Show A MAID OF THE GHETTO by MRS GEN GEO E r PICKETT copyright 1902 by dally daily story pub co rachel erbec g bat at with her hands folded her eps eves fixed away beyond the housetops where a line of blue marked the horizon or rachel ritchel was busy with her thoughts she was only a poor girl with no ethic training to guide her to the right path at this p arting of the ways joseph rosenthal came in as he al ways did when the Ohi twilight light wavered down and the candles candle Were ere not yet lit and rachel had a I 1 atle time to give him these mon ants were to him the golden strand in the gray web of the day he took tool her hand and raised it to his lips it t was the old time chivalry in josei josel h s manner that had first attracted her my rachel do you know what day this Is and why there has been a song of loy joy in my heart through all its sunny hours she trembled and bent her head I 1 have thought of you all day I 1 did not even wish that you might see me take my diploma because I 1 was looking down the he way to the time when you would be alm always ays with me the thought of yo i I 1 has been a rose blooming in my heart has it brought no happiness to youa I 1 am very glad you have hav e worked with noble purpose and deserve to succeed why as tor for that you have been the largest part ol 01 my purpose and you are noble so in that view my purpose has been a noble one As for my attitude that in m strike a man as selfish you are always unselfish philosophers say that love is to the most selfish bassion known to man then I 1 must be intensely selfish toi for all I 1 do Is for love Is it thinking ol 01 my unselfishness that had made you po pa serious when I 1 hoped you would be glad as the light and the songs ol 01 birds and the bloom of flowers partly that I 1 have been thinking many things tell me of them you were very young four years ago tes yes so were you the difference to s that you have remained young be cause the soul of innocence and goodness Is the soul of youth while I 1 have grown old delving among bones and drugs what matters if shall I 1 not grow glow young again in the sunshine of love her great dark eyes turned toward him pathetically with just such eyes he thoua t must rachel of old bave have looked upon jacob when in cool ing his parched lips with a draught of life giving water ater v she had inflamed his heart with the fire of love you know how the girls of the ghetto do they grow hopeless and weary and sad in a life of grinding toll toil and no pleasures they lose out of their hearts the youth and strength that belong to all young things then they think to find a way to lift them selves out of the groove in which their lives have traveled A girl makes a contract with her lover to help him through his course of study he to marry her when he is establish ed in life I 1 would not let my father so bind you I 1 said it if he loves me he will come if not he must be tree free as the air of the plains he stooped and kissed her hand reverently 1 1 I have hane come love Is the closest bondage in life he who once falls under that power can ne needmore nee elmore imore be free he Is a willing prisoner to whom the opening of the door would be death you think now that you love me you have accustomed yourself to that thought until you believe tt it to be true S some 0 me time you will know the world 4 11 joseph rosenthal came in opens wide to you life off offers ers you far heights to climb I 1 could never go with you either I 1 should be a weight to drag you back or a burden to slip from yo i and leave you to go on alone you could never be either you are re my inspiration some men find in their work all the motive that they vant I 1 hope that I 1 am as earnest in my v r a as any man and as de 14 sirous to do good in the world wor id but it Is you who are my 11 life fe and all that I 1 do or can ever do Is tor for your sake it will be different when you measure 8 weapons with the world s workers you mean that I 1 shall play the poltroon and go out in the world and leave you who have sacrificed all for me she shrank as from a blow that is it you teel feel under obliga tion you do not see that it was nay my way of glin to the world what I 1 might have given in my own life had things been different slight might not I 1 N I 1 shall not leave you she said softly have an ambition too great to be corn com passed without the help of another and thus have called on you to give expression to my own aspiration and you never loved me oh ohl the sharp pain in her tone told him what her words had cost her if you do why noi nor make me happy and let me do what I 1 can to fill jill your life with pleasure 7 9 I 1 must not you would weary of one who Is versed only in the toll toil of the narrow life that I 1 have known he pleaded with her until she in utter weariness begged him in pity to leave her and then he went away she lay the whole night with her eyes looking upward to the ceiling where there seemed to be a flaming sword dripping with her hearts blood As the days went by and he could gain from her no other answer than the one that filled him with pain he ceased to come she heard of him sometimes as the fame of his work carried his name wider into the world and ever farther from her then the fever came and she heard often of dr rosenthal the angel of the ghetto he ile had gone out of her life forever and she was glad glad tor for the good he could do without anyone to drag him down for years the kenston tenements had seemed to waver between stand ing and tailing falling sagging out here sinking in there g growing rowing loose joint ed and wobbly at the knees why don t you pull them down and rebuild 9 someone had asked the owner what s the use they are bring ing me in money all the time and it will cost no more to clear the ruins away and b gilld after they fall but the people in them they will be crushed when the buildings tall fall what of that there are always plenty of tenants for that class of house in that that grade the race mul rapidly and immigration can always be depended upon to fill up any possible vacancy one morning rachel in the top story of the kenston felt a peculiar sensation of giddiness it seemed that the floor was as trembling and the walls had a tendency to shake as if with a chill as she ap pro preached ached them once a s sound ou n d as of gravel rattling in the walls startled her she laughed at herself tor for being so curvous the walk to her work would take away the foolish feeling she had reached the door and was turning the knob when suddenly there vias ras a arah as if the earth was fall ing to pieces and she went down down into black night she was in a very dark place and a heavy weight was crushing her far off she saw a ray of light if she could push off that heavy thing she would crawl toward it outside an old man who had just been dragged out unhurt was wring ing his hand and crying my rachel my rachel I 1 there was a pile of swaying tim bers in front A fireman had ven aured under there led on by the voice of a crying child one of the timbers had fallen and he had been taken out abad no one could tell when the next would tall fall gome some one seized the old man a arm with a grip that made him cry out where Is she behind that wall A man dashed into the ruin mins one of the threatening beams failing as he ran he hes s gone no it lust just missed him he ile passed through a gallery form farm ed by the fallen timbers crossed by bodies some lying as if in slumber some crushed out of human sem blance beyond the wall of masonry he found her by an effort of his wonderful strength he lifted the beam and carried her out pushing her away from him as a timber which had become dislodged fell and struck him for the first time seeing his face she cried out joseph joseph when joseph rosenthal next knew the world he was in a hospital ward A woman with a gentle step and soft touch was tending him and the eyes with which she looked at him were like the eyes that lit the soul of ja cob when he was athirst why did you risk your life for me who am of so little wortha because my life is but darkness without your love to fill it with light it if you leave me what matters life to leq she put her hand into his 1 shall not leave you she said softly they loved tor for loves love s sake |