Flute and Violin, and Other Kentucky Tales and RomancesAllen, James Lane
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Flute and Violin, and Other Kentucky Tales and Romances
Allen, James Lane
Kentucky -- Social life and customs -- Fiction; Short stories, American
From the day when consent was given she passed into that peace with
which one ascends the scaffold or awaits the stake. It was this look of
peace that Gordon had seen on her face as she moved hither and thither
about the shrine.
Only a few weeks after he had thus seen her the day came for her to
go. Of those who took part in the scene of farewell she was the most
unmoved. A month later she sailed from San Francisco for Honolulu;
and in due time there came from Honolulu to the Mother Superior the
following letter. It contains all that remains of the earthly history
of Pauline Cambron:
XII.
"KALAWAO, MOLOKAI, HAWAIIAN ISLANDS,
"_January 1, 188--_.
"DEAR MOTHER,--I entreat you not to let the sight of this strange
handwriting, instead of one that must be so familiar, fill you with
too much alarm. I hasten to assure you that before my letter closes
you will understand why Sister Dolorosa has not written herself.
"Since the hour when the vessel sailed from the American port, bearing
to us that young life as a consecrated helper in our work among these
suffering outcasts of the human race, I know that your thoughts and
prayers have followed her with unceasing anxiety; so that first I
should give you tidings that the vessel reached Honolulu in safety. I
should tell you also that she had a prosperous voyage, and that she is
now happy--far happier than when she left you. I know, likewise, that
your imagination has constantly hovered about this island, and that
you have pictured it to yourself as the gloomiest of all spots in the
universe of God; so that in the next place I should try to remove this
impression by giving you some description of the island itself, which
has now become her unchanging home.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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