The Hindered Hand

n Life To Be

k in his firm, kindly eyes. By his side sat his aged mother, whose sweet dark face of regular features was crowned with hair that was now white from the combined ef

field and the three had gone to the Spanish-American war together, Ensal, who was a minister, as chaplain, Gus and Earl as soldiers. These three were present at the battle of San Juan Hill, and Gus, who was him

ans as well educated as either Ensal or Earl, his frien

sal was pastor, and he had come to pour forth his sentiments to Ensal anent the failure of his friend Earl to be rewarded. Ordinarily the well-known tractability of the Negro seemed uppermost in him, but this evening all of his Indian hot blood seemed to come to the fore. His voice was husky with passion and his black eyes flashed defiance. He questioned th

he lesser governments within the government caused the weakness. He held that in the course of

most cullud people you are too jam full o' patience an' hope. I'll be blessed if I don't b'lieve Job was a cu

e believed firmly in God and her only remedies for all the ills of earth were prayer and

nodding her head in the direction of the departing Gus. "I may be dead, my son, but you w

worn hands and placed it between his own. He felt that his mother's pr

eding evening. Being informed that the stranger desired a conference with him, Ensal retired to his study, lighted the room and invited her to enter. Foresta

ad and Ensal noted that her hair was so arranged as to allow her face to fully stand as nature gave it to her, unrelieved. He also noticed that her attire was of a simple order throughout, though good taste and ample mea

was studying Ensal and was affording him an opportunity to study her. Ensal had been so highly spoken of to her, and in her present state of mind she was

is visitor told Ensal that she was now to appr

us. Life is more or less a matter of faith anyway, but ordinarily there is some sort of buttress for our faith in surrounding circumstances. To-night,

her beautiful eyes and the trembling of her

faith," said Ensal,

ver break the seal of silence with regard to the past. I wish to find a name and I wish to find friends among the really good people of Almaville, the good Negroes.

name that I have borne shall know me no

?" enquir

The name that I have borne shall know

quirement was rather unique in all of his experience as a pastor. He arose from the chair and began to walk slowly to and fro across the room, having asked the indulgence of the young woman for resorting to hi

nner chambers of his thoughts. And this beautiful stranger, nameless and homeless, had almost wrested the door of his heart from its

ne and engaged in the more honest task of naming his visitor. Turning toward the young woman, g

e you

that Tiara dropped her eyes, and the faint

the latter part of m

p of his desk he caught sight of a sculptured bust of Fre

night of American slavery, attracted the admiring gaze of the civilized world, and so thrilled the hearts of men that they broke the chains

howed in his eyes the unbounded surprise which he felt at the way in which Tiara had received his suggestion

d does not come within the purview of a simple author. Man who tames the lion, harnesses the winds, makes a whimperer of steam and cowers the lightning-this

w pretty locks of hair having now falle

ure the name Douglass and

had somehow made the girl's thoughts touch

d Tiara in passionate tones, evidently trying to accept

l be Tiara Merl

w. I like tha

to stop with Mrs. Hele

ou," sai

she reached the door of the room she turned around and looked Ensal directly in the

coupled with her beauty of face and symmetry of form, make her fit to

ou are an admirer of Frederick Douglass. Do y

nance was purposely a blank. He now tried to recall the tone in which she asked the question, but as he remembered it, that, too, was noncommittal. He was not seeking to divine Tiara's opinion with a view to shaping his own accordin

n of judgment in my case. In some way I may l

d Tiara, slowly

riage of Frederick Douglass to a white woman became an exceedingly live question with him. He accompanied Tiar

e heart make