Elizabeth Garver Jordan

“ Before the newspaper woman could demur she found herself drawn by her friend toward the nun. Nearly everybody had gone, and the splendid figure in bridal attire was already moving toward the door. Miss Van Orden, spoiled and petted and a law unto herself, laid a detaining hand lightly on her arm.
"Before you go," she said, "I want my friend, Miss Herrick, to meet you. Miss Herrick thinks that what you are doing is all wrong, but she is full of admiration for the way you are doing it." ”

“ Each of you knows that there is a sister's love in the other's heart. You understand each other at last. You can write to her, or you can even see her and tell her so. And do you not see that there might never have been this reconciliation if she had remained in this great, busy world?"
She put out her hands. Mrs. Eddington grasped them and held them tightly pressed in her own. Their position recalled to her vividly a tender memory which swept away her self-control. She leaned forward, and, with quivering lips, kissed the newspaper woman on each cheek. ”

“ The serenity of the eyes, fixed on the reporter's face with a sweet, unfaltering gaze, went far toward confirming Miss Herrick in her opinion that this woman had her own mind very thoroughly convinced on the subject. After a slight pause the nun added quietly:—
"You must not carry away a false impression. Try to believe that there is happiness here for those who seek it in the right spirit." ”

“ Eddington, looking up for the first time, met the other's dark gray eyes. The deep and quiet sympathy of their glance dispelled any lingering reluctance to laying bare her heart.
"We are sisters—twin sisters," she said, speaking rapidly and with an evident effort. "We adored each other, but we quarrelled. There is the whole story. We were both proud, and each refused to make the first advances, though both our hearts ached, I am sure. Think of it! We were all alone in the world, and yet we drifted apart. She went abroad and studied; I remained in this country and married. ”

“ There is no one here who had a better right to her last moment than you. Of course we are all her friends, but we have only the claim and affection of friends. Dolores was one of the most brilliant and fascinating women I ever met. ”

“ The reporter sank back in the pew and let her eyes rest again on the slender figure kneeling at the prie-dleu in front of the altar railing. The nun's face was buried now in her hands. The train of her white gown swept around her,—a billowy mass of silk and lace that was reflected in the gleaming surface of the polished floor. Her long veil and the orange-blossoms in her hair and on her bosom looked oddly out of place, symbolic though they were of her marriage to the Church. ”

“ I told Miss Van Orden afterward that it did n't seem right for a stranger to get such a precious thing when it belonged by every right to somebody who really loved her. Miss Van Orden laughed and seemed to think there was no one who would have appreciated it any more than I did."
A queer little quavering sound came from the big chair. Miss Herrick glanced at the woman there, and then turned her eyes toward the fire. The suspicion in her mind had become a certainty.
"There is not much more to tell," she said, "except that later we were permitted to look at her through the convent bars. ”

“ It had been conclusively proven by the news papers that the opponent of the candidate whose cause they espoused was a man absolutely unfit, mentally and morally, for the high place he sought, and whose administration, were he elected, would stand forever as a black page in the nation's history. ”

“ She was enjoying both one October evening when Miss Herrick, who had been sent West by "The Searchlight" to write campaign specials, called to interview her on the position of American women in politics.
Mrs. Eddington knew nothing about the position of American women in politics, and frankly said so to the young reporter whom she received very graciously, coming as she did with a letter of introduction from a friend. The wife of the candidate placidly avowed that she held old-fashioned views on the woman question. ”

“ Then they turned from her sobbing and left the room.
"Are her relatives here?" asked Miss Herrick in a whisper, as the group grew gradually smaller. "I don t see any one who resembles her—or who could be compared to her, for that matter," she added.
"No," Miss Van Orden replied promptly, "these are only friends. Her father and mother are dead, and the only relative she has lives somewhere out West, I believe. They say they are not on good terms. Dolores never spoke of any living relatives. She had plenty of money and lived her own life abroad and here in the East. ”

“ You see, I already use the past tense. She had insisted on burying herself, and we have harrowed our souls by attending her funeral. Everybody will now go home and eat dinner with a wholly normal appetite. It's the way of the world. ”