!" Such were some of the side

Concerning Women

19

remarks, spoken half aloud, but earnest little Miss Cole continued as if she had not been
interrupted: " There were many Christian men and
women, who lived as saints and died for the
faith as martyrs. Then too, as now, there were many very wicked people of both
sexes women who, like Herodias, would
make their daughters dance for the trunkless, bleeding head of a St. John Baptist; men like the cruel Nero, who for one evenings amusement would order brave Christian men, women, and children to be devoured by
hungry wild beasts in the Arena, and other saintly martyrs in coats of tar and pitch, tied
to posts and set on fire to light up the way of the heartless tyrant along the roads of the parks, as he and his gorgeous retinue returned from the bloody and savage scenes of the Colosseum. The pagan women descended to the very lowest degradation to please and en snare the young men of their day. So corrupt were the women of those days, many pious Christians fled from the contamination of their surroundings to the wilderness and mountains and caves. Some, like St. An thony, who for many years dwelt in the dreary desert, singing hymns and psalms and spiritual songs, studying the Holy Scriptures, fasting and praying, and in daily communion
with God. Others erected high pillars in the

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dreary wilderness on which to stand and pray, like St. Simon Stylites, to avoid being polluted by even so much as a touch of depraved humanity. One of these anchorites named Pambos took nineteen years to learn prac tically the meaning of the words of the Psalm, I will take heed to my ways, that I offend not with my tongue. It was this same good Pambos who wept bittsrly on seeing, as he was passing by, an actress dancing, Be cause, said he, I exert myself less to please my God than she to please filthy men. In
those days there was a certain Christian man, who suffered much from the wiles of bad women, and his shrew of a wife having died and left him with an infant boy, took the little babe and fled to the desert abode of the Christian anchorites, with the resolution that he would rear his motherless boy under such saintly influences and that he should never as sociate or even so much as see or hear of a woman. He succeeded in his plan till the boy had grown to manhood, when, during a long season of drought, the men were forced to go to the River Nile for water. As they neared the river there were seen some of those muchdreaded female tempters on the opposite shore, bathing, like Pharaohs daughter, with her maidens, when she found the babe Moses in his cradle of bullrushes. Before the anxious father was aware of the danger his

Concerning Women

21

son was held spellbound by so new and pleas
ing a sight. His whole frame shook with
joyous excitement, and in his ecstasy he cried out to his father, who was following in the distance, and had not yet seen the beautiful bathers, Oh, my dear father! Father, what are those lovely creatures across the river?
The alarmed father hastened toward his son, crying out, For Gods sake, my son, cross yourself, and shut your eyes from that deadly sight! They are she-devils, and you are lost lest you hasten away from this snare of the evil one! Turn around and run away as fast as you can, or they will be your ruin 1 Oh, my father, I cannot take my eyes off them! Surely, such lovely beings are not harmful! Catch one of them for me, or I die! I would rather have one of them than all the riches of this world, or even heaven itself! This is the land of enchantment it is heavenly! 1 must hasten to yon beautiful angels! So com pletely was he charmed by the lovely vision, that before his father and his companions could detain him he ran down the bank and plunged into the river, and never more was seen.
"No, no, my dears, there was never born a woman hater or a man hater. Such a disposi
tion is unnatural, and if it exists it is acquired. If any one becomes so, it is because neither the measureless love of the mother, nor die

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unselfish care of the nurse, nor the tender af fection of the sister or brother, nor the trust
ing, clinging devotion of a sensible wife, or a manly husband, or brother has been his happy portion. We are all naturally gifted with the potentialities to love, and the desire to be
loved. If we do not find our affinity, we are unfortunate, that is all."

CHAPTER III
THE NEW TRUSTEE IS INTRODUCED
The discussion might have continued in definitely had it not been interrupted, just as Miss Cole closed her remarks, by the entrance of the school Superintendent, followed by the innocent object of the beginning of their talk, the newly elected trustee, the Jew. Taken so completely by surprise, there was a blush of guilt upon the countenances of the ladies, with whom, for the first time, a painful silence prevailed for an instant, till broken by the Superintendents voice.
"Ladies, I have the honor and pleasure of presenting to you our new trustee, Judge Reuben Reinhardt. Judge, these ladies are our gifted and faithful teachers, all of whom I esteem as my worthy and valuable assist ants."
The Judge made a dignified bow, and with a pleased expression lighting up his handsome face, he said,
"Ladies, I am most happy to meet you. Please do me the honor to regard me as your friend and fellow-laborer in promoting the very best interest of the noble cause of educa tion so dear to my heart."

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After this formal introduction, the Super intendent presented each teacher by name to the Judge, and when Ruth Rexs turn came it was noticed by those nearest to her that as their eyes met, for a moment, they both colored brightly. Miss Cole nudged Miss North significantly. The new trustee seemed
perfectly at ease in this brief meeting, and left a most favorable impression upon them all, as he politely bade them good afternoon and went away with the Superintendent to the latters office. After he was out of sight, and, as they supposed, out of hearing, many femi
nine expressions found voice. "Isnt he nice?" "Such pleasing manners!" "So handsome!" "He is a perfect gentleman!" "A regular Chesterfield!" "I wonder why he remains a bachelor!" "Girls, I am going to set my cap for him, if he is a Jew! He certainly does not look like one of that muchabused race. I am going to do my very best to capture and to convert that noble Hebrew and so-called woman hater." The last declaration was laughingly made by Ruth Rex, and of course the others understood it as a jest. But, unknown to her, Reuben Reinhardt heard every word she uttered, as he just then was passing by the open door on his way down town. He recognized the voice of the speaker, and, more pleased than indig
nant, said to himself, "Well, really, this is

New Trustee Introduced

25

very interesting; but we shall see who will do
the converting!" From that day on, the more he mused over
her words and thought of Ruth Rexs sweet
and expressive face and glorious eyes, the more he became convinced that he had, at last, and for the first time in his busy life of
forty-five years, met his fate. On his part it was a case of love at first sight. He was con scious of it when only for an instant, on that memorable day of his introduction to the teachers, he had met the glance of her bright brown eyes, and heard the sound of her soft voice when she said, "I am happy to meet you, Judge Reinhardt."
Ruth Rex was born and reared on a farm in Floyd County, a few miles from Rome, Georgia. The only child of very affectionate and indulgent parents, she was given every educational advantage that their moderate cir cumstances could afford. Inheriting a bright and retentive mind, with an ambitious dispo sition to acquire knowledge, she had made the best use of her opportunities from early child hood, and was always the highest honored member of her classes in the schools and at the college from which she was graduated at the age of seventeen years. She spent the following year traveling with her mother in America and Europe. In another year she had the misfortune to lose by death both of

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her devoted parents. It was the first sadness
in her happy life, but having been taught from her infancy the consoling doctrine of the Christian religion by her saintly parents, she
bore her loss submissively, and was comforted with that peace which passeth all understand ing.
After her parents estate was wound up and all debts settled and the lawyers fees paid, she had hardly enough left to meet her neces sary personal expenses for one year, so she applied for the appointment of teacher in the public schools. Fortunately she was richly endowed with good looks and the faculty of making the very best of her circumstances. Her athletic training at college cultivated her natural taste for out-door sports, and conse quently she was an enthusiastic golf and lawntennis player, a graceful and fearless horse back rider, and skilful rower. In stature she was well formed, with a queenly carriage. In manners she was always unquestionably the lady, equally so to all at all times and in all places as to the manner born. In her per son she was exquisitely neat, and dressed be comingly and in good taste, not in showy or extravagantly expensive gowns and hats, or in ornaments of jewels and precious stones. Her refined taste and good common sense would not have permitted her to indulge in such vanities had she been wealthy, instead of

New Trustee Introduced

27

under the necessity of earning her livelihood
by teaching in a small city for the inadequate
salary of forty dollars a month for nine
months of each year.
With such fascinating attractions in per
sonal appearance, a sympathetic listener, mod est but an exceedingly entertaining conversa
tionalist, it is not surprising that she should be such a general favorite of all. Indeed, it would have been a most unfavorable reflection
upon their love for all that goes to make a woman beautiful and lovable did they fail to appreciate Ruth Rex. So it was not strange that people wondered that with all her charms
she should have continued so long unmarried.
Up to the time of the conquest she had all
unwittingly made of the bachelor Jew, the
suitors for her hand could have been num bered to a full score or more, but for one and all she had but one answer, and that was the
firmly spoken and discouraging little word "no." Yet she said it in such a gentle way that not one of her lovers became lost to her
as a devoted and loyal friend, in deed as well as in name.
Reuben Reinhardt was young in appear
ance for his forty-five years of age. He could have easily passed for a man of twentyfive or thirty. Like one of his remote an
cestors, the shepherd King David, "he was ruddy, and withal of a beautiful countenance,

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and goodly to look upon," with hair and a full short-cut beard of the blond type, not in frequently found in members of his race; keen bright eyes, rather small, and of that doubtful hue which caused some of his friends disputations as to whether they were gray, blue, light brown or hazel. His eyes were deeply set under a high and intellectual brow, his features were regular and in good propor tions, but there was that peculiar and inde scribable something in his countenance which is so indelibly stamped upon every Israelite, that something which makes their nationality
unmistakable. He was a rapid walker and actively energetic in body and mind, but his broad shoulders had begun to incline to the students stoop. A firm, expressive, yet pleas ing countenance, and gifted with a clear, deep, and agreeable voice, he had caught the inspi ration which makes so many of the Southern orators successful as public speakers. A brilliant conversationalist, a good story-teller, with apt anecdotes ever at his command, he was highly valued as a boon companion to a host of men friends, and he was also a success ful and very popular politician. As a toastmaster at banquets, and an after-dinner speaker, he was particularly happy, and fre quently in demand. He seemed rather to shun the society of women, and was never seen to converse with one except with one of

New Trustee Introduced

29

his family relations, or as his business re quired. Hence grew the report that he was a "woman hater."
Though a native of Rome, he was the only son of Jacob Reinhardt, an exiled Russian Jew, who, some sixty years before the open ing of this story, had landed in New York
City from an emigrant ship, with only one dollar, and his clothing, as all his worldly pos sessions. But with the pluck, energy, and
commercial ability of his wonderful race, he lost no time in obtaining on credit from some friendly Jewish merchant enough goods for
a peddlers pack. Strapping it to his strong, broad back, he traded from house to house for many miles through country and towns, until he had cleared sufficient money to marry Rachel Steinbach, who, with her fathers family and Jacob Reinhardt, had been forced by the government to leave their homes in Russia. By unceasing diligence and strict
economy in three or four years he succeeded in accumulating a small capital and making a good name for himself amongst the Hebrew merchants in New York, and his credit was
established for such merchandise as he should need to begin business in a new town. Hear ing of the bright prospects for growth of the
new little city of Rome, Georgia, he located there, where he soon established a thriving
business. A few years before we began to

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interest ourselves irt the affairs of their son Reuben, they both died within a few weeks of
each other. These two virtuous Israelites, like Nathaniel, "in whom there was no guile," were "Israelites indeed," and reared their son "in the fear and admonition of the Lord," and so diligently taught him, in the original lan guage, the Law and the Prophets and the
Psalms of the Hebrew Bible, that he could
repeat much of it from memory. They hoped that he might become a learned and honored teacher and leader of his people in
the sacred office of rabbi, and they spared no trouble or expense to have him instructed in the literature of their nation. The Com mentators on the Holy Scriptures and wise
sayings of the most learned schools of the Rabbis, known as the Talmud, were his daily study. He was also sent to the best schools of his town, and especially prepared for col lege, where he took the regular four years course, and graduated with honors. He dis liked to disappoint his good parents, for whom he had always displayed a dutiful rev erence, equal to that so beautifully conspicu ous in the Hebrew children to their parents in patriarchal rimes, but believing that God did not intend him for the rabbinical calling, ob
tained the parental consent to prepare himself for a lawyer, and they furnished him with the

New Trustee Introduced

31

means to take the regular law course in the
University of Virginia. He was graduated from that old and
famous university, and on returning to his
home was admitted to practice his chosen pro fession in all the courts. He served with credit to himself as a member of the City
Council and as Mayor; represented his county and district in both branches of the State Legislature, and one term as Judge of Circuit Court. But at the time of his election to the Board of Trustees, he held no political office, his large and growing legal business requiring all of his time. He accepted the office of school trustee from patriotic motives that his Hebrew fellow-citizens might be repre
sented by one of their own nation, and be cause of his great interest in educational work
in general, for there was no financial remuner ation for the duties of public school trustee. How could he have foreseen, or imagined, in his most romantic dreams, the great change that such apparently harmless office should make in his life, hitherto, with all its ambi tions gratified! Till now, as far as the oppo site sex were concerned, he was "heart whole and fancy free." But how often the most trivial thing seemingly shapes ones destiny! Every man has his ideal woman fixed in his heart. Reuben Reinhardt was no exception. Fortunately for him, his ideal was his own

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mother the wise, gentle, unselfish, beautiful and lovable Rachel, whom he loved with the devotion bordering on idolatry. She gave him anxious motherly advice "my son, be ware of the daughters of the Gentiles; do not allow their pretty faces and bewitching man
ners to entice thee," and often repeated it, especially when he took leave of her going on any trip from home, and in her frequent let ters, when he was off at school or college. To which advice he would invariably reply, "Trust me, mother, to follow the wise ex ample of dear father. When I may be for tunate enough to find one like the one he won and wed, I will do my best to make her your daughter-in-law. But where may another such pearl of great price be found, if not among the fair daughters of Israel?" He was perfectly sincere in his promise, and heed ful of his mothers warning, for he neither sought nor accepted any social intercourse with Christian girls or women. And he had never seen any Jewess, or Christian, or any one at all who could compare with his mother, until he met Ruth Rex.

CHAPTER IV
REUBEN REINHARDT HAS A VISION
The afternoon of the introduction of Reuben Reinhardt to Ruth Rex was on a Fri day, and as the Jewish Sabbath began at six oclock, he closed his office at five oclock, and retired to the privacy of his own home to pre pare for the holy day, which he had ever re ligiously observed as a day of rest from all secular labors and pleasures. His residence was a one-story brick house, with slate roof, built in the middle of a one-acre lot located in the central part of the town. It was an un pretentious dwelling, but comfortably fur nished and very neatly kept, just as his parents had left it to him. It had six large rooms and a broad hall through the center of the house, and front and back porches, which were as wide as the house. The favorite flowers of his mother were carefully cultivated, and the Kentucky blue grass lawn in front of the house, the white walks, and the entire prop erty were, as in former years, an indication of the thrift and refinement of the owner. He shut himself in his library to begin the Sab bath, as usual, with a private devotional ser-
3

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vice, which consisted in reading from his wellworn Hebrew Bible, the twenty-first birthday gift from his mother, the twentieth chapter of Exodus, a chapter or two of the Prophets,
and a few Psalms, and from the Hebrew Ser vice Book, some prayers. An hour later he partook of the supper prepared for him before six oclock and placed on the dining-
room table, across the hall, by the faithful old negress Chloe, who for many years had been the maid-of-all-work for the family.
Having been bought when she was a slave,
twenty-six years of age, to be nurse for "baby Reuben," she preferred to live with and serve
her good "Missis" and "Marster," than to accept her freedom. Chloe and her husband, old Tony, took care of the place and "Marse" Reubens horses, and lived in the three-room kitchen in the back yard.
After supper Reuben Reinhardt returned
to his library for a smoke and meditation be fore going to bed. In smoking-gown and slippers, with his fragrant Havana lit, he threw himself in his easy chair before a bright fire, for it was a chilly October night.
Usually he devoted this time after supper till his bed-time, half past ten of each Sabbath, to reading from the Talmud and meditating thereon; but this particular night his thoughts
were preoccupied by the deep impression Ruth Rex had made upon his hitherto unsusceptible

Reuben Reinhardt Has Vision 35
heart. While enjoying his cigar, after the example of Ik Marvel, he fell into the reveries of a bachelor.
"Can it be possible," he thought to himself, "that I, Reuben Reinhardt, a Jew, a Hebrew of the Hebrews, of the strictest sect, and at such an advanced age in life, have, like an unsophisticated youth, fallen in love with a Christian girl, young enough to be my own child?" Looking up from the fire to the lifesized oil portrait of his mother, painted by a famous artist, when she was a young woman, he said aloud, "What would you, my darling mother, think df me ? How am I now heed ing your earnest, loving warning? But how very alike you two sweet women are! The same soulful brown eyes, the same bright col oring, the same thick, wavy brown hair, the same beautiful mouth and angelic smile! Being so much alike outwardly, surely God must have also made you alike inwardly! You must have the same tender, loving hearts, and sweet, amiable dispositions! Oh, my dear mother, speak, do speak this once to your adoring son! Give your consent to follow the desire of my heart! I feel I know, my mother, that if you were here alive Ruth would love you, and you would love her, and, in time, would be as dear to you as gentle Ruth of old was to Naomi your God would be her God, and your people, her people!

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The Convert

You know, dear mother, that the good and great Joseph, Jacobs son, and the savior of his fathers house and the whole Egyptian na
tion from starvation, married the Gentile Ase-
nath, daughter of an Egyptian priest; and the great law-giver and leader of our nation,
Moses, himself took not only the Midianitish Zipporah to be his wife, but also married the
Princess Thabis, daughter of the King of Ethiopia! And the great-grandmother of
King David, the Moabitish Ruth, married two sons of our holy nation; first Chilion, the
childless son of Naomi, and, after his death, his kinsman Boaz! Even Solomon, the
wisest and richest of all our great kings, mar ried the Gentile Pharaohs daughter! Surely, if all those great and faithful servants of our
God did choose wives from the daughters of the Gentiles, why may I not follow their ex
ample without sinning? Give me your con sent, my own dearest of mothers, and I prom
ise you that my Ruth shall become a convert to the only true divine religion to the faith
of our fathers!" Then falling on his knees, with his eyes still turned to the face of his mother in die portrait, he prayed:
"O Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, hear thou my prayer, and send my saintly mother to reveal thy will to thy humble
servant, for thou knowest and can do all
things. Make my choice of a wife, thy

Reuben Reinhardt Has Vision 37
choice for me. Thou canst give Ruth Rex to me, and cause her to love me even as I do her, and do please make her mine and thine forever, Amen."
As he finished his prayer there seemed to come an answer from above. That very in stant .the room became lit up by a mellow light; the picture of his mother seemed alive
with her very breathing presence, those painted eyes opened wider and beamed upon him with her loving tenderness of her living soul; her whole beautiful face, with the happy expression of an angel of light; her lips parted, and the kindly words, soft, musical, as from a heavenly messenger, came to him "Be it as you will, my dear son. Our Lord God grants thy petition, and blesses thee, and the maid of thy hearts love, as His own highly favored children." To this welcome message he cried out most heartily, "Amen! Praise God from whom all blessings flow, for His mercy and loving kindness endureth for ever. Amen, Amen I"
The supernatural light and the life-like vision of his mother vanished as suddenly as they had appeared. His half-smoked cigar had gone out, where he had placed it on the ash tray when he began talking to his mother. The faint light of the fire threw suspicious shadows across the room and on the wall. Though Reuben Reinhardt felt that he was on

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The Convert

holy ground, the presence chamber of the greatly loved one from the Spirit-world, who had brought happiness to his heart by such a sweet message from God himself, yet a
strange sensation crept over his highly strung nerves, which was not entirely dispelled by turning on the full electric light.
Perhaps there may be some skeptical
reader of these words who will laugh and say, "Oh, thats all nonsense; the so-called Vision of Reuben Reinhardt was all in his imagina tion, the outcome of his highly strung nervous condition, or all a dream while he dozed in his easy chair, for betwixt the dead and the living there is an impassable great gulf fixed." However that may be, it is certain that Reu ben Reinhardt never for a moment doubted its reality, and blessed and praised God most gratefully for it in his daily devotions. He will always believe that the soul of his mother was permitted to leave the place of departed spirits, and enliven his portrait of her, and, audibly deliver those blessed words of encour agement on that memorable night. "Why should such a thing be considered by any one an impossibility?" he asked himself. "Did not the good old Prophet Samuel come forth from the grave, and appear and talk to King Saul, at the cave of the Witch of Endor?"
Reuben Reinhardt began from that day of

Reuben Reinhardt Has Vision 39
days in his lifes history to feel that the one thing lacking to complete his happiness and make life worth living soon would be his. Now, for the first time, he realized that it was not good for man to be alone, that for every Adam there is an Eve. When he so unex pectedly found, as he believed, the help-meet intended for him, in the person of Ruth Rex, he resolved to claim his own at the earliest time possible. Being thoroughly convinced by that glorious vision that God would bless his suit with success, no seeming difficulties could thwart his purpose. Such difficulties as other men of less faith and strength of char acter might consider as well nigh impossible to overcome; for instance, the disparity in their ages, the difference in their social standing, she a popular woman in society, he, a volun tary and persistent abstainer from all social intercourse with the opposite sex, from youth to old bachelorhood; and, above all, the seemingly irreconcilable difference in their re ligion. But with him to will was to do; ulti mate success was assured. Though he should have to labor and wait, like his ancestor Jacob for his lovely Rachel, twice seven years, the time would also seem to him but a few days, for the great love he bore his beautiful Ruth.
Long after the last spark of his fire had died out, till the lengthening of the morning hours, he lay awake, dreaming of the vision

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The Convert

of his mothers portrait, and of her double, sweet Ruth Rex, for whom he felt that he must henceforth live and work. What a labor of love it would be! "I know now," he mused, "why, when our eyes first met, and I first heard her soft voice, I felt that most delightful thrill pass through my whole being. It was because she is so like my dear mother my ideal woman. I know now that she is the sweet Eve whom the Almighty Father has created for me. O Lord, God of
Israel, help me to make her realize for whom she was made. Show me how I may be in
strumental in her conversion to the religion of Thy true servants, Thy own chosen people." Then he recalled her words, which he had accidentally heard her utter as he passed though the schoolhouse hall, on the afternoon of his first meeting her "I am going to set my cap for him, if he is a Jew. He certainly does not look like one of that much-abused race. I am going to do my very best to cap ture and convert that noble Hebrew and socalled woman hater." "Whether she meant what she said , or not," he said, "I will
give myself the benefit of the doubt, and take her at her word, for there is many a truth spoken in jest. I will accept the challenge of
this fair Christian, and myself try to do a little proselyting. It is Jew against Gentile,
and surely Gods own right shall prevail!"

Reuben Reinhardt Has Vision 41
From that time on Ruth Rex was last in his thoughts at night, and first in the morning. Indeed, the mental pictures of her had been so indelibly photographed upon his brain that he never lost sight of the pleasing vision. In his awakened heart, the old sweet music of love was silently singing, unmarred by the dryest of his legal duties. And so, while engaged in preparing his briefs, his stenographer and the occasional "drop-by" brother attorney were not a little surprised to hear this hereto fore silent worker whistling or humming the old familiar love songs. But it was a pleas ing surprise, for all the world not only loves a lover, but also knows one when it sees him, and never tires of laughing at him. Many a jest was made by his friends at his expense. For instance, one cried, "Hello, Judge, you seem to be growing musical in your old days I" and another, "What fair Venus taught you that pretty ditty?" or "Say, boys, Cupids dart has pierced his heart!" "Practicing for a concert, eh?" "The synonym for lawyer, Judge Reinhardt says, is spelled 1-y-r-e!"

CHAPTER V
THE GOSSIPS
The teachers now began to notice that "the Judge," as they all now called Reuben Reinhardt, seemed very much interested in the practical details of the school. He had be come a frequent visitor there, but lest he should excite comment he tried to show no partiality to any particular room or teacher. But sooner or later, love, like murder, will out. Those busy-bodies, the gossipers, who, like the poor, we have with us always, began to look and compare notes. They had often seen him walking home with Ruth Rex from down town, where, of course, he had met her by chance, "the usual way"; and, whats more, he frequently lingered on the front steps and veranda of her boarding-house, ap parently engaged in the most serious and in teresting conversations with her. Other men were often seen to do the same thing, but little attentions were expected of them as young society beaux, but "whoever heard of this old bachelor Jew, the woman hater, doing such a thing!" "Surely, no one can resist the charms of sweet Miss Ruth!" "But, my sakes, honey, with all her good chances, you dont

The Gossips

43

think shes going to throw herself away by marrying a Jew?" "I dont know, money
and position will induce a poor girl to marry any man, be he Jew, Turk, infidel, or here
tic." Such were some of the gossiping com
ments of their town-folks. Having obtained her permission to visit her
occasionally at her boarding-house, there
gradually developed a friendly intimacy be tween Ruth and the Judge. He joined the
Mount Alto Golf Club, of which she was one
of the most enthusiastic members, and they could often be seen in friendly converse on the links, and walking to and from there. As she
had been for some years, he also became a zealous member of the Lanier Circle, a liter ary and musical club. The Judges papers and comments on the various literary topics in the
clubs reviews on the current literature, and also of the classic works, modern and ancient, proved that he kept his mental storehouse well supplied, and its shelves so orderly and con veniently arranged with general information
that he was often referred to as the "Walking Cyclopaedia," and on disputed points his opin
ions were accepted as authoritative and de
cisive. Just as much so as in his legal pro
fession, while either on the bench or pleading at the bar of the court, he was recognized by
all as a scholar of wide and profound learning and unimpeachable judgment. It is not sur-

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The Convert

prising, therefore, that Ruth Rex esteemed and respected him. first for his worthy char acter; second as one of the school trustees, and third for his agreeable companionship as an instructive and very interesting conversation alist. Love and religion, the two most pow
erful factors in human life, had never as yet been discussed between them. They were
avoided as forbidden topics. They respected each others religious convictions as being per fectly honest and sacredly private. He felt that to precipitate the subject dearest to his
heart would defeat his determination that, at any cost, he would some day make her his wife. But he would go slowly so not to risk any possible estrangement.
And so the days flew by happily enough, he consciously in love with his ideal woman, en joying her companionship, and living on the most blissful anticipations; she in that uncon scious state, "when ignorance is bliss, tis folly to be wise," as the silken threads of friendship, in a web-like net, were slowly but surely enticing her into its secure meshes of
womans unconditional surrender to the love of man. He kept her well supplied with the most popular magazines, and the latest good novel was sure to find its way to her with his compliments. Knowing her fondness for horseback riding, and being himself devoted to that invigorating exercise, many a trip did

The Gossips

45

he plan for her pleasure during the bright balmy afternoons of the Indian summer. Many years he had kept good saddle horses
for personal exercise, pleasure, and business, and was now often seen with Ruth Rex grace fully cantering over the hills of Rome and along the fine macadamized drives which ex tended for many miles in the adjacent country.
Georgias Rome, like the ancient Latin city,
is a city built on seven hills, and is a place of magnificent distances, whose many suburbs threaten to outgrow the mother city. There
are North, South, East, and West Rome, Old Rome and New Rome, DeSoto and Forestville, Lindale and Boozeville. Rome is also a city of seven modern iron and steel bridges spanning her three rivers, the Etowah, the Oostanaula, and the Coosa. The Coosa
River is formed by the junction of the Etowah
and the Oostanaula at Rome, and, in turn, finds its circuitous way through the Alabama River into the Gulf at Mobile. American and foreign travelers have pronounced this section of north Georgia as not surpassed by the most picturesque and beautiful scenery in the world. One of its prettiest views is from the highest point of Myrtle Hill Ceme
tery, a beautiful "city of the dead," on the high bank of the Etowah River, opposite Old Rome and overlooking South Rome, extend
ing over a mile from the foot of the tomb-

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The Convert

covered hills. Upon the summit of Monu mental Hill stands an imposing shaft of stone erected by the women of Rome to commemor
ate the deeds of the valorous Confederate sol diers who were killed in the war. Standing near the Confederate monument and looking
northward, from an elevation of about five hundred feet above the serpentine road be tween the cemetery and the river, can be seen
the Mt.- Alto Golf Club links. At the very base of the hill, beyond the public road, are seen the small river steamers, bearing such In
dian names as "Resaca," or "Conasauga," re ceiving or discharging their miscellaneous car goes. The smaller steamers ply the Oostanaula and the larger ones the Coosa. The rivers are fringed with a variety of trees hav
ing their rich foliage oftrimes bathed in the swollen, swift flowing waters, which are some times as red as the Georgia clay, and again,
like the purest mountain stream, so clear and blue and green that the golden and silvery finny tribe may be seen darting to and fro, and
the mussels, half buried in its golden sands, as if daring some energetic pearl hunter to snatch it up from its natural watery bed, hoping to
find a pearl of great price incased in its fastclosed jaws of shell. Pearls of great value and beauty have been found in the mussels abounding in many of the rivers of north Georgia. It is related that when the whites

The Gossips

47

first came to the Indian settlements on the
banks of these rivers they found many a painted warrior of the red tribes ornamented with long strings of pretty pearls, but their value greatly lessened by having been roughly pierced and strung by the natives.

CHAPTER VI
PARK PLACE
One of the many very pleasant little affairs planned and given by the Judge, ostensibly in compliment to a party of twenty friends, but really for the pleasure of Ruth Rex, was an afternoon picnic to a lovely old ante-bellum plantation home of a formerly very wealthy gentleman, who, with his family, spent most of the time abroad. The place is or was an an ideal plantation home, called Park Place. It was located fifteen miles from Rome, and its extensive, park-like grounds, surrounding, its palatial residence, made it a favorite picnic resort. The happy party on this occasion consisted of ten couples, chaperoned by the school Superintendent and his wife. Ar rangements had been previously made by the Judge for his party to take supper at Park Place, then to go on a possum and coon hunt near there. They had no sooner left the town behind than the woods and rocks echoed with the merry laughter and songs of the happy party jogging along the winding road. Now and then the bugle call was heard sounding and resounding with its martial notes through the woods and from hill to hill, for one of the

Park Place

49

young men had taken his bugle along to help swell the jolly noise. Just as the sun was sinking below the cloudless western horizon they arrived at Park Place, and were received by the keeper of the place, old "Uncle Ned," an ex-slave of the absent proprietor. The old negro with his wife and large family of three generations, lived in the outhouses of the premises, where they had continued content
edly as faithful servants since the close of the war between the States.
Old Uncle Ned took great pride in conduct ing visitors over the place and through the spacious halls and rooms of the splendid.oldbuilding, and never tired of taUciag~i0>f its de parted glory, and of hislcmcf and noble ""Ole Marster" and "Ole Missis," and of "de good ole times fo de wah."
After passing through all of the other rooms, in much admiration for their propor tions and decorations, and for the elegant old-
fashioned furniture of polished mahogany and rosewood with which the apartments were comfortably filled, they came to the spacious dining-room, not to find it like "some banquet hall deserted," but rather very bright and cheerful with the many lighted candles in the handsome old-fashioned brass and silver candelabra of numerous prisms, and the glow ing fire of oak logs on burnished andirons in
4

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The Convert

the huge open fireplace, and the long mahog
any table laden with the tempting supper the Judge had ordered to be prepared.
All ate with that pleasure produced by a well-satisfied appetite; and while cracking
jokes and chestnuts, some one suggested that the candle lights be put out and by the dim firelight ghost-stories be told. Whether the idea was suggested by the romantic associa tions of the grand old place, or because, as it so often happens, that extremes meet even in
the zenith of our joys and in the depths of our sorrows, however, the mentioning of the gloomy subject silenced the merry laughter
and jokes of the moment before. The Judge did not like to take up such a weird subject, but as the ladies seemed so much to desire it,
he complied with their request by putting out all the lights except the fire on the hearth, and called on the young clergyman present to tell
the first ghost-story. He responded as fol lows:
"My dear friends, of course I do not be lieve that the souls of the departed spirits are allowed to return to this world, unless sent by God for some good and wise purpose. I may mention three instances of this kind, recorded in the Holy Scriptures, namely, one in the Old Testament, where the Prophet Samuel, after
some years dead and buried, was sent up from his grave to reprove the unworthy King Saul

Park Place

51

of his folly in vainly trying to thwart Gods
will and purpose to make David the King in his stead, and to pronounce the speedy doom of Saul and his house; the other two instances
are recorded in the New Testament, first, on
the "Mount of the Transfiguration of Christ,
when Moses and Elijah, who had departed
from this world many hundreds of years, but returned in their natural human forms and talked with Jesus Christ, and, at the same
time and place, also appeared to His terrified Disciples, Sts. Peter, James, and John; and after the crucifixion of Christ, it is written in
St. Matthew, Behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose and came out of the graves, after His resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many. .But, my friends, if you are anxious for a more modern ghost-story, I will give you one of my own experience," pausing for a moment,
"Oh, do please tell it," insisted Ruth Rex, and a chorus of the others, saying, "Please, let us have it, Doctor?" And the "Doctor," a tide generally given to all the preachers in Georgia, whether or not they have been honored with the D. D. degree, continued:
"A few years ago I was the only boarder at the home of a charming family in a Ken-

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The Convert

tucky town. One summer, all the members of
the family having gone to visit their kinsfolk in Virginia, and their servants given a vaca tion, I was left the sole occupant of the house, sleeping there but taking my meals at a down town restaurant. The house, though one of
the best and handsomest residences of that old aristocratic town, and located in the middle of its most fashionable quarter, had the repu tation of being haunted. It was said that all
sorts of weird and mysterious hair-raising noises had been heard and the most ghastly and terrifying sights seen there when the
nights were the darkest and stormiest. It was further told me that before it came into the possession of its present very peaceful owners, sudden and suspicious deaths and open cruel murders were frequent under its roof, and
that the restless ghosts of those who had caused and met with violent deaths often re turned to the unfortunate house to renew their fierce quarrels, and to haunt the living who dared to inhabit its rooms. At last there came just such a dark and stormy night as the hobgoblins and the restless disembodied spirits
are supposed to select to go to and fro on earth to trouble the weary. I was suddenly wakened from my hitherto peaceful slumbers by hearing piteous moanings and sobbings, and frightful noises from every direction at once; the iron gate of the front yard, which

Park Place

53

I knew I had fastened securely, was creaking on its hinges, and the window blinds of every room in the house were slamming and bang
ing, though I had seen that they were all closed before I retired; and the sorrowful howling of a neighbors dog accompanied the
melancholy dirge of the wind, as if it were the awful requiem over lost souls.
"At first it all seemed a terrible dream, but as I knew I was wide awake, and the weird noises increased, I jumped out of bed and hastened to the front window of my room, opening on the porch of the first floor, and to my horror, saw through the closed blinds, now and then, by bright flashes of the light ning, a tall object, robed from head to foot in a white flowing garment, and ascending the porch steps. I saw it slowly cross over the porch, mount its railing, and, as if in mid-air, walk from one end to the other, throwing out its long bony arms and skeleton-like hands, as if trying to grab some invisible object. In voluntarily I shuddered and drew hastily back. It uttered not a word, neither did I;
but you may imagine my relief when it kindly and harmlessly left the porch, as if floating on the air, and vaulted over the side fence to the next door neighbors, where, on the front veranda, it went through the same strange motions, but finally glided around the corner
of that house. I did not try to follow it, but

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The Convert

somehow the thing fascinated me, for though frightened as I was, I watched its every move ment, and lingered at my window quite a while, vainly expecting its reappearance. Then I returned to my bed, but as a matter of course I could not sleep. The next day, be fore I told any one of my ghostly visitor, I learned that a man passing by on horseback
had seen at the same place and time, midnight, the ghost, and that both he and his horse were so fearfully frightened by the tall specter that they hastened as fast as possible to the nearest livery stable, from which retreat he dared not venture till the dawning of the day."
"Oh, horrors!" cried out one of the young ladies; "you surely didnt stay in that dreadful old house any more!"
"Why, of course I did," replied the Doctor, "and slept soundly and alone every night, till the return of the absent family, two months later; for upon further inquiry I learned that the supposed ghost was really a very tall, lanky, half-drunken Irishman trying to
frighten his sweetheart, the buxom biddy of my next door neighbor."

CHAPTER VII
MORE GHOST-STORIES
"Well, Professor," said the Judge to the Superintendent, "it is now your turn."
The Professor, running his fingers through his thin gray locks, as if to rub up and lay bare some long-hidden reminiscence, began after this manner:
"Let me see, let me see; yes, it was just before Gen. Robert E. Lees sorrowful sur render to General Grant. I was on picket duty several dark nights near Appomattox Court House, Virginia. At ten oclock on the three consecutive nights I was confronted by an elderly gentleman, as straight as an arrow, but with long white hair carefully brushed back, smooth-shaved face, dressed in a blackcloth suit, long frock coat, low-cut vest, and baggy trousers, a soft, wide-brim black hat, a spotless white shirt bosom, and around his neck an old-fashioned high choker and white silk necktie. In one hand he carried a large gold-headed cane, in the other a green cloth bag, such as the old-time lawyers used to carry their legal documents in. Of my repeated challenge to halt and give the countersign he took not the slightest notice, but kept straight

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The Convert

on in his path by the roadside. In vain, with fixed bayonet, I threw myself directly in front
of him, and cried out that if he didnt halt I would run him through; still he came on heedless of me. Thinking that perhaps he was deaf and blind, or a somnambulist, or de mented, and so to avoid killing or even slightly wounding such an innocent looking old man, I tried to catch him by the arm, to force him to stop, but to my consternation I
could not feel him, though apparently in my near reach, and, looking back, I saw him
slowly walking on his way in the same digni fied manner. I ran after him and grabbed as before, the thin air, when I thought my hands
were actually on him, or in space his form seemed to fill, but on he continued, silently, and as undisturbed by my vain efforts to detain him as I was by the soft breezes of the night air. Therefore I was most thankful to be soon after relieved by the corporal of the
guard. I kept mum on my strange experience with the mysterious old man, for fear the boys would guy me. However, when the same thing happened on the two nights fol lowing, I was fully convinced that I had seen a ghost. Several of my comrades who went out with me afterward to watch for the mys terious apparition can testify to the truth of this story. If any one doubts it I am pre
pared to give the addresses of three who saw

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57

that ghost as I did. I subsequently learned that a judge, answering to the man whom I have described carrying the green bag, had been murdered on the road to his home near the court-house, where he had been holding a night session."
"Oh, my, somebody light a candle, or match, or something; I have got the creeps!" cried out one of the ladies, while the others drew closer together. But the men wanted
to hear or tell more such stories, besides they seemed to enjoy the nervousness of the ladies.
"Now, Colonel," said the Judge to one of Georgias numerous citizens who answer to that title, "let us have one from you, please."
"Mine, too, like our friend the Profes sors," said the Colonel, "is a true ghoststory." The ladies again shivered, as if in the grip of a nervous chill, and huddled closer together, and would have protested against the telling of any more such stories, or fled out of hearing dis tance, had not their curiosity out-weighed their fear sufficiently to nerve themselves to hear all, however harrowing. The Colonel continued: "Not long since, while seated in my buggy driving to town from my farm, my thoughts were absorbed in sweet memories of my very dear friend, the most intimate companion of my youth and middle age, who but a few days before had suddenly

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The Con-vert

departed to that unknown country whither we all are traveling. I felt very keenly and deeply, my irreparable loss, and yearned so to see and talk with him once more, when, to my great surprise and delight, I saw him appar
ently alive and seated beside me in my buggy.
For some time we chatted pleasantly together. The face, eyes, mouth, and whole person looked as natural and as jolly as I had ever seen him, and his voice as musically clear,
pleasing, and friendly as ever. Yet, all the time I realized that he was dead and buried, for I had been an eyewitness to that sad fact; and fearful that the apparition might fade away as suddenly as it appeared, I dared not
try to touch him, till, my curiosity getting the better of my discretion, I reached out my hand to grasp his, when instantly he was gone, and the seat beside me as empty as it was before his appearance. You may call it an optical illusion, or a visionary dream in re sponse to my hearts desire; doubtless it may seem so to most of you, but I shall ever be lieve that it was a visit of the real spiritual presence of my dear friend."
"I hope that closes the interesting volume of ghost-stories, at least for this night," meekly ventured one of the ladies. But one of the party, a young and rising lawyer, Rut-
lege Twigg, a native of South Carolina, cried out,

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59

"No, no; not yet, please, I have one not at all scary," and, addressing the Judge, he continued, "Your Honor, havent I the
floor?"
"You have, sir," the Judge replied.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we will now have the pleasure of hearing an original ghost-story, warranted to be without a scare, by our highly
esteemed friend, young in years, yet old in wisdom; a most learned sage, whose elo quence is so pleasing it is said of him, and I doubt it not, that his tongue is silver tipped and his mouth lined with gold. I need not mention his beautiful white teeth, for you all see that they are all of them as pearls, and his eyes as bright as diamonds, shining with an irresistible convincing intelligence under his
classic brow the honorable scion of the law, recently transplanted from the fair land of rice and golden shores of countless shrimps to
our garden spot of the South. Ladies and gentlemen, the Honorable Wade Hampton Calhoun Rutlege Twigg, of South Carolina I"
No one joined more heartily in the general laugh which followed than did Mr. Twigg himself, who, not a whit abashed, replied, "Thank you, Judge, for your complimentary introduction, for which I freely forgive you. And now for the story, not mine, but for which I do vouch as literally true. In the
dark days of carpetbag rule, or, more cor-

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rectly speaking, misrule, in our beloved South, not long after our just cause became known to the world as the lost cause, and the Southern States were unconditionally forced back into
union with the Northern States, during the reconstruction period, the negroes far out numbered the whites of many of the voting precincts of my long-suffering, noble old Pal metto State, when the bottom rail was de cidedly on top, and the odious burden becom ing more and more intolerable, the whites were well nigh at their wits end to know just
what course to pursue to better their deplor able condition. For any open opposition to the ignorant, semi-barbarian majority meant either lynching at the hands of a black mob,
or ruthless arrest by the Federal military, or by some of the notoriously corrupt Govern ment marshals, followed by a long and cruel imprisonment for the charge of intimidation. There was no appeal for the overpowered and oppressed, half-starved Southerners, no alternative but to bind themselves secretly to gether for the protection of their shattered homes and helpless wives and children. Knowing the natural superstitious terror of their former slaves, but present political mas ters, they made their movements as dark and mysterious as possible. Hence originated that well-known organization called the Ku Klux Klan, with its insignia of human skeletons,

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the cross bones and skull. This ghostly or ganization rapidly became the power for good in our terribly abused land in subduing and awing the would-be rulers and outlaws living in the black districts. Well, the day for the State election for South Carolina was drawing near; party or caste spirit was run ning high. The whites were determined to act, for they realized that the very desperate case demanded a most desperate remedy; they determined to win back their lost inherited rights at any cost, fair or foul if, indeed,
any means could be justly deemed foul if it would rid their long-suffering country of the humiliating black scourge. For several days before the election the roads were black with
negroes; some horse-back, mule-back, in wagons, buggies and ox-carts, and still more afoot, all in noisy tumult wending their way toward the voting precincts, and near which most of them encamped in all manner of quickly devised tents and booths, and within or under their vehicles, that they might be the first on hand at the opening of the voting polls, having been duly instructed by their unprincipled carpetbag and scalawag bosses to keep possession from sunrise to sun set, and thus shut out all the opposition white voters.
"Well, he who laughs last laughs longest. In one of the very blackest of those black dis-

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tricts lived a certain ex-Confederate general who had distinguished himself in many a hotly contested battle, both in the Mexican and civil wars. His son, Bishop B , is
now none the less bravely fighting as a leader in the war against the world, the flesh, and the devil. The brave and noble General, in secret meetings, got some of his comrades in
gray thoroughly organized for the emergency. They were now ready to meet the new com mon foe the usurper of their cherished native rights; they felt sure of victory, but
the battle was to be a bloodless triumph. At the appointed time, on the night before the dawn of the election day, wherever the super stitious negroes were camped, singing, shout ing, and dancing around their camp fires, their noisy merrymaking became suddenly changed to a scene of panic and the wildest terror, caused by the mysterious appearance of a
white horse on which was seated erect a tall white ghost with the dreaded K. K. K. crossbones and skull! Following it came another and still another and another, in all thirteen of the same description, at about one hundred yards apart, slowly and silently walking around and around the camp until the negroes, becoming thoroughly alarmed, trembling with fear, within two hours every last one of them, like the traditional Arab, had folded his tent, and silently stole away.

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Neither did any one return to that hanted place to exercise his rights of suffrage as a freeman of this great and glorious country. It is needless to say that those equestrian ghosts were the ex-Confederates following the wise directions of their beloved old General. No arrests were made, for the ghosts could not be identified. No one could prove that
any word of threat or action of intimidation had been made by any known white man to frighten any negro from the voting precincts. The whites were the only voters. And so by
this necessary subtlety, our dear old Palmetto State was redeemed from its thraldom of mis rule."
The hour was growing late for the start on their return home, and for their coon and possum hunt. But one and all began to call on the Judge for his contribution to the ghoststories. At first he could think of none save that which was ever on his mind, and which he held so sacredly dear to his heart, namely, the mysterious appearance of his mother in her picture; but that secret he would reveal to only Ruth Rex, and the time and place for that was not yet. Catching the glancing ap-
Eeal of her talking eyes, as if by inspiration, e remembered a letter recently published in the Tribune, of Rome, which he had cut out and placed in his pocket memorandum book. He lit a candle and read as follows:

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" Coosa, Ga. It is very evident now that the negroes in general, and the women in particular, approve of the summary punish
ment meted out to Rufus, who committed such an atrocious crime on Mrs. White not long since. The negro women say he was a
bad negro, and they are glad he is out of the way. But they have tabooed the trestle be tween Mt. Hope and Earlys station, to which he was hung. You could not get a negro to pass there at night under any circumstances.
" Jenks Williams, a young negro who lives down there, came into the ticket office at Coosa the other night and asked a man to lend him a dime to buy a ticket to Mt. Hope.
The man said, "Why, Jenks, you could soon walk it and save that dime." "Oh, oh! boss, not in de dark; feared ob dat dead nigger dey hung."
" "Well, if he wants you, cant he get you after you get off the train?"
" "If he gets me hell have to outrun me. You see, boss, I can hold out to run from de station home, but I couldnt hold to run from here."
" Jenks is wirey and tall of stature, with his knees a little knocked and toes turned in ward, so that every time he makes a step he crosses a No. n. He dotes on his sprinting and thinks he can "beat the other boys," but when he gets himself wound up to the top of

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his speed his feet describe a circle and remind you of a pair of winding blades or the feed reel of a wheat binder, which always winds in.
" When the train stopped at Mt. Hope, Jenks hit the ground a-running. Occasionally he felt cold streaks running down his back and a cold hand on his shoulder. There was a black stump standing by the wayside which, the nearer he approached, the more it looked like Bud Rufus, Finally he saw the hole in Rufus head, and he faced about, making tracks in the opposite direction until he made a circuit and got back into the road, never letting up speed. Jenks is the happy posses sor of a pet coon named Zip, which will sit on his shoulder, ride his back, and perform sundry cute tricks. While Zip is domesti cated he has not entirely lost This proclivity for going on a foraging expedition at night. Zip happened to be out that night crouched on the top of the fence. Recognizing Jenks as he came by, he made a spring and lit on his back.
" "That nigger run, That nigger flew, That nigger tore himself in two."

" Crazed with fright, Jenks leaped to the bottom of a deep gulch by the roadside, where he lay for some time, thinking he was dead, until Zip entangled one little patch in Jenks
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curly locks and aroused him to consciousness.

Jenks made another run, bursting the door of

the house, and fell sprawling on the floor, be

draggled with mud and everything you could

imagine.

" When the excitement waned and it was

found there were no bones broken nor prison

ers taken, Jenkss account of the affair was

too unique for description. It will compare

with the Irish sailors account of a runaway

scrape he had when a farmer sent him out to

plow with a yoke of oxen and an old mare

hitched in front. The farmer said, "Pat,

wheres your team?" "Begorra, sor, the lob-

bord steer was on the stobbord soide, the stob-

bord steer on the lobbord side, the stobbord

steer on the lobbord soide, the stobbord steer

on the lobbord soide, old ginny got tangled

in the riggin, and they are all gone to the

Devil together."

" MACK."

CHAPTER VIII
A POSSUM HUNT
The general and hearty laugh that fol lowed the Judges reading of "Macks" story restored the whole party to cheerfulness.
"Well, my friends," said the Judge, "there must be an end, as there has been a beginning, to every earthly thing, and, since our ladies will not favor us with any ghost-stories, let there be more light on the subject." Follow ing his words the candles were lit, and then he turned to the bugler. "Jim, suppose you blow your horn to let the negroes know that we are ready to start on the hunt." Jim went out into the yard and sounded the bugle-call with such vigor that the negroes living within a mile around were aroused from sleep, and anxiously looked out of their cabins to find out from whence came the wonderful noise; and just then the sky was brightened by sev eral meteoric lights, and the poor, supersti tious negroes, hearing a repetition of the marvelous blast from Jims horn, concluded that at last "de judgmint day hab cum, fur de stars am afallin, an de Angel Gabriel am a soundin of his trumpet!" Some began to shout and sing,

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"Roll on sweet charit, and Cany dis chile to home In de skies above!"
Others, conscience-smitten, fell upon their knees, trembling, and wringing their hands or beating upon their breasts in terror, and cry ing and praying harder than they had prayed since the last great revival at the "campmeetin in de grove by de creek, when dat big yeller preacher dun cum frum Alerbammy," and got them nearly frightened to death by his graphic and original description of hell and "de great judgmint day" and its nearness at hand. While the wagons were being made ready the men adjourned to the front veranda for a smoke of the Havanas the Judge passed around. The clergyman was the only man present who was not a smoker, but, accom panying the others out on the veranda, he said,
"judge, your friend Macks story, you have just read to us, reminds me of the de plorable fact that there have been many awful outrages, murders, and lynchings recently committed in our State. It looks as if our people were becoming greatly demoralized. It seems to me that the time has come for our best citizens to take some heroic action to check the ever-increasing outlawry. What is your opinion?"
"As a lawyer and an ex-judge, as a matter

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of course I suppose I am expected to condemn all lynching and to uphold the majesty of the law under all circumstances," said Judge
Reinhardt. "But, my dear Doctor, and gen tlemen, there are certain times when patience ceases to be a virtue. I, as much as any one,
deplore the increasing contempt in the minds of the people for our courts and lawyers, but I am forced to confess that the frequent un
necessary delays of imposing the just penalties upon criminals, the oft-repeated miscarriage of justice in our courts, and the almost unlim
ited pardoning power of the Governors of our States are largely responsible for the pres ent horrible state of affairs. I hold that if
the laws made by the representatives of the people in the Legislature are not surely and speedily enforced impartially to the whites and blacks, then there are times when the
Eeople are perfectly justified in taking the iw into their own hands to execute it. When, for instance, any man, whatever his previous condition of race or color, is so brutish as to commit a horrible crime upon any woman, and, as it so often follows, murders his help less victim in order that his fiendish act may be kept hid, the brute should be speedily put to death, without judge, jury or mercy, as we would slay any other dangerous beast found running at large!"
"Good, very good for you, Judge I" re-

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sponded the Colonel. " Dems my senti ments, as the fellow said for his private de votions in pointing to the Lords Prayer framed in worsted letters on perforated card board."
The entire party fully agreed with the
Judge, not excepting the preacher, who, nevertheless, made the Scriptural quotation, " Vengeance is mine, I will recompense, saith
the Lord. Yet," he added, "I admit that the best and most consistently law-abiding
people are Gods chosen instruments to exe cute divine vengeance in punishing the wicked and in warning the would-be evil-doers."
While the clergyman was talking, old Uncle Ned came up to the veranda, and stand ing, hat in hand, until there was a pause in the conversation, made his most respectful
bow and said "Marse Jedge, an gentlmun, de wagens am ready an de boys am out wid
de dorgs for de possum hunt. Sorry I cant compny you all. Please scuse me, kase dis nigger am too ole now fur dat fine sport; do I lows me an my ole oman can joy eatin de possum meat jist as much as ebber, when de boys brung um to us. I hopes you all mighty good luck, dis ebenin, an dat you all joyed yoursef heah, an will cum agin right soon."
Bright silver coins were fairly showered upon the faithful old negro as they all

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thanked him and bade him good-by. Another blast from Jims horn was heard far and near as the men returned to the dining-room for the ladies. "The Honorable Mister Twig of the Law" sang out,
" To arms, to arms! tis the bugles call."
And Ruth Rex replied, laughing, "You mean
"To wagons, to wagons, to see the stars fall!"
With many such pleasantries and merrily singing,
" "Wait for the wagon, and well all take a ride,"
they were all soon seated and off for the hunt and home. The three stalwart sons of old Uncle Ned, with their three faithful dogs, had gone out to the main road, where they were to wait the coming of the wagoners be fore beginning the hunt for the opossum, com monly called the possum, and its more cour ageous and warlike neighbor of the woods, the raccoon, usually called coon. A more propitious night could not have been chosen. The waning moon had just risen, and the lesser lights of the firmament, the twinkling stars, one by one, were giving up the unequal contest and were fading away. The Queen of the night, radiating her silvery beams softly over the pearl-like bedewed land-

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scape, caused the shadows of the tall straight pines to spread out to many times their lengths over the cleared fields they bordered; the sheep and cattle were browsing in the meadows; the sharp, loud barking of the fox in the distance, through the thick woods; the crowing of the roosters near the negroes cabins on the hillside, as if another day were dawning; the sweet warbling of the melodious nightingales of the South silenced the noisy merry-making of the occupants of the wagons with a quiet admiration for the enchanting scene, as they approached the fork of the roads the rendezvous of the night-hunters. While waiting the arrival of the wagons the negro huntsmen kept awake by singing those melodies so peculiar to the Southern planta tion negroes. It was with feelings of regret, especially so to the more romantic members of the party, that the sweetly enchanting spell was so soon rudely broken by the harsh and fierce barking of the coon-dogs as the wagons with their human burden reached the rendez vous.
"Heah, Ponto! Cum heah, Jack! Hush, Caesah!" were the loud commands by which the black hunters quieted their aroused dogs.
"Well, boys," said the Judge, "here we are. Let your dogs find the possums and the coons, and we will be there to see the fun."
"All right, Boss, well fine dem she. You

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alls jist foller us, and youll ketch dem," the elder of Uncle Neds sons grinningly replied as all started down the road to the right, lead
ing from the main road through the forest of pines, oaks, chestnuts and hickory and gum trees, with now and then an evergreen tree,
a cedar full of blue berries, and a holly of bright red berries, till the narrow road led them to a fenced-in clearing, where was an ex
tensive corn-field, with its ripened ears of grain still hanging on the straight stalks. In the corners of the split-rail fence here and
there was a persimmon tree, full of its yellow ripened fruit. Here the possum and the coon came stealthily by night from their forest homes to vary their diet of birds and nuts with the bountiful supply of the white and golden grain of the maize, and for their desert, the sweet, mellow persimmons. It was the accustomed hunting-grounds of the dogs, and they were soon heard excitedly barking as they got on the trail of the game. Presently a big fat possum was treed, and as the dogs under the tree made the beautiful night hideous with their snarls and fierce barking, the deceitful marsupial lay clinging to the largest and highest limb of the persim mon tree, as if fast asleep, and perfectly ob livious of the presence of his deadly enemies, men and dogs beneath. The entire hunting party were soon under the tree of Mister

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Possums pretended slumbers. One of the excited men was about to shoot at him with pocket pistol, when a negro hunter said,
"Please dont shoot im, Boss; youll tear his meat to pieces, so t wont be fit t eat. Ill git im fur you," and singing the first words of the old plantation songs,
""Possum up de simmon tree, Lookin cunnin down at me, I ups wid a stick an hit im sich a lick, Down cum possum, quick to me!"

suiting his action to his words, he quickly "chunked" him down, and grabbed him be fore the dogs could fasten their sharp teeth in
his flesh. This was repeated until six fine fat possums were captured alive, and carried un resistingly by their long tails. Three rac coons were also treed, but they had to be shaken down from the limbs by the men climbing the trees. Mister Coon is also a thief, like his neighbor Mister Possum, but, unlike him, he is neither hypocritical nor cdfrardly. So when he was forced to the ground he fiercely and bravely contested every second of his doomed life with the three dogs, and made each howl with pain. He was finally overcome by superior strength and numbers. The coon and dog fights were great sport for the men, but the ladies cried out repeatedly, "Oh, it is so cruel, it is too cruel!" and in horror turned their eyes from the pitiful scene.

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Knowing the negroes insatiable love for " possum gravy an taters," and remember
ing Old Uncle Neds hint that he and his "ole oman were not too ole to joy possum meat," the Judge sent a fine one back to the good old darky and his wife, and gave the coons to the negro hunters. It was agreed to take the
other possums to town as a contribution to the firemens banquet, which was to come off
the following night. Jims bugle was again blown, and taking leave of the negroes with generous tips, the happy party were again "all aboard," and riding at a smart trot toward home. To the accompaniment of the clat
tering hoofs on the macadamized road, and the rumbling of the wagon wheels, they sang "Good-by, my lover, good-by," "Hang John Browns body on a sour apple tree," "Hot time," and many other such rollicking songs, till, almost before they knew it, the electric lights of Rome were brightly shining in their faces.

CHAPTER IX
THE FIREMENS BANQUET
Romes volunteer fire department is made up of that towns most influential citizens, and consists of three reel companies and the hook and ladder company, the drivers being the only paid members. The horses and the ex penses of keeping them are also provided for by the City Council. Sometimes they give a banquet in the winter, and every summer a ten-day excursion to some seaside resort. At this time the Rainbow Hook and Ladder Company gave a banquet in Cherokee Hotel, and their guests were their brother firemen, the city Mayor and Councilmen, resident judges of the courts, clergymen and news paper men. All were assembled in the spacious reception rooms of the hotel, when a fine orchestra began the grand march, and in pairs the hosts and guests marched to the seats assigned them at the long white-covered tables. Divers colored bunting and banners, palms, flowers, and evergreens were artisti cally arranged, and the many gas jets and various colored electric lights made die scene very pleasing.
No wine was served during the banquet, as

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the temperance sentiment of the community forbade the use of any intoxicating liquors at any social function, private or public. Yet
many of the speeches were none the less spark ling with wit and eloquence that night. All would make interesting reading, but as we are
more particularly interested with the sayings and doings of Reuben Reinhardt, we have pre served only what he said. For a number of
years he had been an active and enthusiastic fireman, but when he was made judge he was unanimously elected honorary member. The
boys, noticing his recently acquired fondness for the society of the fair sex, had taken no little pleasure in assigning to him the everinteresting subject, "Woman." Naturally an
amused expression lit up the six hundred eyes turned to him when the subject and the speaker were announced by the toastmaster. Unembarrassed, the Judge arose, acknowl edged the applause by which he was greeted, and thanked the committee for the great compliment to him in assigning to him such a subject. Then he said:
"When, in the beginning, the Creator had made the world and all that it contained, and saw that it was good, the crowning glory of the divine workmanship was man, because in the image of God created He him. And see ing that it was not good for man to live alone, although he was then the lord and master of

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all created things, another being was made, not, as all the other animate beings, from the
dust of the ground, but out of a better ma
terial. A portion of the man himself was
used to make the new creature, that she might be recognized as bone of his bone and flesh
of his flesh, yea, a part of himself. Her Maker called her woman, because she was taken out of man. She was not taken from
his feet to trample, or be trampled upon; nor
from his head to rule over him, or to dispute his God-given authority, mental superiority,
or equality; neither was she taken from his
muscles to overpower him, or to match his physical strength, but rather from a bone nearest his heart, which was thus left un
barred, that she may always return to the home whence she came, may ever return to her heart-home to make it sweeter and more
dearly sacred to man, to be one with him in
lifes aim as well as one in name. Loved and loving, side by side, they were safe and bliss fully happy in the enjoyment of the incompar able blessings of Paradise. But, for some in explicable cause, or for no cause at all, she
strayed off from his safe presence, and the very moment she began to think and to act for herself a dangerous desire for a superior
knowledge over man, an ambition to be equal with God himself, led her to yield to the tempters suggestion for her to disobey both

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her husband and her Maker; and being so
easily deceived, when alone, in her now awak
ened consciousness of guilt, she hastened back to her natural protector for help, but it was
too late! She had partaken of the forbidden
fruit! Adam, full of loving sympathy, knowing, as a consequence of her foolish de
sire for independence, and for her disobe
dience, she must be by God driven immedi ately from Eden, could not endure even the
thought of separation from her, and unable to keep her with him in their Eden home, he de
liberately shared her crime, that he might also
share her doom. Having known how prec ious her companionship was, he wilfully sac rificed all the glories, riches, beauty and com forts of Paradise rather than lose her. So, hand in hand, with bowed heads, in shame, they were driven from Eden to the world of labor and sorrow, to eat their bread in the sweat of their brows. For her ambition to be the superior of man and as God, she was
punished with banishment from Paradise, and divinely made subject to the will of man, and
became Eve, the mother of all ambitious sin ners. As with mother Eve, so through all time, to this day, there have been, are, and will continue to be, innumerable examples of
how the innate fire of ambition has imbued the soul of woman, sometimes filling her with

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the sublimest emotions, and again torturing her with insatiable yearnings.
"Some of the brightest stars in the galaxy
of genius owe their brilliancy, more or less, to the noble impulses instilled into their souls by a mother, sweetheart or wife. Although
there are many known cases of women skil fully holding the helm of the most powerful governments, and safely steering the ships of
state past dangerous shoals and through the
most tempestuous seas of strife, yet far more numerous are those wise, modest women, whose good judgment has so often directed the affairs of nations, but through their hus bands and sons, though the husbands and sons
may take all the credit of statesmanship and sagacity to themselves. It is said that one of our Presidents owed his success in life to his wife, from whom after marriage he learned to read and write. It is true, as some one has written, that woman exercises no power over uninstructed and degraded man, de graded and uninstructed herself. Among such she falls on a level with the beast of burden, and follows without questioning the command of her lord and master. Yet, as civilization progresses and draws its inner life from the never-failing fount of divine in spiration, in that degree is woman raised in the social scale. When refining influences
touch the mind and it expands to a just con-

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ception of its want of something more than nourishment for mere animal wants; when, as touched with fire from on high, it awakens to
a keener perception of new-born hopes and
joys, and throws off the torpor in which its energies have long been smothered, and feels an awakened desire for pure delights, then is seen a giving away of the physical to the in
tellectual wants of her existence, and woman,
raised to her appointed sphere, takes up and exercises her just influence over the human
heart. Woman is a creature of sensibility.
Every earthly blessing, every heavenly hope, will be sacrificed for her affections. When the spirit broods over its blasted expectations, when midnight has no star, tis then that
woman stands ever ready to weep with those that weep, lending her voice to cairn the brew ing storm. Yes, it is in adversity that the
true character of the woman is made known. Then it is that the nobler, unselfish womanly instincts are displayed, and she shows her true colors. When he on whom she is ac customed to lean for support is bound down with heavy burdens and sorrows she forgets the anguish of her own soul that she may mend his drooping hopes with cheerful words of consolation, and by brave deeds of sacrifice on his behalf.
"Nor is her angelic influence confined to
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her own fireside, as was so nobly mani fested in our unhappy civil war. Shrink ing with averted tearful eye from scenes of strife and carnage, when fierce passions and
revenge meet in hostile conflict, when the tu mult is stayed, true to the promptings of a kindly nature, woman returns to seek out the bleeding victim, bind up his wounds, and, in
tones of tenderness, points the departing spirit to that faith which, star-like, lights up its pass age to that undiscovered country whence no returning footsteps come. Many were the
Florence Nightingales in our lost cause, who, like the Angel of the Crimea, proved them selves willing and capable ministering angels. In skill and endurance and fortitude on the
battlefield, in hospitals and at home as nurses and surgeons, they have proved themselves
unsurpassed by professional men. In litera ture many women have reached the height of fame. Hannah Moore was a friend of Sir Joshua Reynolds, Garrick, Horace Walpole, and the renowned Dr. Johnson, who pro nounced her to be the best versificatrix in the English language. George Eliot, one of the greatest conversationalists and most distin guished novelists, is said to have composed only sixty lines a day; yet Horace wrote but six, and those in the morning, giving the re
mainder of the day to pruning and polishing them. John Ruskin says of women:

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"Queens you must always be; Queens to your lovers; Queens to your husbands and your sons; Queens of higher mysteries to the world beyond.
" But, alas! you are too often idle and careless queens, grasping at majesty in the least things, while you abdicate it in the greatest.
"Woman may open the gates of heaven to man, or prove his portress to hell. Many there be that have run out of their wits for women, and become servants for their sakes. Many also have perished, have erred and sinned for women, for without women can not man be, and unto her men have more de sire than silver or gold, or any goodly thing whatsoever.
"King Solomon, whose experience as hus band of a thousand wives makes him pretty good authority on the subject we are discuss ing, says, A continual dropping in a very rainy day and a contentious woman are alike. And that it is better to live upon the house top yea, even in the wilderness, than in a wide house with a brawling, contentious
woman and an angry woman. And again, As a jewel of gold in a swines snout, so is a fair woman which is without discretion. But he further says, A gracious, or virtuous, woman retaineth honor. She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the

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law of kindness; and her price is far above
rubies. As there were and are Delilahs, Jezebels, and Herodiases in the world, so
also there were and continue to be many
Ruths, Deborahs, Miriams, or Marys, and Dorcases. The one class is to be sought out
and honored as the other is to be shunned and scorned. We recognize and respect womans rights in the better sense of the term, and
freely acknowledge her to be Heavens last best gifts to man on earth, indeed his better half, in every way, as she was made of him, while he was made of only the dust of the
ground, and we would spurn the man who would be so degraded and cowardly either by word or deed as to wilfully bring suspicion
upon her good name, which she rightly con siders and cherishes as her. most precious jewel. But we have no patience with the socalled new woman, who boldly endeavors to usurp the prerogatives of man, to the neglect of the true sphere to which God her Maker has consigned her. Those masculine pro
clivities for which the women of some sections of our country are becoming so notorious bring great reproach and derision upon their sex, and should be cried down by the pure and noble minded of both sexes. If woman will
be content to keep herself in her proper place, as the helpmeet of man, her primal duty in the Garden of Eden, she may continue in

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reality to rule the world. Man may seem
to be the ruler, but there is ever enthroned behind the curtains of domestic affairs some queen who reigns supreme in his heart. If then her reign be wise in all things, genera tions shall continue to rise up and call her blessed, for her sons will grow up like young plants and her daughters like polished cor ners of the temple. "
Though the Judges speech was rather
serious, for such an occasion, it was listened to with the closest attention by all, and was enthusiastically applauded, for all men love to
hear the subject of women discussed. After
the regular order of toasts and responses, calls were made on several guests and members for impromptu speeches, and in response to the general and very persistent call, the Judge said:
"Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen, I have talked so very long to-night, I hesitate to re
spond to your flattering call to address you again, but I will say this much: if you boys had been on hand with your invincible streams, the great and historic conflagration
of London, which lasted four days and nights, and destroyed five-sixths of that great city, would not have occurred, or it would not have spread beyond the house in which it origi nated. The merry, cruel Emperor Nero
could have fiddled as much as he pleased, but

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not by the burning ancient Rome, had our modern Roman firemen been there. Boys, if you with your fire extinguishers had been
there, in vain would that Chicago cow have kicked over the lamp of the famous fire-bug milking maid, and the Reverend E. P. Roes Barriers Burned Away would never have been written.
"Be assured, boys, that you will never go to the place of infernal and eternal fires the Devil wouldnt have you, for fear that such extinguishers of the fiercest and most danger ous of fires on earth would immediately put out the most intense fires of hell. I hope and
believe that all of you will go to heaven. But if any of you, my fire-lad friends, should ever become so bad as to bring upon your selves any Satanic punishment at all, after shuffling off this mortal coil, you will, per haps, be consigned to the frozen hell to that place described by the old Southern planta tion negro preacher in his sermon I heard him preach on the place of the doomed:
" Oh, my bredrin an sistrin, ef you dont repent fur all your sins, youll all sure die an go straight to hell; an when you dun gits dah, all cole an tremlin in ebery jint, an
yur teeth a cummin gither like de rattlin ob dry bones, an de tears like ice marbuls a rollin down yur frosty cheeks, an yur bref frozen on yur mouf, an yur har spendid

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fruni yur hed in icicle fringes, an yur skin dun crack wide opin wid de cole, an de blud a freezed to little red ice wedges a splittin de cracks wider an wider opin, an you all bent
ober wid de rumatiz an gruntin wid misry, an you goes down, down, down into de lake ob solid ice, wid gret high perpdiclah hills ob snow, an ober dem in yur naked foots you
got to clum an clum, day in an night out, all de time, widout rest nur sleep, an as fast as you clum up, you dun slip back gin; an oh, mercy! poor los sinners, de Debel, hes
dah to de bottom, reddy wid his long sharp horns, an switchy tail, an his long pitchfork to pick you up wid, an fro you back in de
snow an de ice, an you clum an slip an freeze an go hongry everlastin, Wurld wid out end, amen.
"On asking the old negro preacher why he described hell as a place of eternal ice and snow, he replied, Now, Marse Reuben, you know dat ef I dun tell dem niggers dat hells a hot place, ebry last one ob dem wants fur to
to dah, fur de nigger luvs nuffin better dan a re what nebber goes out, an dey dislikes ice an snow an a frozin all de time worsen any
fing. No, no, my Fire Comrades, a burning hell would be no place of punishment for you, for all you boys would rather go to such a place than not, just for the fun of putting its fires out"

CHAPTER X
THE TEACHERS DISCUSS THE JUDGES
SPEECHES
The ever-present and indefatigable news paper reporter wrote down in his short-hand hieroglyphics all the banquet speeches, and they were printed in the next morning papers. The evening following the banquet, Miss Cole called to see Ruth Rex, and she was hardly seated when Miss North also appeared upon the threshold of Ruth Rexs cozy room. In a few minutes their conversation turned to the general topics of the day. Miss Cole, in her usual enthusiastic manner, introduced the subject.
"Oh, girls, wasnt Judge Reinhardts speech on woman perfectly lovely? And his compliments to the firemen in his other speech were awfully clever and funny! Brother Tom heard them both, and said that they were undoubtedly the best of all the banquet speeches. Dont you wish you had heard them? I have read them in this mornings paper the one about women three times through! Of course you two have also read them."
"Why, yes," replied Miss North; "but I

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have read some such stale chestnuts about women several times before. It is all right for men to discuss law, medicine, the church,
the city, the press, politics, etc., at their stagbanquets, but entirely wrong for them to drag into their selfish feasts the innocent name of
woman, and with their sharp tongues dissect
her as a scientist would the dog or rabbit of his experiments, and make her the subject of their jests as they eat, drink, smoke and laugh
over their threadbare jokes. If they pos sessed the true gallantry for woman they so extravagantly profess, a silent admiration, on such occasions, would speak for her much
louder praises than all their top-lofty words, and oft-repeated and ill-chosen comparisons. I dont see why woman should be discussed as an abstract member of the human race. She is usually the equal and sometimes the superior of man in everything, except in physical strength, and its her lacking in that and in nothing else that keeps her from as serting her God-given rights."
"Oh, Miss North, I fear before long you will come out publicly as a new woman, ar rayed in mans clothes, clamoring for womans suffrage, and trying to prove her eligibility to all the public offices, from Presi dent down."
"Well, why not? I am sure that the majority of women would be far more intelli-

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gent voters and office holders; so would they fill the professional callings more creditably than nine-tenths of the men who want to con tinue to monopolize everything to the end of all time. If they are truly the power behind the throne, why should they remain behind it why should they, by the brute force of their inferiors, be contented to rule by proxy? Why should their light continue hid under a bushel? If to assert our divine rights, and to get credit for our true worth, and to better
fill the places in the world, now held by the domineering and stupid men is to bring upon our sex the stigma of new woman, then I, for one, am a new woman!" Miss North spoke laughingly, and they all laughed together when she finished.
"But dont you really agree with me, Miss Ruth," she continued, "when I say that the old bachelor Jew didnt know what he was talk ing about, and, further, that he and all other men, in truth, had better treat woman on such occasions as a forbidden subject?"
"No, not exactly, Miss North. Theoreti
cally the Judge has the highest opinion of woman, and really feels that he cannot praise her worth too much, and practically his knowledge of her is derived from his intense love he bore his mother, who is dead. I have been told by friends who know, that in her he saw all that makes woman dearest to man.

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She ever was and is his ideal woman. I have also been told that that is the principal reason why he has never married he has never
found a woman, either in appearance or char
acter, equal to his mother. If she was really the perfect woman she is reputed to have
been, I suppose that he will end his days in single blessedness, and never have any un
fortunate woman to disenchant him; for he may never again find his ideal woman. However, I do think his tribute to woman very beautiful. I do wish that we all could
more fully merit his eulogies. I do not think that any disrespect is intended by men when
toasting women at their banquets; to the con trary, I take it as a great compliment to our sex. For reasons best known to themselves,
we are sometimes excluded from the board, but never from their thoughts. Though ab sent, they pay us the high compliment to talk about us and to laud us to the skies, notwith standing their harmless jokes at our expense. Every man, whether reared a gentleman or not, will extend to every lady all due defer ence, and when it is otherwise, ninety-nine times out of a hundred the fault is at the womans door. Such gallant respect is especially true in our section of America. As you well know in our dear country, men every
where in public places indicate their defer
ence by those many little courteous attentions

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to women. Women in every condition of life command all the consideration they prove themselves worthy of and they forfeit this re spect in proportion to the plane they them
selves choose. If they descend to mans level in the masculine pursuits and manners, they must accept the familiarity and selfish treat ment men show each other. If they con
tinue more and more to lose their self-respect, by lowering themselves beneath men, then they ought not to complain of mens disre spect for them. All this newspaper talk
about the so-called new woman is very morti fying to every modest woman. There is not, and can never be, a new woman, or a new man. They are both, and must ever con
tinue to be, as God made them, creatures im possible to be improved upon. Of course, progress can and is made along certain well known lines each in his and her sphere, without rivalry. Disagreeable contest is only
when they cross each others lines, and usurp each others realms. This point, I think, Judge Reinhardt made very clear and forcible in his speech at the banquet."
"I think so too," said Miss Cole," and I cannot understand why any one can take ex ceptions to his lovely tribute to woman. I believe that Miss North herself agrees with all you have said, Miss Ruth, but she hasnt the temerity to own up. Men do love and re-

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spect women, and will do most anything they can to please them. Indeed, as the Judge says, woman is the power behind the throne, but every man wants credit for what he does,
and woe betide the foolish woman who openly tries to boss him. With natural womanly tact she can direct him and all her household;
but in doing so she must be clever enough to
let him think that it all originated, and is en acted, by his own superior wisdom; then all will work along smoothly and happily enough for all parties concerned, and matrimonial love will continue without dissimulation.
Now, honor bright, our zealous champion of womans rights, you would-be man hater,
you really do agree with us, dont you, eh?"
"No, girls," said Miss North, emphati cally; "I dont agree with you, and I tell you
now, beware, lest your fine sentimental dream ends in a horrible nightmare."
"But listen! Thats the fire alarm ringing!"
The big bell at the top of the city clock tower, on the near-by hill, suddenly rang out in the still dark night dong! dong! dong! dong! tang, tang, tang, tang, tang, tang!
"Oh, it is thirty-one!" cried Ruth Rex. Where is my fire-alarm card! Here it is. Thirty-one is corner Broad Street and First Avenue!"
"Fire, fire, fire!" screamed Miss Cole, as

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she ran out of the house, closely followed by her two companions.
The whole town was in wild commotion, men, women and children bawling out, "Fire, fire, fire!" and running in every direction toward the burning building, which was light
ing up the sky and the hills for many miles around. The clang, clang, clang! of the hose reels and hook and ladder wagons, drawn by their big and excited horses, came
clattering down the streets. Quickly were the hose reeled off and fastened to the nearest water plugs, and the spurting, gushing water turned on the raging fire. At first it seemed
that Judge Reinhardts compliments to Romes firemen, paid to them only the night before, would this time at least prove un merited; for the fire had made great head way in a large shed and warehouse filled with bales of cotton, hay, and bulk meat, before the alarm was turned on, and the fire was in the thickest part of the citys wholesale gro cery, produce, and cotton houses. To make
matters worse, a high wind had suddenly sprung up and was blowing toward the thick est built part of the town. But the good judgment of the brave firemen and the tre mendous pressure of water soon succeeded in getting the conflagration completely under control, and kept it confined to one house. When it was all over it was found that there

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was only a small loss and that fully covered by insurance.
The crowd of witnesses gave three rousing cheers for Romes firemen, the ladies waved their handkerchiefs and clapped their hands, and the brave firemen felt well repaid for their hard work by thus receiving the hearty plaudits of their appreciative fellow-citizens.

CHAPTER XI
MOUNT ALTO AND ITS HERMIT
One day the Judge and Ruth Rex took a trip on horseback, in company with several other mounted couples, to Mount Alto, about six miles southwest of Rome. The autumn afternoon was just cool enough to make the ride most enjoyable. They went at a smart pace along the macadamized highway till the rough and narrow road was reached leading up to the mountain top. The long, steep, winding ascent was safely made by the sure footed horses, and then the party paused to rest, and to enjoy the grand and varied scene from the most elevated point for many miles around. Pretty little Rome could be seen nestling at the bottom of her basin-like valley, and climbing up the long slopes of the many hills, bathing her feet in the swift-flowing streams, the Etowah and Oostanaula, where they blend their cool waters to form the Coosa River, winding around the hills and through the fringe of native forest, with its manycolored leaves, at the base of Mt. Alto.
The ripened brown chestnuts, chinquapins, acorns, and hickorynuts were falling, and as .the graceful little chipmunks and gray squir-

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rels were frisking about, feasting on Natures bountiful supply, they seemed to stop to chal lenge the right of human intruders helping themselves so greedily to the nuts. These
nimble little denizens of the tree and the stump daintily fed upon only one nut at a time, but these tall strangers grabbed up their great paws full, and filled their pockets and
bags, and devoured them as fast as those sharp-nosed, four-footed bristled animals, which also to their dismay trespassed upon their territory. The large quantity of nuts
fallen to the ground did not satisfy the bold two-legged robbers, but they must needs climb up the trees and shake the limbs till the ripened nuts rained down and were raked up and taken away.
Securing a plentiful supply of sweet brown nuts and again stopping to feast their eyes on the beautiful scenery, the party rode on to the "Castle" to pay their respects to the "Hermit of the Mountain." No one thought
of visiting Mt. Alto without calling on the Hermit. The Castle was a humble home of four rooms where, for many years, there lived alone the kind-hearted old German gentle man, Doctor Gury. It was said by the know ing ones, although the good Doctor never talked about his private history, that he had been known in his native country as the
7

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wealthy Baron von Gury, honored and re spected by royalty and people alike; that he was happily married to a French lady of
beauty and culture, but after a few years spent, for the most part, in Paris, she died suddenly, and he, refusing to be comforted, and weary of politics and the world of fash
ion, sold out his large estate and, giving most of the proceeds to charitable institutions, came to America. After traveling over much of this country he selected Mt. Alto for his
permanent home. There he felled the treesj built his house, and cleared off the ground for his little farm of fruit, vegetables, and flow ers, and there he lived alone, in almost unmo
lested freedom to read and to play on his violin and piano. He left the mountain only on occasional trips to the town stores, or in pursuit of specimens for his studies in natural
history, or upon some visit of mercy to the sick and needy at a poor fanners house. He was a skilful physician, and kept his medicine chest well supplied, and he put up his pre
scriptions for the needy sick appealing to his sympathy. He was never known to accept any payment for his services. His front yard was very artistically laid off in walks and flower beds, and he cultivated the most beauti ful variety of the flowers of each season. On either side of the white walk, leading from the front gate to his house, were alternately

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cedars and large smooth white stones; his fernery still retained much of its summer
freshness, shaded by a large moss-covered rock; to the rear of the "Castle" he cultivated
a variety of vegetables and berries, and be yond, on the mountain-side, was his orchard of apples, pears, peaches, cherries and plums all of the finest varieties, and border
ing his orchard was his vineyard of assorted grapes. Hearing the approaching party, the Doctor went out on the veranda to meet his visitors. As they dismounted and fastened
their horses outside of his garden gate, they saw the old Santa Claus-like man with his bright little brown eyes twinkling, and his broad good-natured face, assuring them of a
kindly welcome, even before they heard his jolly chuckle, and his friendly words, "Right welcome, you are, mine goot friends, to this
humble abode. Come in, please, and make yourselves at home. How are you, Judge Reinhardt?"
He was an old acquaintance of the Judge, who after warmly shaking hands, introduced his friends, telling him that they had been nut-hunting on the mountain, and did not wish to descend till they could have the pleas ure of paying .their respects to him.
The Doctor bowed and smiled. "Oh, dank you much for dis honor, mine gopt friends. I am very glad to see you. Did

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you get some nuts right away? If not, I got plenty for you and me too."
"Oh, thank you, Doctor, we have all we want."
"All right, den, but let me give you some
dings dat dont grow up here, and some udder dings dat do? Be seated, please, and excuse me for a leetle."
The large room in which he left them was comfortably fitted up for his library and music-room. A piano, violin, and music-
stand occupied one corner of the room, a cloth-covered table-desk stood between two windows, and opposite was a large open fire
place, in which were polished brass andirons of an antique pattern, standing on a broad stone hearth. There was a large leather-
covered sofa, an easy-chair, a rocker, and several other comfortable chairs. On two sides of one corner of the room were oak book-shelves, filled with many handsomely bound volumes, the works of science, philos ophy, history, poetry and fiction, printed in several languages. The gray-tinted walls were hung with a few valuable oil paintings. There were no carpets, but spread out on the highly polished hard-wood floors were many rugs of the four-footed animals of various sizes the Doctor had killed. Adjoining the library was his armory and museum, contain ing his gun rack of six fine rifles and shot-

Mount Alto and its Hermit 101
guns; his hunting-suit and equipments, a pair of fencing foils, two cases of jeweled swords, presented to him in Europe for heroic deeds; many specimens of stuffed birds and reptiles, and insects, and a large collection of butter flies; Indian pottery, idols, flint arrow and spear-heads and tomahawks; huge glass bowls of water in which were swimming pretty gold and silver fish. Across the wide hall was the Hermits comfortable bedroom, back of which was his dining-room and kitchen combined, and it opened into a shed or ell-room, used for his work-shop. In every room, closet, pantry, hall and work shop everything was kept in perfect order. After a few minutes absence their host re turned to his guests, and, upon hearing one of the ladies express a desire to see through the house he politely showed them over it, enter taining them with many funny stories of his own experience or invention. When they reached the dining-room they beheld a beauti fully carved oak table, his own work, and on it was spread an elaborate luncheon.
"Now," the hospitable Doctor said, "be seated at de table, please, and have some re freshments."
After they had eaten and returned to the library, he said, "We will have some music now, if any of you will kindly play on the piano and sing." But they all insisted upon

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hearing him on his violin. He consented, provided some one would accompany him on the piano. This Ruth Rex was easily per
suaded to do; and they played together many selections from some of the master composers, whose music he kept bound in many volumes, and they sang several solos and duets.
But as the shadows of the departing day had begun to lengthen, the Judge, knowing the great danger of descending the steep mountain road without the light of day to
guide them, had to remind them of the neces sity of starting. They reluctantly took leave of the very entertaining old Doctor, who de tained them further to present the ladies with
some of his pretty flowers, and with the flowers he gave them a cordial invitation to repeat their visit. From a convenient rock he assisted the ladies to mount, and waving a friendly adieu he watched them till they were out of sight.
In descending theJudge noticed that Ruths horse was hard to control, and he insisted that she should exchange horses with him; but she laughed at the idea, saying that she could control her horse all right, and was not the least nervous. Nevertheless, the Judge kept a close watch on the animal. On reaching a more level road, her horse seemed to take fright at a shadow, jumped aside, nearly un seating her, and then ran as hard as he could

Mount Alto and its Hermit 103
go. Ruth rather enjoyed it for a while, but as they were so rapidly nearing a sudden turn in the road, with a high perpendicular rock on one side, and a deep chasm on the other, she saw her danger, and tried with all her voice and strength to check his wild run. Try as the mad animal would to throw her, she kept her seat wonderfully well. Fortunately, the Judges horse was a very swift runner, and as he caught up with the runaway he saw that Ruths horse had got his bit between his teeth, and though he tried every way he could to stop him, he failed; then he cried out to her to take her foot out of the stirrup, and she did so. Urging his own horse at his best speed, he passed close beside her horse, and reaching out his strong right arm, lifted her from her saddle with his left, and by a word brought his own fine animal to a stop, and tenderly let her down to the ground, and,
dismounting, stood beside her till the others of the party caught up with them. This splendid feat of horsemanship and strength saved Ruth Rexs life, for only a few feet farther on was the dangerous turn in the road, where her horse had plunged headlong down to the rock-bottom chasm, and lay stretched out dead. It was an awful sight, and Ruth, sick and fainting, sank down on the roadside, trembling and crying at the thought of the death she had so narrowly escaped. The

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others soon came up, and seeing Ruth unhurt, they were earnest in their congratulations on her marvelous escape. The men dismounted and climbed down to where the dead horse
lay, and took from him his saddle and bridle, the latter with difficulty, so tightly did he still hold its bit between his teeth. Returning, the Judge took the saddle off his own horse,
and instead put on him the side-saddle, and assisted Ruth to remount, then, at the sug gestion of the men, fastened his saddle to that
of one of the horses and rode behind one of the men on another till they reached home. As the Judge took leave of Ruth, he said,
"I do hope, Miss Rex, that you will not suffer any ill effects from your adventure."
"Oh, thank you, Judge," she replied, "I am all right; and Im under obligations to you for saving me from the horrible fate of that poor horse. Im very sorry for your loss, and I assure you that I did all I could to stop him."
"Now, Miss Rex, please dont mention that, or worry about it. It is not my loss; even if it were, I would gladly bear it, and far more to have had the opportunity of serving you."
"Oh, Im so glad it is not your horse. But whose is it?" she asked.
"Why, the livery stable mans, and it serves him right to lose it for having risked any ones life on a horse having such dangerous tricks,

Mount Alto and its Hermit 105
after assuring me, too, that the animal was perfectly gentle and safe for a lady to ride."
"Please dont blame him, Judge. Perhaps it was all my fault in not knowing just how to control him. He seemed a splendid saddlehorse, and gentle enough when we rode up the mountain. Something must have frightened him terribly to make the poor animal behave in that way. Anyhow, Im sorry for his owners loss, and would willingly pay him the value of his horse if it were possible."
"Well, dont worry about that, Miss Rex; hell not expect it. If he should, he has no legal or moral claim to hold any one respon sible for the value of his horse. His death was an accident brought on by his own stub bornness, and I shudder to think how very near he came to sacrificing a far more precious life." The Judge said these words as he held her hand, bidding her good night, and her blushes were concealed by the friendly dark ness. He never told her of it, but after leav ing her he called by at the livery stable and said to the proprietor,
"Dade, Im sorry your horse was killed, but it serves you right for risking a ladys life on such a wild beast, when you assured me that he was perfectly safe."
"And so I had every reason to believe him to be, Judge, till I heard of his strange ac tions this afternoon. You ought to know me

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well enough, indeed you ought, Judge, to believe that I wouldnt try to deceive you. I dont understand at all at all why Black Beauty behaved that way. To my knowl edge, he never did so before."
"Evidently, Dade, or he wouldnt have been alive to-day to put a ladys life in such jeopardy."
"I mean, Judge, that he always seemed easily controlled by bit or word. Im sorry that he gave the lady such a scare more so than I regret the loss of my horse. Indeed I am, Judge."
"Dade, how much was he worth?" "I wouldnt have taken $150 for him this morning."
"But I mean what did he cost you?"
"Well, sir, I bought him a few months ago for $100, but he was worth double that." The Judge took from his pocket his check book and wrote his check for $100, and handed it to Mr. Dade.
"Dade, heres my check for the amount you said your horse cost you. Of course you have no legal claim for one cent, but I dont think you can afford such a loss, and I can. Good night."
Before he could realize the generous act of the Judge, he was gone, and for a few mo ments Mr. Dade stood holding the check between his fingers. "Well, if Judge Rein-

Mount Alto and its Hermit id?
hardt isnt the best man I ever saw! It is the truth, as he said it, I cant afford so great a loss, and if I didnt still owe for that horse, I would surely return the money to the Judge. God bless his kind heart, though hes a Jew 1"

CHAPTER XII
THE CHRISTMAS TREE
Christmas was nearing. The glorious fes tival which commemorates the great event that brought the Angelic host from heaven to earth, singing
"Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, Good will toward men."
The Christmas joy of Christians extends the world around. Although many do not know or care why there is such universal hap piness, believer, infidel, skeptic, Jew and Gen tile, the ignorant and the wise all partake of its joy, and in some way commemorate the incomparable love of God in giving His only begotten Son to the world for the salvation of all who will believe in Him. Christmas is the day of days to which all others point, and from which all history is dated, and so the world keeps it in memory. The divine in fluence gently breathed over the earth at this time was appreciated in all its sweet unself ishness by Ruth Rex, and she formed a plan by which all the needy poor families of the town should receive Christmas presents, and

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be invited to attend an appropriate celebra
tion of the holy festival. A committee of ladies from each congregation was appointed
and entered heartily into the plan; and the merchants and citizens generally contributed so liberally toward it, that when Christmas
Eve came, Ruth Rex and her co-laborers were elated with their success. Tickets of admis sion to the Opera House were given to all
who were expected to attend the celebration. Within half an hour after the doors were opened the large building was filled with an
eager mass of happy children and many elder folks some in rags, others in the plainest and cheapest apparel, but all with clean faces,
lit up with good humor and happy anticipa
tions of good old merry Christmas. As the big town clock finished striking six, the rector of the Episcopal church stepped out on the
stage in front of the drop-curtain and, hold ing up his hand for silence, said appropriate prayers, and then in a clear and sympathetic voice simply related the story of the Nativity, and gave an outline of what was in store for the audience as prepared by the ladies of the town. As he left the stage the curtain was raised on a night scene of three shepherds in Oriental costume, seated around a fire on the ground, with sheep on the hill-side. "And lo!" a beautiful woman in flowing robes and wings of white, representing "the angel of the

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Lord, came upon them," and lights "shone round about them; and they, the shepherds, were sore afraid," and fell prostrate on the ground; "and the angel said unto them, Fear not: for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people, for unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you: ye shall find the Babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger." "And suddenly there was with the angel" other pretty women in white to represent a "multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and singing:
"Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, Good will toward men."
The ladies acting the part of angels sang to the melodious accompaniment of harps, and the whole scene was most realistic and im pressive. They were elevated above the shepherds on the stage in such a way that their disappearance seemed as if really they had "gone away from them into heaven." Then "die shepherds said one to another, let us now go even unto Bethlehem and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us."
The next scene presented to the deeply im pressed and interested audience was the cave-

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like stable of Bethlehem, with the traditional ox and donkey munching straw, and the three shepherds reverently gazing on the young Infant, lying in a manger or trough-cradle, the saintly looking and pretty Mother re clining on a comfort spread on the straw be side the rough cradle, and a weary traveler, seated by her side; the three man, woman and Child representing the holy Family, Joseph, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and the Infant Jesus. Then the invisible choir was heard singing softly the carol, "Silent Night."
Then, when the words,
"Guiding Star, O lend thy light! See the Eastern Wise Men bring Gifts and homage to our King!"
were sung, a brilliant star appeared as in the eastern sky, moving slowly until it came and stopped over where the young Infant was; and as it approached it was followed by three men arrayed in royal apparel i"the Wise Men" they who prostrated themselves be fore the Holy Babe, and presented unto Him their royal "gifts; gold, frankincense and myrrh." Then the clear voices of chil dren, behind the scenes, were heard singing, "Carol, sweetly carol, a Saviour born to-day." And then, by shifting the scene, there ap peared the Christmas tree, a large and shapely cedar, glittering with hundreds of

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lighted candles and many gold and silver tinsel ornaments, laden with long strings of white popcorn, colored bags, and cornucopias
of candy and nuts, oranges, apples, bananas, toys, dolls, with bundles of clothes, shoes and provisions in large piles near the tree. Every
thing was ready for distribution to the de lighted children and their poverty-stricken mothers. It was impossible to control their
feelings of joyous excitement; and at the sight of the brilliant and beautiful Christmas tree they gave vent to their feelings by much
hand-clapping and stamping of feet, and the unseen singers sang, "Gather around the
Christmas Tree!"
As the last stanza was finished, the "Three Wise Men" came to the front of the stage, and one of them spoke.
"Dearly beloved, our names are Caspar, Melchior, and Balthazar, representatives of three great Kings of many people, and, with the wise men of our countries, we have for hundreds of years, to this time, been expect ing the birth of the Holy Child, who is the Prince of Peace and Saviour of the world. It was shown us, by visions and dreams, that His star should shine brightly in the sky and lead us to where He could be found. When, therefore, we in our dif ferent far-off homes saw this long-lookedfor star, we greatly rejoiced, and imme-

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diately started to follow its course till it un expectedly brought us together, and led us to this holy place of His Nativity. We came to
worship Him, our King of Kings, our Great High Priest and Prophetical Saviour; and to present unto Him suitable gifts tokens of
our love and faith in Him. We set this ex ample to all people of the world, on this first Christmas Day; and in doing this we our selves are but following the example of God
the Father, who so loved us, and you and all the people of the world, that He gave His only Son to be our Saviour, the Redeemer of all who will believe in Him. So, beloved friends, Christmas giving is a divinely insti tuted custom of love: God gave us the great est gift of all; we, in turn, give to-His Son Jesus, the Christ, precious gifts of gold, and
the costly spices of frankincense and myrrh; and your kind unselfish friends here now give to you all these nice and pretty things, in the name and for the love of Jesus. So you too who are to receive all these good things to-night are expected to follow the divine ex ample in giving. You may not have gold, or silver, or any money, or precious spices to give to God, or to each other; yet every one has that which God values above all riches, and which you can and ought to give to Him freely and cheerfully, and that is your heart
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the pure unselfish love of your hearts. Will you all to-night and forever make that Christ mas gift to the Holy Child Jesus, your loving Saviour?"
"We will!" impulsively cried out the whole large audience, as one voice. "Very well, then, and may our loving Father give you grace always to keep your promise, and may
He bless you more and more wkh peace and happiness both in this world and the ever lasting life to come."
"Amen!" said the other two Wise Men. "As you saw us present unto the Blessed Virgins Holy Child suitable symbolic gifts, so now we shall take great pleasure, in His name, in giving you the Christmas gifts pre pared for you by your kind friends."
It had been arranged that they should come in single file to the front of the stage; the children first, and then the adults, and each to receive at the hands of the three Wise Men the presents from the tree. Everything was
done in order. They went by sections down one aisle and returned laden and happy to their seats up another aisle. Concealed in the basket or bag of good things for each
poor mother, or guardian, was a well-filled stocking with its mate inside, for each child under twelve years of age; and in the toe of each filled stocking was found a shiny twentyfive cent piece thanks to the generosity of

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Judge Reinhardt, who begged the privilege, and who was an interested spectator of the entire entertainment. The grateful mothers
were secretly told of the stockings, and di rected to hang them up at their homes that night after their little children should go to sleep.
After all present were remembered, and the absent, sick, and poor provided for, the "Gloria in Excelsis" was heartily sung, and the audience wished a "merry Christmas and happy New-Year" by the clergyman.

CHAPTER XIII
TWO CHRISTMAS PRESENTS
The dawning of Christmas was bright, crisp, and frosty. Many a humble home was made the happier on that blessed morn by the very successful fruition of the benevolent plan of Ruth Rex; and many, both old and young, "rose up and called her blessed" for the happy memory of the Christmas Eve enter tainment, and for the delicacies and substantials and comforts they enjoyed many days thereafter. Of the innumerable tokens of good will and friendship given and received at this glad season, none, perhaps, caused a more pleasant surprise than the remembrance sent to Ruth Rex by Reuben Reinhardt. In the first place, she was greatly astonished that he, a Jew, should have noticed the Christmas festival at all, and in the second place that he should have selected such a present for her. It was "Tissots Illustrated Life of our Lord Jesus Christ," in four handsomely bound volumes. She asked herself, "Is the light beginning to illumine this reputed bigoted Jews heart?" But no, not yet, for here is what he wrote on the card accompanying his gift: "Appreciating as a work of art the

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splendidly executed pictures of the sacred country of my ancestors, and believing that Miss Rex will also enjoy them, they are sent with the compliments of the season by one who, though not a follower of Jesus of Naza reth, admires him as a good man and a great reformer, and also who is proud to be of the same highly honored old nation."
"And yet," Ruth mused, "this and the great interest he took in the Christmas tree celebration for the poor, and his generosity on that occasion, prove that he is not a narrow, bigoted Jew, and that the gossips who say so have done him as great an injustice as those who said he was a woman-hater. Well, I am glad I sent to him a copy of Ben Hur before I had any idea that he would send me anything. I hope that it will lead him to Christ." Early that morning she had sent to him an illustrated copy of Lew Wallaces
wonderful book, "Ben Hur," with her card, on which she wrote simply, "Merry Christ mas." When he received it he was far more pleased with her thoughtfulness of him than she could imagine. It made his heart as merry as her wish. Every negro who greeted him on that glorious day with "Christmas gift, Jedge!" received a generous response, accompanied by a good-natured joke. It was indeed the merriest Christmas he had exper-

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ienced since he was a child, when he used to partake of its joys with his Christian play mates, without knowing or caring why the day was observed.
While the "faithful few" observed the day by attending the church services, the great majority kept it. merely as a merry time of feasting and social pleasures. Reuben Reinhardt was comfortably seated in his library most of the day, even till a late hour at night, intently reading and quietly enjoying his new book. As a matter of course, he had read the reviews of "Ben Hur" when it was first published, though he had not read the book; but now, for the sake of the giver, he would read every word of it.
Ruth Rex was at the same time equally absorbed in Tissot; not so much because the
Judge had given it to her, as for its own merits; and she had for a long time desired to possess that wonderful work. The next morning, she received the following note:

MY DEAR Miss REX: Please accept my thanks for Ben Hur, and also for your good wishes. It is very good of you to remember the old bachelor Jew at such a time. And, as one good turn deserves another, he begs it, by being allowed the pleasure of calling to

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see you this evening, provided, of course, you
have no engagement for that time.
"Very cordially and gratefully yours, "REUBEN REINHARDT.
"Wednesday."

To which she wrote in reply,

"MY DEAR JUDGE REINHARDT: The old maid Christian will be pleased to see you this
evening, for she is very anxious to tell you how perfectly delighted she is with her Tissot.
It is lovely, and you could not have sent any thing more acceptable to her.
"Sincerely and gratefully, "RUTH REX.
"Wednesday."

Eight oclock that evening found the "old bachelor Jew" and the "old maid Christian" conversing before the open grates cheerful coal fire in the reception-room of Ruths
boarding-house. They talked and talked about generalities and books, but about Ben Hur and Tissot in particular. The topics in which they were most interested were pur
posely avoided. It was hard for her not to begin at once to preach Christ to him, as it was what she most desired to do; but she de ferred it because, she reasoned to herself, it might be premature, or it might cause him to

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think that she was too much interested in him and, perhaps, it might break off their friendly companionship, which was growing more and
more agreeable to her. And he desired most of all to declare his love for her, but he re frained from doing so for fear that she was
not yet prepared to accept it. He dared not take any risk, for he could not bear to think of any possible estrangement between them.
He had resolved to be patient and abide his time. But he had this advantage over her: he saw plainly that she meant to make a
Christian of him, if possible, while she was all unconscious of his designs to make her a Jew. So far, the nearest he had come to
talking of love to her was on this same even ing, when he said,
"Oh, Miss Rex, I heard recently of an amusing courtship between two young country sweethearts. Here it is. May I read it to you?
"Oh, yes, please, I would like so much to hear it."
Taking out of his pocket his memorandumbook, in which he had placed the clipping, he read as follows:

"THE COURTSHIP OF SAM AND NANCY
"In the beautiful hill-country of north Georgia, where the red man hunted the deer

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and wild turkey, and drew from its many cool streams abundant fish, and where the valleys and hill-sides were strewn with flint arrow
heads and tomahawks in the wild chase for game, and the bloody conflicts with hostile Indian tribes, the greater part of the primeval forest has been felled by the wasteful axman, and the larger game exterminated or driven before the ever-encroaching white mans civ ilization, to the more sparsely settled moun tains and prairies of the West. This long
time abode of the Cherokee Indian is now the peaceful home of many descendants of the brave pioneer of a little over one hundred years ago. Dotted here and there are cotton
factories, iron furnaces, and busy little cities and villages, and farm-houses, and on hill side and valley the fields blossom with cotton, corn, wheat, oats, a great variety of fruit, berries, melons, and vegetables, and the pas tures teem with cattle, horses, and sheep. The hills are rich with iron, bauxite, marble, and slate, mined and carried by the thrifty man of this busy age, and sent far and near by steamboat and steamcars.
"Through this rich, healthy, and pictur esque country, run many macadamized public roads, railways, and steamboat lines those sure avenues of commerce and civilization.
"Living in one of these fruitful valleys was the industrious Sam Beasley, a descendant of

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a. hardy first-settler. Sam was as honest and as modest as any farmers son, but for two or three years had been casting sly and very sus picious glances toward Nancy Brown, the
buxom daughter of his next farm neighbor.
These telltale glances were when Sam and Nancy passed each other on the road, or met at the country meeting-house on Sundays.
But, for the life of him, he could not muster up courage enough to tell her the three little words I love you, that mean so much to all who feel that way. Sometimes his heart
throbbed faster, and a delightful thrill shot through his manly frame, when he caught her staring at him, and, as their eyes met, she so quickly looked away and blushed, and he felt
his own sunburnt face grow suddenly very hot. Guileless signs, which to even the most unsophisticated lover, are unmistakable, were
not lost on honest Sam. They filled him with
joyous hope, and he went about his work, many days after the manifestation of such pleasing tokens, in the happiest of spirits, whistling and singing and laughing aloud, in the field and through the woods, and across the barn-yard, diligently performing his many duties on his fathers well-kept farm, per suading himself, all the time, that he would take advantage of the very first opportunity to say what he had in his mind the all-im portant little speech to his sweetheart.

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"But he, as a matter of course, allowed in numerable good opportunities to go by un heeded, and afterward comforted himself with the thought, Well, the next time, I will
tell her, sure. "Oh, the comfort to every procrastinating
lover in that next time. At last it came to modest Sam, as it must, sooner or later, come to every true and constant lover. It came to
pass that, on one fine Sunday afternoon in June, Sam saw Nancys pa and ma in their
buggy, riding by, and they stopped long enough for her ma to say to him, Sammy,
we are going down the road a piece, to see brother Johns folks, and had to leave Nancy to look after the place. It may be dark be fore we get back, and the child may get sort
o lonesome there by herself. Wont you go over and stay with her till we come? Thats
a good boy. "Sam blushed, and eagerly answered,
Yesum, and he lost no time in taking the shortest cut across the field to Nancys pres ence.
"The old folks in both families still looked upon Sam and Nancy as mere children, al though Sam was then about twenty-three and Nancy twenty years of age. They had grown up from their infancy, near neighbors.
"Nancy saw Sam enter her yard and ap proach the house, and she blushingly stepped

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out on the veranda to greet him, and the fol lowing dialogue ensued:
" Howdy, Sammy. Hows all? " All right! Hows you all? " Well, thank you. Take seat. " Thank you. I promised your ma Id come and stay with you while they are gone. "Seating themselves in two splint-bottom rocking-chairs, about ten feet apart, they both began rocking furiously, as if in a contest for a prize for the greatest number of rockings a minute.
"Sam, wiping the fast-gathering perspira tion from his honest sun-burnt brow with one hand, and with the other fanning indus triously with his broad-brimmed hat, ven tured, Its warm, aint it?
" Yes, she agreed.
"A pause of five minutes or more, and he spoke,
"You love chickens?
"She again signified her agreement by the word, Yes.
"A long pause, and he remarked, " I I I wish I was a chicken! "Silence again followed, broken only by the monotonous sound of the rockers, as they gradually drew nearer and nearer each other in the equal contest; he perspiring more freely, and fanning more excitedly; and she coloring more and more like the bright hue

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reflected upon the evening sky by the then fast-setting sun, till her face and die crimson ribbon which tied up the long plaits of her
bonny brown hair were of the same brilliant color, under the loving gaze of his big, honest, blue eyes, as he boldly said,
" Tse a grite mine to bite you! And she asked,
" What yous grite mine to bite me fur? He replied,
" "Kase you wont have me. "She looking demurely, but with a pleased expression, showing her pearly teeth, faintly answered,
" "Kase you aint ask me. "And he, still more boldly, and still nearer, added, " Now I asks you!
"And she, looking up most bewitchingly, said,
"Now I has you!
"And then their chairs suddenly came to gether in the very interesting contest. Both had won a prize I
"Ever after, two hearts beat in unison to the accompaniment of the sweet tune of a rocker."

They laughed heartily over the story, with as blushing faces, perhaps, as Sams and
Nancys; but she made only the comment,

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"That is very funny," and without pausing said, "Judge, I know it is not apropos, but it is something I have been intending to ask you. Is this Hebrew, and, if so, please tell me what it means in English?" handing a book to him in which were printed the characters:

DDB p DTp{>K rrin> vfaft Dtei

T T : ' vv

T -. T :

--:

i

He read aloud the Hebrew, " B yom a-shoth Yehovah Alohim erets y shamaim, which,, translated, is, In the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens. A quotation from the 4th verse, 2nd chapter of Genesis."
"Thank you, but why is it written back wards ?"
"It is not," the Judge laughingly replied. "The Hebrew reads from right to left; Eng lish and many other languages are read from left to right; the Hebrew is right, the others
wrong. Miss Rex, you should study Hebrew, for I am sure that you would find it interest ing. If you will allow me, I will take great pleasure in lending you my Hebrew grammar, lexicon, and Bible, and in helping you to learn the language."
"Oh, will you really, Judge?" "Certainly, I shall be delighted to do so." "Thank you, ever so much; I should love
to study it. It must be such a delight to read and understand the Holy Scriptures in the

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original. As Rare Ben Jonson says of Shakespeare, I have little Latin and less Greek, but I never had an opportunity to learn Hebrew. When shall we begin?"
"Well, I am at your service whenever you are ready. How will Monday and Thurs
day nights do, at 8 oclock?"
"All right, that will suit me, I thank you." "Then I will bring my books, or, rather, to begin with, my Deutsches Hebrew Gram
mar, to arrange for your first lesson, on next
Monday night; but now I must be going. Thank you for this delightful evening. Good night, Miss Rex."
After he had gone she was surprised to find it was n oclock, so swiftly had the time gone by. She hastily locked and bolted
the front door, put out the lights and ran up stairs to her own room, and half an hour later she dropped off to sleep, thinking of
him. The Judge, after bidding her good night,
soon found himself in slippers and smokinggown, seated in his easy-chair, reading his Hebrew Bible and meditating, it must be con fessed, more on the three happy hours just passed with Ruth than on what he was read ing. Sleeping was out of the question, at least for the present, so lighting his second
cigar, he indulged in revery. "How beautify! she is to-night," he

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thought. "How confiding and guileless! Was there ever a daughter of Israel purer, or
wiser, or more worthy of the love of man!
All business cares and worries, all the per plexing problems of life vanish from my mind when Im in her presence, or even when I only think of her; though absent, I feel her
divine influence, and how hard it is to break off from such sweet and happy enchantment!
Surely, an hour or more in heaven itself, with the blessed angels of God, could not make me feel more perfectly contented and peaceful!
My love for her, I am sure, is a heaven-born love, for it thrills my whole being. I know it can be no other than of divine origin. Sometimes I feel, when I am with her, that I cannot any longer restrain myself from pour ing out to her these dearest thoughts of my
heart. But should I run any risk of breaking this blissful spell? For the present, hadnt I better let well enough alone? Now she
would naturally resent any effort on my part to proselyte her to the faith of my fathers. Give me patience, O God of Israel, to wait
Thine own time to give her heart entirely to Thy servants keeping!"

CHAPTER XIV
THE FIRST LESSON
The next Monday happened to be a very busy day with Reuben Reinhardt, full of tangled legal questions to unravel, and not a few stupid callers to try his patience. Right glad was he, therefore, when the business of the day could be laid aside, and he could hasten to his beloved pupil for her first lesson in Hebrew.
Seeing him place a book on a table, Ruth took it up, and, turning over its leaves, said, "Oh, is this the Hebrew book I am to study? How formidable it looks.! Am I really to learn what all these hieroglyphics mean? Well, I suppose I must learn the al phabet," to which she turned and read aloud the twenty-two consonants composing the Hebrew alphabet, printed in English letters. "How very queer they sound. Did I give them the correct pronunciation? I wonder if I will ever learn it, Professor may I call you Professor? You know that sounds more like a real school teacher than Judge. "
"Yes, if you will allow me the privilege of calling you Miss Ruth."
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"Very well." "Thank you, Miss Ruth. Now I would suggest that you first commit to memory the alphabet, and so familiarize yourself with
the Hebrew characters as to be able to write them down by sound when I call them out, and then you may go on to the division of let ters, vowel-letters, and so on."
She immediately became deeply absorbed in studying the alphabet, while he went into
the hall to get a box of candy from his over coat pocket. Bringing it to her, he said,
smiling, "You need not study any to-night, my fair pupil. You may take the alphabet for a lesson till next Thursday night. I want to start you in a sweet and amiable mind for both your studies and your teacher."
"Oh, thank you, Professor; how fortunate a pupil to have such a kind teacher. With such a sweet bribe to start with, I am sure I shall try my best to be a real good girl, and study so hard that you will never have cause to punish me." Taking the candy, she con tinued, "I dearly love Huylers. Professor, you have some. What a popular teacher I should be if I were as good to all my chil dren."
"Fortunately, you dont have to give them bribes, for you know well enough, Miss Ruth, that they all quite adore you, and gladly do anything you tell them."

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"Well, as you are one of the appointing powers, I am glad you think so; for as long as you have such a good opinion of me I am not apt to lose my job. Professor, do all the
Jews in every country understand Hebrew?" "Nearly all of them do. It is the proud
boast of my nation that no one who has
reached the age of twenty-one years can be
found who does not read the Holy Scriptures in at least one language. Many of the better
educated, especially the rabbis, have com mitted to memory every word and sign of the
first five books of Moses, called "The Penta
teuch." "Really?"
"It is not so remarkable when you consider how sacred a duty it is and has ever been, from generation to generation, for parents to teach their children, from infancy up, every word of The Law and The Prophets in the original. No ruler, king, emperor, or pope, however powerful, has ever been able, and never will be able, to take the word of God out of his peoples mouth. However often and thoroughly they have at times en deavored to take the Holy Writings out of
their hands, there have ever been scholars who have reproduced every inspired word from the infallible copies indelibly engraved upon the tablets of their hearts. Doubtless,

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my people have their faults, but they are not ignorant."
"Moresthepityt" "Why do you say that, Miss Ruth?"
"Because, on that great last day, when all shall be judged according to the light given in this life, ignorance cannot excuse your nation for the awful sin of rejecting the Christ. The
Jews, as you admit, have always known the Scriptures; yet it is those very same scriptures which do so plainly testify of Christ. With such boasted knowledge, why should they not
see that Jesus Christ has literally fulfilled their ancient prophecies about his first advent on earth? How sadly true, He came unto His own and His own received Him not.
And sadder still, as a nation, they continue to have eyes and see not, and ears and hear not, lest they should be converted, believe, and be saved."
"But, my dear Miss Ruth, the Messianic prophecies have not been fulfilled. The true Messiah has not yet come! Jesus of Naza reth could not possibly have been the prom ised Redeemer of Israel! The Messiah was
and is to be of the lineage of King David; and the place of His birth, Bethlehem of Judea; and His coming to be in might and majesty to overcome the enemies of Gods own Chosen People, and His scepter to be over all the world, one glorious kingdom.

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How could the Jews accept as the Messiah a carpenters son, so humble a citizen of the despised little town of Nazareth, followed on
foot over the country by a few ignorant Gali lean fishermen, as he went about exhorting the rabble on the hillsides, the lake shore, and
in the streets of villages, and, at last, end his poor forlorn life at the hands of Roman soldiers, like the criminals put to death by his side, on the ignoble tree of crucifixion."
Ruth shook her head. "Oh, but, Judge, His Jesus direct descent from the House of David; His miraculous birth in Bethlehem, the City of David; the wonderful presence of angels, the visit of the wise men, led from the East by His star; their symbolic and royal gifts to Him, and their worshipping Him as the new-born divine King; the testimony of
St. John the Baptist; His victory over the greatest temptations known to man; His spotless life; His miraculous works in making the blind to see, the deaf hear, the dumb speak, cleansing the leper and healing all manner of diseases; His miraculous feeding of the hungry thousands, who followed Him into the wilderness; His raising to life the dead; His matchless sermons; His own resurrection and ascension; the rapid spread of His pure religion of righteousness, and its marvelous good results in civilizing and en lightening its millions of adherents I Surely,

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Judge, the evidences of His divinity and Messiahship are overwhelming, and therefpre should have ceased, centuries ago, to be fool ishness to the Greek and a stumbling block to the Jew. "
"Ah, Miss Ruth, there is, in truth, that stumbling block! We Jews do not cannot accept the records that are contained in what you know as the Gospels and Epistles; we doubt their authenticity, and the miracles at tributed to him by his so-called historians. His best sayings are but quotations from the schools of the learned rabbis of that age.
We admit that he was a great reformer, and through his disciples and missionaries many Gentiles have been turned from idolatry to the worship of the Lord God. The scholarly
monks and other zealots of mediaeval times originated and embellished such traditions as were handed down to them, and so fitted in certain prophecies to the life of Jesus of
Nazareth till his followers have accepted the whole mythical story to be equally inspired as the ancient holy books of the Hebrews. If the rulers of the Temple at Jerusalem, and
the Jews generally, had witnessed any of those great miracles attributed to Jesus of Nazareth, they would have gladly accepted him as the long-hoped-for Messiah; and to day our whole nation would be his zealous followers. Indeed, my people have always

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been too well informed in divine prophecy and all sacred knowledge, to make such a fa tal mistake. When the Messiah shall really come, then one and all of my nation shall readily recognize our King and Redeemer. Let me correct the erroneous impression so long in the minds of Christians, namely, that the Jews were guilty of the blood of Jesus. He was put to death by the Romans, by the command of their governor at Jerusalem, Pontius Pilate, representing the Roman Em peror, the unlawful ruler of the Jews. There fore God did not punish them or their child ren for the crime committed by others. True, my people have suffered many cruel persecu tions at the hands of heathen, Christians, and Mohammedans, and, to this day, are op pressed in some countries, a bye-word and de rision everywhere. Why, only a few days ago, right here in our own town, as I was passing down the street, I saw some Hebrew children out playing, when some children of Christians came up, and pointing their fingers at the innocent little Jews, as with one voice sang out,
'"I had a piece of mutton And stuck it on a button, And gave it to a curly-headed Jew, Jew, Jew, The Christ-killing Jew!'
But for all that, there are few if any Jew ish criminals; and we are proud to know that,

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at least in this country, there are no vaga bond or pauper Jews; the strong help to bear the infirmities of the weak. They are law-
abiding, peaceful, industrious, and prosperous citizens of all civilized countries; they are the leading financiers of the world, the princely
bankers of the worlds rulers. They have held with great credit to themselves many high offices of trust and honor under many different governments and in every age and
country. The continuity of our religion and
nationality, though we have for so many cen turies been persecuted, slaughtered, and scat tered all over the world, is a living miracle,
and an infallible evidence that our nation is still Gods own peculiar people, whom, in His own good time, He will restore to the Holy Land and Jerusalem. In the light of all these facts how can we be other than what we are, Miss Ruth?"
"But, Judge, do you really hold that the Jews, as a nation, are innocent of the blood of Jesus? Did they not deliver Him up to the Roman governor to be crucified?"
"No, they did not, and, whats more, they did not approve of it then, nor have they ever approved of it since. It is contrary to their nature to human nature to have delivered up one of their own people to the despised, usurping, tyrannical foreign power, to be ex ecuted as a disgraced criminal. The cross in

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those days was not only an instrument of
torturing, agonizing, slow death, but also was an instrument used to humiliate the helpless, subjugated people; if possible, even a more
humiliating horror than we in this country believe the gallows to be. Such an indignity to one of our people would have been resented by all as a gross insult to the entire nation."
"Yes, Judge, all that, from your stand
point, would be reasonable enough to believe; but you must remember that the Jewish rulers were moved to madness by envy; they were
jealous of the growing popularity of the
strange young hero Jesus, to whom the whole nation seemed to be turning and acclaiming
Him their great Prophet and King. You know, Judge, that jealousy has ever been capable of changing even angels to devils,
and to cause them to do many cruel and hein ous deeds. The rulers saw the sacred pre cincts of the Temple itself invaded by the strange new Teacher, and heard its courts re sound with the acclamations of His enthusi astic followers, men, women and children, waving palm branches in His honor, and sing ing, Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest! They saw him as sume authority over the holy Temple, and in dignantly drive out of its sacred courts all the sacrilegiously licensed traffickers and money

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changers; and they, the rulers of the Temple, mad with envy and utterly unable to stop or turn the tide of popular enthusiasm, as a last resort appealed to the Roman governor to put Jesus to death, as a dangerous usurper of the kingdom, a breaker of their religious rules, and a blasphemer of God. When Pontius Pilate sought in vain to release Him
from their infuriated hatred, having found no fault at all in Him; and while washing his hands as a symbol of cleansing them from the blood of an innocent victim, they all, with one accord, madly cried out, Crucify Him! cru cify Him! Let His blood be upon us and our children! If the record of the Jewish historian Josephus is to be believed, the precious innocent blood of that divine Man was most awfully required of them and their children, in the terrible siege and destruction
of Jerusalem only a few years after by the Roman army under Titus. God forbid that the awful expiation for that great national crime, that self-imposed curse, should have continued, even to this day, to so relentlessly punish the entire nation. It seems to me that that great sins punishment was surely visited upon them unto the third and fourth genera tion sufficiently to satisfy the most exacting Judge!"
"Oh, yes, Miss Ruth," he smilingly re torted, "we are well aware that what you

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have just said is in part the traditional story you have been taught, and that it is generally accepted as authentic by all Christians; but we Jews cannot accept such perverted tradi tion as history; in short, we believe it to be as fictitious as that very interesting romance of General Lew Wallace, "Ben Hur," a copy of which, with thanks to you, I am the happy possessor."
"Then you dont believe that miraculous meeting of the three Wise Kings, or the Magi, took place, or that they were led by the star to the cradle of the divine Babe of Bethlehem, and to whom they paid rever ential homage as they presented to Him their royal gifts; nor do you believe General Lew Wallaces graphic account of the crucifixion of Jesus?"
"No, indeed, not I; for like the so-called Gospels, it is all clever writing, the fruits of the great imaginative powers -of the human brain."

CHAPTER XV
THE FOX HUNT
New Years Day was the last of the Christ mas holidays, and a fox-hunt had been planned for the day. At ten oclock in the morning a town party of five couples met a like party of country ladies and gentlemen, about five miles out of town, where a large pack of hounds were held impatient for the start when the two parties should be merged into one.
Ruth Rex was the partner of Hampton Twigg, Esq., for the day, and the Judge had to content himself with being the escort of Miss Cole. The keeper of the hounds blew his horn, and they were off and soon on the trail of the fox, followed over hill and dale, ditch and fence by the merry riders, whose horses clattering hoofs kept time with the exciting music of the baying hounds. As yet, the fox had not been seen, and his trail gave the swiftly pursuing dogs many a turn and twist; but seeing that they were steadily gam ing on him, he ran to a creek, and eluded his pursuers by plunging into the water and swimming for the other side, before the dogs came in sight, and thus threw them off his

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trail. The hunters, coming up, thought at first that the hounds had overtaken their prey, and the inexperienced were accordingly greatly disappointed till one of the country hunters forded the little stream, calling the dogs to follow him, and in a little time had them howling on the new trail of Master Reynard, but not before the laggards of the party had caught up with the swiftest run ners.
After the creek was forded they all again started together, and the chase grew more and more exciting. The tricky fox three times crossed and recrossed the creek and suc
ceeded in throwing the dogs off his trail, till the last time, the distance being lessened be
tween them sufficiently for him to be seen. He was soon overtaken, and as he turned to defend himself he was torn to pieces by his mad and merciless captors. The horses with their thoroughly excited riders were soon on the spot. It was nip and tuck between the Judge and Ruth Rex as to which should get the brush. Their horses had passed all die others several lengths, and they were neck and neck, close up to the fleeing dogs heels when the fox was run down. The Judge, seeing that his horse was about to take the lead, all unknown to Ruth, pulled in just suf ficiently to let her pass ahead and win the honor of the race by only one length. He

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hurriedly dismounted, and grabbing from the hounds what remained of the fox, cut off his bushy tail and presented it to her, pinning it on the side of her riding-hat, to the envy of all the other ladies of the party. "What a pity," said the Judge, "there isnt a brush for each ladys hat!" The chase was long, rough and heated, but the day was bright and beautiful, with the bracing air just chilly enough to bring the crimson to the cheeks and an agreeable warmth to the body. The pleasing excitement of the hunt had kept the dogs, horses, and riders from experiencing any feelings of fatigue.
As they were all jogging along toward the country home where they had been in vited to dine, Ruth said,
"Oh, Mr. Twigg, wasnt it a glorious chase? My good horse seemed to be as much excited as I, and to enjoy the run as much. I am sorry that your horse couldnt keep up with mine."
"Thank you very much, Miss Ruth. It was truly a glorious run, and I am of course delighted that you won the brush; but I am utterly disgusted with myself and my horse, we were so miserably slow. I would gladly give the largest fee I may ever earn to have been in Judge Reinhardts place. That Jew is always getting the best of me. He beats me in every case; but, by the eternal! there

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is one contest he shall not beat me in, unless it is so decreed by Heaven, and by a certain angel on earth,that I am doomed to unhappy
defeat."
He spoke so feelingly, and gave her such a look that she was not a little startled, and
blushed in spite of herself, while he added, "Oh, my dear Miss Ruth! I would to
God that your blush were an indication that your feelings toward me were more than friendly. It is bad enough to be rejected, but to be turned down for an unconverted Jew is more than I can stand!"
"How dare you say that, Mr. Twigg! You dont deserve any consideration after such an impertinent speech; but I will not -quarrel. I will frankly tell you that Judge Reinhardt is nothing more to me than a good
friend. He has never uttered one word of love to me, and, surely, I have no reason to suppose that he ever will; nor do I desire such expressions from him any more than I
do from you, or from any other man. I value and enjoy the friendship of intellectual men, and as he has favored me with so many friendly attentions, I am appreciative. Be sides, who knows but what I may, in some way, become instrumental in his conversion to Christianity!"
"Why, Miss Ruth, I would as soon expect you to convert the Pope to Methodism! The

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Judge boasts of being of the strictest sect of the Jews a Pharisee of the Pharisees!"
"Pray, why not the conversion of the Pope of Rome to the membership of the Methodist Church, if such another high churchman as John Wesley could have become a Meth odist?"
Ruth meant her last remarks as a sarcastic thrust at Mr. Twiggs acknowledged highchurchmanship, for he was a ritualistic Epis copalian, who never called himself an Epis copalian, but always "a Catholic or Church man," and one who entertained but little, if any, tolerance for Protestant sectarianism or the schismatic religious systems. But her sar casm seemed lost on him, for in the same earnest tone he said,
"It is at least comforting to be assured by you that you are heart-whole; but, my dear Ruth, you know that I do love you so! Do promise that you will try to love me, dear est!"
With a laugh, she only said, "I admire your bold persistency, but I fear that would be to me a harder lesson than my Hebrew."
"Hebrew! You dont mean to say that you have gone that far? Are you actually studying the Jews language?"
"Yes," she laughingly answered, "the Judge has kindly undertaken to teach me the

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sacred and ancient language, and I have al ready learned its curious alphabet. Would you like to hear me say it?"
"Ah, no, I thank you," he sighed. "May its Alpha be its Omega I"
"Oh, but it isnt like the Greek you mean to say that its Aleph may be its Tav. Why should you make so bad a wish as that its beginning might be its ending? I am sure I should love to learn to read the Old Testa ment in the original."
"Oh, yes, that may be all right, if it would end there; but beware, my lady-love, lest the fair would-be-converter become herself the convert!"
"Never your fear that impossibility, my friend," she replied with much feeling.
"I will not, if I can rescue you from the threatening calamity and, God being my helper, I will save you from the enticing snares of the Jew!"
Then the Judge and Miss Cole came up, and the conversation became general. The others also coming up, it was proposed to take a little run over the level stretch of good road reaching out straight before them for about a mile. Again, as in the race after the fox, all the others were soon left far behind by the two fast horses so well ridden by Ruth and the Judge; and they, as in the former

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race, kept their horses neck to neck almost
to the end of the run, when her nag bolted just a few feet ahead. It was a strange co incidence, that the thought should have
flashed through the mind of each of these two riders, "Is this symbolic of our religious
contest?" Stopping their horses to wait for the others, poor Mr. Twigg resumed his place at the right of Ruth Rex, but not in the most amiable frame of mind, for once
again he had been supplanted by his rival. Then they rode to a quaint old country
house for dinner.

CHAPTER XVI
A COUNTRY DINNER
Before dinner the guests assembled in the parlor and the adjoining library, now thrown into one room by opening the sliding doors between them. Concealed behind the screen of cedar and holly was the "country band," consisting of three negroes with a violin, bass viol, and guitar. Presently these self-taught musicians struck up a ragtime "grandmarch," the doors of the dining-room were opened, and dinner was announced.
What an appetizing feast it was to those twenty famished mouths! If ever a table "groaned" with good things to eat, surely that tempting board had ample cause to cry out in agony under its burden of edibles! Being seated, they all bowed their heads while the host, Colonel Sidney Smith, rever ently asked grace. Then he said, smilingly, "That which you dont see, you will not ask for. I will add the old Kentuckians grace, My friends, what you see is afore you; its put here fur to eat; now, lay on! " Then amidst peals of laughter, the onslaught be gan.
The Colonel, being in a talkative mood.

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began to tease his daughter, who, having graduated the past June from a fashionable
boarding-school in the North, was inclined to follow the latest city fads. Her father con tinued to entertain the guests. "My friends, this, as you see, is a plain, old-fashioned country dinner; none of your city swell af
fairs, where you see nothing to eat except
perhaps a crumb of this, a pinch of that, and a thimbleful of the other, brought to you at
long intervals, while you may feast your eyes on the Madams handsome cut-glass, fragile china, hot-house plants and flowers, em
broidery; and, where there is a dainty little hand-painted card at your place they call the menu, on which is engraved a list of un pronounceable foreign names for our plain
every-day American soups, meats, and vege tables, served to you so sparingly in their many so-called courses that, after it is all
minced, you feel about as hungry for a good square meal as if you had only attended a little childs doll-baby party. My good wife knew, sensible woman that she is, that no such torn-foolery play-parties, however swell, could satisfy the hunger of twenty healthy hunters. Therefore, as the hospit able and jolly old tar says, Eat hearty, lads and lasses, and give the ship a good name. "
Above the laughing chorus was heard the clear voice of the Judge saying, "We will, we

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will, Colonel, thanks to your good lady! Heres that you both may live long and pros per, and that we all may enjoy many happy returns of the day!"
It was truly an old-fashioned Southern dinner, with everything ready on the table to be served, except the dessert.
While the dishes were being removed for
the dessert, Miss Smith said, "Papa, please tell us about your foxhunt in
old Virginia on a Sunday." "Oh, yes, please do tell us, Colonel," sev
eral voices cried, but the Colonel needed no importunity, for he loved to tell the story, so he told it.
"Well, some years ago, I dare not say how many, for fear of the extra severity of Mrs. Smiths curtain-lectures" giving his amiablelooking wife a most mischievous glance as she sat, the picture of happy contentment, at the opposite end of the long table. "She and I were children and sweethearts with our dear parents at one of those very delightful sum mer resorts in southwestern Virginia, when on Sundays all respectable people attended di vine service in the nearest country church. Well, on a bright warm Sunday in August we were with the other boarders and country people of that vicinity reverently assembled in a certain chapel, which had two broad aisles, one on each side, and a space in front

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of the chancel and pulpit, and two doors for its entrances opening into the two aisles. The doors and windows were left wide open. In the midst of the good old preachers very earnest sermon, his thirdly and fourthly hav
ing soothed the children and many of the older ones into sleep, when lo, the distant
baying of hounds was heard, and as the ex citing yelpings grew louder and louder the church-sleepers were aroused and now all at
tention. The young men and boys sitting nearest the doors sneaked out, and the eyes of all, even the preachers, were turned to the direction from whence the cry of the dogs came. Presently the entire pack of twentyfive howling hounds came leaping into the sanctuary itself, darting up one aisle and around behind the preacher, and back down the other aisle and out again, followed by the entire congregation, preacher and all. The men and boys and girls, each one in his or her Sunday-go-to-meeting clothes, all rushed pellmell through the old church-yard, over tomb and grave, to the main road, where the hounds made the prettiest run down the half mile of straight road that you ever saw. Of course the meeting was broken up for that morning. The men and boys who had ridden to church horseback were quickly mounted and in hot pursuit of the dogs, and we were
thus treated to another exciting race down the

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fine stretch of road, till dogs and horses were lost to sight in the distance, and the stirring music of the hounds suddenly ceased, as we supposed, in the tragic death of cunning Mas ter Reynard. But not so, for, as it was all
explained years afterward, it seemed that some mischievous city boys, visitors at the
Springs that summer, bought a pet fox from a negro boy, killed it, and early that Sunday morning dragged its body over the fields and
through the churchyard and the church and back down over the road several miles, to the river, where it was sunk out of sight by means
of a rock tied to it. They also bribed the negro keeper of a large pack of hounds to turn them out and put them on to the trail of the dead fox during preaching time. Per haps that was the first and last time that a fox-chase led through a church, and was par
ticipated in by the preacher and his whole congregation on a Sunday morning. I re member that we children never went to sleep in that church again, however long and dry the sermon. And we were wicked enough to wish and to expect that such great fun would be repeated every Sunday, and ever afterward were most willing attendants of the services
there." While the hunters were feasting and jok
ing, the "band" was playing many familiar
old tunes; and when dinner ended the "grand

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march" was again heard, and the ladies were escorted back to the parlors, where they were left, while the men enjoyed a smoke in the dressing rooms. Returning to the ladies, piano music and singing were enjoyed for a while, then the young people of the house suggested an old-fashion country dance to the music of the "band." The hall was so spacious that, emptied of its rugs and fur niture, its polished floor made an ideal dancing floor. So while waiting for the hall to be put in readiness, and the return of the musicians from the kitchen, where they were eating with the servants, one of the young ladies said,
"Oh, wont it be great fun to begin our ball with a cake-walk contest!"
"Oh, yes, lets do!" everybody exclaimed. "Well, girls," their young hostess said, "let us run up-stairs and see what we can
find toward making up our costumes for the ball. Wont it be fun to make it a masked fancy ball! There is lots of antiquated rubbish stored away up in the attic. Come on; and well rig ourselves out in gay ar ray!"
They followed her up-stairs to the attic, and unpacked old trunks and closets of old-
fashioned fine wearing apparel in which the elder host and hostess and their grandparents

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of several generations had arrayed them
selves long ago. For the men they found many old-style
suits; dress-suits, knee-breeches, silk vests and
ruffled shirts, Prince Albert coats, tight and baggy pants, and beaver and silk hats of divers shapes; and the ladies found for them selves a sufficient number of old dresses and bonnets, etc., to give each a quaint costume for the impromptu fancy ball. Mrs. Smith gave them some material out of which their masks were soon made, and in about half an hour more they came out of their dressingrooms completely disguised.
The Colonel and Mrs. Smith and several other older people and Judge Reinhardt, were the only ones present not disguised. They were not to take part in the cake-walk con test. The Judge, Colonel Smith and his wife were requested to act as the committee
to decide the contest. The Colonel was master of ceremonies, and when the "band" struck up a lively ragtime tune, he called out,
"Gentlemen, please choose your partners for the grand cake-walk contest! Now, that we may better distinguish you, we will pin corresponding numbers on each couple. The ladies will please take the arms of their escorts in regular order, and start off for the grand march twice around the room; then form with an equal number of couples on each

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side of the room, and then the couples shall be called out in reverse order first shall be last and last first. Will number ten please begin the contest."
"Number Ten" made his best bow to his partner of the corresponding number and she her most graceful curtsy, and hand in hand they bowed to the others and glided several times up and down through the line of couples and lookers-on stretched out on each side of the long hall. This was repeated in turn by all of the other couples, each striv ing to outdo the other in original and ludi crous gyrations.
It happened that a pretty iced cake was
found by Mrs. Smith uncut, and she brought it forward on her prettiest cake-stand for the prize-winner. Then the Colonel said,
"All please be silent while at the request of your committee, the Honorable Reuben Reinhardt announces the successful contestant."
"Ladies and gentlemen," said the Judge, "before making the announcement, I shall take the liberty, on behalf of all present, to thank our esteemed host and hostess for this most enjoyable entertainment. This day shall ever be remembered by all who have been so fortunate as to partake of this wholesouled hospitality. But it is natural to ex pect such felicitous entertainment at the hands of these worthily renowned good people. It

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has been told me, and, my friends, we have ample cause to believe it every whit true, that originally all the good people in the world were named Smith, and there were no other family names till some black sheep
chanced to show up even in the noble old first family, and, because of his meanness, was turned out and forced to take a new name. My friends, we would exhaust all vocabularies if we tried to express in words, our admiration for, and gratitude to our kind host and hostess; so we beg of them to please take it all for granted, while I pass
on to the pleasant duty assigned me. Sweet as all these pleasures are, I must confess that there is a lingering regret in the minds of each of your committee because there were not twenty prizes offered, one for each of you twenty great cake-walkers. You all, I venture to say, have walked into the heart of each other, and have completely captured your audience. Please pardon me for the suspense I am keeping you in; remember that the pleasures of anticipation may be enjoyed by all, but only one can be the happy realizer. In the course of this eventful and never-to-be-forgotten day two heated con
tests were fairly and bravely won by the same contender; and now, for the third time, it is my honor and great pleasure to declare her the winner. Will Number One please

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lead his fortunate partner up to receive her prize. This time you are rightly numbered."
The Judge had readily recognized both lady and gentleman of couple number one, and when they stood in front of him to receive the prize he said to the gentleman,
"Sir Knight of the light fantastic toe, al low me to congratulate you on your success
at last in coming out of a contest so near the goal. You have done nobly in cutting the pigeon-wing, though you have failed to win the honor of cutting the cake!"
Then turning to the lady with a low bow he said,
"Fair Lady of the Black Mask, please accept this pretty cake, kindly donated by our most gracious hostess, and with it our highest esteem and warmest congratulations. Well you have earned it, and also our hearty wish that your lifes cake may never be all dough. Unto her who hath much, more shall be given."
As she took the cake from his hands all masks were removed and deafening applause was given the fair winner Ruth Rex, her. partner, Hampton Twigg, and Judge Reinhardt.
Everybody took part in the jolly dance, and the old Virginia Reel wound up their hilarious exercise.

CHAPTER XVII
ANOTHER HEBREW LESSON
The next morning Ruth Rex resumed her usual school duties with a happy heart, in her room full of girls and boys, who were also full of pleasant memories of the bright and merry Christmas holidays. Both teacher and pupils enjoyed every hour of their rest and recreation, and were all the happier to re turn to their school work. Good and bad humor produce their like, and are as conta gious as the measles. Happy the teacher blessed with that sweet and even temperament which never fails to pour oil on all troubled waters. And happy the pupil blessed with such a fortunate teacher. There is love and peace and progress in that school-room. For tunately Ruth Rex was so blessed. When tempted to lose patience, and who is not so tempted? she ever remembered and prac ticed the proverb of King Solomon, "A soft answer turneth away wrath." With her win ning smile and kind word she was enabled to impart happiness and contentment, as well as knowledge. As was her inspiration, so did she inspire all children entrusted to her tutor ship with ambitious desires to study and to

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learn as well as to retain her greatly appre ciated friendship. Hers was that golden, silent influence that ever speaks louder than words, and inspires such helpful confidence
that the world is all the better for such a divinely gifted person having lived in it. Such grace, beauty, intelligence and goodness combined made it all the harder for her re
jected suitors to bear their disappointment in their failure to win such a prize; but once her lover was to be always her lover, and ever under her good influence. More than
one lover, inclined to dissipation and to yield to the many vices of the fast young men, had been entirely reformed by her, though bereft of all hope of ever marrying her.
It is not surprising, therefore, that even the old bachelor Jew, Reuben Reinhardt, the reputed "woman hater," should find himself growing deeper and deeper in love, and that
the increasing love should have wrought such a great change in his whole life. He too went to his routine labors of his office that morning happy with the pleasant memories of the delightful experiences of the week just ended. For her sake, he would now work
more incessantly to obtain the largest fees to be possessed with the most almighty power in the world. She should reign the queen in all society when she became his wife. All the comforts and luxuries that money can buy

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should be hers. Nothing could be too good or too costly for her. So he was happy not only in retrospect, but also in anticipa tions. All law books, and those most unromantic of accounts, briefs, suits and defences became illumined to him with her sweet,
bright light.
No doubts in his ultimate success to win her ever clouded his bright sky of hope. And so that day and other days sped by all too swiftly for either of them to do all that was in their minds to accomplish she plan
ning and laboring for the good of others and thus feeling happy in realizing the say ing of Christ, "It is more blessed to give than to receive." And he was more and more
diligent in the business of making money, as he persuaded himself, for her sake, but in reality for himself, in gratifying his increas ing desire to win her, and, with her, the powerful influence in the world of riches.
Yet he gladly found time to devote to her instruction on the two delightfully pleasant study evenings of each week, and, between times, long talks in the happy chance meet ings. And she managed to devote enough time to her Hebrew lessons to make great progress, so that in a few weeks, much to her delight, she was enabled to translate in English from the Hebrew Bible.
One evening in their discussions of the

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various books of the Old Testament, she asked him which was his favorite verse. Without hesitating, he answered in the Hebrew.
"Soph dabar habol," etc., which, as it is interpreted in the English Bible, Ecclesiastes, 12th chapter, i3th verse, "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man."
"Well," she replied, "that certainly is the whole scripture in a nut shell, and, as our Saviour perhaps would say to you, whoso ever doeth these things is not far from the kingdom of heaven.
"A certain other lawyer said to Jesus once, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? Jesus, in turn, asked him, What is written in the law ? The lawyer answered, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thy self. And our Saviour said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do and thou shalt live. "
These words seemed to make a deep im pression upon the Judge, but he made no comment on them, only saying, "Miss Ruth, may I ask for your favorite verse in the Bible?"
"Why, certainly; mine is in the New Tes-

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tament, ist Corinthians, I3th chapter, i3th verse, And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity. I believe charity or Christian love, to be the greatest thing in all the world; for it embraces all other virtues, and without it all religion is vain. Even the firmest faith, the most liberal almsgiving, the strictest ob servance of and conformity to all ceremonial rules and religious rites are all worth nothing, without charity, or, rather, love."
"But, my dear Miss Ruth, why attribute all such love to Christians only?"
"Because it was peculiarly of the teachings of Christ and His Apostles. Agape, the Greek word for love, was unknown to the heathen world, for, as I am informed by scholarly critics, it is not found in any of the heathen writings."
"But," the Judge quickly answered, "it is found in the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures called the Septuagint, and its meaning was known and expressed by the Hebrew writers of the Bible."
"Yet, Judge, in the Mosaic books, which, you must admit, was generally accepted as the inspired Law for all Jews, it was an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth, and the limit of forgiveness was not to exceed seven times,
ii

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"But Jesus taught unlimited forgiveness and boundless mercy toward one another. If one smite us on the cheek, we should turn the other also to him: in short, to always return good for evil, and to love and pray for every body, even for our worst enemies."
"All that may be a very beautiful theory, Miss Ruth, but where may a Christian be found who practices such humility, forbear ance and unselfishness?"
"There have been and are many such Christians. Jesus, Himself, the sinless One, not only taught it by word, but also by pre cept and example, and earnestly prayed for the forgiveness of all sinners, even for His cruel persecutors and murderers, and died, sacrificed Himself willingly for the sins of all the world, and arose again from the dead for the justification of all who believe, re
pent, and accept Him as their Saviour, the Christ."
"That is what all you followers of Jesus of Nazareth say; but you know, Miss Ruth, we Hebrews know better than to accept such a delusive faith."
"Yes, Judge, I am sorry to admit your con ceit. Neither would your forefathers believe His divine words, but so sinned in the face of the clearest revelation that they went so far as to attribute Jesus miracles to Satanic influence; and, I fear, thus sinned against

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the Holy Ghost, for which sin there is no forgiveness, either in this world, or in the world beyond the grave. That is the only unpardonable sin, and it is so only because of the hardness of the heart of those who will not believe, however unmistakably clear the
revelation." The Judge closed his eyes, and bowing his
head said aloud, "Oh, most merciful God, forbid that my
nation should be doomed to such a terrible
fate!"
"Amen!" she reverently added; "but believe me, my kind friend, all may yet be saved, in the name of Jesus Christ, for there is none other name under Heaven given
among men whereby we must be saved. Believe that much and everything else will be made perfectly clear to you."
"For your sake, my dear Miss Ruth, I would that I could believe as you do."
"Oh, then, why not do so? It is so very easy to believe, repent, and be saved through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour. Search the Scriptures, even your own Law and
Prophets more clearly and prayerfully, for they all testify of Him. Doubt no longer that Jesus was and is the only true Messiah, which was to come, and has in due time come; and He stands now at the right hand of the Father in heaven, to make intercession for

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you and for me, and to save and to receive us all into the blessed place He has gone to prepare for all who love Him and believe Him to be the Redeemer, the Saviour of their souls."
"Ah! Miss Ruth, you are an earnest and forceful preacher, but, alas! I cannot accept your doctrine, because it is of very
doubtful origin. Some day, perhaps, you may become convinced that I and my people are justified in not accepting Jesus of
Nazareth as the true Messiah. But, in the mean time, I respect your zeal, and thank the Lord, our God of Israel, that you are at least not a heathen, or an atheist. We, our people, honor the memory of that great Jewish Reformer, who, though erroneously
worshipped by you Christians, has so in fluenced for good the heathen world that many Gentiles have come to some knowledge and worship of the only One and true God. For, as I take it, although you Christians worship Jesus of Nazareth, you do so be
lieving him to be the son of God, and thereby do not intentionally detract any allegiance from our God, to whom alone all honor, wor ship, and glory is due; and so I trust and believe that our God accepts all worshipful service rendered unto Him, even that of the Christians."

CHAPTER XVIII
THE JUDGE DELIVERS AN ORATION
It was the nineteenth of January, 1900, the anniversary of the birthday of General Robert Edward Lee. By an act of each State Legislature the Southern States those that once composed the Confederacy (have made the day a legal holiday. On the annual return of Lees birthday it is appropriately celebrated by closing the public schools, the banks, courts, and all other places of business, and the white citizens, men, women and children, assembling in some large hall, which is decorated with the Confederate colors red, white and red and the battleflags, some new and others torn and riddled by bullets and shells in many a hard-fought battle. Vocal and instrumental music of the civil war times is rendered and orations and addresses are given. On such occasions the widows, wives, sisters, mothers and daughters of the Confederate Veterans, organized into a society called the Daughters of the Con federacy, present the worthy survivors of the "lost cause" with the Southern Cross of the Legion of Honor. In Rome on this day it was expected by the committee of arrange-

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ments that an eloquent orator from southern Georgia would deliver the oration, but at the last moment they received a telegram stating that sudden illness would keep him home.
But the committee at once thought of their esteemed townsman, Reuben Reinhardt, and asked him to supply the place as orator of the day. It was a short notice, the invi
tation being extended only a few hours before the time to begin the celebration, but the Judge, being patriotic and a great admirer of Lee, promised to do his best.
The exercises were opened with prayer by one of the local clergymen, an old Con federate song was sung, and then the chair man of the meeting introduced the orator of the day. He was enthusiastically received, and bowing with a pleased expression at the greetings of the large audience, the Judge said:
"Mr. Chairman, Daughters of the Con federacy, Honored Veterans, Ladies and Gen tlemen, Friends: We honor ourselves in honoring the blessed memory of the Match less Lee! If it is true "tis human to err, then Robert Edward Lee was more than human, or, at least, he made the exception to the general rule. For all who had the honor to know him, and all his historians, are unanimous in giving him a SMtless record in childhood, in youth, and in manhood. How

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very applicable to him are the words of Is raels royal psalmist, Mark the perfect man and behold the upright! He was truly a man in whom there was no guile. His in
spiration was duty, and he ever followed it with the peaceful consciousness of always having done the very best he could. Hero worshippers, we are called, but what of that, when we have a hero so worthy of our homage as General Robert E. Lee! In the image of God created He man, and when one so godly has won our obeisance, do we not honor the All-wise Creator the more in thus honoring the perfection of His handi work? There is no idolatry in such adora tion, for do we not give God the praise for such a splendid example of the divinely created humanity? When that shepherd gen eral in Israel, the man after Gods own heart, returned from the slaughter of the Philis tines, did not the daughters of Israel go out to meet the youthful, ruddy hero, and with tabret and harp sing his praises Saul has slain his thousands and David his tens of thou sands ? It is meet that the daughters of the Southland should persevere in their laudable work of love in perpetuating the honorable memory of the Souths most beloved heroes!
"Yes, my friends, it is especially appropri ate that they should honor the name of the Souths chief hero the great-grandson-in-law

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of the queenly wife of him who, though child less, will be honored for all time and by all na tions as the Father of his Country, the first, in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen!
"Robert Edward Lee was not a whit be hind George Washington in war, in peace, and in the hearts of his Southern fellowcitizens! In the Temple of Fame his place
should be on the plane of our first great Presi dent. Lee in defeat was as great as Wash ington in victory. He was a worthy son of his noble father, General Henry Lee, Light
Horse Harry," who was three times chosen Governor of his native State, the Old Do minion, the grand old Mother of States and statesmen, and in Congress he delivered the
funeral oration on General Washington. The son, R. E. Lee, was only eleven years of age when his distinguished father died. On this young boy, of whom his father wrote that he was always good, devolved the care of a large plantation, his two elder brothers being absent from home, the one at college and the other a midshipman in the Navy.
"So gentle and attentive was this noble youth to his mother that she said that he was both son and daughter to her, and all through his honorable life he said that he owed every thing to her. At the age of eighteen years he entered West Point Academy, where for

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four years he was a favorite with cadets, of ficers and professors, and was graduated sec ond in an unusually brilliant class of fortyeight cadets, and never received a demerit.
"June 30, 1831, he married Mary Ran dolph Custis, only daughter of George Wash ington Parke Custis, the grandson of Martha Washington and the adopted son of General Washington. His first service, after his graduation, was in our own State, at CockSpur Island, near Savannah, Georgia, as lieu tenant in the Corps of Engineers.
"In the Mexican war he so distinguished himself for bravery that he was twice pro moted, first, major, and then lieutenantcolonel. It is said that when General Scott was asked what was the most daring achieve ment of the war with Mexico, he said, Lees crossing the Pedrigal. The greatest feat of physical and moral courage performed by any individual, pending the campaign. Years after, General Scott said that Lee is the greatest military genius in America. As a fighter of the Indians and Superintendent of West Point Academy he also greatly dis tinguished himself. When in that eventful year of 1861, after due deliberation, the Southern States asserted their inherent and constitutional rights, reluctantly, one by one, breaking the compact which for nearly one hundred years had bound them together for

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mutual protection and interest with their sis
ter States, and President Lincoln had called for each State to furnish its quota of troops
to preserve the Union, Virginia could hold out no longer against her seceding sisters of
the South in joining her fortunes with the
Southern cause. Col. R. E. Lee, as a loyal son of his native State, at once resigned his commission in the U. S. Army. In his letter
of resignation he said, It would have been presented at once, but for the struggle it has cost me to separate myself from a service to
which I have devoted all the best years of my life, and all the ability I possessed.
"This was in keeping with the great unself ishness of the man: for it is said that Presi dent Lincoln sent one of his Cabinet officers to offer Lee the command of the Northern Army, and General Scott, to whom Lee was devotedly attached, did all he could to in fluence him to remain, and said to him, as he bade him farewell, Lee, you have made the
greatest mistake of your life; but I feared it would be so.
"In a letter to his sister, dated April 20, 1861, from his home at Arlington, Virginia, he wrote, With all my devotion to the
Union; and the feeling of loyalty and duty of an American citizen, I have not been able to make up my mind to raise my hand against my relations, my children and my home I

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love; therefore I resigned my commission in the Army, and, save in the defence of my native State, with the sincere hope that my poor services may never be needed, I hope I may never be called upon to draw my sword. I know you will blame me, but you must think of me as kindly as you can, and believe that I have endeavored to do what I thought right.
"General Lee was at once called to take charge of the troops of Virginia; appointed major-general, afterward full general in com mand of all the Confederate forces and, my friends, you all know the rest! How, during those four dark years of heroic strug gle to maintain their rights and to defend their native soil from the invasion of the Northern force, General Lee led his devoted, brave followers in many battles, won and lost, till, at the end, his half-starved, ragged, and barefooted army of thirty thousand heroes, Lees Miserables, as they, in jest, called themselves, stretched along a line of forty miles extent, confronting General Grants army of one hundred and sixty thousand wellequipped and well-fed troops, the pick of the world. Upon their surrender in the village of Appomattox Court House, Virginia, they retained their side arms, and their wornout horses and mules, and returned to their ruined homes to begin anew the support of them-

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selves and families in civil life in earning
their bread in the sweat of their brows. Some
of you old veterans, doubtless, remember well those sad scenes; how, when Lees soldiers
had learned the sorrowful news, they broke ranks and rushed up to him, struggling to take him by the hand, and to express their af fection and sympathy."
A number of trembling voices of the vet erans cried out, "Yes, we do, Judge!" As they recalled those sorrowful events, tears
were seen rolling down their wrinkled faces. The Judge continued:
"General Lee on that day, in a deep, sad, and trembling voice said to his loyal and brave soldiers, Men, we have . fought
through the war together, I have done the best I could for you, my heart is too full to say more.
"When, at the battle of Chancellorsville, the dauntless and wonderful General Stone wall Jacksons life was sacrificed on the altar of liberty, General Lee said that he had lost his right arm. When Stonewall Jackson
said of Lee, He is a phenomenon; he is the only man I would follow blindfolded, he ex pressed the unanimous sentiment of the Southern armies. With such implicit confi dence m their leader, his little army, at his one word, would have cut its way through the powerful enemys thick lines and continued

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the disastrous war indefinitely. But the everconsiderate Lee foresaw the inevitable doom, and would not sacrifice any more valuable lives for the already lost cause. His daunt less men were not conquered; they were worn out in whipping the greatly superior numbers of their foe, and so the time had come to quit, shake hands across the bloody chasm, and be friends once more in a reunited country. At the time of the surrender there were no vic tors cheers over a vanquished foe; no tri umphant music or boasting, but rather that night, the first time in four long bloody years, the armies of the North and the South, the Blue and the Gray, slept peacefully side by side; no longer as deadly enemies, but as fel low countrymen and friends; each admiring the other for all the noble, brave, and manly character that had been written on the tablet of fame in the indelible letters of some of the richest American blood!
"General Lee was no less unselfish and great in time of peace than he had been in war. The smoke of the many hard-fought battles had scarcely cleared away, when many offers of great honor and financial value were tendered him by admiring friends, North and South. But neither a salary of fifty thou sand dollars a year, double the amount then paid to the President of the United States, which was offered General Lee for the use

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of his name as president of a wealthy cor poration, nor the proffered gift by the citizens of Richmond, Virginia, of a handsome house if he would make his home in that city, could tempt that great and unselfish man to accept
anything he had not earned by his own la bors. While larger and richer institutions failed to induce him to accept their princely offers, he accepted the election as president of the then bankrupt Washington College at Lexington, Virginia, on a very modest sti pend. He devoted his remaining few years on earth to the education of the boys who,
as a matter of course, flocked in great num bers to that ancient and fortunate college. Ever since its good fortune in securing its val uable head it has been called Washington and Lee University, in honor of the two greatest heroes of proud America! There he peace fully labored to the end of his stainless earthly career. There, in the College Chapel rests his sacred ashes; while his spirit rests in the peace and happiness of Paradise with all the departed noblest Saints of God!"

CHAPTER XIX
THE LEGION OF HONOR
The Judge ended his speech amidst the en thusiastic applause of the audience, and the band played "Dixie," accompanied by the usual "Rebel yell." It was several minutes before quiet could be restored. Then the chairman of the meeting stated that two pub lished articles had just been given to him, with the request that they be read aloud, and, as Judge Reinhardts eloquent and very in teresting address had left him in such good voice, he requested the Judge to read them. The Judge was greeted with great applause as he again stood up, and he took the ar ticles handed him by the chairman.
"I take pleasure," said the Judge, "in read ing these newspaper articles. The first is on General Robert E. Lees war horse:
" Few people in this broad land do not know that the late Gen. Robert E. Lees war horse, Traveler, gained almost as much fame as did the celebrated Confederate commander himself. After the war an artist wrote to General Lee asking for a description of Trav eler, which General Lee wrote to him, says the Republic. A copy of this description was

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made by Miss Mildred Lee, a daughter of the General, for a St. Louis friend, who gave it to the Gleaner. This is what the General wrote about his favorite horse:
" "If I were an artist like you I would draw a true picture of Traveler, representing his fine proportions, muscular figure, deep chest, short back, strong haunches, flat legs,
small head, broad forehead, delicate ears, quick eyes, small feet and black mane and tail. Such a picture would inspire a poet, whose genius could then depict his worth and de scribe his endurance of toil, hunger, thirst,
heat and cold, the dangers and sufferings through which he passed. He could dilate upon his sagacity and affection and his in variable response to any wish of his rider.
He might even imagine his thoughts through his long night marches and days of battle through which he has passed. But I am no artist and can, therefore, only say he was a Confederate gray.
" "I purchased him in the autumn of 1861 in the mountains of Virginia, and he has been my patient follower ever since to Georgia, the Carolinas, and back to Virginia.
He carried me through the Seven Days bat tles around Richmond, the Second Manassas, at Sharpsburg, Fredericksburg, the last day at Chancellorsville, to Pennsylvania, at Gettys burg, and back to the Rappahannock. From

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the commencement of the campaign in 1864, at Orange, till its close around Petersburg, the saddle was scarcely off his back, as he passed through the fire of the Wilderness, Spottsylvania, Cold Harbor, and across the James River.
" "He was almost in daily requisition in the winter of 1864-65 on the long line of defenses from the Chickahominy, north of Richmond, to Hatchers Run, south of the Appomattox. In the campaign of 1865 he bore me from Petersburg to the final day at Appomattox Court House. You know the comfort he is to me in my present retirement. He is well supplied with equipments. Two sets have been sent to him from England, and one from the ladies of Baltimore, and one from the city of Richmond, but I think his favorite is the American saddle from St. Louis.
" "Of all his companions in toil Rich mond, Brown, Roan, Ajax and quiet Lucy Long he is the only one that retained his vigor to the last. The first two expired under their onerous burdens and the last two failed.
You can, I am sure, from what I have said, paint his portrait."
" This ends the description, signed with the name of the famous General Robert E.
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Lee, Lexington, Va., the summer before he died.
"The next article is our own Ben Hills tribute to General Lee and I agree with the editor when he says:
" Of all the tributes to Lee, none has ever surpassed in eloquence or splendor that which was delivered in the Senate Cham ber of the old Capitol at Atlanta by Ben jamin H. Hill in 1874. We have received many requests to republish the climax of that great speech. It should be memorized by every Southern boy. The address is given in full in "The Life of Benjamin H. Hill," by his son, B. H. Hill, Jr. The part to which we have specially alluded is as follows:
" "When the enactments and measures of the Confederate government shall be crit
ically examined, they will be found to have sprung into existence with a wisdom, a vigor, an aptitude for the crisis and a strict conform
ity to all the principles of free institutions, which must challenge the admiration of pub licists and statesmen for all time.
" "No people, ancient or modern, can look with more pride to the verdict which his tory will be compelled to render upon the
merits and characters of our two chief lead ers the one in the military and the other in the civil service. Most other leaders are
great because of fortunate results and heroes

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because of success; Davis and Lee, because of qualities in themselves, are great in the face of fortune, and heroes in spite of defeat.
" "When the future historian shall come to survey the character of Lee, he will find it rising like a huge mountain above the undu lating plain of humanity, and he must lift his eyes high toward heaven to catch its sum mit. He possessed every virtue of other great commanders without their vices. He was a foe without hate; a friend without
treachery; a soldier without cruelty; a victor without oppression, and a victim without mur muring. He was a public officer without vices; a private citizen without wrong; a
neighbor without reproach; a Christian without hypocrisy, and a man without guile. He was a Caesar without his ambition; Fred erick, without his tyranny; Napoleon, with out his selfishness, and Washington, without his reward. He was obedient to authority as a servant, and royal in authority as a true king. He was gentle as a woman in life; modest and pure as a virgin in thought; watchful as a Roman vestal in duty; submis Asivcehitlolelsa!w"a"s Socrates, and grand in battle as
When the Judge had finished Ben Hills tribute to General Lee, the band struck up "Dixie" again, and the audience went wild with enthusiasm. The chairman then an-

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nounced that the Southern Cross of the Le
gion of Honor would be awarded to the Vet erans as their names were called by the Sec retary of the Daughters of the Confederacy, and that the committee of three widows of
Veterans would pin the crosses on the coats of the Veterans as they came forward. Ruth Rex was the secretary, and before calling the names she read the account of the institution of the cross:
" Whereas, it has been the custom of every civilized nation to bestow upon the members of the Army and Navy and such as peculiarly deserve its medals and crosses of
honor, such as the "Victoria Cross," the "Iron Cross of Germany," the "Cross of the Legion of Honor of France," and,
" Whereas, we, the Daughters of the Con federacy and Navy of the Confederate States have not had these decorations con ferred upon them, consider it especially our duty and privilege to supply that deficiency; therefore be it
" Resolved, that we, the Daughters of the Confederacy, do confer upon each and every member of the Army and Navy of the Con federate States a cross to be known as "The Southern Cross of the Legion of Honor," to be handed down from one generation to another as a most priceless heritage, bought as it was with the blood of their forefathers, to

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stand as a record for all time to the memory of those men who represented all that was lofty in principle, pure in patriotism and dauntless in courage. "
Then, as in her clear voice, she called out their names, the Veterans answered, "Here!" and came forward for their crosses. The widows pinned the crosses to the Veterans coats, warmly shaking hands with each one and giving each a kind wish. It was a most impressive scene. Some veterans having only one leg, or one arm; some scarred by ball or sword, bent, grizzled, and wrinkled with age, and in faded and threadbare uniforms of Confederate gray, which none could be induced to exchange for the most costly modern tailor-made suits; and some of middle age erect, well-dressed and neat in appearance, as if the past thirty-five years had served them well, while retrieving their lost fortunes. All as proudly delighted to be so honorably decorated by the Southern Cross, at the hands of those sympathetic women, as any proud and brave Briton, while receiving the Victoria Cross from the hands of the good and glorious Queen. Happy and prosperous may they long live to wear their highly prized badges of honor!

CHAPTER XX
AUNT CHLOES DEATH
Within two weeks after a big snow storm in Rome, a great misfortune befell Reuben Reinhardt in the sickness and death of his faithful old- negro servant, his good old Mammy, Aunt Chloe. She caught a severe cold, and it quickly developed into a malig nant case of pneumonia, and from the first the case was considered critical. No trouble or cost was spared by the Judge in giving her every comfort and attention. A trained negro nurse was employed to take care of her, and two of the best white doctors in the town did all within their power to cure her. The Judge was so anxious about her that he ex cited the sympathy of Ruth Rex and her kind-hearted landlady, Mrs. Lane, and they often took or sent delicacies to her.
The first time Aunt Chloe saw Ruth she stared at her for a little while, and then a happy smile passed over her wrinkled face, and she cried out,
"Howdy, Missus, howdy? I knowed de good Lawd would send you fur your ole Chloe. Fo de Lawd, Missus, you dun growed young agin purty too, jist like you

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wus when Marse Reuben wus a baby. Will your ole Chloe grow young too, in hebin, an always be wid you, an wait on you, jist like I use to do? Yes, Mawm, I will indeedy! Is dun ready to go! Praise be de Lawd! Amen!"
"Aunt Chloe," said her nurse, "this lady is Miss Ruth Rex, and this one is Mrs. Lane. They have come to see you and have brought to you these pretty flowers and some nice
things for you to eat. We are not going to let you go yet, Aunt Chloe; the Judge cant spare you, and we hope and pray that the good Lord will make you well soon. You are feeling better to-day, arent you, Aunt Chloe?"
"No, no, Jane, Is gwine home sho now wid my good Missus. She needs me, an dar she dun cum fur me, an Is all ready to go now! Glory, glory!" Fearing that it would only excite her patient to try further to un deceive her, the nurse motioned the two ladies to go into the adjoining room, and, as they did so, the old servant dropped off into a cduomze,ins.o" ftly saying, "Missus, Honey, Is
After that the nurse thought it not prudent for Aunt Chloe to see Miss Ruth again. Nevertheless, Ruth continued to ask after her and to send flowers and delicacies. The
Judge questioned the doctors and the nurse

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very closely three times every day about Aunt Chloes condition, but seldom spoke to her for fear of disturbing her. One day soon after she mistook Ruth for Reuben Reinhardts mother, Aunt Chloe recognized his voice, though he was talking very softly to the nurse, and in her feeble voice said,
"Is dat you, Marse Reuben?"
"Yes, Aunt Chloe, I hope that you feel much better to-day. May I do something for you?" He came nearer as he spoke, and standing beside her bed took her feverish hand, and with moist eyes revealing even to her dim vision that tender love for his black mammy that no Southern child ever loses. She smiled in a loving response as she said,
"No, thank you, Honey Chile. Your ole Mammy loves her boy, but I must soon leab you an go to your good muddah. Shes dun been heah to tell me she wants me, an Is
gwine, suah nuff dis time. Oh, Mammys
food Chile, I wisht you could see her now. hes purty as she eber wus, jist like her pictur hangin dah in de libry; an young jist like she wus when you wus a KT baby. I hates
so fur to leab you, Honey, but your deah mas dun cum heah fur her ole Chloe, an I has ter go. My ole man Tony dun give me his sacrid promise dat hes gwine take good care of you, Honey, jist same as me. An my gal Mariah Is dun learnd to cook

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an keep de house clean like your good ma show me. Dont grieve fur me, Honey, kase Im gwine to your ma an your pa. You look roun, Honey, an fine you a good purty wife, like your pa did, an youll be happy an well took care of. Good-by, Marse Reuben, my Honey Chile, an meet your ole mammy an your ma an your pa an all in hebbin." Then she closed her eyes, and sang in her soothing voice, of many years ago, one of her old lullabys.
" 'Mammy's little darlin' boy--'"

and then; more triumphantly,
" 'I's goin' home, I's goin' home, I's goin' home, to die no mo'. Swing lo', sweet churit, Cum take dis nigger home! Glory! Glory! Glory! Praise be de Lawd!'"
Then she seemed to pass into a peaceful sleep for a few hours. Soon her honest and kind heart ceased to beat, and her soul, freed from its human prison-like tabernacle, soared on, on through the invisible to its place in the spirit world, that intermediate state, to await the Day of Resurrection, when the sea and the earth shall give up their dead, and the mortal shall put on immortality.
The Judge felt very deeply his great loss. "Aunt Chloe" had cared for him lovingly

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since" he first saw the light; she often sang him to sleep in the years of his infancy with her soothing lullaby, as only the negro mammy can. She had bathed and dressed him until he was old enough to do for him self; had carefully prepared his food from his cradle days to the time of her last sick ness; she had zealously kept the house in order for years, and taken as much pride and pleasure in his success at school and in the world as did his own mother.
The Judge sadly felt her death, and he
felt that it was the severing of a tie sacred and loving, second only to that which bound him to his mother. His only consolation was his consciousness of having done all he could for her comfort and happiness while she was alive, and his belief that she was enjoying her well-earned rest in Paradise. As in her sickness, so in her death he showed her every consideration possible.

K-" -
rt.!
Ji

CHAPTER XXI
JUDGE REINHARDT SPEAKS AGAIN
Reuben Reinhardt was a Fraternity man. Among the many secret organizations of which he was a zealous member was the Live Oak Camp, Number Twenty, Woodmen of the World. Now, the Woodmen have a rapidly growing life insurance fraternity, and with its policies of from $500 to $3,000 there is assured a $100 monument to be placed over every deceased member, or Sovereign, as he is called. The premiums due on the policies are collected as monthly assessments, and are so moderate that men with limited means are glad to be enabled by it to protect their wives and little ones or such others as may be de pendent upon them for support, should they die at any time. The Judge had no one de pendent upon him, but recognizing the great good of such institutions, he gave this and like fraternities his influence most willingly. When one of the Woodmens monuments was made ready for unveiling, the Camp of which the deceased had been a member marched to the grave, and with impressive ceremonies unveiled the monument. On such occasions the family of the deceased member

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are the honored guests of the Camp, and the friends and acquaintances and citizens gen erally are witnesses of the unveiling cere monies. Not long after General Lees birth day celebration Judge Reinhardt accepted the invitation of his brother Sovereigns to be the orator of the day for a certain unveiling in
the beautiful cemetery of Myrtle Hill. An unusually large crowd of people assembled at the appointed time, a bright Sunday after noon in February, and many were there to hear the Judges oration.
"Friends, and Brother Sovereigns," he said, "we have come together at the grave of our deceased brother to dedicate a tomb to his memory. We do this in fulfillment of our obligation to mark well the grave of each
of our dead. By this monument and the em blems and the motto Dum Tacit Clamat, engraved thereon, while our brother sleeps the silent sleep of death, this stone witness speaks to the world that there is a Brother hood of Man sacredly bound together to pro tect the name of the living and to honor the
memory of the dead; it speaks of the fra ternal love that binds us together for our
common good while alive, and reminds us that although the soul is departed from the body of our buried Sovereign, it is to be re
united at the General Resurrection, when the earth and the sea shall give up their dead, and

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they shall return to their Creator. This stone is as a link that binds the seen to the un seen the Mizpah the watch tower, as it were, between earth and heaven. There has ever been cherished in the heart of man the profoundest veneration for the burying places of the human bodies. It is truly a hallowed custom to indulge the sentiment of caring
for the dead to the very best ability of the living. This is proved not only by the history of all nations and countries, but also by the
pick and shovel of the excavators, who, in their persevering desire for knowledge, have unearthed the wealth and art and learning of remote and prehistoric ages, which for thou sands of years have been buried in their tombs. The ruins of the tombs of the an
cients indicate that their most skilful sculp tors, painters, and jewelers were employed to ornament and beautify the tombs of their rulers and heroes. Then, far more than now, the reputation and wealth of the man, while living, was indicated by the place of his burial the magnificence of his tomb, when dead.
"Even the ancient Hebrew nation, which
erected very costly monuments over its dead, and used the simplest, if any, ceremony at its burials, ever showed the greatest respect and concern for the places of its dead. A Jew felt the greatest horror imaginable at not

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having a decent place for his grave. Yes, one of the greatest indignities to a Jew was to be buried with the burial of an ass. We
all know that one of the most striking events
in the life of Abraham, the honored progeni tor of the Hebrews, was the purchase of the field of Ephraim the Htttite at Hebron, in which was the cave of the Machpelah, in or
der that he might bury Sarah, his wife there, and that it might be the sepulchre for himself and his children. He would not accept it as a gift when offered to him, but insisted on
purchasing it, in order that it might be made sure unto him for the possession of a burying place. There he and his immediate descend ants were laid, 3,700 years ago, and there they rest now, undisturbed by the curious and inquisitive eyes and irreverent intrusion of the traveler and relic-hunter.
"It is recorded that the highest honors which could be bestowed on the good He brew Priest Jehoidah was that they buried him in the City of David among the dead Kings, because he had done good in Israel, both toward God and toward His House, the Holy Temple. The favorite places for the ancient Jews to place their dead seemed to have been in caves, or in tombs hewn out of the side of large rocks, each having a nar row entrance that might be conveniently closed up by a stone.

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"The beautiful and long-lived sentiment of marking the graves of the dead with monu ments and by ornamenting them with costly works of art and by decorating them with flowers is prompted by a higher motive than
any worldly pride or selfishness on the part of the living, or even for the love and respect for the memory of the departed dear ones. Nor is it only on account of the belief in the immortality of the soul; but also it emanates
from the almost universal belief in the res urrection of the body. This belief has ex
isted, in some form, in the mind of man from Adam to our own rime, throughout the world and among all languages and nations. If it were not so doubtless this all-powerful senti ment would not have been so sacredly per petuated. For, if the body rises not, why should there have been so much time, labor, expense devoted to the preservation of the body, and to mark well the place where it lay! From the sepulchers in the early ages, when the deceased body was burned and
costly and artistic urns held the ashes of the dead; from the rude and rough heaps of stones forming the tombs of the ancient Celts, and the other aborigines in Gaul, now France, and in the Isles of Britain and Northern Eu rope, which monuments are called cairns, cramlechs and dolmen; from the sepulchral mounds of the American Indians, and their

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predecessors in this country, spoken of as the prehistoric race; from the magnificent struc tures of the sculptors art, the mausoleums and monumental temples of the Greeks and
Etruscans, and their ruined city of the dead, called Necropolis; from the pillars and cata combs of the Romans; and from the obelisks and pyramids of the Egyptians we learn
from both the barbarian and the more civil ized nations and from the people who lived thousands of years ago, by the contents of their many different styles of tombs, that they
all had some idea, more or less vague, of a future existence, or of a life beyond the grave. Their ideas of the future life were formed according to their tastes and favorite pursuits in this life.
"But, my friends, the Hebrew Bible has taught mankind that the resurrection of the body is a certainty that while on earth it needs earthly things for its sustenance and
pleasures; but the moment it breathes out its soul to God, its Creator, it has no more use for the things of the earth, earthy. For it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. Therefore, it is most comforting to the widows and orphans, the bereaved rela tions and friends, that we, my Brother Sov ereigns, while we wait for the summons, which, sooner or later, must come to us all, to join the innumerable company of the de-

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parted; and while waiting, that we may bear
one anothers burdens in love, we bind our selves together in the noble fraternity of
the Woodmen of the World, for our mutual
good, and for the benefits even more than the financial pledges to the widow and or phan. For there are sympathy, encouraging
visits and substantial help in sickness and in distress, condolence, ceremonial rites, and
protection in all right, and by cultivating the noble innate human sentiment of honoring the
grave of every deceased member with a beau tiful and appropriate monument. Not that
this or any other fraternity, however com mendable, should, at any time, or in any place, or form, be by any one substituted, or
in any way be allowed to supplant, in our hearts our loving loyalty to the Church of God; lest haply we be found guilty of the
sin of neglecting the divine for the human, or of setting up, in our hearts and affections, an institution founded by man above the di vine religion. A member of any church, pro
fessing to worship God, who does not live up to the Golden Rule, and does not practice all the virtues of charity, fellowship, and good will inculcated by any fraternity, an cient or modern, is only a believer in name
a mere pretender to godliness. Though nonsectarian, there is no conflict between any
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church and our society. It was never in tended to weaken ones loyalty to his religion,
but rather to be an additional help in doing good in the world; to build up and ennoble
human character, to help man to become more unselfish and more godly. . Not that we would infer that any church is at all lacking in such
good principles, but that by some means mens hearts should be linked closer together, not only for their own improvement and ben efit, but also for the helpless ones dependent upon them for their sustenance. That while they are practicing the fraternal obligations, the paternal obligations of Providence are
not neglected. Thus, as in our worthy order, my friends, we doubly fulfill the divine pre cepts our duty toward God and our duty toward our neighbor our brother-man, which includes our duty toward our offspring or our family. In defining what constitutes true Sovereigns, I will quote from our official organ, The Sovereign Fisrtor:
" These are true sovereigns, heroes and heroines, who, folding a pall of tenderest
memory over the faces of their own lost hopes and perished loves, go with unfaltering cour age to battle with the future, to strengthen
the weak, to comfort the weary, to hang sweet pictures of faith and trust in the silent galleries of sunless lives, and to point the des-
plate, whose paths wind ever among the shad-

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ows and over rocks where ever the green moss grows, to the golden heights of the here after, where the palms of victory wave.
" All honor to the fraternal societies and may they yet gather more fragrant blossoms from the dew-bathed meadows of social life to spread their aroma along the toil-worn
road of life. " The cornerstone of most fraternal socie
ties is charity, that golden link which unites earth with heaven. Charity is the quintes sence of philanthropy, the brightest star in the heavenly diadem. It is an impartial mirror set in the frame of love, resting on equity and justice. It is the foundation and cap stone of all the climax of all graces; without it our religion is a body without a soul; our humanity a mere iceberg on the ocean of
time. "My friends and Brother Sovereigns,
may we all have and practice such sweet charity in this life, that we may depart, when our time comes, in perfect peace with God and man, and, after our restful sleep beneath the tomb is ended, we shall awake in the like ness of Gods angels and be satisfied. Amen."

CHAPTER XXII
THE PICNIC AT CHICKAMAUGA
Spring had come, when all nature was ris ing from its winters grave to the joyous res urrection of living beauty; and human na ture longed for an outing in the forest, or on the slopes of some verdant mountain, where the cool streams teem with the fish tribe, tempting the angler; and its clear sparkling waters calling to thirsty man, beast and bird, "Come, drink me"; the time when the in nate rural-loving instincts of youth yearns for the freedom of the woods and field to roam at large, or to lounge at will. In short, the picnic season was at hand! With this wel come season had come the kindly thoughtfulness of the officers and teachers of the Sun day-schools to give the little ones their annual day of happiness out of town. The National Military Park of Chickamauga was the place selected by the Sunday-school in which Ruth taught and it was an ideal spring morning when three hundred happy children and one hundred adults took their chartered train for the seventy-mile run to the National Park, about ten miles south of Chattanooga.
Hissing, puffing, snorting and blowing

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with his hot breath, the powerful iron steam horse pulled out the lunch-laden baggagecar in front of the six coaches filled with joy ous pleasure-seeking passengers, yelling their good-bys, and waving their hats, handker
chiefs, and hands to their "cant-get-away" friends who were at the station to see them off. The iron and steel bridge over the Oostanaula River and the long trestle were soon crossed, and the houses, spires, smoke and hills of Rome were left in the dim dis
tance, as the noisy train sped under the shad ows of Lavender Mountain and on through fields newly plowed, now and then relieved by a patch of green wheat or oats, and long stretches of woods of evergreen pines and cedars and the numerous other trees putting out their new spring foliage, and on, on through the towns of Summerville, Trion, and Lafayette, until the bold figure of Look out Mountain came in sight.
At the conductors "All out for Chicka mauga !" the train was quickly emptied of its cargo of humanity, and the well-filled bas kets, boxes, etc.; of eatables. The good things to eat and drink were taken to the splendid grove of native forest oaks near by, where long narrow tables of sawed pine boards were prepared from which, about three hours later, the hungry picnickers sat isfied their voracious appetites, and where

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barrels of ice lemonade and water quenched their thirst all through the delightful day.
Reuben Reinhardt received several invita tions to go on the picnic, but it was especially on account of the invitation extended to him by Ruth Rex that he went; and, as a pleas ant surprise to her, he engaged two saddlehorses to meet them on their arrival at the Park.
The crowd was soon dispersed over the five thousand six hundred and sixty-six acres of the beautiful undulating National Park. Some became interested in playing base ball,
lawn tennis, or croquet; the younger child ren in their pretty kindergarten games; some of the men and boys satisfied their love for fishing by successful visits to the Chicka-
mauga River and Crawfish Creek; some en joyed a horseback canter over the well-kept macadamized roads winding in every direc tion through the Park; some took trips in hired hacks and wagons to points of interest, others going hither and thither afoot, and all stopping here and there to view the vast bat tlefield from the tops of the observation tow ers, and to eagerly read the inscriptions cut in stone and bronze on the many monuments and tablets marking the places where the brave heroes in Blue and Gray fought and fell on September 19 and 20, 1863, in the most stubbornly contested battle of the civil

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war. Here and there, seated in some se cluded nook, sauntering along through the woods, were youthful couples, far more in terested in each other than in all the many historic scenes and beauties of nature or art by which they were surrounded.
The Judge had called at Miss Ruths home for her early in the morning, and after seeing her comfortably seated in the car he had found a seat for himself in the smokingcar. On their arrival at Chickamauga he helped her off, and the two were soon on their horses riding toward the observation tower located at the point where the Confederates crossed the Chickamauga River in force and formed first for battle. There they dis mounted and ascended the high tower, from the top of which they caught glimpses, through the trees, of the river and the great battlefield. The Judges usual thoughtfulness had led him to obtain a map of that his toric section, and, spreading it out before him, he pointed out to Ruth the various places of interest.
"From this tower, Miss Ruth, we see where the battle began on the morning of September 19 which ended the next night."
"Of course, Judge, I know that the battles and the Parks name, Chickamauga, is from the name of this river, but what does this In dian name mean in English?"

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"It means River of Death, or River of Blood; and it really seems prophetic, as so much of Americas richest blood was shed on this battlefield. The red men gave it its name, because, perhaps, so many of them
were killed here in their boundary and tribe disputes. They fought for what they believed to be their rights, just as men, about a hun dred years later, died for similar principles.
In the two days battle of Chickamauga there were more States represented than in any other one battle of our civil war. Of the one hundred thousand men engaged, equally divided, in that fight, about fourteen thou sand Federals and sixteen thousand Confed erates were killed and wounded, and they represented twenty-eight of the States of both sides. Seven thousand prisoners were captured by the Confederates, while the Fed erals took back, in their retreat to Chatta nooga, only five hundred prisoners!"
"But our school history tells us that the victory was won by the Confederates," said Ruth.
"Yes, Miss Ruth, it was our victory, so much so that Major-General Rosecrans, who commanded the Northern forces, galloped to Chattanooga in a panic, and telegraphed to Washington that the whole Union army had been routed, which would have been the case had not that bold Virginian, Major-General

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George H. Thomas, withstood General Longstreets brave attacks so stubbornly that he won for himself on that day the name of The Rock of Chickamauga.
"I thought that all Virginians were on the
Southern side." "So they were, as a rule; but General
Thomas proved one of the rare exceptions to the rule," replied the Judge. "He retained his place in the Regular Army, while Gen eral Lee and the loyal Virginians went out of the Union with their noble old State."
"What a pity! I wonder why he did
that." "Perhaps his Northern wife over per
suaded him against his first and better im pulses ; for I have been informed that he told some of his brother officers from the South, when they bade him good-by in New York, in those exciting days of 1861, that he also in tended to resign from the United States Army and to offer his services to his native State."
"It seems so strange that on the Union side the hero of that great battle should have been a native Southerner, and that he should have been instrumental in killing so many of his fellow-Virginians."
"Yes, Miss Ruth, but, unhappily, that is one of the awful consequences of civil wars. In many instances even father and sons and own brothers were engaged in deadly combat

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against each other in that terrible struggle between the States."
"Isnt it too awfully cruel even to think of!" cried Ruth. "May the good Lord de liver us from any more wars!"
"At least, Miss Ruth, we are not likely to suffer any more civil wars; and God forbid any foreign war!"
"But so far, Judge, I fail to see why the battle of Chicakamauga should be considered a Confederate victory."
"Well, let me explain. Observe, if you please, the positions of both armies on this map. You see the Union forces stretched out as in line of battle, or behind their breast works, about five miles from Crawfish Springs, up beyond this tower and Kellys Farm, September 19. The Confederates were on the south side of the river; they suc cessfully cross over and become the attacking army, as the Union army advances to meet them; every inch of the ground is most stub bornly contested; when night comes and a cessation of fighting, the exhausted soldiers bivouac on their arms, and the result may be said to be a drawn battle. By sunrise next day they go at it again with charges and counter-charges. General Longstreet with his brave army from Virginia arrive, and not withstanding their long, rough trip, dusty, hungry and tired, they immediately rush into

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the thickest of the fighting, and at the close of the day the entire Union army is driven out of Georgia and back to the hills of Mis sionary Ridge, Tennessee, except the stub born General Thomas, who with his army made such a desperate final stand, at Snodgrass Hill, that forty-four per cent, of the attacking Virginians were killed, from two oclock in the afternoon to darkness. But by the next day the Confederates were in pos session of the entire battlefield, and also Lookout Mountain, and had the Union armies shut up in Chattanooga. It is true that General Braggs Confederate victory is spoken of as a barren victory, but I dont see why, when the result of it was that for two very anxious months following the in vaders were not only kept out of Georgia, but in and about Chattanooga, unable to pro ceed farther South until General Braggs army was reduced by the mistake of the Rich mond authorities, and he was compelled to retreat by the overwhelming Union reinforce ments under General Grant.
"Miss Ruth, suppose we descend now, and ride over to the tower where the Yankees opened the first days battle; and then we will go over to the tower on Snodgrass HilW
"And to dinner," she interrupted. "I think we shall be in good condition to appre-

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date it by that time. Judge, did you ever visit Chickamauga before?"
"Oh, yes, I was here in 1895, when this Park was formally dedicated. It was a great
occasion for the veterans of both sides. They went over the battlefield, recalling every detail of those two days of bloody strife of
the thirty-two years before. They fought it all over again, but, happily, it was this time bloodless only a battle of harmless words. Of course, they were all heroes; and each knew just how it ought to have been fought. If General So and So had come up to Gen
eral So and Sos relief, at such and such a time, the tide of victory would have been turned the other way. There were many happy reunions, and some sad and pathetic, between the vets, of the Blue and Gray. An immense crowd of other visitors were here from all over the United States; in all it was estimated there were between forty and fifty thousand present. I heard speeches delivered by our Vice-President of the United States, Adlai Stevenson; Generals Palmer, Gordon, and Longstreet, and other dis tinguished soldiers and statesmen."
"My, how I wish I had been there!" "I wish you could have been here, Miss Ruth, and with me, for it was a very interest ing scene, long to be remembered. The splendid speeches, the enthusiastic crowds,

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the hurrahs and Rebel yells, the bands play ing the National airs, alternating with dear old glorious "Dixie"; the booming of the cannons, the artillery drills of the Regulars; the waving of banners, and the gay apparel of the women and children all made a great contrast to the bloody strife which took place here just thirty-two years before. I came here, too, in the summer of 1898, when there were about fifty thousand troops of Regulars and Volunteers encamped here, and held in readiness to meet the Spanish foe wherever he might be found. Here again brave soldiers from all over the United States met, but how differently! Equally as patriotic and as valorous as the armies which met here thirty-five years before, but, hap pily, they were now all on the same side re united to fight under the glorious Stars and Stripes against the common foe of our one country! Some of those patriotic soldiers had served here in 1863 on opposite sides, and most of them were sons of those who had then as loyally served their respective countries."
"Judge, from all that I have heard and read on the subject, Chickamauga in 1898, as in 1863, and when the Indians used to do battle here, kept up its gruesome reputation."
"How so, Miss Ruth?"

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"By the large number of men who died here then."
"Yes, it is true that by far a much
larger number of men got sick and died here then than even the change of climate and habits of life justified; for, as you must know, this is naturally a very healthy climate; but, unfortunately, the men were very rapidly massed here at first, and, kept too long in one locality, were not required to observe strict sanitary rules, and did not have the proper medical and hospital attention; and
so the Park undeservedly got the reputation of being unhealthy."
"Were these guns used in the civil war and these pyramids of cannon balls, were they shot out of these guns in the battle of 1863 ?"
"No; the cannon you see were placed here by the Government a few years ago to mark the positions of certain batteries engaged in that battle. There are four hundred in the
Park, and they are about the same sort of cannon then used. These cannon-ball pyra mids are monuments for the nine brigade commanders who were killed or mortally wounded about where they stand. Five of these were Union officers and four of them Confederates. These monumental pyramids of balls were also put here by the Govern ment. One marks the place where fell the

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brave Union General William H. Lytle, called the poet soldier of Cincinnati; and over there another stands where the valorous Confederate General Preston Smith, of Mem phis, Tennessee, gave up his life for the South. I wish we had more time, Miss Ruth, to visit all the monuments, but as there are about two hundred and fifty of them, and about three hundred and fifty tablets scattered over ten square miles of this Park, it would take us far more time than we have to devote to them to-day. Many of the States have erected monuments, at the cost of a total of $5,000,000, and others have appropriated large amounts for this purpose. Ohio has the largest number, in all about sixty monu ments and fifty-five markers. Georgia, as you have seen, has a very handsome State monument for her brave sons engaged in this battle."
While enjoying the view from the top of the tower on Snodgrass Hill, the Judge said,
"By the way, I have cut out of the Cen tury Magazine Maurice Thompsons Ballad of Chickamauga; would you like to hear it, Miss Ruth?"
"Yes, indeed, please read it." The Judge took out from his pocket memo randum book the following verses, which he read aloud:

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"THE BALLAD OF CHICKAMAUGA.
"By Chickamaugas crooked stream the martial trumpet blew;
The North and South stood face to face, with wars dread work to do.
O lion-strong, unselfish, brave, twin athletes battle-wise. Brothers yet enemies, the fire of conflict in their eyes, All banner-led and bugle-stirred, they set them to the
fight, Hearing the god of slaughter laugh from mountain height
to height.
"The ruddy, fair-haired giant North breathed loud and strove amain;
The swarthy shoulders of the South did heave them to the strain;
An earthquake shuddered underfoot, a cloud rolled over head,
And serpent-tongues of flame cut through and lapped and twinkled red,
Where back and forth a bullet stream went singing like a breeze,
What time the snarling cannon-balls to splinters tore the trees.
"Make way, make way! a voice boomed out, Im march ing to the sea .
The answer was the rebel yell and Braggs artillery. Where Negley struck, the cohorts gray like storm-tossed
clouds were rent; Where Buckner charged, a cyclone fell, the blue to tatters
went; The noble Brennan cheered his men, Pat Cleburn an
swered back, And Lytle stormed, and life was naught in Walthalls
bloody track.
"Old Taylors Ridge rocked to its base, and Pigeon Moun tain shook;
And Helm went down, and Lytle died, and broken was McCook.

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Van Cleve moved like a hurricane, a tempest blew with Hood,
Awful the sweep of Breckinridge across the flaming wood.
Never before did battle-roar such chords of thunder make,
Never again shall tides of men over barriers break.
"Stand fast, stand fast! cried Rosecrans; and Thomas said, I will!
And crash on crash, his batteries dashed their broadsides down the hill,
Brave Longstreets splendid rush tore through whatever barred its track,
Till the rock of Chickamauga hurled the roaring col umn back,
And gave the tide of victory a red tinge of defeat, Adding a noble dignity to that hard word, retreat.
"Two days they fought, and evermore those days shall stand apart,
Key-stones of epic chivalry within the nations heart Come, come, and set the carven rocks to mark this
glorious spot; Here let the deeds of heroes live, their hatreds be for
got Build, build, but never monument of stone shall last
so long, As one old soldiers ballad borne on breath of battle song."

CHAPTER XXIII
LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN
After lunching with the other picnickers, and mingling awhile with their friends, the Judge and Ruth decided to ride up to the crest of Lookout Mountain, and take a later train from Chattanooga to Rome. Passing through the village of Rossville, once the home of John Ross, the celebrated chief of the famous Cherokee tribe of Indians, they were soon ascending the mountain by its steep, winding, narrow, rough road. Their horses were not driven out of a walk, and were al lowed to stop for a rest whenever a suf ficiently level place could be found. The picturesque way led through deep gaps cut into the side of the steep ascent, and around great rocks and bowlders some smooth and bare, others covered with a mantle of green and gray moss and lichens, and fringed at the lower edges with graceful and delicate ferns. The ferns were freshly sprouting and unfolding, lifting themselves to catch the cool spray of water that trickled down the sides of the high rocks and waving their pretty plumes to and fro as the breath from the sky gently blew upon their green feathery leaves.

Lookout Mountain

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Now and then the pure air was sweetly per fumed with the odoriferous calecanthus, or sweet shrub, which grew on the mountain side. Sometimes the narrow road overlooked
a dangerously high precipice, many feet above the tops of the highest trees, rooted at the
bottom of the yawning chasm, and they caught glimpses of the valley and the Ten
nessee River in the bright sunlight; and then they came to a bold perpendicular wall of native rock on one side, and a thick growth of shrubs and trees on the other, shutting out the brightness of the day and casting a dim twilight which made the birds, nesting there, sing their good-night songs.
At last the extensive plateau was reached, and while giving their exhausted horses a breathing spell, they dismounted, and found many lovely sprays of trailing arbutus, with its delicate wax-like petals of white and pink, and its dark green leaves peeping up from its winter bed-covering of dead leaves. Stoop ing down to uncover a spray of arbutus, Miss Ruth exclaimed with delight,
"Oh, you dear little harbinger of spring; how glad I am to see you again! I do love you so!"
If she had not for the moment been so absorbed in her arbutus she would have seen the Judge beaming on her with such loving admiration that his tell-tale eyes must have

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told her his secret. But he had resolved to bridle his tongue, not to tell her of his love until after the close of school, and he turned away, and hastily gathered some of the pretty little flowers.
"I am glad, for your sake, to find these up here. They seemed to give you so much pleasure," he said, giving her the flowers.
"Oh, thank you so much, Judge; they are the crowning pleasure of this very delightful day of pleasures." Taking them from him, she took off her wide-brimmed hat and trimmed it with arbutus, reserving some sprays to pin on her dress, and for a boutoniere for him, saying as she arranged the flowers,
"The trailing arbutus is my favorite of all wild flowers, not only because of its exquisite beauty, but because it is such a beautiful and true symbol of the Resurrection, and it is such a sweet little forerunner of glorious spring!"
"I often wonder how any close observer of
Nature can doubt the existence of Natures God," said the Judge thoughtfully, "or fail to enjoy the blessed hope in the resurrection of the body unto a more perfect life after this life of death, or daily dying on earth. See this pretty little blossom! How per fect it is in its minutest details! How in imitable it is, even by the most skilful artist;

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and how utterly beyond the power of the most experienced florist to produce it! No one can account for its origin, or explain just how it reproduces itself. In the winter time it apparently dies nothing is left of it ex
cept a little dry root buried beneath the cold ground; but when the warm sunbeams begin to thaw the cold crust of the earth they seem to impart to it the breath of life, and it is, as it were, regenerated into the beauty and
sweetness which now so pleases us. How very different yon huge rock! It too is the mysterious handiwork of the Allwise Creator, but it is a dead thing, with no potentiality to become anything else save a stone. Although the ingenuity and patient labor of a Michael Angelo may cut out of it a beautiful Venus, or a stern Law-giver Moses; yet they would be then but the cold dead statues of stone in imitation of human forms. But this pretty, tender little flower is a living thing of beauty, like unto us creatures, after Gods own image, daily dying, yet ever living."
"Oh, Judge, how much like a Christian you preach! And what you have just said reminds me of your splendid address at the unveiling of the Woodmen of the Worlds monument the other day. There was only one thing lacking in it to have made it such a good sermon on the resurrection."
"And what was that, Miss Ruth?"

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"It was the absence of the Name of Him who said, I am the Resurrection and the Life. He that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die. With that saying of Christ Jesus, and some of St. Pauls Christ-like teachings of the res urrection, it might pass very well for a good
Christian sermon. Without Christ, or the Christians comforting hope of the resurrec tion, it might as well have been a Unitarian, a Mahommedan, or even a Chinese oration."
"Well, really, Miss Ruth, you pay me a doubtful compliment. But we will not quar rel over that. Please inform me what quota tions I should have made from Paul?"
"Such as these truths he wrote to the Cor inthians, for example: Now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first-fruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. The first man Adam was made a living soul: the last Adam was a quickening spirit. The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven. God giveth us the victory over death through our Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, my kind friend, I do wish and pray that you may be a Christian!"
"Thank you, Miss Ruth, for your intended

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good wishes and interest in my spiritual wel fare; but please believe me, my dear friend, I am more than a Christian, for I worship and serve the God of your Christ. My God is the One, only true God, the Creator of heaven and all things therein. To my nation,
the children of our Father Abraham, were
the promises made by God, Himself, that we should ever be His own chosen people, blessed far above all the people of the world, and therefore more highly favored than any Gentile, by whatsoever name known, whether Christian, Mahommedan, Buddhist, or Pa gan."
"True, Judge, we Christians know that your nation has been blessed far above all others, in that the original Covenant was made to the Jews, and they were naturally the heirs of the promises belonging to the
Divine Covenant, as long as they remained faithful in keeping their part of the Cove nant; but because of their insincerity, cor ruption in many sins, and, at last, their un belief in not accepting Jesus as the Messiah, God has, at least for a while, until the ful ness of the Gentiles be come in, when all Israel shall be saved, withheld His promises to the once so highly favored people, because they have proven to be a faithless and stub born generation. As one of your own na
tion has said, God has broken off some of

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the natural branches and grafted in the wild
olive, and with them partakes of the root and fatness of the olive tree, whose root is holy; and in that way we Christians have become as the true seed of Abraham, and fellow-par takers of the blessed promises of the Divine Covenant. We are not puffed up or wise in our own conceits, knowing that we have nothing of which to boast, but thankfully take our humble places, as adopted children
of good old Father Abraham; believing that if we continue faithful to the end, God will make us fellow-heirs of all His blessed
promises to His Covenanted children, who are one with Him in Christ Jesus, whether they be Jews or Gentiles, Greeks or Romans, bond or free, male or female, young or old. Isnt my creed catholic enough for you, Judge?" _
"Certainly it is, Miss Ruth; as far as your belief in the one true God goes, you are all right. I know very well that Gods prophets of old sometimes found saints outside of the true fold of Israel, and honored them as Gods true people, though they were not He brews. And so, I doubt not, God accepts the faithful services and worship of all now, whatever their nationality. But, my dear
friend, if we would be in time to see the sun set from Lookout Point we must mount our horses and be off."

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As they rode by the Lookout Inn, the cars
of the Incline Railway, as a great iron centi pede, were seen climbing and descending on
its almost perpendicular mountain track.
They passed many pretty summer homes, and rode on through the woods of the Govern ment Park, where the famous "battle above
the clouds" was fought and won by the Union soldiers against General Braggs Con federates, two months after his Chickamauga
victory. It was called "the battle above the
clouds" because at the time it was fought a thick fog hung over the valley and so veiled
the mountain-side that the bold soldiers, under General Hooker, were able to ascend, unobserved by the Confederates; and taking
them so much by surprise, and fighting so desperately, the stars and stripes supplanted the stars and bars on the crest of the moun tain; while General Braggs defeated fol lowers joined their comrades over on or near Missionary Ridge, leaving about two thou sand prisoners behind with the Union troops. Point View, a projecting rock, suggested to the Judge and Ruth the best place from which to see the magnificent panorama, glimpses of which came to view through the trees as they rode along. Dismounting, and making their horses fast to some saplings, they descended about thirty feet to the over-

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hanging rock, just in time to see a most gor geous sunset.
In the western horizon the clouds were tinted with gold and silver, red, pink, blue, purple, gray and white, as no human artist painter could color them. The eastern ex panse was arched by a double rainbow, painted in all its prismatic hues a beautiful and periodical reminder that the Creator will never again destroy His creatures by water. Presently the clouds spread themselves over the far-off valley, like the waters of a vast lake, rolling and tossing as so many huge bil lows of unrest. Now and then a little cloud would arise and assume the form of a fullrigged ship, with all her sails set, or like a monstrous white-winged bird gliding over the surface of the deep blue lake framed in the purple of the mountain range.
As the clouds were lifted and carried away by the wind, Chattanooga came into view, as it were a miniature city, with toy trains and engines winding in and out and crossing pretty little bridges, spanning the circuitous canal-like rivers; and on, on through shrub bery, forest, and beautiful little flower and vegetable gardens and patches of green and brown landscape. The scene held them spellbound. Words seemed out of place; they could but gaze to the right and the left
and in front of them, and admire all its

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grandeur in silence, sometimes broken by Ruths exclamation of rapturous delight as she pointed out some ever-occurring new sight
to her companion.
It seemed that afternoon as if all the forces of Nature had combined to entertain them with their very best scenes and most varied changes in sky and landscape. The short Southern twilight ended suddenly, as if a cur
tain had fallen upon the beautiful panorama that had so engrossed their attention for three-quarters of an hour, and the neighing of their horses reminded them that they were not really in the land of enchantment, but
still in the practical world, where darkness ever follows light, and man and beast must eat and sleep to live. So they found them selves retracing their way through the Park and over the descending road. Yet there were in store for them newer attractions. One by one the brilliant stars came out, but the notes of the whippoorwill and the screech of the owl, heard from the trees along the road-side, would have sounded doleful had not their attention been excited by a grand sight just then looming up in the distance. As if in honor of the visit of the Judge and Miss Ruth to Lookout Mountain, the oppo site mountain range was aflame as if with magnificent bonfires. Climbing up, up from
the now darkened valley to the mountain top,

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were a long and very brilliant torchlight procession of forest giants, each vicing with the other to hold up his great flaming torch higher. At least, such was the general effect the burning leaves, underbrush, and trees produced upon the already high-strung im aginations of the Judge and Miss Ruth as they slowly descended from the Mountain of
Enchantment.

CHAPTER XXIV
ROMES MEMORIAL DAY
By many of the States in the South the twenty-sixth day of April is observed as the Confederate Memorial Day; and by act of Legislature it has been made a legal holiday. Just as in the Northern States, the thirtieth day of May is known as Decoration Day, taking its name from the beautiful custom of decorating the soldiers and sailors graves, as well as many others, on that day with flowers. Wherever the dead of the Gray and the Blue are buried in the same cemetery, their graves are decorated without partiality. In the South the four organizations: Ladies Memorial Society, Daughters of the Confed eracy, Confederate Veterans, and Sons of Veterans, jointly make all necessary arrange ments for the proper observance of the day.
On this Memorial Day, at 3.30 oclock in the afternoon, almost the entire population of Rome and vicinity was moving toward the given central point, to form the line of pa rade. The commander of the Camp of Con federate Veterans was the chief marshal. He was a man of decided military bearing; tall and straight, his hair and big moustache

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frosted with age; his war-like body clothed in a tight-fitting uniform of Confederate
gray, decorated with a profusion of gold lace and brass buttons, and with the three golden stars on each side of his coat collar
signifying his rank. The Colonel wore a red silk sash, a belt and sword; on his hands were long buckskin gloves; on his head a broad-
brimmed soft black hat; and a pair of large
brass spurs on his heels. He was mounted upon a magnificent black horse. His assist
ant marshals were ex-Confederate officers and Sons of Veterans all, like the Colonel, on showy horses. It was an imposing sight, that long procession of Veterans and Sons; the local military companies, many of their mem bers, though so young, veterans of the Span
ish, the Philippine, and the China wars; the Volunteer Firemen; mounted Knights of Pythias; and in the carriages the ladies so
cieties, the orator, poet, officiating clergymen, and tie Mayor and City Council; and on foot, about twelve hundred white school
children and their teachers, all carrying flow ers and banners; followed by many citizens afoot or riding all going toward Myrtle
Hill Cemetery. In that cemetery lay buried hundreds of
Confederates whose graves are marked by white marble slabs placed over them by the Ladies Memorial Society. Over there on

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the crest of the hill, overlooking Rome and its beautiful rivers, is the handsome marble monument erected by the same society, in lov
ing memory of the brave dead all love so to honor. After the. crowds of men, women,
and children had assembled, the graves were covered with flowers, appropriate hymns were sung, prayers were offered by the clergymen, introductory remarks were made by the mas ter of ceremonies, the poem recited and
oration delivered, and then the military com panies fired the usual three volleys over the
Confederate graves, and sounded the bugle call. In the midst of all the impressive cere monies the little boys must have their fun; so standing in groups in front of the military, they fell full length on the ground, as if shot, every time a volley was fired.
The orator on this occasion was Judge Reinhardt. The ladies remembered how very accommodating he had proved in serv ing as a substitute for the orator who had disappointed them on the celebration of Gen eral Lees birthday, and they resolved then
that no one but the Judge should be honored with their invitation to serve as orator for the next Memorial Day; and he proved worthy of the honor and equal to their expec tations.
"Ladies of the Memorial Association, Daughters of the Confederacy, Honored

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Veterans, and friends," said the Judge, ad
dressing this large audience. "To keep alive the memory of the heroic dead is the loving and creditable duty of the living. It links
the present to the past, and puts us in touch with the worlds most famous history-makers. By what better way may our own memories be refreshed, and the younger generations be taught patriotism, and inspired to the proper appreciation of the heroic deeds of fathers, brothers and countrymen., than by these an nual memorial exercises, originated and per
petuated by the noble women of our beloved Southland? This beautiful labor of love in building monuments to immortalize the brave deeds, in keeping green and garnishing with sweet flowers the graves of our heroes, who died for the high principle of their honest convictions, and their homes and their coun try, is a lovely evidence of the heart-life we live, which really is the only life worth living.
In reviewing those awful four years of pa tient and unselfish heroism of the Souths martyrs who fell in gray, while we are natur ally proud of the glorious name they made, yet we shudder at the memory and record of the innumerable and seemingly unendurable hardships they had to bear; but, at the same
time, our blood flows through our veins all the wanner in laudable pride at the thought

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that those noble men of valor were our fa thers, brothers, neighbors, friends!
"In victory or in defeat every one of them was a grand hero! Therefore, no partiality should be shown in honoring their memory. From the highest general to the humblest pri vate, from the bold leader to all trusty and brave followers, from the directing military or naval genius to the hard-working, unterrified man behind the gun, every person who served our sacred cause, in whatsoever ca pacity, should be equally honored by all pa triotic, hero-loving citizens! Every soldier and sailor who died from exposure, starva tion, disease, accident, or from wounds re ceived on the battlefield during those four de vastating years of our civil war, fills a heros grave! And all who came out of the long fray are no less entitled to our everlasting gratitude and admiration. For they, too, bravely suffered and risked their lives and their all for the holy cause of liberty, the most valued of our inherited possessions, our native free-born rights!
"The dear women of the South are none the less worthy of our grateful praises. While their noble, unselfish hearts were wellnigh broken with sorrow at parting from fathers, brothers, husbands, sons and lovers, they heroically controlled their feelings, and
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patiently bore their own deprivations in order to encourage and arouse their loved ones with renewed valorous perseverance. How dili gent those soft hands, till then unused to any work, became in making wearing apparel, and in preparing eatables, not only for them selves and children at home, but also for the boys in the gray ranks of our armies 1 How sympathetically, tenderly, and patiently they nursed and cared for the sick and wounded soldiers! Those brave women much of the time had to make their own living, some with and many without the help of their negro slaves.
"God be praised for those good negro menials who would not be allured from the loving servitude of their white mistress and her little ones. Those good and faithful
slaves who loyally took care of ole Miss an de chilurn, while ole an young Marser were away whippin dem Yankees, deserve our un dying thanks and praise. All honor to our noble women of the South, and the loving gratitude to their old-time faithful servants for their unselfish deeds of loyalty during those terrible trying times of the cruel civil
war and the dark times following.
"But, my friends, while there is so much to remember with pride of the patriotic en durance and brave deeds of our dear South
ern men and women and their faithful col-

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ored servants during those awful years of carnage, there is also a sorrowful side of the war, which is enough to melt the most hard
ened heart to tears of sympathy and regret that tens of thousands of our noblest country men should have shed their rich young blood in vain 1 We have no apology to make, nor would the dead or the living heroes of the South deem that there ever was, or ever will be cause for an apology to any one, for their actions, from the beginning to the end of that desperate struggle. For all were and still are
sure that the Southern rights were just. They fought, bled, and died for a noble and pa triotic principle; and, under the same cir cumstances, would do it over and over again! But it was not to be as they wished. Con
tinuous victory to their arms would perhaps have resulted in so many repetitions of civil wars, that our American Nation could never have become so reunited and all-powerful as it is at this prosperous period of its glorious history. States rights is as constitutionally legal to-day as when the thirteen Southern
States asserted their right to secede from union with their sister States of the North and the West. Therefore, our brave people of the South were conscientious in contending for their right with all their might. But, my friends, the God who presided over our Na tions birth, preside over its destiny. The

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God of Battle is also the God of Peace. He who turned victory into defeat at Waterloo brought about the disasters of Gettysburg and the sad end at Appomattox. What then seemed the most sorrowful defeats for one section of our country have proved costly, but ended in the most glorious victories for all sections! Those who wore the Blue and
those who wore the gray in battle array against each other over thirty-five years ago have become so reunited that, side by side, they and their sons have as bravely fought the foreign foe; and are as enthusiastic in battle or in peace by the music of Yankee Doodle or Dixie; and are as loyal to Old Glory, the proud banner the one side so bravely fought for, while the other as bravely fought against.
"In this blessed day of peace and prosper ity of our great country there is no North nor South, East nor West, but we are all" equally proud of the brave heroes of the Gray and the Blue and honor them all as we do the memory of our Revolutionary patriots, as loyal and noble Americans! This is the pa triotic sentiment cherished by the brave and the true in all sections of our country. This sentiment was generously voiced by a brave ex-officer of the Union Army; even by the good President William McKinley, in his speech delivered at the Atlanta Peace Jubi-

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lee, October 8, 1898, in these words: Every soldiers grave made during the unfortunate civil war is a tribute to American valor, and while when those graves were made we dif fered widely about the future of the Govern ment, those differences were long ago settled by the arbitrament of arms; and the time has come, in the evolution of sentiment, when in the spirit of fraternity we should share with you in the care of the graves of Confed erate soldiers.
"In closing," continued the Judge, "I will quote a poem, the authorship of which I do not know.
"Bring flowers bright flowers! To garnish the tomb
Where heroes sleep lightly, Unmindful of gloom!
Bring flowers bright flowers! That beauty may weave
Fair garlands of glory, As sadly we grieve.
"Bring flowers Spring flowers! All fragrant to wave
Oer the dew-spangled couch Of the undying brave!
Unloose the shoes latchet The blood sprinkled sod
Is holy as that By the holiest trod.
" Were they right were they wrong Whom ye mourn, or their foes?
Away truckling driveller! What matters? Who knows?

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Shall the blood of the hero Ne'er hallow the sod,
When the victor above His cold ashes has trod?

" 'Shall the stigma of treason
Dishonor the tear
We shed for the brave, To our memories dear?
Lee, Stonewall and Stuart, And myriads more,
Who went up from our ranks To the evergreen shore.

"'Tho' they "laid down their arms," And "surrendered their posts,"
Their names are "gazetted" In fame's deathless hosts;
Transferred from earth's services Brave hearts, whom we love,
They reported at once To "headquarters" above.

" It recks not how vainly, How blindly they fought,
How bitter the scath, Which their destiny brought!
Tis the motive, enflames, Not the beggarly prize!
The spirit that lives! The base guerdon that dies.

""Tis the infinite Thought,
Not the perishing fact!
The heart that conceives, Not the outgrowing Act!
Tis Why, and not What, Mightens history's gloom!
Devotion, not victory, Hallows the tomb!

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"' 'Twas not Daman's poor life
Was sufficient to save
Two unnoted names From the mould of the grave!
Twas the love by whose promptings The Holy One came,
Which gave Him on earth, As above the first Name.

"'Not in vain did they fall! The blood of the brave,
The Land of their love, Never vainly can lave!
Yet awhile it may lie, Precious seed in the ground,
But in fullness of fame
Its fair fruits shall abound.

" 'And the future--God's fallow, Though barren it seem,
With the harvest they planted, Yet bravely shall teem.
It may be the Fathers Had builded in vain,
But the blood of the Sons Hath cemented again.
" 'Then heap up the garlands O'er Patriot graves!
Success could not add To the fame of our Braves!
Remember their valor, Keep holy the sod,
For honor to heroes Is glory to God!

'"Bring flowers--Spring flowers!

All fragrant to wave

--

O'er the dew-spangled conch

Of the undying Brave!

Unloose the shoe's latchet!

The blood-sprinkled sod

Is pure as the Temple,

The Altar of God!'"

23!

CHAPTER XXV
THE JUDGE CELEBRATES HIS BIRTHDAY
The forty-fifth anniversary of Judge Reinhardts birthday came on the twenty-fifth day of May, and he celebrated it by giving a boating party down the Coosa River on the steamer Conasauga, which he chartered for the purpose. Forty-five of his friends ac cepted the invitation for the trip, and fortyfive Chinese and Japanese lanterns and fortyfive flags of various sizes and nationalities decorated the freight deck of the steamer. At one end of the deck was the band-stand, on which the musicians sat. The trip was to be of just forty-five miles, twenty-two and a half each way. An ample supply of re freshments was provided by the Judge, and generously served. The weather had been uncomfortably warm and calm that day, so the gentle breeze created by the motion of the boat down the cool Coosa River was very refreshing. Everything tended to please the sweet music, the congenial company, the wild scenery, the balmy air, fragrant with fresh blossoms of spring; the border of green leaves covering the banks of the river to its very brink.

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The steamer glided along its winding course, sometimes overshadowed by a steep bluff, sometimes lightly brushed by the wav ing foliage. Now would come into view an extensive stretch of rich bottom-land, planted with corn and cotton; then the flushing of a small flock of wild ducks, left South by their migrating swift-winged neighbors the wild geese and swans and other ducks; the silent, lazy turtle rolling off his observation log and dry sleeping berth with a splash; and then the lone, grizzled fisherman, sitting in his little batteau, casting out or pulling in his net, and now and then untangling from its meshes a fine trout, salmon, catfish, or young stur geon.
Between the numbers of the music could be heard from the branches of the trees the clear sweet song of the thrush, mocking-bird, oriole, and other winged songsters chanting with the choirs invisible their evening hymns of praises to their Creator; and from across the fields came the good-night call of bobwhite. The darkness of the night shut out, all. too soon, the pleasing scenes and sweet sounds of the short Southern twilight. As these beautiful scenes were curtained from their vision, and the warbling of the joyous birds was hushed, the fire-flies hung out their little lanterns thick on each side of the narrow river, as if to light the way of the steamer;

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but the temporary abode of the Judge and his guests was brilliant enough with artificial lights, and the dancing, singing, eating, flirt ing, witty repartee, recitations, and story-tell ing made the time fly by as swiftly as the rapid river; and all went as merrily as the wedding bells of a village church.
Among the recitations of the evening, the following verses recited by Ruth Rex were enthusiastically received, not only on account of their newness and their appropriateness, but also for her sweet and attractive manner and voice in delivering them.
" "THE LEGEND OF THE coos*.
" "Liquid pearls of dew and raindrops Flashing 'mid the fragrant ferns,
Meeting, greeting, laughing, dancing, Flood their fairy woodland urns.
" Timid fawn and dusky maiden Quench their thirst and lave their feet;
Thrushes daintily preen their plumage. Then pour out their wood-notes sweet.
"'Spicy-pungent water-cresses, Resinous breath of spruce and pine,
Violet, mallow, primrose, hawthorn, Mingle with the eglantine.
" 'All die wealth of forest odors Sweeteneth the laughing floods,
Laughing, singing Coosawattee! Coosawattee! through the woods.
'"Wood-nymph, brownie, elve and fairy, Join the song and catch the glee,
Laughing with the rippling music Coosawattee flowing free.

Judge Celebrates Birthday
"Leaping, laughing Coahula, Flasheth singing from the hills;
With the winding Conasauga, Linketh close her crystal rills.
"Conasauga, Coahula, Coosawattee, blend their notes,
And their chorus, Oostanaula! On the scented zephyrs floats.
"All the guardian woodland spirits, Beast and bird and rock and tree,
Welcome joyous Oostanaula, Blithe and winsome in her glee.
" From the east a turbid torrent Hoarsely shouteth Etowah!
Back recoileth Oostanaula, Broken now her rhythmic law.
"Round and round in dire confusion, See the maddened waters flung
Lo, above them circling queenly, Snow-white swan doth soar and sing!
"Swan becometh fairest maiden, From the blessed Eden shore;
And her song is Coosa! Coosa! Coosa singing evermore.
"Angry waters cease their raging, Follow meekly her sweet will,
Westward flowing, softly singing, Coosa! Coosa! singing still!"
Before the turning-point was reached the Judge was given a pleasant surprise by his guests, who, having taken the Captain and Purser into their plans, had been enabled to carry them through with success. At the ap pointed time the Purser came to the Judge

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and told him that the Captain wished to see him in his room. The Judge forthwith ex cused himself and was escorted up to the Cap tains room by the Purser. There the Cap
tain managed to keep him entertained for about twenty minutes, when the Purser re turned and said that both the Captain and
Judge were wanted below by the ladies. They immediately descended, and as they came down the steps to the lower deck the or chestra struck up "Hail to the Chief"; and
before the astonished vision of the Judge his forty-five guests appeared standing in the out line of a five-pointed star, each person hold ing a lighted candle in one hand and a bunch
of flowers in the other, and in the center of the human-framed star was elevated on a round stand, covered with a white cloth, and gracefully festooned with smilax, a huge
white iced cake, on which was built up a pyra mid of forty-five white and red little round cakes of cocoanut candy and forty-five maca roons, their ends alternately glued together with melted sugar; and surmounting the hol low pyramid of little cakes was a little white cupid with his bow and arrow. On the side of the large cake was in raised letters of candy,

"REUBEN REINHARDT, May, 1856-1901."

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While the Judge stood on the steps, con fused and astonished, the jolly Captain, who was an ex-officer of the navies of both North and South, stepped to the side of the big
birthday-cake, and said:
"Judge Reinhardt, it has been told me that you have never entered for a cake-walk con test. Yet, my good friend, these light-bear ers before you say, and I believe it true, that
your walk through life has been so perfectly lovely, your every year, from the cradle to this forty-fifth anniversary of your birthday, has shone with such luster, that it has re
joiced the hearts of all who have been so for tunate as to come within sight of its far-reach ing rays. Doubtless, you were born under a lucky star, and now you have this brilliant luminary deeming itself most fortunate to shine for you as yourself must admit, if you see it as I do, with its forty-five pairs of eyes beaming on you with such admiration and love as to make this pretty little cupid dance for joy at the successful aim of his heart-
piercing dart. In memory dear, at least, such a star can never set; and there is no sun bright enough to outshine it. Had I as many flowers of speech as it has blossoms, I would gladly shower them all upon you! On be half of this, your present most lucky star, which is too bright not to speak for itself, I heartily congratulate you, and wish you many

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happy returns; and I do hereby assure you that your forty-five years of incomparable
walk through life has taken the cake! It is yours to eat!" The Captain was enthusi
astically applauded, and the star exploded with merry laughter, flying into as many fragments as a meteoric shower, each part
pelting the blushing Judge with its flowers,
while the orchestra played "Call me thine own."
The Purser brought to the Judge a carving-
knife with which to cut the cake, which he did after demolishing and distributing the
pretty pyramid of macaroons and cocoanut candy cakes, saying he would keep the cupid as a souvenir of the occasion. The Judge
invited each one to cut a slice of his cake.
This was done with great interest, as it was known that a pretty little diamond-set ring
had been put in the cake, and each hoped to
be the lucky finder. After every one had cut a slice and searched in vain for die prize ring,
the Judge began the second round and found it embedded in the middle of his slice. Hold
ing it up he said, "I am sorry, especially for your sakes, ladies, that there is not a ring
for each of you, and as I must not be partial by offering it to any one of you, I have to
keep it, with my cupid, another valued sou venir of this your kind remembrance. Surely

Judge Celebrates Birthday 239
such rich possessions ought to insure me bet ter luck in the field of romance. Please ac cept my thanks for this very pleasing sur prise; and believe me, I am ever yours to count on."

CHAPTER XXVI
AN ACCIDENT
Later in the evening, when the steamer had turned up stream, homeward bound, and while many of the party were dancing, Ruth Rex and the Judge walked toward the stern, and as they stood on the guards, near to the outer rail of the boat, talking and watching the big wheel turning over in the rushing, struggling water, in some unaccountable way Ruth lost her balance and plunged overboard with a scream. Unfortunately, the noise of the steamers wheel and machinery, and of the music and dancing kept her from being heard by any one save the Judge.
Throwing off his coat, hat, and shoes, he ran aft as far as he could, and jumped into the river. When he came up to the surface he was overjoyed to see her, by the lights of the steamer, within a few feet of him, strugglingto keep up and get to the rivers bank. He cried out to her to be brave, that he would soon save her. The water was cool and the current ran swiftly, but they were nerved to greater exertions by the con fidence they had in each other.
Fortunately, their clothes were of summer

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lightness, and being a good swimmer, he quickly reached her side; but none too soon, for her strength was fast failing her. By his direction she placed her hands on his broad shoulders, while he struck out manfully for the shore. His long experience in swim ming the river had taught him that he must go with the current and gradually reach the bank down stream. It was a struggle of life and death for both, and they fully realized it. Several times she thought his strength was failing him, and she was tempted to let go her hold on him; for "Why," she reasoned, "should he sacrifice his valuable life for my sake?" Once her grasp on him seemed to weaken, and he, exerting himself the more, cried out, "For Gods sake, hold on tight!" and again, seeming to understand, as by in stinct, her unselfish thoughts, he said in a tone not above a whisper, but very firmly, "If
you drown, so will I!"
At last, the overhanging limb of a tree was seen reaching out over the waters surface. He struggled toward the limb, and reaching it, with a desperate effort he grasped it and felt for the bottom with his feet, and finding it not more than three feet deep, he assisted her to a standing posture. They rested long enough to regain their breath, and then pulled themselves up on the dry bank. They were

The Convert
no sooner safe out of the mud and water than they both fainted from sheer exhaustion.
How long they lay in that unconscious state they never knew, but with a shudder she was the first to regain consciousness; and as soon as she realized what had happened she saw, by the dim light of the stars, the pros trated form of her brave rescuer. He looked as if he were dead, and she called him as loud as her now feeble voice would allow, but there was no answer; then she felt his pulse
and placed her hand over his heart, and her ear to his lips. She could discover no indi cation of life. In vain she tried to scream out for help! She seemed to be having a terrible dream no, it was an awful reality! She felt as if she would faint again, from fright; but exerted herself to the utmost to keep up in the slight hope that in some way, she knew not how, he might be restored to life. "Oh," she thought, "if I had some whiskey, or a match to kindle a fire! Oh, what can I do?" She bent over him, and while on her knees praying to the Helper of the helpless to re vive him, she kissed his white forehead. Then she dragged herself up to the bank of the river to look for some near-by house, all the while intently listening for the sound of the steamer, for she clung to the hope that they would be missed and their friends would return soon to look for them.

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She could hear nothing but the melancholy screech of an owl and the repetition of the whippoorwill, and the sound of the rumbling, roaring water in her ears. Soon she saw a house, not a hundred yards from her. It was only a small log-cabin, but it raised her hopes; and she half crawled and half walked until she reached its door, and knocking with the stone she had picked up, fell against the door, making all the noise she could. A rough voice demanded,
"Whos dat now? What you want heah now, wakin folks up dis time ob de night?"
"Oh, thank God, I have found somebody! Its I, Ruth Rex help, help!" she feebly re plied.
Then another welcome voice was heard "Git way, Zack, an Ill opin de doah its a lady! Dont you know a ladys voice, artur yous lib wid me all dese years?" "Do hurry, please," whispered Ruth.
The dog, aroused by the noise, ran from the rear of the cabin, fiercely barking at the intruder, and she was fearful that she might be torn to pieces, when the old man bawled out of the window,
"You Tigah, hush up! Stop dat barkin at de lady!"
Then the old woman opened the door, and Miss Ruth fell into the room, half crying and half whispering. Somehow she managed

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to tell the astonished old negro couple that she and Judge Reinhardt had fallen off the
steamer into the river and were nearly
drowned; and that he was then lying on the
bank, she feared, dead. "But come," she
said, "and try to restore him to consciousness.
If you have any whiskey, please take it to him!" Struggling to her feet, she accepted
the offered help of the old woman, and with
the pine-knot light they found the place where the Judge lay.
The kind negroes worked hard over him, rubbing him and forcing a little whiskey down his throat, and when he began to show signs of recovery, they were almost as happy
as Ruth, who wept for joy. In a little while the Judge was sufficiently revived to sit up,
but not strong enough to protest against the old negro man taking him up in his strong arms to his cabin, while the old woman as sisted Ruth back there. A fire was soon made
in the big open fireplace, and the wet visitors sat before it in the best chairs of the cabin,
drying their clothes. The good and hospit able negroes did all in their power for the
comfort of their unexpected guests. To the old mans offer to go to his nearest white
neighbors and get a carriage and take them
to town, about ten miles, the Judge said, "No, I think our friends on the boat will

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return to look for us as soon as we are
missed." However, he requested that a bright fire be
kept up on the bank, and a watch for the re turn of the steamer, that she might be stopped
for them. For some time after Ruths accident, things
went on as merrily as ever on board the steamer. It was not till they were in sight of Romes lights when some of the party were
looking for the Judge, and others for Miss Ruth, and finding on the deck his shoes, coat and hat, and her hat, the alarm was spread, they decided that perhaps she had fallen over board and he had jumped over to save her. The Captain immediately returned to search for them, hoping that they had succeeded in reaching the bank and would be found alive. Slowly as possible the steamer returned down the river, throwing her large arc lights on the water ahead and upon both banks. The Captain, his crew, and all the passengers, in cluding the musicians, were intently searching, hoping against hope. The merry trip had changed to one of sadness, for no one thought that the Judge and Ruth would ever be seen alive again, though they did not entirely abandon hope. The steamers whistle was kept blowing almost constantly, so.that if the missing ones were alive they might be cheered by hearing it, and if they had taken refuge

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in a house near the river some one might signal to the steamer to give the good news
that the two were safe. Unfortunately, no one remembered the exact hour when either the Judge or Ruth was last seen. Several
had seen them just after the cutting of the birthday cake, walking toward the stern of
the steamer, and perhaps an hour or two had
intervened since, so it was hard to fix upon the place where the accident occurred. The painful search continued, until they had
floated about ten miles down stream, when a big fire was seen burning on the right bank ahead; and as the whistle sounded, a pine torch was vigorously waved and somebody bawled out,
"Marse Jedge an de lady am safe! Dey
up dah wid my ole oman in de house ahdryin dey self!"
A happy cheer went up from the crowd aboard, and the steamers whistle gave three
lively toots; all of which was heard by the delighted guests reclining on the splint-bottom chairs in front of the bright fire. The old womans bottle of whiskey, that she kept for sickness, had so revived them, and her hot coffee she had insisted upon making for them had so nourished them, and the cheering fire, when the welcome sounds were heard from
the steamer they were strong enough to run
down the steep bank to meet their friends,

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who literally received them with open arms as soon as the steamer could be made fast to a tree and the gang-plank thrown out to the bank. Many of the men eagerly jumped
ashore as soon as near enough, and ran up
the bank to greet the found ones, manifesting the heartiest delight, while the ladies grew hysterical, alternately laughing and crying.
Of course the two old negroes came in for their share of the happy attention, and many a bright coin was dropped into the honest old
hands. The Judge emptied his purse to them, with a promise of further reward.
Miss Ruth made them promise to come to see her when they should be in town next week, and she would show her gratitude more substantially than by words.
As the steamer pushed off and headed up stream again, all waved their farewell, and yelled their good wishes to the kind-hearted
negroes standing on the bank, bowing and repeating "Good-by, thank you!" They waved their pine torches till the steamer went around the bend.
The Judge was too modest to take any credit to himself for the rescue of Miss Ruth, but she soon made the whole matter clear to all their friends, and he was praised by all as a hero. He and she were too weak to take any active part in the further amusements of
that trip, but half reclining in comfortable

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chairs, with soft pillows back of their heads, they were happy spectators of all the merri ment of their friends, whose sorrow had been so happily turned to joy. The musicians never played better, and the dancers showed their joy in every sound of their voices and in every movement of their bodies. No old or young tar was ever jollier than the merry old Captain; he was so happy that he ac tually "cut the pigeon-wing" and danced the "fishers horn pipe," and not a few took part in the impromptu cake-walk gotten up to amuse the two interesting invalids. As Miss Ruth gave no evidence of any serious trouble resulting from her involuntary and unseason able bath, the Judge was happier over his good fortune in having rescued her than he was willing to have any one save herself know. Many were the good-natured jokes at their expense. The Captain laughingly said,
"It took more water than the Coosa River held to put out the Judges light. I never before knew that the Judges star was a dipper1 ; but nobody could ever tell ^just what pranks cupid would play upon those on whom he had amatory designs. Now, Judge, do take the advice of a true friend, and throw that pretty but very tricky little rascal into the river, lest he bring further damage upon
my precious cargo."

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The Judge and Miss Ruth joined in the general laugh at their expense; but the con sciousness that there was mo3re in their regard for each other than their friends knew, or than they themselves had ever expressed to any one, brought blushes to their faces.

CHAPTER XXVII
"^ RUTH AT VIRGINIA BEACH
School having closed for the summer vaca tion, the teachers began to plan how to spend their holiday. Various excursions were de cided upon; some went West through the National Yellowstone Park and San Fran cisco; some North and East to the Great Lakes, Canada and Nova Scotia; others to the springs and mountains of Georgia, Ten nessee, North Carolina, and Virginia, and some to the seaside resorts. Miss Ruth and Miss Cole engaged a room in one of the cot tage boarding-houses at Virginia Beach. So as soon as possible they were off on the Rome branch of the L. & N. Railway, winding around the bends of the swift-flowing Eteowah River; then the W. & A. Railway rushed them past its marble mile-stones, the thrifty little towns, the picturesque mountain scenery, the historic battlefield of Kenesaw Mountain, the immense marble yards from which is shipped large quantities of the best white, pink, and blue marble, in the rough and polished, to all parts of this continent, from the inexhaustible quarries of north Georgia. Within three hours the Gate City

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of the South, wide-awake and progressive At lanta, was reached. There they made close connection with the S. A. L. Railway for the "Triple-cities-by-the-sea," where they safely arrived after about twenty-two hours rail way traveling through parts of Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Vir ginia. Fatigued, -warm and dusty, the ten minutes ride across the Elizabeth River, aboard one of the Portsmouth, Berkeley and Norfolk ferry-boats, was a pleasing change, and refreshing to the travelers.
To Ruth the scenes of this busy seaport were familiar, having visited it before, yet none the less interesting; but to Miss Cole and other mountaineers and inlanders, who had come to the coast for the first time, it was a wonderful revelation. With wide-open eyes they gazed at the many crafts of all sizes, from the little naphtha launch and the narrow sailing canoe to the great ocean steam ship and six-masted schooners, with the broad sails of white canvas. At the many long piers or wharves some of the vessels were loading or unloading with all manner of do mestic and foreign products; some at anchor in the large snug harbor; others laden with freight and passengers, moving to and fro from dock to dock, or to or from some other busy ports, distant and near.
Looking up the harbor southward they

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saw the rows of large yellow brick buildings and extensive stone piers and docks of the
United States Navy Yard, with its monster
battle-ships, cruisers, monitors, torpedo de stroyers, and gunboats. Midway the stream, opposite the Navy Yard is anchored the big naval receiving ship, a relic of the navy of half a century ago; farther down the har
bor, to the west, could be seen the imposing Corinthian-columned white Naval Hospital, surrounded by a beautiful green park, run ning down to the stone-walled horseshoe wa
ter front; opposite, the quaint old Fort Nor folk, with its thick walls of white painted bricks, roofed with green sod, and here and there pyramids of cannon balls and mounted old-time guns; to the right and left, the many
big ware-houses, coal piers, and high grain elevators and the busy towns all presented a most interesting scene, far too extensive and
varied to satisfy a ten-minute view from the crowded deck of a swift-moving ferry-boat. Subsequently Ruth and Miss Cole, with a
gentleman, made other trips around the inter
esting harbor, taking time to visit the Navy
Yard and some of the naval ships and ocean steamers.
On the Norfolk side they boarded the elec tric cars, which took them through twenty miles of truck farms, where, between Nor-

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folk and the Atlantic Ocean, are cultivated
thousand of acres of all manner of vegetables, melons, berries, etc., for the home and North ern city markets. Half an hour later, the snow white sand of the beach, the hotels, and long rows of cottages, fronting the broad At lantic, came into view; the roar of the ocean was heard, the white-caps of the billows were seen, and the cool refreshing wind dashed the salty spray upon their faces as they walked up from the railway station to their boarding-house.
Three days after their arrival Miss Cole came running up to the veranda, where Ruth was reclining in a hammock, reading a late magazine.
"Oh, Miss Ruth," she said, "just look
what I got at the office for you a nice fat letter and some papers from Rome I How I envy you, honey! I havent received a thing" from home since we came, and I have asked . twice every day at the office."
Ruth took the letter and scrutinized the ad dress. She recognized it to be the handwrit
ing of Judge Reinhardt, and, blushing, she said to Miss Cole,
"Thank you ever so much, dear. You may read the papers, while I read the letter."
Then she ran up to her room, and shutting herself in, read the letter;

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"Rome, Ga., June 26, 1901.
"My dear Miss Ruth: "I cannot find words to express my great
disappointment at not seeing you, before you left home, to say good-by. My failure to do so was more my misfortune than my fault. As you know, I was called away on import ant business the day after Commencement, not dreaming that I would be absent more than three or four days. After that length of time, very busily spent in Atlanta, it was found necessary for me to go to Washington, D. C., which took four more days. Then I hastened back to Rome to find you gone! To say that I am forlorn is putting it mildly. I had hardly shaken the railroad dust off me this evening, before I was at Mrs. Lanes door, impatiently ringing for entrance not, as you well know, to see her. To my usual inquiry, Is Miss Ruth in? she said, Miss Ruth is in Virginia. She left here yesterday morning, to spend several weeks at Virginia Beach. I suppose I showed my great disap pointment, for the kind old lady, in the most sympathetic tone, added, I am very sorry, Judge. Will you come in and talk with me a while? What was I to do but to accept her kindly meant invitation?
"Did your ears burn? If not, there is no
truth in the old adage, the ears burn when their owner is talked about. It was a sad

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sort of pleasure to be in that room, so sacred to your dear memory, talking about you to your good old friend, Mrs. Lane; but I was
impatient to do the next best thing to seeing you, namely, to have a pen-chat with you; so, as soon as politeness would allow, I has
tened to my den, where I am now writing to you. Did I ever tell you how much you re semble the portrait of my own dear mother?
I mean the life-size portrait of her, painted, I imagine, when she was your present age. That accounts for dear old Aunt Chloes mis take when, during her sickness, you were so good as to come to see her and she took you for my darling mother. Soon after your visit Aunt Chloe told me that my mother had come to take her to her heavenly home; and that she had gp-own young and pretty, just like her portrait.
"The night following the blessed day I was so fortunate as to meet you for the first time I was sitting in my library thinking of you, Miss Ruth, and glancing up at my mothers portrait I was startled at the strik ing resemblance to you. From the first mo ment our eyes met, and I first heard your voice, I knew then that I had, at last, met my fate. From that precious moment to this there has never been a doubt in my mind of my intense love for you. That memorable night I earnestly prayed that God would, in

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His own wise way, show me whether my choice was His for me to send my darling mother to me, either by vision or dream, to tell me whether she approved of it; when lo,
in the midst of my fervent prayer, suddenly the room was lit up by a mellow, holy light, and I heard music, too soft and sweet to come from any other source than from the invisible
choirs of the angels of Heaven. Then my dear mother appeared as if her beautiful por trait were animated with life. Her bright eyes, so like yours, beamed on me, as in those
days of my innocent childhood, with the same loving tenderness of her very soul. Her whole lovely face had the happy expression of an angel of light; her lips opened, lips so like yours; and, as if in your own musical voice, soft and low, her welcome words, as
uttered by the heavenly messenger of love, were heard saying, Be it as you will, my dear son. The Lord grants thy petition, and blesses thee, and tie maid of thy hearts love. You and she are His own highly favored children.
"With that message of divine encourage ment, hope sprang immortal in my soul. Life for me seemed so much more worth the liv ing. With such a heaven-born incentive, work has been a pleasure to me, and God abund antly crowned my efforts. All that I am, and all that I have and ever shall have, I beg

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to be permitted the inexpressible pleasure of laying at your feet.
"I have greatly desired to lay bare the purest thoughts of my hearts love for you
during these past nine months of happy, friendly companionship, but deemed it more prudent to defer it, at least till the close of school. I admit that my. faith in the effi cacy of prayer has been sorely tried, and I have suffered moments of weakness, but the
wavering has been only momentary. Yet I have thought all the time that God very often grants our petitions in a perfectly natural way. Intimate friendship between man and woman often ripens into love. If I had not loved you at first sight I am sure that I should have gradually fallen in love with you; for to know you is to love you, and I hoped that as my love for you has the approbation of God, testified to by my dar ling saintly mother, sent to me from the spirit world, that God would gradually put it in your heart to love me. Ruth, darling, I
could wish myself no greater happiness than to have you for my wife my lovely, loving,
lovable companion now and forever!
"Until I was so fortunate as to meet you my mother was my ideal woman she is yet, for you are, in all points, her very double. With divine help and the greatest possible
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effort I have succeeded in controlling my tongue, but am not so sure that my eyes have withheld from you the dearest secret of my heart. Whether it is true or not that actions
speak louder than words, it is doubly true that the loving heart often speaks through the eyes, what the lips dare not say. All this, therefore, may be to you a twice-told tale.
"At any rate, it may bring to your remem brance some things, perhaps, forgotten, but now recalled and explained by this letter. In the happy hours spent with you there have been blushes over your dear face and flashes of light in your lovely eyes that have thrilled
me with bliss, of course all unknown to your own modest self. If you have not yet felt that divine power of love the potentials of which, God, who is Love, has planted in the heart of every man for some particular
woman, and every woman for some special man, dormant only because not cultivated, may you now have the awakening, such as I have so happily realized; and may the love of each be so perfected that we soon find our affinity. All this, and much more, my dear est Ruth, I desired to have told you before you left home, and if you had allowed me I should have done so, but for my unfortunate absence. May I come and tell you all that is in my heart for you? Oh, my poor lonely heart yearns so for your love, that without

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it I care not to live. I need a change and rest may I enjoy it in your companionship ? Please tell me, dearest, that I may come. Till I hear from you I shall live on the blessed hope of soon seeing and pouring out my hearts love to the one who feels with and for me even to your own precious self.
"Lovingly, yours forever,
"Reuben Reinhardt."

L

CHAPTER XXVIII
RUTH WRITES A LETTER
As Ruth read and reread the Judges letter, her face burned, her bosom heaved, and her heart beat aloud and fast with the conscious ness that, for the first time in her life, she was really in love! She threw herself upon her bed, burying her face in the soft pillows as the tears of joy rolled down her burning cheeks. There is no telling how long she might have remained in this hysterical condi tion had not Miss Cole entered and, thinking her asleep, called out,
"Ruth, wake up, its nearly dinner time; you had better get ready, dear. Heres lots of home news. I hope that you found your letter as interesting reading as I have your papers." At first she was too busy making her toilet, while she talked, to notice very closely, but when Ruth sat up and replied,
"I am so glad, my dear, that you enjoyed the papers. I will read them after dinner. Yes, thank you, my letter is very interesting; it is its from Judge Reinhardt." Miss Cole was about to banter her friend, but observing her high color and embarassment, merely said,

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"Oh, and how is the Judge?" "He says he needs a change and rest, and is is coming here." "Oh, is he? Wont it be lovely to see some one from home! I am sure he will like the Beach!"
Nothing more was said on the subject until that night, when the two had goneto bed that sacred place of so many maidenconfidences.
"My dear," said Ruth, "are you very sleepy to-night?"
"Yes, sweetheart, as usual, this salty air and surf bathing make me so very stupid that I am often lost in the land of nod before I can say now I lay me down to sleep. But what is it? If you have anything to con fide, Ill keep myself awake long enough to listen, even if I have to pinch pounds from this too, too solid flesh.
"Oh, if you are wide enough awake to quote Shakespeare," laughed Ruth, "I think youll do. But tell me, dearie, were you ever in love?"
"Well, I should say so, honey; many a time!"
"How do you feel when you are in love?" "Why, you feel like just what you are, for the time being, namely, a simpleton! but you wouldnt, if you could, be anything else for all the world. If you dont know

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by your own experience I will tell you plainly just what it is. It is an all, all overness of an in, internalness of the stupid, feverish disease of blushes, blues, and blunder, ac companied by fits of doubts and tears, hopes and happiness, humility and pride, harmony and discord, crying and giggling in short,
the personification of all inconsistency! But dont despair, it isnt incurable, for I have fully recovered from several malignant at tacks ! Tell me now, sweet innocence, have you at last fallen a victim to the heart-con tagion ?"
"Yes, my dear, it seems that I have." "Yoj^? Really, honey? And pray, who is the fortunate cause?
"Oh, now, cant you imagine? Guess."
"Well, yes, I can imagine the names of the would-be-causes to be legion, for they are many; but to trace up the one particular cause is beyond me. However, let me think. Can it be that dude next door, who stares and stares at you through his eye-glasses every
time you poke your pretty face out doors? Or is it the redheaded, bashful young man, who sits opposite you at the table, and blushes so every time he speaks to you? Or can it be that frisky old widower down-stairs, who insists upon going in surf-bathing with us twice a day? If so, sweetheart, let me warn you to beware of becoming that old blue-

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beards third victim, for they say that his first two wives died of broken hearts, on ac count of neglect and cruelty. Are you so brave as to assume the great responsibilities of stepmother to that tyrants thirteen chil dren? So foolish as "
"Oh, hush your silly prattle 1 You know well enough who has won my love; for who could it be but Judge Reuben Reinhardt the most intelligent, scholarly, purest, noblest, and handsomest man I know! Until I read his letter I was not conscious of his love for me, nor mine for him, beyond that of friend ship nothing more was ever hinted. His
letter tells me that he fell in love with me at first sight, and only deferred telling me so that I might have time to get better ac quainted with him; and that my school engagement for the past year might not in any way be interfered with by our possible betrothal. Oh, dearie, he has asked me to marry him, and asked permission to come here to see me. Wont it be perfectly lovely to have him here with us?"
"Lovely enough, I suppose, for you; but what is to become of poor me, after the arrival of that grand lover of yours? I reckon 111 have to sand-fiddler into some hole out of sight! But dear, I congratulate you with all my heart!" Then, kissing her, Miss Cole added, "I have thought from the be-

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ginning of your acquaintance with the Judge;
it would end this way; for how could any man help falling deeply in love with such a
perfect woman! And how could any woman
reject the proposal of such a man I God is sure to bless such an ideal union."
"Thank you, so much, dear; I knew you would prove my sympathetic confidante. Now I have imposed far too long upon your
patience, so let us say good-night and go to sleep."
"The idea of thinking it an imposition! I greatly appreciate your confidence; and you know there is nothing that interests me so much as a love-story. You must always feel
that you can freely talk to me about your affairs, and I promise never to be too sleepy to listen and to sympathize with you, with
all my heart though, if you insist, good night."
Had Ruth followed the dictates of her heart she would have written a full confession
of her love for the Judge, and mailed it to him within a few hours after receiving his letter, but maiden modesty forbade that, nor
did she wish to seem too hasty in responding. She thought once that she would wire him to come, but she realized that that might make her appear too anxious to see him. So, after several days of self-imposed torture, and an unnecessary and inconsistent continuation of

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his suspense, she nerved herself to write and mail the following letter to him:

"The Welcome Cottage, Virginia Beach, "July 2, 1901.
"Dear Judge Reinhardt: "Miss Cole and I are delighted with Vir
ginia Beach. We enjoy the invigorating surf-bathing twice a day before breakfast and supper. I am really learning to swim. If you ever have the misfortune to take me on another boat excursion, and I should take a plunge into the water, you need not again risk your valuable life by jumping overboard to save poor, worthless me; for I will just swim out alone, and laugh at the venture. This salt air makes us eat and sleep so much we must be adding several pounds daily to our avoirdupois. The wind off the ocean is so cool and refreshing that we have enjoyed walking miles and miles on the glittering white beach. Many of the young ladies here take long walks in the bright sunlight, bare headed and without umbrellas, as if inviting Old Sol to kiss little freckles into their fair skin, while he burns it brown with his sting ing breath. Miss Cole and I are not so reck less we need not be for we find ourselves rapidly being changed to the prevailing fashionable tan of the Japanese. We have

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met many charming people, and with our new friends have enjoyed some delightful trips, sight-seeing, to the many places of interest in this old and historic country of King Powhatan and his red subjects the rich country, which, at the beginning of the seventeenth century, was so coolly invaded and taken possession of by our greedy white ancestors from across the sea.
"We rode in an automobile about six miles over the hard sand-bottom beach to Cape
Henry, where on the light-house is a tablet with the names of the leading Englishmen who first set foot upon the soil of the Old Dominion at that very spot nearly 300 years
ago 1607. The bold and romantic Cap tain John Smith, subsequently saved from the murderous clubs of the Indians by the heroic and merciful act of the Princess Pocahontas, in the hills where the city of Richmond now flourishes; the same John Smith being among
the honored names of the daring first settlers, engraved on that historic tablet. I have al ways thought that the romance of the story of Pocahontas was marred by her not marry ing the man whose life she so bravely saved, instead of marrying the Englishman John Rolfe. She was baptized and married in the old Jamestown Church, and was called Lady Rebecca. Her descendants are very proud of their royal Indian blood and they are

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certainly entitled to their proud claim to be of the first families of Virginia.
"We have also been up to quaint old Nor folk, and through its busy, narrow, crooked streets to the more modern and beautiful resi dent portions, toward Town Point and Ghent, and visited its very abundantly sup plied market house, where everything fit to
eat that grows under and above the ground, and in water and air, can be obtained at reas onable prices.
"We visited the Cannon Ball Church, as old St. Pauls Episcopal Church is called, from the fact that the cannon ball fired from the British war ship, when Norfolk was bombarded by the English in the Revolution ary War, can still be seen half way protrud ing in the upper portion of the church wall, where it was lodged about one hundred and twenty-five years ago. This ancient cruci form brick building, covered with English
ivy, though standing in the heart of the business locality, like old Trinity Church in New York, has on either side and to the rear of it a cemetery, full of moss-covered tombs and quaint epitaphs. This church was erected in 1739 of bricks brought from Eng land. It has some handsome memorial win dows, and though its furniture and inside fin ish is modern polished oak, it conforms to the early eighteenth century style.

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"We crossed over the beautiful harbor to the growing city of Portsmouth, and through its wide and straight streets rode over to the Navy Yard, where, by the courtesy of a hand some naval officer, we were permitted to ex amine many interesting relics of the various wars in which our ships, ancient and modern, have been engaged. There were not a few reminders of the wonderful victories of Ma nila and Santiago, won by our ships under the gallant Commodores Dewey and Schley. The Texas was moored at one of the yard piers, and we were shown through her, and informed that she was built in that yard. As we stood on her deck I thought of that in spiring scene when, on that July Sunday, three years ago, her brave Captain, the noble Phillips, called his officers and men upon that same deck, and with hats off and bowed heads reverently, in silent prayer, returned thanks to God, who they thus publicly ac knowledged had defended them from all in
jury, and given them and their mates and comrades on their sister ships that most re markable of all naval victories off the Cuban city of Santiago. One of those queerly shaped battleships, called a monitor, was in the dry dock, where workmen were scraping sea grass and little shells off her bottom.
After our visit to the Navy Yard we took a steamer for Old Point Comfort. That was

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a beautiful trip. The steamers captain in
vited us up in the pilot-house and from that good view-point he explained many things mysterious to us landlubbers. Crossing Hampton Roads he pointed out the exact lo
cations where occurred the famous battles be tween the Confederate ironclad Virginia, or
Merrimac, as every one here calls her, and
the Yankee fleet; just where she destroyed the U. S. ships Congress and Cumberland, and made it so hot for the little Monitor that
she withdrew to the protection of the big guns of Fort Monroe, from under which protection she could not be enticed to come out for a second contest with her victorious antagonist, the intrepid ironclad monster
which had excited such consternation at
Washington and the North! At Old Point we enjoyed a delicious dinner in the Hygeia Hotel, accompanied by the music of the U.
S. Post band, and fanned by the cool breezes blowing from the ocean. The swish of its billows could be seen and heard coming up
the bay and dashing against the seawall just under the dining-room windows.
"We were politely escorted by a young
army officer through and over the grand old fort, in which we visited the cell where Presi
dent Davis was confined so long after the civil war, and notwithstanding his strong pro
test and resistance was overpowered and in-

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sultingly compelled to wear iron shackles. From there we took the trolley cars to the
Soldiers Home, the Indian School, the old town of Hampton, and through the new and fast growing city of Newport News, located at the mouth of the historic James River. The immense dry docks and ships building at the latter place interested me exceedingly. Thousands of mechanics and laborers were building, or repairing all sorts of vessels; among them were powerful battleships, tor
pedo boats, gigantic steamers of iron for mer chant service in the Atlantic and Pacific, tug boats, steam launches, yachts, and sailing vessels, etc.
"At the Beach we usually go with other visitors, after supper, to the Princess Anne Hotel, near by our cottage, to hear the mu sic and to dance in the pretty pavilion, or for a morning social game. Last Sunday morn ing and afternoon we attended the Episcopal services at the pretty chapel here. The preacher on that day happened to be the Epis copal rector from Rome. I wish you could have heard his high tribute to your nation in his sermon it was splendid. Miss Cole and I didnt have even a speaking acquaintance with him at home, but felt that we must stop after the service to make ourselves known to him. He seemed to be really pleased to see us, and honored us with a call that night. He

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stopped over here only for two or three days while on his vacation trip North.
"Miss Cole is so enthusiastic about the place that my pleasure is doubly increased. She never tires of gazing seaward, and is par ticularly interested in every ship or steamer passing by. If we had the means of wireless telegraphy, or any other way of communicat ing with them, I believe that she would hail every one to ask whence and where bound, the name, number of crew and passen
gers, and what is the cargo, how many days out, if the passage has been smooth or rough, etc., etc. We have gotten up several times
early enough to watch the rise of the sun, like some great ball of fire, bouncing up out of the sea into the open expanse above.
"I could write volumes and then not tell you all but I will leave something for the future. Adieu.
Sincerely yours,
"Ruth Rex. "P. S. Oh, you may come. R. R."

CHAPTER XXIX
THE LOVER COMES
When the hot July sun ushered in the "Glorious Fourth," the nations birthday, celebrated by all manner of jollification over the "land of the brave and the home of the free," Reuben Reinhardt was not feeling up to the patriotic requirements of "Freedoms An niversary." For it was the ninth day from the time he had written his declaration of love, which, very naturally, was the only dec laration in which he felt any particular inter est. As yet he had received no response. Dur ing the first three days he experienced a feel ing of relief in having found that vent un satisfactory as it was for his long-pent up feelings; but afterward his impatience and un happy state of suspense increased hourly. He worried himself almost into a fever, thinking that perhaps she had not received his letter, or, worse still, she deferred answering it as long as possible because her sympathetic heart disliked so to give him pain in rejecting him. The burden of the suspense was growing in tolerable, when, as usual, he dressed hur riedly, and before eating his breakfast has tened to the post-office for his mail, and the

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anxiously looked for letter from her was found at the bottom of his letter-box.
With nervous haste he placed the precious epistle in his coat-pocket, keeping his other mail in his hands, and almost ran to his office. He closed and fastened the door, and taking his hat off eagerly read the letter. When he got to the three words of her postscript he could hardly restrain a cry of joy. Of course he thought he had never read such an inter esting letter. The three words told him all. By them he was assured that his hopes and prayers were about to be realized. He had asked her permission to come and tell her all that was in his heart, and she gave her con sent! What a happy change in his feelings those three precious words caused! What a revolution of his thoughts! After all, there was really something in Mr. Thomas Jeffer sons Declaration of Independence! He would be independent too, at least for a while! He would emancipate himself from the tyrannical bondage of his office, and take a vacation! He would pay off his office-boy three weeks in advance, give him an extra dol lar to buy fireworks to celebrate this truly glorious Fourth, and he himself would cele brate it by starting that very afternoon for dear old Virginia! How inspiring the name of the grand and honored State, mother of
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States and statesmen! Didnt the old Com monwealth then contain all that was dear to his happiness all that made this life worth the living? He would hasten to her wavebeaten shore with all possible speed; for it was enough she had spoken from the strand, "You may come!" Hurrah for the Glorious Fourth!
That night, as the sky was illumined with fireworks and bonfires, and the reports of bursting bombs and poppers were heard along the route, the happy Judge was being transported on the fast mail train for Nor folk. As he went flying by town after town and heard the merry yell of boys and the deeper toned "Hurrah for the Fourth of July!" by the men, he felt like shouting "Hip, hip, hurrah!" His train was due in Norfolk at 7 P. M. the next day, and it was his inten tion to take the first car from there to the Beach, but an accident to the engine, which came near wrecking the train, caused several hours delay, and he missed the last cars down to the Beach that night. It was a severe trial to his patience, but he comforted himself with the thought that as she didnt know just when to expect him, he would be in a better condi tion to see her after a good nights rest. Early next morning he was off for the Beach,
and on his arrival he walked down toward some bathers hoping that he might see

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Ruth, as she had written that she usually took a dip before breakfast. He hadnt gone far when he was startled by the frightened screams of some lady bathers, crying that some one was drowning! He immediately threw off his coat, shoes, and hat, and rushed out through the high surf to the rescue of two women who had been drawn out beyond their depth and were helpless. To his horror,, he discovered, just before reaching them, that they were Ruth and her friend Miss Cole! He thought that he might save one, but it was impossible, he felt, to save them both; and what made matters worse, they were desper ately clinging to each other. He knew too well that Ruth would not allow herself to be saved if, by so doing, her friend should drown. So he managed to hold them both, and fought hard to bring them in; but it was a hopeless task, and it looked as if all three would surely perish, for the rough breakers were rapidly getting the better of him, handi capped as he was by two helpless women.
In spite of all he could do he thought that he must yield to the temptation to let Miss Cole go, when the alarm given on shore brought several men to the rescue, and that bashful red-headed man Miss Cole had so often ridiculed was the first to reach the wellnigh exhausted group. He broke Miss Coles hold on the Judge, and carried her safely to

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the beach, and returned to help others get Ruth and the exhausted Judge out of the water.
Apparently more dead than alive the three were stretched out on the white sand, while crowds gathered from all directions: among them the resident physician, who, with help of many willing hands, used all the methods of resuscitation he knew, and everybody ex perienced a feeling of thanksgiving when signs of returning consciousness were noticed by the doctor.
The two young ladies were the first re vived, and were able, with the assistance of others, to walk up to their room; but the Judge did not escape so lightly. He was only partially restored and had to be carried bod ily to the bed made ready for him at Ruths request in the cottage of her landlady. They had his trunk brought from the hotel and they did everything within their power for him. Ruth insisted upon instituting herself his special nurse, assisted by Miss Cole and their kind landlady.
For ten days and nights the Judge hovered between life and death. In his delirium he
raved and mourned, "The cruel waves snatched my beautiful bride from my arms and drowned her! Oh, let me go and bring
her to the shore! She wrote, You may come! Yes, my love, Im coming, Im com-

The Lover Comes

27?

ing! Ha, ha, ha hurrah for the glorious Fourth! Hurrah for Thomas Jeffersons Declaration of Independence! Hip, hip, hurrah for my declaration of love! Thus far, and no farther, mad sea! Stand back, while I carry my pearl of great price to a place of safety! If Miss Cole must drown, I cant help it, but you, my dearest, shall not! Theres not enough water in old ocean to wash you away from me! Yes, mother, my darling Ruth is just like you your God shall be her God, and your people, her people. Yes, yes, we are to marry soon, and bring heaven down to earth!"
These words, and many more from his parched lips, did Miss Ruth hear during her anxious watches at his bedside, which she never left more than an hour or two at a time for ten awful days. Many were the agoniz ing tears she shed, and many the earnest pray ers she silently sent up to heaven to Him whose are the issues of life and death. At the expiration of that time his fever abated and his eyes recovered their natural expres sion; and fixing them upon his faithful sweetheart nurse, in a more natural but weak voice, he said, "Am I in Heaven, sweet
mother? Oh, is it you, Ruth? I must have been dreaming. Where am I? What has happened to me?" She was delighted at the
happy change, and felt like throwing her

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arms around him, but she merely said, "Yes, Reu ben Judge, I mean, it is I. You have been very sick but please dont talk till the
doctor comes. He will be here presently, and
may tell you." "All right, if you wish it."
But the vision of her was too pleasing to him to lose, even in his very weak state, and he kept his eyes continually on her till the doc tor came in. The doctor, feeling his pulse and taking his temperature, expressed his sat
isfaction on his patients great improvement. The Judge asked,
"Doctor, will you please explain matters I know I am very weak, but I dont know where I am, and how I came here."
"Well, I will tell you, Judge. You have been very near deaths door, as the result of your heroic deed in saving this fair friend of yours and Miss Cole from a watery grave. You know you came to Virginia Beach. But you will soon be all right, and perhaps strong enough to try our fine bathing here, under more favorable and less dangerous auspices. I will leave all further explanations to your two good friends here, who owe their lives to your timely arrival and quick and brave action on their behalf. Though, Judge, I must say they have repaid you in full by their faithfulness in nursing you back to life. You are able to take some more sub-

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stantial nourishment to-day, and I see no
reason why you shouldnt be up and about in a day or two; but, in the mean time, Ill leave
you to the tender mercies of the ladies." Then, turning to Ruth, he said, aside, "Miss Rex, I think that your prescriptions will now do our patient more good than mine. Good morning; but send for me if I am needed."
During the doctors visit the Judge recalled all that had taken place, up to the time when Miss Ruth and Miss Cole were taken from him, out in the surf. Of his own rescue and what followed, to the happy morning then at hand, he knew nothing. After the doctor left them, the Judge said,
"You see, Ruth, darling, I have come to tell you all that has been in my heart to tell
you for a long while, but I am too weak to say anything more now, sweetheart, than that I love you, and want you to marry me as soon as possible. Please come nearer, and let me hold your hand."
Blushing, and radiantly happy, she was quickly at his side, smoothing his hair and forehead with one hand, while he held the other in both of his, tenderly caressing them as she bent over, -and for the first time their lips met.
"Oh, Reuben, dearest, I am so proud and happy to be loved by such a man I I can
never do enough to repay you for all that you

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have done for me. Three times you have
saved my life at the risk of your own. My life body and soul is yours by right to do with it as you will. But we must not talk longer now, sweetheart. I will go and tell the good news of your great improvement to
our friends in the house, and to bring you something to eat." Saying this, she gently withdrew her hand from his caresses, and
went to spread the good news to others through Miss Cole and their kind landlady, Mrs. Atkins. In a little while she had pre pared with her own hands a bowl of chicken broth and a plate of toast, and she took them up to the Judge, with happiness beaming from her lovely face.
"Now, dear, you may take this, and if you are a real good boy I will bring you some thing more after a while."
"Oh, thank you, sweetheart; I will obey your orders to the very letter; but you had
better watch me very closely, for I am hungry enough to eat up the bowl, plate, spoon and alll"

CHAPTER XXX
THE JUDGES CONVALESCENCE
Surely there never was a happier conval escent than the Judge. Every day Ruth proved dearer and more beautiful to him than his most romantic dreams had painted her. Miss Cole felt that she too owed him an ever lasting debt of gratitude, and she did all she could for him without getting in the way of her friend Ruth. Everybody at the Beach knew of his brave deed and his illness, conse quently he was praised and waited upon as a hero: and the whisperings of the love affair between himself and the beautiful Miss Rex aroused a romantic interest in them. If there was anything lacking to increase the interest of outsiders, it was supplied by an additional romance, rapidly developing between their friend Miss Cole and her gallant red-headed rescuer, the bashful Mr. Charles Williams of Richmond. Their boarding-place seemed to be turned into a veritable bower of love and romance, and the most popular cottage on the Beach. It was overrun with applicants for board, especially from the romantic sort of maidens, who seemed to think that the house was full of that pleasing contagion. The

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beach in front of that cottage became the fa vorite place for the crowds of merry surfbathers. Judge Reinhardt soon regained his strength, and got the consent of Mrs. Atkins to let him continue as one of her boarders as long as he remained at the Beach.
There were no happier couples than Miss Ruth and the Judge and Miss Cole and Mr. Williams, but their happiness was greatly marred by the notoriety their thrilling expe rience had occasioned. Of course their mod esty revolted against the very conspicuous po sition they had so suddenly attained. Wher ever they went they were pointed out and gazed upon as if they were objects of cu riosity. They considered the advisability of leaving the Beach for Ocean View or Old Point, to avoid the annoyance; but no, the Norfolk papers had published sensational ac counts of their narrow escape, and they would perhaps excite more curiosity at other resorts. Then, too, the Beach had become associated with so much that was dearest to them, so they wisely tried not to care for the notice others took of them; for, after all, it was a most friendly notoriety "all the world loves a lover"; and so the happy days and nights sped by all too swiftly.
One night, down on the sand near where stands the tall "White Lady" of wood, the figurehead relic of a large vessel wrecked

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close by the spot a few years ago, the Judge and Ruth were watching the white caps of the high billows, by the light of the moon, just risen as if out of the deep. One mighty roar ing breaker after another, in quick succession, came rolling in, dashing and splashing up the beach as if trying to reach them and to draw them out into the dark depths as their right ful prey, from which they had been cheated. A huge billow came tumbling in, and as its foaming waters receded it left along the shore a phosphorescent, jelly-like substance, as if it might have been washed off the moon as she leaped out of the sea. Small bits of this moonshiny sea-phosphorescence the Judge gathered up, and decorated his fair compan ion with it, who appeared to him far more lovely than the most beautiful of the legend ary mermaids.
"I can readily understand how a man may be tempted to worship a beautiful woman it is hard not to when he has one to tempt him to idolatry like your lovely self, my queen; but to any less worthy object, animate or inanimate, I cannot conceive how he can become so foolish as to adore."
"My noble lover, I never have been able to find any excuse for the sin of idolatry by any people. Especially are they inexcusable who have ever known the infinitely holy, pure, lov-

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ing Deity whom we worship, and afterward
have turned to the worship of idols." "I fully agree with you, my lady-love; and
that was a weakness so often conspicuous in
the early history of my nation for which I could never account. God punished them most severely many times for their persist
ency in returning to idolatry. It was not till after their seventy years of exile in captivity that they seemed entirely cured of that strange tendency. Since then they have not been led astray to serve any save the only true God. The sin of idolatry has been so com pletely eliminated from their nature, I sup pose, that that accounts for the fact that we never hear of any great Jew sculptors or painters. Our people, for so many years, fearing that the profession of the artist might possibly lead them to the horrors of idolatry, they have neither inherited nor cultivated any talent for making statues or painting pic tures."
"Well, that is true, but I never thought of it before. The Jews are indeed a peculiar people."
Then there was a pause of several minutes. For the first time since he had written his dec laration of love,, the fact that there were bar riers of race and religion between them
crossed their minds. Each seemed to be con
scious of what the other was thinking and for

The Judges Convalescence 285
some time neither ventured to break the si lence. As a true man and a true woman they had laid bare their hearts love for each other without one thought, at the time being, of their difference of nationality and creed: and felt that their troth was as sacredly binding as if it had already been solemnized at the altar by a Christian clergyman or Jewish rabbi. No one of their new acquaintances at the Beach had discovered that he was a Jew, and somehow his two Rome friends had not thought to mention the fact: and so it was taken for granted that he was, at least, a nominal Christian.
"Well," said Ruth presently. "Well," he answered in the same way. "Its needless to say, a penny for your thoughts, my dear," she said, "for I think that our thoughts are the same. It is so strange that for at least three weeks I had not thought of the disagreeable part of of our love." "If disagreeable, sweetheart, why should you think of it at all?" "Now, dearest, you know I dont mean to say that I think for us our love has any dis agreeable side; but we cannot always be un conscious, however we may ignore the fact, that people will be biased against our union by the strongest of all prejudice, caused by our difference in race and religion."

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"Oh, then, were you so hasty that you in tend to avail yourself of the prerogative of woman, and change your mind?"
"No, no! How could you be so cruel as to say that, dear? Dont you know that all the prejudiced criticism of the world could not turn me from my purpose of doing what
I can to pay off my inestimable debt of grati tude to the man who has thrice so bravely risked his life to save mine ?"
"Oh, my dear, if that is all for which you have promised to marry me, then there is, in deed, a disagreeable side to our love."
"Dear, dear Judge, for pitys sake, please
dont wound my heart by even insinuating that you doubt me. Dont you know that I could not marry you unless I loved you though you had a hundred times saved my life; and though you had millions of dollars
to lay at my feet, and the most honored the proudest title to bestow upon me? I could
and would be none the less grateful, and work for you as a most obedient slave; but marry
you, or any other man never! for any other consideration than true love!"
"Please forgive me, darling, for ever hint ing at such an idea but this is not the first
time you have spoken of that so-called debt
of gratitude that you feel bound to repay me, for doing only my duty. I felt naturally

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hurt; so, dearest, I hope you will not men tion your duty again."
"Certainly not, my modest hero, if you so seriously object. Then let this, our first lov ers quarrel, be our last."
"And kiss, and make up," he added, suit ing the action to the words.
"You foolish boy! Well, sweetheart, I am sorry to say it is time for us to be return ing to the cottage."
Slowly they arose from their seats on the sand and retraced their footsteps to the cot tage, in the usual lovers pace.
Seven more days and seven more evenings pur lovers spent together at the Beach and its vicinity in unmarred happiness talking, walking, riding, and driving along the wavebeaten shore, and over the level roads through fragrant woods and fertile fields; and in rowing and fishing in the pretty little lake separated from the rolling ocean by a narrow strip of sand intersected by sluices through which the tide flows and ebbs with the green waters of the ocean.

CHAPTER XXXI
THE STORM AND WRECK
Solomon, the highly favored King of Israel, reputed not only to have been the most married, but also the richest as well as the wisest man in the world, tells us, "To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven." So the "time to weep" and the "time to mourn" seemed at hand for these lovers who had spent so many joyous days in the realization of "loves sweet dream."
Urgent business recalled the Judge and Mr. Williams to the plodding, practical side of life; the one to his law office in Rome, and the other to his bank in Richmond. The day following their departure dawned cloudy and dreary, as if in sympathy with the two forlorn maidens left on the strand. The wind mourned around the corners of the cottage in unison with their sighs, and as the lonely day advanced, their dreariness increased with the violence of the storm. The driving rain and the cool wind from the northeast kept them indoors shivering. Front doors and all windows had to be kept closed to keep out the

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rain. In vain they tried to read and to con
verse, but finally gave it up in despair, and devoted themselves to watching through the rain-bespattered window panes the increasing storm on the sea. The black clouds de scended as if to meet the high reaching white-
capped waves forced up and down, and hither and thither by the howling wind, until with a deafening roar they would break over the
hard sandy shore and throw their foamy, phophorescent spray high above the boule vards, appearing at times as if some great de
vastating tidal wave was rushing on to en
gulf land, cottages, and all. It made all visi tors from the inland tremble with fear, but, at the same time, held them spellbound, gaz ing out Into the stormy scene of awe-inspiring fascination. As the gloomy day was lost in the thick blackness of the night almost before the hidden sun gave up his struggle to diffuse light, at least upon the part of the globe, the fierce storm increased to a tornado. Pity the mariner caught out within its destructive reach! Pity the brave men of the life-saving crew whose lonely storm-beaten patrol should find it necessary to call out his fearless mates to the rescue of any wrecked seamen on such
a night! But it was just on such a terrible night that a wreck was most apt to occur. None know this better than the ever-ready
19

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life-savers; so to-night they kept watchful
outlooks and all in readiness to quickly re spond to any possible calls from helpless ves
sels. The loud rumbling thunder, the flashing of
forked lightning, the roaring of the mighty
breakers, and the howling wind and the noise of pouring rain put all sleep out of the eyes
of the two thoroughly frightened young women. The house seemed to tremble and
rock as if it would yield to the tornado and be dashed to pieces; the windows kept up a loud rattling and the howling of the wind, as if weeping over the lost spirits of all wicked wrecked mariners, caused Ruth and Miss Cole to give way to sobbing and tears after they had retired to their room. They dared not undress or extinguish their lamp-light, but lay locked in each others arms, or hold ing hands and now and then going to the win dow to gaze out in the thick darkness, through which they could see the mad waters of the deep only by the flashes of lightning. Late in the night, as Ruth stood trying to see through the window, she said,
"Oh, dear, what is that strange light? theres another, and another. Oh, horrors! they are skyrockets from a ship in distress! Look, look! The storm is driving her in the lights seem nearer and nearer to us!
Dont you see that big black object out there

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291

in the ocean when the lightning flashes? What are those small lights on the beach?
They are the life-savers surely they are not going to try to launch their boat on those ter
rible breakers, it couldnt live a minute! Yes, there they go with their boat into the rough surf! Oh, those brave, brave men! Oh,
may our merciful God save them and also that helpless ships crew for no man can! Oh, the lifeboat is turned over and tossed upon the beach, as if it were a feather. Mercy, mercy! I hope that none of those brave fellows are drowned! Did you see that flash, and hear that gun? I presume the lifesavers are trying to shoot a rope off to the wrecked vessel by means of the mortar they showed us at the life-saving station the other day. Listen, listen it shoots again it must have reached the ship, for they are cheering! Now they will get them all off the ship safely to the shore in the life-car. I wish it were light enough for us to see it all. Oh, look, dear, they are bringing some one in their arms up to our cottage. It may be one of the crew saved. Let us go down with our lamp and meet them at the doorl"
Knocking at the room of their landlady, and hastily explaining matters, they opened the front door for the life-savers, who now had reached it, and in their strong arms they held three young children, two girls and a

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boy, with their mother, a young and pretty German woman, clinging to the arm of the sunburnt hero who held her baby. The grate
ful mother and her little ones were made com fortable, while the life-savers ran back to help their hard-worked mates to save others from the doomed ship. The good life-car made seven round trips from shore to wreck, bringing each time three or four human be ings the last of all the captain, mate, and a seaman of the ill-fated vessel. As the car
with its last human burden was almost at shore, the mast to which its stout rope was fastened tottered and fell, as the wreck was beaten to pieces by the angry, surging sea.
But fortunately the little car was caught on the crest of a huge wave and dashed upon
the beach, where it was quickly seized by the alert life-savers and kept from being sucked back into the deep. Every one of the twentyfive souls aboard, even the cooks cat, was safely landed, and for several days kindly cared for by the heroic crew of the life station and the residents and boarders at the Beach, till they could be sent to their homes in Eng land.
The pretty German woman was the wife of the English captain and the three little ones were their children, and they had come with
the captain for a three months voyage to the
West Indies and American waters on his fine

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bark, now a total loss. They lost everything
except the clothes on their backs, so Ruth and Miss Cole started out in the rain early the next morning and solicited suitable cloth
ing for mother and children, and money con tributions, which they gave to the very grate ful little woman. Purses were also given to
the captain and his men. They were greatly distressed over the loss of their possessions, but felt most grateful that they had escaped
with their lives and had fallen among such kind friends. The three little rescued mari ners became at once the pets of all on the
Beach, and Ruth and Miss Cole were es pecially sorry to give them up when the time came for them to start for England.
The wreck and rescue and the interest and sympathy for the young mother and her child ren had diverted their own minds from grieving over the separation from their lov ers. Newspapers, magazines, or love-letters were daily received from the absent, and not
a little of their time was spent in writing let ters, but, at best, such tokens of affection are very unsatisfactory. Miss Cole, more senti
mental than ever, confessed to Ruth that though she was delighted to receive letters from Mr. Williams, she wouldnt give one
pressure of his hand or one glance of his eyes for volumes and volumes of his love-letters.
And evidently he fully agreed with her, for

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the two Sundays they remained longer at the Beach found him there too, coming late Sat urday night and returning early Monday
morning. The Judge and Ruth were not so fortunate,
for the long distance which separated them made it necessary for them to be contented with frequent letters. In his last letter re ceived by her the day before she and Miss Cole started for home she read somethings that gave her much trouble, and about which she was so pre-occupied while traveling to Rome that her friend mistook her silence and
sad expression for the sorrow she herself felt at parting from the "dear old Beach, with all its dear associations." And Ruth thought it best not to undeceive her. In that letter the Judge had decidedly but gently and lov ingly told her that which he had hitherto purposely deferred, namely, his binding obli gation, as he believed it to be, not to marry a Gentile, unless she should become a convert to the Hebrew faith. He made this sacred vow to his mother and to his God, and he deemed it his duty to keep his vow. From
the day of their first meeting to the present he had prayed no less earnestly for her conver sion than for her love. The latter had been graciously given him, and the former he be lieved would as surely follow. Then, and not till then, could he realize his dream of claim
ing her for his helpmeet his companion for

The Storm and Wreck
life. He felt, he knew that she would forgive him for even seeming to take advantage of her by first winning her love and then to sug gest any conditions in their marrying. But he had not really won her there was nothing in him capable of winning such a priceless prize; he felt sure that he never could merit so great happiness it was the free gift of God they were intended by Providence for each other. God would adopt her as a true daughter of Israel; but before doing so it would be necessary for her to observe the rules of probation strictly binding upon every proselyte. That is, she would be required to sever all ties that bound her to her Gentile relations, and to sign a confession of faith acknowledging her allegiance to no God save the One only Lord God of Israel. She was to become as one born again, not of the Gen tiles, but of the Hebrew nation. His God must be her God, his people her people. As she already worshipped the same God which he did, it would be only a matter of form to subscribe to the Jewish rules and regulations; for his sake, he believed that she would com ply with his request to give up the Christian religion and all Christian associates and asso ciations, and cling only to him and his relig ion. All this he hoped and prayed that she might dp as soon as possible, so that his dear est cherished dream would be realized in his right to call her his wife.

CHAPTER XXXII
THE WEDDING
Before the swift-moving train bore Ruth Rex over the seven hundred miles of railway from Virginia Beach to Rome she revolved over and over again the contents of Reuben Reinhardts last letter and she had come to the conclusion that the course best for her to pursue would be to comply as fully as possible with his desire, at least outwardly, while se cretly she would keep her heart loyal to Christ her Saviour. She felt sure that she never could deny her Lord Jesus; nor could she abandon the hope and faith in the final conversion of her lover to Christianity. She lay all night wide awake revolving this over and over. From all that he had repeatedly said in their conversations and finally in his letter, she knew full well that he would sac rifice his love for her rather than give up his Jewish faith. She, however, felt willing, if necessary, to make any sacrifice, even to the loss of her soul, to save his. She recalled how the great Hebrew leader, Moses, on one oc casion prayed to God to blot out of His Book his name if God would not forgive the sins of Moses countrymen, the Israelites; and she

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remembered how the Christian Apostle St. Paul, none the less unselfishly desirous for the salvation of his people, said, "I have great
heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart, for I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen
according to the flesh; who are Israelites;
to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of
the Law, and the service of God and the promises; whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever, Amen."
Now if those two noted saints, one of the old dispensation and one of the new, were
willing to sacrifice even their souls for their nations sake, she was sure that she loved one of that same highly favored nation enough to be lost, if thereby he might be saved. But, reasoned she, why should either he or she be lost? If in the eyes of the world and to him also she should seem to renounce her religion to accept his if she should become outwardly a Jewess, though in her secret heart she felt that she must continue loyal to Christ, wouldnt the end justify the means? Were there not examples both in the Old and New Testaments which seemed to imply that such a course would be justifiable? St. Paul said, Unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that
I might gain the Jews; and when the Syrian

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The Con-vert

General Naaman was miraculously cured of the leprosy by the word of Elisha to wash
seven times in the river Jordan, and thereby he was converted from idolatry to the worship of Jehovah, he asked the Prophet of God if, when he should have to accompany his King to the temple of the Syrian idol, and bow before the false god, would Jehovah pardon such seeming disloyalty? Elisha did not for bid the act, but said, Go in peace. Christ,
who was touched with the feeling of all our infirmities, though all the world should mis understand her and misjudge her, would sym pathize with her, and judge her only accord ing to her good motive. Even if her brave lover had not three times saved her life, her love for him was sufficient to induce her to risk all for him. Thus she reasoned, and thus it was settled in her own mind; she would follow to the letter his guidance in all things with the hope and firm belief that all would end well. When, therefore,
he met her at the Rome station, on their arrival in Rome, she was prepared to accept fully his conditions and to begin at once her probation as a proselyte.
It was a dark rainy night when she arrived, so the Judge met her in a closed landau. Miss Cole was met by her brother, who took her home. It was with no little misgivings that the Judge greeted Ruth, for he was

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naturally apprehensive of the effect of his last letter; but her cordial tone, sweet ex
pression and those soulful eyes of hers dis armed him of all doubts. So before he left
her he said,
"Well, my love, to-morrow will be the first of August. Are you ready to begin your probation, so that our marriage can take
place September the first?" Cheerily enough, she answered, "Why yes, my dear, if you wish it. If
the mountain will not come to Mahomet, Mahomet must go to the mountain, I sup pose. Thy God shall be my God, and thy people, my people. "
"Oh, my Ruth, my love, how worthy you are of your beautiful name! I am the happiest and most blessed of all men! Thanks be to our God our good God!" Throwing his strong arms around her, he kissed her again and again, and placed on her finger a handsome solitaire, saying, "Now, lovely one, as our promise is sealed with kisses, let this ring be not only a symbol of our perfect and endless love, but also our Mizpah; the Lord watch between me and thee when we are absent one from another. "
The next day he explained to her the necessity of separating herself from all for mer associates; of putting herself completely under his directions; and of studying dili-

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gently the Hebrew Prayer-Book and such other Hebrew literature as he should bring to her; and preparing herself for baptism and confirmation in the Hebrew faith. He
told her that an understanding with Mrs. Lane would save her much from embarrass ing annoyances by her former- friends, for Mrs. Lane could tell them when they called
to see her that her vows made her as a stranger to them all she had literally for
saken all in her espousal to a Jew. From this time on the Judge went three
times every day to see her, and he was the only person to whom she spoke a word for
one month. Loving each other as they did, they were all the world to each other, and cared or thought very little what others
thought of them. And so the thirty days preparation soon passed by, and the happy day of their marriage came. His house was
put in the best of order to receive his bride, and the rabbi from Birmingham, Alabama, arrived in due time. With the happy groomelect he was driven in a closed landau to Mrs. Lanes house for the bride-elect; there she met them in the parlor. She was arrayed in white, and the long bridal veil, falling grace fully over her whole person, crowned with the handsome golden wreath, his present to her, she looked the bride of love and beauty. According to an old Jewish custom,

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she was taken to the grooms own home, where in the presence of a few of his Jewish friends and Mrs. Lane the two lovers were made "man and wife," by the beautiful and impressive service pronounced by the rabbi.

CHAPTER XXXIII
COMMENTS ON THE MARRIAGE
Although there had been much talk in town about the strange conduct of Miss Ruth Rex in not speaking to any of her old friends, or to any one else except Judge Reuben Reinhardt, without whom she was never seen, and her resignation, the following announce ment of her marriage, and of her conver sion to the Jewish faith, published in the Rome Tribune, created no little sensation:
REINHARDT--REX.
A QUIET AND ROMANTIC MARRIAGE ANNOUNCED.
On Sunday night last Judge Reuben Reinhardt and Miss Ruth Rex, both of Rome, were quietly married in this city by the Rev. Isaac Marks, of the Birmingham, Ala., Synagogue. The honorable position of the con tracting parties is too well established in this community to require comment here. Judge Reinhardt has been for a number of years a leading attorney of Rome, and has held many offices of trust with credit to himself and honor to his home town, and is widely recognized as a man of unusual force, culture, and ability. Miss Rex was for several years past a teacher of exceptional merit and ef fectiveness in one of the best grades of our city schools, and is a lady of refinement, culture, and beauty. Re cently Miss Rex embraced the articles of the Jewish re ligion, simply through a profession of faith. The cere mony of her adoption into that church was conducted by Rabbi Marks, who baptized and confirmed her after

Comments on the Marriage 303
her profession of faith, according to the Hebrew ritual. As a matter both of interest and of information to die public, the Tribune takes the liberty of presenting from the records a part of the really beautiful and impressive confession to which Miss Rex subscribed. Here is the extract:
FROM MISS REXS CONFESSION
"I believe in one absolute, eternal Jehovah, Creator of Heaven and Earth, and Father of all mankind. There is no mediator between God and His children. I, even I am the Lord, and beside me there is no Saviour. I be lieve that God is King and Redeemer, the Lord of Hosts, the First and the Last: beside whom there is no God, no Redeemer, no Saviour. I believe in the immortality of the soul; and in mans accountability to God. I be lieve in the truth and inspiration of the Bible, and that all that is necessary to mans salvation is therein contained. I believe in the divinely appointed mission of the Jewish nation that Israel is the Covenant-People, to whom was committed His sacred Law, and whose mission it is to spread truth and righteousness amongst all the nations of the earth, and thus hasten that great day, when unto Him every knee shall bend, and every head bow ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, and my Servant, whom I have chosen.
"I believe, in the ethical doctrines and principles of Ju daism. If, as a participant of the glorious heritage of Israel, the necessity should arise, I will gladly wear the thorny crown of martyrdom, rather than give up or deny Israels God, and Israels immortal faith. Now and for ever, through life and death, through time and eternity, in my heart, upon my lips, shall echo the sublime declara tion Hear, O Israel, the Eternal, our God, the Eternal is one!
"And now, with loyal and reverent devotion, I say to the Congregation of Israel: Entreat me not to leave thee, or return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; thy people shall be my people, and thy God, my God. Where thou diest I will die, and there will I be buried. The Lord do so to me, and more also, if aught but death part thee and me."

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THE RABBIS KEPLT
Rabbi Marks, in reply, after reciting her declaration of faith, said: "In recognition of all this, and while ours is not a proselyting religion, subscribing to the ethical teachings and principles of every creed; yet Judaism feels proud to accept a daughter so thoroughly imbued with her teachings. Israel has just cause to rejoice in receiving a sister so familiar with his God-given mission, and in full sympathy with his aspirations. As a teacher in Is rael, I extend to you the right hand of Jewish fraternity; and, bidding you welcome into Israels fold, I declare you, in behalf of the whole Congregation of Israel, an accepted daughter of Judaism, ever after to be recognized, regarded, and respected as a bom Jewess. On receiving you into the Congregation of Israel, we have nothing to offer you but a glorious history of unceasing suffering all for the glory of God, and for the salvation of hu manity.
"And now, in behalf of Judaism, I say unto you, because thou hast left the land of thy nativity, and art come unto a people, whom thon knewest not heretofore; therefore, the Lord recompense thy work, and a full reward be given thee of the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings thou hast come to trust. The Lord bless and guard thee; the Lord cause His countenance to shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee; the Lord lift up His countenance toward thee, and grant thee peace. Amen."
The Judge and Mrs. Reinhardt will be at home in the Reinhardt cottage on Third Avenue the latter part of this month, after an extended bridal-tour through the North. With an understanding of the intense and romantic devo tion which has prevailed for so long a time between this interesting couple, the Tribunes good wishes for them may take the shape of pleasant and well-founded prophecy."
Miss Ruth Rex's apostasy from the Chris tian religion for Judaism, and her marriage to a Jew were more than a seven days won der. It was distressing to her friends, and

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particularly so to her old pastor, and to all good sisters and brothers of the Methodist congregation she had left. Some said that she had gone crazy; others thought that if she was not demented, she must be hypnotized; while the more worldly minded gossips shrugged their shoulders and said, "A woman will marry any man who has money."
Miss North had the grim satisfaction of saying to her sister teachers, "I told you so." When the teachers were gathered together she reminded them repeatedly of how she had protested against the Jews election as trustee on die School Board, and, moreover, had so cautioned them all against men in general, and that Jew Reinhardt in particular.
"I can account for a girl admiring such a gifted and handsome man as Judge Rein hardt," said one teacher, "but the fact that he is a Jew ought to have been enough to keep any Christian from entertaining any thoughts of marrying him."
"I tell you, girls," said Miss North, "it is a second Svengali-Trilby affair; that Jew has surely hypnotized poor Ruth; and what a sad awakening there is in store for her. We should pity her! And they say that her former most intimate friend, little Miss Sentimentalism Miss Cole has also fallen a victim to that awful hypnotic influence they
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call love. You know, girls, she has also re signed, and they say that she will marry a Virginian next month. Poor thing, I hope, at least, he is not a Jew."
"Oh, no, indeed," some one replied, "I
heard that he is a fine Christian gentleman, of one of the best families in old Virginia a genuine F. F. V. and a rich young banker, who saved Miss Cole from drowning this summer at Virginia Beach."
"Oh, how very romantic!" cried several.
"Say, girls," proposed somebody, "I move that we all go to Virginia Beach next summer, and ask our friend, the bride-elect of Mr. F. F. V. to chaperon us, and to tell us how to catch such big fish."
"What do you say to a vote on that, Miss
North? Theres as good fish in the sea as have ever been caught. "
"Pshaw! girls, go away with your non
sense!" replied Miss North. "I wouldnt be caught out in all that water for any man in all the world not even for the richest
T. F. V."

CHAPTER XXXIV
A NATIONAL TRAGEDY
While the people of Rome were wondering how she could ever have renounced Christi anity for Judaism, Mrs. Reinhardt and the Judge were enjoying their bridal trip. They went from Rome directly to the Pan-Ameri can Exposition at Buffalo,-where they were on the day of the awful tragedy, the as sassination of President McKinley. For two days the Judge and his wife had been leisurely enjoying the exposition and the great beauty of the "Rainbow City." They had taken trips through the canals and over the lakes in electric boats in the picturesque Venetian gondolas, propelled by the singing gondoliers; they had been pulled over the beautiful grounds by the sturdy little Japs those human horses of the Japanese buggy, the Jinriksha; had been amazed at the glorious electric illumination, as they stood high up in the tall electric tower looking down on the magnificent "Court of Fountains" and across the "Triumphant Bridge"; they had gone through the streets of the "Midway," and laughed with the good-natured, easily imposed-upon multitude at the catch-penny fakes

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which beguiled them of so much good money and time.
Friday afternoon, the sixth of September, they went into the beautiful Temple of Music, where the good President McKinley was hold ing a public reception; and as the pressure of his friendly hand-shake was still felt, and his happy smile lingered in their vision and his kind greeting still sounded in their ears, the two sharp, quick reports of a pistol were heard, and they saw the noble form of the President reel and fall into the arms of a strong man, while others were struggling with the assassin who still held his pistol from which thin curls of smoke were ascending to record on high the foul deed of murder. Above the awful wave of horror and revenge that swept over the vast crowd was wafted the forgiving Christ-like words of the wounded man, "Dont harm that boy."
It must have been only that unselfish, for giving request of the Christian ruler of our nation that held the awe-stricken crowd in check long enough for the officers of the secret detective service to get their prisoner away without harm; for as soon as his horrible deed was known, under the natural first im pulse of righteous indignation, vengeful cries were heard all over the great hall, and from the vast crowds outside, in wrathful, thunder ous voices, "Lynch the wretch!" "Tear him

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to pieces!" "Burn him!" "Hang him!" But
he was hurried off under the protection of the law, and the assassin, Leon Czolgosz, mem ber of that satanic society, the Anarchists, at enmity with God and man, was as safe from harm as the most innocent citizen of our great
country, till he could be duly and fairly tried and condemned by twelve honest jurors and
put to death by the lawful executioner. "Oh, dear," Mrs. Reinhardt said, as she
clung tightly to her husbands arm, "please take me out of this terrible place!"
"Yes, my darling," the Judge replied, "just as soon as we can get through this crowd; but dont be afraid. Did you hear those brave, unselfish words of the President for that wretch?"
"Yes, dear, and under such circumstances they could come from none other than a Christian hero!"
The Judge affectionately pressed her arm against his side, and gave her a quizzical glance, as if to say, "You seem to forget that you are now a Jewess." But he kept silent, and at first she didnt seem to realize that she had made a speech so inconsistent to her new confession of faith. She had spoken from her heart, for it flashed through her mind how the Christ, whom she apparently had de nied, prayed for His murderers: "Father,
forgive them, for they know not what they

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do." And she darted up this silent mental
prayer: "Oh, Lord God, most merciful Fa ther, forgive the murderer of President McKinley, through Jesus Christ, who forgave and prayed for His murderous enemies."
On getting out in the open air they breathed more freely, and rejoiced to hear
that the President was not dead, as had been thought. They, with the thousands of other visitors and the employees, had no heart for the attractions of the Exposition during the remainder of that day. All interest was cen tered on the wounded President. As the sor
rowful news rapidly passed over the grounds and into every building, a pall-like gloom spread over the horrified people; no one
spoke above a whisper as the multitude waited in prayerful expectation for news from the doctors. Only the distinguished patient kept up a cheerful spirit; till, as he gradually lost consciousness, under the influence of anaes thetics, the attending physicians heard him
softly repeating some lines from his favorite hymn, "Nearer, my God, to Thee."
The ball that struck his breast was easily found, as it lodged against his breast-bone, but the one that pierced his abdomen could not be found; yet the surgeons gave out the welcome news that the wounds were not neces sarily mortal. The Judge and his wife waited with many others around for news,

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and, hearing it, left the Exposition grounds
for their hotel, where they remained till after an early breakfast the next morning. They eagerly read in the local papers everything
published about the tragedy and obtained throughout the day the latest news in the bul letin sent out from the Presidents bedside at the Milburn residence, where he had been re moved from the Exposition Hospital.
After attending the Synagogue service in Buffalo, it being Saturday, the Jewish Sab bath, at seven oclock, after the end of the day of rest, they started for Niagara. There they spent the night and devoted the next day,
Sunday, to seeing the Falls from all vantage points, not omitting the thrilling trip
through the whirlpool rapids on the little daring steamer The Maid of the Mist, to within a few feet of where the immense body of water reaches the river 160 feet below its
upper rocky bed. On the electric railway their trip was extended down upon the banks of the
whirling, rushing Niagara to Lewistown. From thence they crossed Lake Ontario to Toronto, where, after a couple of days of sightseeing, they took the palatial steamer Toronto down the Lake and St. Lawrence River through the thrilling Rapids, and on the "dark and mysterious deep waters" of the Saguenay. They stopped over long enough for sightseeing in Montreal and Quebec, and

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other places of interest, and returned by way of Lake Champlain, Lake George, Saratoga, and an all-day boat trip down the picturesque Hudson River from Albany to New York. There they spent a few days, and from thence took the Old Dominion steamship Jeferson for Norfolk, to stop over at "dear old Vir ginia Beach" for a few days on their return home. While in New York the sad news came to them of the Presidents death, and about his last words, "Gods will be done."
The terrible scene they had witnessed in the Temple of Music and the Presidents un selfish words they had heard him speak on behalf of his murderer, and his brave, Chris tian resignation to his fate, and the affection ate concern he manifested to the last for his delicate wife all made a deep impression upon them both. Mrs. Reinhardt was par ticularly affected by it all, and many were the earnest prayers in her secret devotions to the Christ, whom she was supposed to have de nied, that the submissive Christian example of the President might open the eyes of her hus band to the fact that a religion which could produce such a noble character was surely di vine.
The consciousness of her double spiritual life pressed more and more heavily upon her mind notwithstanding the good motive
which she persuaded herself justified the

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means. After all, thought she, "I am just as bad as any other hypocrite." If her de voted husband knew the whole truth about her wouldnt he lose his respect for her?
Wouldnt Christ, Himself, reprove her for her hypocrisy with withering scorn, as He did those "Scribes, Pharisees, hypocrites" of Jerusalem ?
Alas, she had gone too far to undo what she had done. But didnt she persuade her self before her apostasy and marriage that she would willingly run the risk of losing her own soul to save his but what if both should be lost? God forbid.
The Judge, throughout their bridal trip, had proved himself all that she or any one could expect; yet her happiness in having him all her own, and the pleasure of such a delightful and interesting trip, was greatly marred, in spite of all her self-control, by her uncomfortable thoughts of self-accusation. So absorbing were these unhappy moods that she became absent-minded, and her sighs be gan to be noticed by her husband, who seemed not a little troubled by them. Though he reasoned to himself that perhaps it was nothing but the fatigue of travel, and weari ness of so much sight-seeing, yet he was more than glad to get home, for he comforted him self with the belief that all would be well
there.

CHAPTER XXXV
HOME AGAIN
At his dear old home the Judge and his wife immediately settled down to the duties, comforts, pleasures, and the hallowed pri vacy of domestic life. As she had cut herself entirely off from her former associates, so much so as not even to acknowledge a speak ing acquaintance with any Christian, and the Jews hesitated to show her any attention, she was left to her husband alone for companion ship. It was noticed that she never appeared on the streets, or anywhere else, without him at her side. Some people said that it was be cause the Judge was afraid to trust her again with her Christian friends, for they might persuade her to return to the fold whence she had strayed; others said that he had her so completely hypnotized she had no will of her own. Whatever they thought, she did not know; she was only too thankful to be let alone in working out her own plans for the spiritual welfare of herself and her good hus band. Though many secretly criticised the Judge very severely for enticing the young and lovely Christian woman, that she should have risked her very soul to please him, yet all felt

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sorry for her; however, he retained much of
his former prestige in the community, and so on the first day of his arrival home, when it was known that he had witnessed the assassin
ation of President McKinley, he was waited on by the committee of arrangements for a mass memorial service in honor of the dead President, and asked to be the orator for the
occasion. He accepted the honor, and before a large audience of the best citizens of Rome, assembled in the large First Methodist
Church, on the second Sunday night follow ing the death of the President, Judge Reinhardt spoke as follows:
"My friends, King Solomon of Israel, the wisest and the richest man of his day, said, Sorrow is better than laughter, for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made
better. And I believe it, not only because the wisest of men has said it, but also because our experience has taught us so. We are better for having our hearts softened and drawn
closer to all who have suffered in the same way. Feeling with each other is not only a sympathetic touch that makes us wondrous
kind, but is also that something which makes
us like unto the angels of Heaven like unto those unselfish ministering spirits to the heirs of salvation yea, like unto those celestial beings who are in such close touch with us earthly creatures that they do verily rejoice

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with us and mourn with us. For the tragic death of our great and good President a mighty people is mourning their sorrowful
loss. President McKinley was an honest man, who gladly served God, according to the light given him, with a reverential love, and with
the trust of an innocent child. A noble, brave, meek man, who tried to do his duty faithfully, as he saw it, both to God and man. He was
an impartial ruler, who recognized the fact that he was only an instrument in the hands of the Supreme Ruler for good to all. He so
wisely served his country that all sections have been reunited as an indissoluble band of loyal patriots.
"A lover of peace, President McKinley did all in his power to avert war. When every other resource was exhausted, every effort to release a long-oppressed and helpless little neighbor from the tyrannical heel of a distant, unmerciful foreign power, he then, and not till then, yielded to the popular voice of his people, and bravely went to the rescue of the poor struggling weaker neighbor. And when, on land and sea, glorious victory crowned the sympathetic efforts to throw off the yoke of oppression, he made the most magnanimous peace settlement with a conquered enemy ever recorded in the history of nations. When, further, as the fruits of that successful and
righteous war it became the white mans bur-

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den to civilize the semi-savage tribes of the many isles of the sea fallen into our posses sion, the great responsibility was not shunned. In spite of so great adverse criticism, because
of the enormous cost to our nation, he bravely and patiently persisted in obeying dutys high
call to his country to bear her part of the white mans burden. But as he saw the bur den gradually lessening, and all his wise plans working to successful accomplishment, and the grateful and brave people over whom he for a second term of office was so triumph antly chosen; his nation advanced to the foremost rank amongst the great powers of the world; loved by many and respected by all of his own people; at the very zenith of
his well-earned glory he is sacrificed to the malicious teachings of an evil society, whose members are so possessed by Satan and his wicked spirits that even the most righteous head of the freest and most indulgent govern ment is, alas, the innocent victim of its anarch istic madness and folly!
"Though I do not agree with the many who say that these enemies to peace and all lawful authority should be executed without mercy, I think they should be incarcerated as mad men, caught and shut up as any other
dangerous insane man or woman, or any un tamed beast; that the good ajid law-abiding

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people be protected from their diabolical plots and death traps!
"The book of Job says that Man is born to sorrow as the sparks fly upward. Yes, my friends, sorrow is our heritage, but lest we should thereby grow faint-hearted, we have
the Scriptural assurance to comfort us, that the heart is made all the better for it. We do not know, we cannot tell why such a use
ful, good and acceptable man as President McKinley should have been allowed to die at this time. We do not know and, perhaps, never will know, just why any other good and
useful citizen is taken away when he seems to be so much needed by his fellow-citizens on earth. We do not understand why the young father, in the vigor and usefulness of his man
hood, should be, as it were, snatched away from his loving wife and dependent child ren, why the good and useful young wife should have to leave her devoted husband and helpless children; or why the sweet, bright child should be taken from the happy home when it was the light of the house. All we do know, is that they are gone, and we are left sorrowing. There is no comfort in such a thought. How sadly we miss the departed dear ones! The sweet consolation is in the belief that all earthly journeys end in happi ness eternal. Even out of the encircling gloom a light may be seen. All is not dark-

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ness; and so we catch at the welcome ray, as a drowning man is said to catch at straws. And we learn in the blessed light from heaven
that though sorrow may endure for the night, joy comes in the morning that happy morn ing when all tears shall be wiped away for
ever. Then we shall need no more sorrow to make our hearts better; for then we shall be perfect, even as our Father in Heaven is
perfect, because we shall awake in His like ness and be satisfied. Saith the Psalmist, It is good for me that I have been in trouble, that I may learn thy statutes.
"Yea, my friends, we learn from the law
of God better how to more acceptably serve Him under the rod of affliction. It is sorrow that brings out what is best in man in loving
deeds and words of unselfishness. In a small community like ours, time and again, these better traits of character have shown out so beautifully that we glorify our Father in
Heaven for the blessed tie that binds our hearts in divine love. What has been seen
here in our hours of sorrow is now witnessed
by a sympathetic world; and by those in numerable angelic witnesses in Heaven a common sorrow shared by seventy-five mil
lions of grief-stricken people over their mu tual loss. Statesmen, politicians of all par ties, the non-committal diplomat, the much-
experienced physician, men, women and child-

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ten, in every station of life all mingle their tears in the nations sorrow, and express lov ing words of sympathy for the bereaved widow, the wife for whom the President al
ways manifested the tenderest consideration. "Death is the common leveller it brings
us all to the same plane of mystery. No one may look the unwelcome grim visitor in the face without an involuntary shudder. And
yet, the inspired wise King tells us, It is bet ter to go to the house of mourning than in the house of feasting, for that is the end of all men: and the living will lay it to his heart.
"In times of prosperity and earthly joy the heart is apt to become unmindful of God, and thus the affections are too much concentrated on earthly things the perishable things of
this world, which may hinder us in setting our affections on heaven, where only true joys are to be found. But in adversity we are drawn nearer to each other, and, consequently,
nearer to God. Sorrow felt for one another brings out those better traits of love which prove our love toward God. We cannot love God unless we love our neighbor our broth ers and sisters, wherever they may be found. And in keeping the God-given commandment to love God with all our heart, mind and soul, and strength, and our neighbor as ourself, we must see through our sorrowful tears Gods love for us even under the chastise-

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ment of affliction; and, therefore, our hearts
are made better. The spotless private life of our late President was a shining manifestation
of his godliness. I can never forget his saintly smile, and his gentle words, Dont harm that boy! though his life-blood was
flowing through the bullet holes shot into his body by that wretch; and as the maddened crowd was about to tear his cruel murderer to
pieces. His manly calmness and fortitude under the surgeons treatment, during those
trying days of slow death; his patient resig nation to Gods will, if he must leave the deli cate wife so dependent upon him and to whom he ever showed the tenderest devotion; his
reciting his favorite hymn, Nearer, my God, to thee all these touching incidents of his last days have made an immortal impression
for good in the world. My friends, while we bow our heads in sorrow with all our bereaved countrymen, let us follow the good example
of him whose memory we love to honor, and for whom we mourn even the great and good President William McKinley, whose last words were, It is Gods way; His will be done.
"In closing, let us bear in mind one of his favorite hymns, Lead, Kindly Light. "

CHAPTER XXXVI
THE CONVERT CONVERTS
Many said that the address of Judge Reinhardt at the President McKinley memorial service "sounded like a real good Christian sermon, and one who could talk that way was not far from the Kingdom of God." He was congratulated by many Christians, and not a few thanked him for the good it did them to hear and read it, for it was printed in full on the following Tuesday morning in the Rome Tribune and other papers. His wife, ever conscious of the talk about her embracing Judaism, and about her marriage, shrank from being seen at public gatherings, so she did not attend the memorial service; but she eagerly read the newspaper accounts of it, and the printed address, and she said to him,
"My dear, I am more than ever proud of you; no Christian Minister could preach better than you did last Sunday night at the Methodist Church."
"Thank you, sweetheart; but why should a Christian preach Gods truth better or as good as one of Gods own chosen people?"
"Well, he can not preach any better, or

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even as good as this one," giving him a tender caress. "But darling, why didnt you go more into the details about what we saw on that awful afternoon at the Exposition?"
"Because, sweetheart, the newspapers have been so full of all that for the past two weeks I thought it better to treat the subject in an other way."
"Doubtless you are right as you most al ways are, my dear," and she ended with one of her frequent sighs, which made him look more intently at her, while he asked, in a halfamused tone,
"Why not leave out the most, my dear?" "Oh, dear man, how conceited you are growing what human being is so always right as to be infallible?" "Ruth, darling, I wonder if you ever get tired of Judaism, and wish to go back to your former life. Why those sighs, sweetheart? Do you yearn for the flesh-pots of Egypt?" "Why should I, dearest, as long as I have you to devour and in turn be devoured by you?" They both laughed heartily as he took the sweet hint and caressed her most ardently. ********
Miss Cole and Mr. Williams were married in October, and were soon happily settled in their new home in Richmond. Mr. Hamp ton Twigg was successfully consoled in his

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grief over the marriage of Ruth Rex by the charms of his country friend Miss Smith, and his marriage to her was announced to take place early in December.
The public had ceased to talk much about the conversion of Ruth Rex to Judaism, and of her marriage to Reuben Reinhardt, and
her utter loss, apparently, of her identity. She diligently kept up her Hebrew studies under her "Dear Professor," as she now loved to
call him. Every night, before the hour of retiring, for their religious devotions they read alternately some passages from the He
brew Bible; and she so often selected the Messianic prophecies to read to him, that he began to suspect it was not without design. Then too he had discovered a copy of tike New Testament in her room, and also, in coming home unexpectedly, one day found her absorbed in reading the Rev. Dr. Geikies book on "The Life and Words of Christ." Neither of them referred to the matter, but these facts and other things gave him much food for thought, resulting in his conviction that she had not really, in her heart, become a convert to his religion, but had merely out wardly conformed to all the requirements of Judaism, out of her deep love for him. All unknown to her, he also read Dr. Geikies great work, and read and reread the New Testament, becoming more and more con-

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vinced that Jesus of Nazareth was truly the Christ the long-expected Messiah. It gave him a peaceful, happy feeling he had never before experienced. He studied and earnestly
prayed over it, and read also both Paleys and Mcllvains "Evidences of Christianity." Then he began to study the doctrines and his
tory of the leading Christian sects; for after
his secret conversion to Christianity he felt that he must confess Christ before men in
some church but which church? Surely,
they all could not be right, and continue so divided. He resolved not to be partial with out a thorough knowledge of all their claims.
Therefore, he read books on the history and doctrines of each denomination, and arrived at his decision before mentioning the subject to his wife. So one night, a few days before Christmas, when they were discussing the Talmudic sayings and comparing them with the teachings of "Jesus of Nazareth," as he still
called him, she warmly argued that Jesus got his doctrines from no man "He was original and spoke with authority and not as other men spoke"; and taking up Dr. Geikies
"Life and Words of Christ," she added, "Just listen, please, while I read to you
some extracts from the Talmud, according to Dr. Geikie: In Exodus xvi:5, it is com manded that food for the Sabbath be pre
pared on the sixth day, no doubt with the de-

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sign that the rest of the servant shall be as sacred as that of her master or mistress. The rabbis, pondering this command, raised the question, whether an egg which a hen had
laid on a Sabbath could be eaten on the sacred day, and decided it by a strict negative, if it had been laid by a hen kept to lay eggs; be cause, in that case, it was the result of work
begun on a week day, and bronght to an end on the Sabbath. On this, the rabbis were unanimous. But how would it be if the hen were one intended not to lay eggs, but for
eating, and how, if a Sabbath, and a feast-day, observed as a Sabbath, should come together? On this point Shammi, one of the two great rabbis of the day, was disposed to be liberal, and decided that it was lawful to eat the egg of a hen, itself destined to be eaten, on which ever day the egg had been laid. But Hillel, the other great rabbi, argued as follows: "Since the egg has come to maturing on a Sabbath or a feast-day, and is, therefore, of unlawful origin, it is not allowed to make use of it; and though it would be lawful to make use of the egg of such a hen, laid on a feastday or Sabbath, not followed or preceded by another similarly sacred day, yet it must not be eaten if two such days come together, be cause, otherwise, there would be a temptation to use it on the second holy day. And since it is forbidden even to carry unlawful food

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from one place to another, such an egg must not only not be eaten, but must not be touched, to put it away. The conscientious
man, therefore, is not to put a finger on it, for that might lead to his taking it altogether into his hand, and is not even to look at it, for that might possibly make him wish he
could eat it." HillePs opinion carried the day, for, says the Talmud, "There came a voice from heaven saying, The words of both are the words of the living God, but the rule of the school of Hillel is to be fol
lowed. " These worthless puerilities were in keeping with the fantastic exaggerations in which many of the rabbis delighted. What shall we say of a learned order which has treasured in that great repertory of its say
ings and acts, the Talmud, such wild Eastern inventions as that Adam, when created, was so tall that his head reached heaven, and so terrified the angels by his gigantic size, that they all ascended to the upper heavens to God, and said, "Lord of the world, two pow ers are in the earth!" and that, on this, God put his hand on the head of Adam, and re duced his height to only a thousand cubits over fifteen hundred feet! We are told that there were sixty thousand towns in the moun tains of Judea, each with sixty thousand in habitants; that there is a bird so large that when it flies it intercepts the light of the sun;

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that when the Messiah comes, Jerusalem will have ten thousand palaces and the same num ber of towers; that there will be a hundred
and eighty thousand shops of vendors of per fumes alone; that Adam had two faces and a tail; that from one shoulder to the other Solomon measured not less than sixty cubits;
and that at one blow of the axe David killed two hundred men; that a man might law fully be divorced from his wife for burning his breakfast.
"Such, my dear Professor, are some of the Talmudic teachings, which these learned Jew ish rabbis valued more highly than they did the inspired writings of the Prophets; for,
to quote from Dr. Geikie again: "It is greater offense," says the Mischna, "to teach anything contrary to the voice of the rabbis, than to contradict Scripture itself. He who explains the Scriptures in opposition to the Tradition, has no share in the world to come. The Bible was like water, the Traditions like wine; the Commentaries on them like spiced wine. My son, says the Talmud, give
more heed to the words of the Rabbis than to the words of the Law."
"Dr. Geikie further says: A lifetime was hardly enough to learn the Rabbinical pre cepts respecting offerings, but Jesus virtually abrogated them all by the short utterance that "Mercy was better than sacrifice."

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"Take the Gospels of the New Testament, my dear Professor, and read for yourself, and you will see how different were the sayings of Jesus how practical and simple, yet how
wisely profound His teachings; and you are bound to be convinced that He was more than
mere man that it is not idolatry to worship Him as the Divine Son of God the Father!"
The Judge listened silently as if to encour age her to continue, merely saying, when at last she paused, as if waiting for his argu ment against what she had read and said,
"Well, sweetheart, what Scriptural selec tion have you to-night?"
Without another word, she opened her He brew Bible and read in the original the fol
lowing translation from Isaiah, fifty-third Chapter:
'"i. Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?
" '2. For he shall grow up before him as a. tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.
"'3. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we es teemed him not.
"'4. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
" '5. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he <u>as bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
"6. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have

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turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us alL
"'7. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.
"'8. He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.
" '9. And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither toas any deceit in his mouth.
"'io. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offer ing for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.
"'ii. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.
"'12. Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; be cause he hath poured out his son! unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.'"

When she had finished reading, without one word of comment, he took from his
pocket a small copy of the New Testament, and turning to the Gospel according to St.
Luke, read, in a most reverential tone, the account of the betrayal, trial, crucifixion,
burial, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus; and then looking up to his astonished wife, said,
"In Jesus, the Prophet Isaiahs words were literally fulfilled henceforth, Jesus of Naz-

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areth is my Christ and Saviour. He only is the promised Messiah, the Son of the living
God!"
And she fell on her knees, saying, "Oh, thank God the Father, God the Son,
and God the Holy Ghost, for this most happy hour 1 Oh, I knew it would come, some time 1 Praise be to God I" And then she wept for
joy as she threw herself into his arms.
He told her how her unselfish love for him, in showing a willingness to risk even her souls salvation in the hope of saving him,
this he had seen as plainly as if she had con fessed it all, and the last words and noble
example of the martyred President, had led him to think that there really must be some
thing more than human in a religion that pro
duced such characters; and his mind could have no rest until he read and reread the en tire New Testament, Paleys and Mcllvains
"Evidences of Christianity," and that he also had read Dr Geikies work from which she had quoted; and he had become so interested in Christianity that he had studied the doc trines and history of the various denomina tions, and had fully decided to confess Christ
before men by connecting himself with a Christian church.
"Oh, I am so glad, my darling. Of course you will go with me to my church," she said. "Dear old Doctor White will be

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so happy to receive you, and all our members will give you such a hearty welcome!"
She seemed to have forgotten for the time
being her humiliating position as an apostate. He did not remind her of it, but merely said,
"No, love, sweetheart. The Methodists are a good, earnest people; there is much in
that denomination, as there is in all the others, to admire; there are many good people in them all, but I prefer the Episcopal Church. The Protestant Episcopal Church has a valid ministry of three orders, of Apostolic succes
sion; an incomparable Liturgy selected
from the best in all ages, from the divinely given forms of worship in the Tabernacle of
Moses and Aaron, the Temple of Solomon, and in all historic orthodox churches down
to our own time; in her rich Prayer-Book of daily morning and evening services are ap pointed to be read lessons taken from the
Law and the Prophets, taking her worship pers through the Bible once every year, and the book of Psalms through once a month; her beautiful prayers and hymns, covering all our needs for public worship of the people, led by the priest; her complete order and dig nity, and grand old and honorable history, back to Christ and His Apostles all appeal to me as no other church does. I have al ready had many private talks on the subject with the Rector of St. Peters Church here,

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and arrangements have been made for my baptism in his church on Christmas morning.
As that day is the anniversary of Jesus
Christs birthday the same who said, Ye must be born again. Except a man be born of water and of the spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. I desire that His birth
day shall be also my new birthday. Will you, my love, go and help me with your sweet pres ence to keep it?"
"Yes, indeed, I will, dearest; most gladly."
"When the Bishop makes his regular an nual visitation here next spring I am to receive the Apostolic rite of laying on of hands, or confirmation, and then I will partake of the
Lords Supper, and be recognized as a regular communicant of the church. You know, sweetheart, there is but one step from the Methodist to the Episcopal Church will you take that step?"
"Yes, I know, it is the step of confirmation. Of course, I will take it," answered his wife, and they solemnly clasped hands. The long
struggle was over and their hearts were at peace.