Page:Old ninety-nine's cave.djvu/110

 that man loves her. Yes, that's it, loves her! At last he has found what his hungry heart craves. He forgets the past—God knows he prayed to do so—and lives only in the present with its promises, playing with temptation. And, Granny, that woman is your granddaughter, Celeste."

An inaudible sob escaped him as he caught for breath. Granny turned and looked at him, but felt her tongue arrested.

Poor Granny, she to whom weakness was sin, who, by thought, word or act had never been known to show the slightest mercy toward a transgressor of this unwritten moral law! A clock somewhere in the house struck two, "that magic hour when all time seems to stand still." The lamp burned low, flickered and went out. From the deep bed of coals on the hearth, a spark would now and then flash forth filling the room with shadows. There were these two souls, one, a weary pilgrim whose struggles with this world were almost ended and ready to attest, "I have lived, seen God's hand through a lifetime, and all was