For Woman's Love Part- 2 - Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth (robert munsch read aloud .TXT) 📗

On Her Victim Alone,  But On

All The Evil Spirits She Had Raised From Tartarus And Left With The

Girl.

 

"Ann Sank Upon The Bed,  Weeping,  Moaning,  And Grinding Her Teeth,  Her

Body Prostrated By Pain,  Her Soul Filled With Bitter Wrath And Scorn

Toward One Whom She Should Rather Have Been Led To Love And Honor. In

The Fiery Torture Of Her Flesh And The Humiliation Of Her Spirit She

Uttered But These Piteous Words:

 

"'Oh,  My Own Mother!--Oh,  My Lost Father! Do You See Your Child?'

 

"For More Than An Hour She Lay There Before The Fierce Smarting And

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Burning Of Her Scourged Flesh Began To Subside. The Short November

Afternoon Darkened Into Night. No One Came Near Her. The Hour For Supper

Passed. No One Called Her To The Meal. She Heard The Family Passing To

Their Rooms. She Heard Her Mother Putting The Other Children To Bed--A

Duty That She Herself Had Hitherto Performed. At Last All Sounds Died

Away In The House,  And She Knew That All The Inmates Had Retired,  And

The Lights Were Out. She Was Meditating To Run Away; She Did Not Know In

What Direction,  Or To What End,  Farther Than To Escape From The Home

That Was Hateful To Her.

 

"Evil Spirits Were With Her,  Suggesting Many Desperate Thoughts; At

Length They Infused A Deadly,  Horrible Temptation To A Deed Of

Self-Destruction So Ghastly That Its Discovery Should Appal The Family,

The Parish,  And The Whole World; That Should Cover Her Tormentors With

Shame,  Reproach And Infamy.

 

"She Sprang Up From Her Bed And Went To Search In The Drawer Of A Little

Old Wooden Stand,  Until She Found A Half Page Of Note Paper And A Bit Of

Lead Pencil.

 

"She Took Them Out And Wrote To Her Persecutors,  Saying That She Was

Going To Throw Herself--Not Into The Sea,  Nor From A Precipice,  Because

Both Earth And Sea Give Up Their Dead--But Into The Quicksands,  Which

Never Give Up Anything; They,  Her Tormentors,  Should Never Even See

Again The Body They Had Bruised And Torn And Degraded; And She Prayed

That The Lord Would Ever Deal By Them As They Had Dealt With Her.

 

"It Must Have Been Near Midnight When She Heard A Tap At Her Window,  So

Light That At First She Thought It Was Made By A Large Raindrop; But

Presently Her Name Was Softly Called By A Voice That She Recognized.

Then She Understood It All,  And Her Thoughts Of The Quicksands Vanished.

 

"Her Room Was A Small One In The Rear Of The House,  Immediately Over The

Back Kitchen,  And Her Back Window Opened Upon The Roof Of The Wood Shed

Behind The Kitchen. She Went And Hoisted The Window,  And There On The

Roof Of The Wood Shed Stood Alfred Whyte.

 

"He Told Her That He Had Taken Leave Of The Ogre And The Ogress Hours

Before,  And They Thought He Was Off To London By The Four O'clock Mail;

But That He Had Gone No Farther Than The Railway Station,  Where He Had

Bought A Ticket,  And Had Gone On The Platform,  As If To Wait For His

Train; But When It Came Up,  Instead Of Taking His Place On It,  He Had

Slipped Away In The Confusion Of Its Arrival And Had Hidden Himself In

The Woods On The Other Side Of The Road,  Where He Had Waited Until It

Was Dark,  When He Had Come Back To Watch The Parsonage Until Every One

Should Have Gone To Bed,  So That He Could Get Speech With Ann.

 

"And Then He Asked Her If She Were 'Game For A Bolt?"

 

"She Did Not Understand Him; But When He Next Spoke Plainly,  And

Inquired If She Would Run Away With Him And Be Married,  She Answered

Promptly That She Would.

 

"He Told Her To Get Ready Quickly,  And To Dress Warmly,  For The Night

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Was Damp And Cold,  And To Tie Up A Little Bundle Of Things That She

Might Need On The Journey; But Not To Take Much,  Because He Had Plenty

Of Money,  And Could Buy Her All She Needed.

 

"'Much;' Poor Little Thing,  She Had Not Much To Take! She Put On Her

Best Dress--A Well-Worn Blue Serge--A Coarse,  Black Cloth Walking

Jacket,  And A Little Straw Hat With A Faded Blue Ribbon. She Had No

Gloves. She Tied Up A Hair Brush,  Worn Nearly To The Wood,  A Tooth Brush

Not Much Better,  The Half Of A Broken Dressing Comb,  And One Clean Linen

Collar,  In A Small Pocket Handkerchief,  And She Was All Ready For Her

Wedding Trip.

 

"He Told Her To Bolt Her Door Before She Came Out,  Because That Would

Take The Ogres Some Little While To Force It Open,  And Would Give The

Fugitives A Better Start.

 

"Ann Did Everything Her Boy Lover Directed,  And Finally Stepped Out Of

The Window On To The Roof Below,  And Joined Him. He Let Down The Window,

And Closed The Shutters With A Spring That Securely Fastened Them.

 

"That,  He Told Her,  Would Certainly Give Them A Longer Start,  For It

Would Take An Hour At Least To Force The Room Open And Discover Her

Flight.

 

"Then They Left The Parsonage Together.

 

"She Had Forgotten All About The Parting Note Of Malediction Which She

Had Left Behind Her On The Stand,  As She Stepped Along The Lane Leading

To The Highway.

 

"He Asked Her To Take His Arm,  And When They Reached The Public Road,  He

Inquired If She Were Game For A Ten Mile Walk.

 

"She Told Him That She Could Walk To The End Of The World With Him,

Because She Was So Happy To Be Beside The Only One On Earth Who Had Ever

Been Kind To Her--Since Her Father's Death.

 

"Then He Explained The Steps That He Had Taken,  And Must Still Take,  To

Elude Pursuit; How That He Had Gone To The Railway Station And Bought A

First Class Ticket For The Four O'clock Express To London,  And

Afterward,  When The Train Came Up,  He Had Mingled With The Crowd Getting

Off And Getting On,  And So Eluded Observation,  And Had Slipped Away And

Hidden Himself In The Thicket Until Dark,  So As To Make Every One

Concerned Believe That He Had Gone Off By The Mail Train Alone To

London.

 

"Now He Told Her That They Must Trudge Straight On Ten Miles North,  To

Take The Train To Glasgow; So That While People Were Hunting For Them In

The South,  They Would Be Safe In The North.

 

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As They Walked On He Told Her That He Wanted To Get Away From England

And See The World--The New World Across The Ocean. He Had Seen Europe

Summer After Summer,  Traveling With His Father And Mother On The

Continent. Now He Wanted To See America; And Asked Her If She Did Not

Also.

 

"She Told Him That She Wanted To See Every Place That He Wanted To See,

And To Go Everywhere He Wanted To Go,  For That He Was The Only Friend

She Had In All The Wide World.

 

"So They Walked On For About Three Hours,  And Then,  About Two O'clock In

The Morning,  They Reached The Little Railway Station Of Skelton. They

Had To Wait Two Hours For The Parliamentary Train,  Which Came Heavily

Puffing In About Five O'clock On That November Morning.

 

"Young Whyte Took Second Class Tickets,  And Led His Closely Veiled

Companion To Her Seat On The Train. And They Moved Off.

 

"They Reached Glasgow About Ten O'clock The Next Day,  And Found That

There Was A Steamer Bound For New York,  To Sail At Noon. No Time Was To

Be Lost,  So They Both Went To The Agency Together,  Represented

Themselves As A Newly Married Pair,  And Engaged The Only Stateroom To

Be Procured--Which Happened To Be In The Second Cabin. Their Tickets

Were Filled In With The Names Of Mr. And Mrs. Alfred Whyte--Which Indeed

Constituted A Legal Marriage In Scotland,  Where A Marriageable Pair Of

Lovers Have Only To Declare Themselves Man And Wife,  In The Presence Of

Competent Witnesses,  To Be As Lawfully Married As If The Ceremony Had

Been Performed By The Archbishop Of Canterbury In His Own Cathedral.

 

"They Took Possession Of Their Stateroom On The Caledonian,  Which Sailed

At Noon Of The Same Day,  And In Due Time Arrived At New York.

 

"They Spent Two Days At An Uptown Hotel,  And Then Took The Pretty

Cottage At Harlem,  In Which They Lived For Several Months. Ann's

Boy-Husband Often Told Her That She Grew Prettier Every Day,  And He

Seemed To Grow Fonder Of Her Every Day. He Supplied Her With A Nicer

Outfit Of Clothing And More Pocket Money Than She Had Ever Had In Her

Poverty-Stricken Life,  And Made Her Much Happier Every Way Than She Had

Ever Been Before,  As Long As His Money Lasted.

 

"He Had Left England With Nearly One Hundred Pounds In His Pocket--The

Amount Of His Half-Yearly Allowance.

 

"On His Arrival In New York,  He Had Written To His Father And Confessed

His Marriage With His Tutor's Step-Daughter And Begged Forgiveness

And--Remittances.

 

"Ann Declined To Write To Her Step-Mother Or The Curate,  Declaring That

She Preferred That They Should Believe That She Had Been Driven By Their

Cruelty To Bury Herself In The Quicksands,  And That They Should Suffer

All The Remorse Of Conscience And Reprobation Of Society That Their

Conduct Toward Her Deserved.

 

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"But Weeks Passed,  On And No Letter Filled With Blessings And Bank

Notes Came From The Offended And Obdurate Father,  Though The