| Show E I. I REVELATIONS II OF A WIFE The Thc Story 0 of a H Honeymoon B By y Adele Garri Garrison on A CHAPTER A A Message From Prom tho the Pa Pat Past t IT T Y WAS AS mv ry mothers mother's own girlhood trunk one in which winch t sho ho had kept her ber treasures and m all nil her life The chief delight of my Iny childhood had been sitting by her side when hen she took out tho the different things from it and showed them to me mc me Dear thoughtful b little mother of mine mino 1 Almost tho last thing thin sho she di did before her s strength strength- failed her utterly was to repack tho the little trunk wrapping wrapping wrap wrap- lU ping lab g and let labeling ling g each thing b it contained and putting into it only the tho thin things she sho knew I would not use but wished to keep as ns memories of her and of or I iny my iny o own childhood od I I 1 do not wish you JOU to have to look over oer these things while your our grief Is still fresh for me ate sho she had said Bald with that mothers the divine ina thoughtfulness l keep eop until tho the last breath the they draw There Is Js nothing In it that you will willI I have havo ave to look at al for years years' cars If It you oU do donol donot donot not nol wish to do so so that that Is It except ono package that I am going to tell you about now She site e stopped oppe to catch the tho breath which those torturing was so gO pitifully short In days before her death and o over er her face swept the of or agony l ony which always accompanied any mention by her of ot my father In OlIn the top tray trav of ot this trunk she tho Inlaid lock loch lockbox I said aid you will find and box that was teas your our grandmothers grandmother's that you OU have always admired so much 1 I do not Wish Nish to 13 lay any request or command upon you OU concerning It It you you must bo be tho the only jud judge e of or your own affairs after I leave lea you you but but I would advise ise you ou not to open that box unless I you are In desperate straits or until tho the time has come when you feel that you no longer h harbor tho resentment you now feel toward your our father I The Tho la last t wor words s had Kati come faintly through h stiffened white lips tips for her labor at packing and tho the emotional strain of ot talking to me concerning the futuro future had brought ht on one ono of the fo dreaded heart attacks which were so frequent In the tho last weeks of or her life lICo Wo Yo had hat never ne spoken of or th thI the matter afterward for Cor she did not leave lea bar Lor bed again until tho the end At At one no time she hc halt hal motioned meto mot mo me moto t to bring from Crom her desk the fash old toned keg leev ring on R which filch she kept her keys C She hc had hall held up two a 1 tin tiny j I 1 i and whispered I Ito key and a lar larger er one hoarsely Th These e keys ore the tho keys to I the lock box ox and the little trunk you trunk ou you know Inow whore the others belong Then as If It the tho effort rt her eves closed alo 5 l o had had exhausted h her r us as Ind In- In of ofal dr d' d 1 It thad had In the wild grief which followed mv nn mothers mother's death cleath there was no i except the bit bit- of or m my unknown father terneR a I h had always felt toward him he 1 had T r knew that tho the terrible sorrow orrow to shorten short short- caused mv my mother had hall helped en her life and nd my heart was hot with anger 1 against himI him since nine Inc I r hail i never pr opened the trunk her death ath The exciting almost tragic o of inv mv with picky Dicky had ent nil all the tIlt old laws Into tho the back- back I pro rp ind nd I could not analyze tho the change that had come over o me As I lifted HUed tho the thoI I lid of tho the trunk and took from tho the top tra tray tho inlaid box which my mothers mother's hands had last touched m my grief for her was min mingled lcd with a strange now new longing longing- to find out an anything I 1 could concerning the tho father I 1 had never known a For m my daughter Margarets Margaret's Margaret's Margarets c eyes es alone Tho The superscription on the tho envelope on which I held In m my hand stared up at atme atmo mo nto with all the sentience of ot a living ln thing The Tho letters were In tho the crabbed trembling old fashioned handwriting of my mother mother the tho last words that she aho had ever er written It was as If It she had come como back from tho the dead to talk toy to rn m mo e. e With tho the memory of or my mothers mother's advice ad- ad ad ad- vice I hesitated for a long time before berolo breaking the tho seal With tho the letters pressed close o LL against m my wet tear-wet cheeks checks I sat for a long IonS time bus busy with I memories of or m my mother and debating whether or not I had tho the right to open the Ie letter I I certainly was not In n desperate straits and I could not conscientiously sl say that I no lon longer cr harbored an any resentment re resentment resentment re- re toward the thc father of whom I r had no recollection I felt that never ne neverIn In hi my lifo life could I fully pardon theman the theman theman man who had hall made Jn my mother suffer so no terribly But Dut the longing to know leno something of ot my father which I had felt elt since tho coming Into my life Ute of or Robert Gordon had become become- almost an anoble oble obsession slon with me mo Little mother monger I whispered forgive forgive for give mo if I nm am doing wron wrong but Jut I 1 must know what Is in this letter to tome tome me With Willm trembling fingers I broke roke tho the seal and drew drow out tho the closely closel written IJa pages es which the envelope contained Mothers Lothers Only Comfort the letter be began an and at tho sl sight ht of or the dear fa familiar fa- fa words which I had ld so often heard from m my mothers mother's lips Ups lips It was the tho name she had given mo me a tin tiny girl and which she used until the tho day of her death tears tear tears again blinded my eyes When hen you Jou read this T I shall have hae left len you OU forever ore cr It Ills Is my prayer that when the tho time comes for you ou to read i 11 It will be because you OU have havo forgiven en y jour ur father not riot because you oU are ale In desperate desper desper- ate need How I wish I could have ha seen you ou safe saC in the tho shelter of or a good mans man's logo o before I had to go o away from you ou forever fore Sato Safe In the tho shelter of or a good mans man's ove oe ove I repeated the tha words thou thought thought- ht- ht fully Had my mother Jc been given Iven her wish Ish when she could no longer er witness Its fulfilment I was angry angly and hu humiliated hu- hu at myself that t I could not give Ive a 1 swift unqualified ass assent nt to my own question A A good man Dicky certainly certainly taint was and I was in the tho shelter of his love lovo at present But safo safe with Dicky I was afraid I could never or be Mingled always with my love for him m my trust in him was a tin tiny undercurrent un un- of uncertainty as to the stability of or m my husbands husband's affection for me As I turned to m my mothers mother's letter Jetter n again aln there thero was a tiny pang at m my heart at tho the thought that by my mv marriage mar mar- o with Dick Dicky I had thwarted the dearest wish of my little mothers mother's heart hoart For between the lines I could read tho the unspoken thought that had been In liar her mind since I was a 1 very CI young oung girl Safo Sato in tho the shelter of or a no good mans man's love 0 meant to m my mother onI only ono thing If It sho she had written the tha wor wordy words r- r safe afo safo In the shelter of ot Jack Bickett's i love I could not have grasped her meaning more clearly But Dut my mothers mother's wish must forever ore remain romain un Jack Jacl was somewhere some where when in France and for me mc safe or not lot sa safe c. c stable or unstable Dicky was vas I my man nan tho time only man I had hail over loved tho the only man I could over 01 love For bottom better or worse tho dear old l minister lor had said ald who performed OU our wd wadding ceremony and my heart re- re the words as bent hent m my cc eyes again as-aln to tho the closely written pages I 1 heal hed in In my hands Continued Tomorrow |
