which, it is expected, a fine showing will be made by members of the race in almost every field of human endeavor. 131

131

CHAPTER X

SAD NEWS FOR IRENE

Two years have passed since Irene promised, on the veranda of the Newell residence, to tell Gilbert Twitchell if her hand was pledged to the man in the Philippines from whom she had received a letter. Other and sadder news had come since that time. The young officer (Kennesaw Malvern) was dead. He was accidentally shot during a target practice on a U. S. vessel cruising in the Philippines, where by the way peace and independence have long prevailed. Irene was now in black for him. She saw Gilbert Twitchell not quite so often as before, but her mourning robes made it unnecessary that she should answer the question he propounded to her on the veranda.

At the first opportunity, however, Gilbert told her that he loved her, but that he would not ask her hand in marriage till such a time as she thought 132 proper. Her reply was that her whole soul was a complete wreck. She felt as if the world had no further charm, and that death would be welcome if she knew she would be with him.

132

But time works many changes, even in such a constant and abiding force as a true woman’s love. God made them sincere, it may be said, but few there are that stand the test of time, and the assaults of a persistent man’s devotion. Many would freeze their hearts if they could, but the manly temperature is too high in most cases and they melt sooner or later under its radiations. Sometimes in her despair, in her dilemma, in her war between the heart force and the will, she resolves to marry her beseecher “to be rid of him,” too considerate of his feelings to say “no,” and too true to former pledges to say “yes.” What tunes indeed may “mere man” play on such heart-strings!

All this was not the case with Irene exactly, but it was true in some particulars, for Irene was a woman, and the only important truth to Gilbert was that the year 2007 saw them husband and wife and that the love that once went to the Philippines was bestowed on the man she helped rescue from his trip in an air ship.

FOOTNOTES:

1 The white supremacy people accomplished this by employing them as teachers. If they continued to talk too much, they lost their jobs.

2 “Errors” 

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