"Tell Jennie to go directly to the seminary and remain with the
matron and maids, who will be there next Monday to begin to put
the house in order," she had said. "And--as she knows where
everything belongs--if she will oversee our rooms put to rights I
shall feel that I need not hurry back."
So, with a happy heart, Katherine wrote immediately to her
protegee a loving, tender letter, which also contained sympathetic
messages from all her other friends. Then, with great tact, she
unfolded her own plans and wishes regarding her future, and in
conclusion said:
"Jennie, dear, never again say that you are a 'stray waif,' for
nothing ever goes astray in God's universe. Your 'identity' is not
'lost,' for you are God's child, and that child can never be
deprived of her birthright, nor of any good thing necessary to her
happiness or well-being. Neither have you 'been deprived of your
only friend,' nor has she been swept beyond the focus of your
love, or you of hers. The bond that existed between you can never
be broken, for it was, and still is, the reflection of divine Love
that is omnipresent. I am looking forward to our reunion, and
shall think of you often as the days slip by.
"With dear love, KATHERINE MINTURN."
The response which Katherine received to the above letter drew
tears from her eyes, for Jennie's full heart overflowed most
touchingly, showing a depth of grateful appreciation that did her
much credit.
While still grieving for her "dear auntie," she could not restrain
her joy, in view of the great boon of going back to school, and
wrote of it:
"I did not think anything could make me so happy again, and I can
never tell you how I love you for it. I will improve every minute.
I will make you all proud of me. No one shall ever have cause to
call me 'Wild Jennie' again, and when I graduate and get to
teaching I shall pay you back every penny it has cost to fit me
for it."
One evening, after dinner, the Minturns went, with some friends
who were visiting them, to Katherine's favorite outlook, and, as
they were passing the Hunt cottage they saw Dr. Stanley on the
porch and invited him to join them. The sun was just setting as
they reached their point of observation, where the view,
illuminated by the vivid crimson and gold in the western sky, was
impressive and magnificent beyond description.
They lingered long, as if loath to leave the enchanting prospect;
but, as the softer shades of twilight began to steal gently like a
veil of gauze over the scene, they turned their faces homeward
once more.
As she was on the point of following, Katherine found Dr. Stanley
tarrying beside her.
"Will you wait a moment?" he inquired, in a low voice, which
impressed her as sounding not quite natural.
She paused with an inquiring look, and he led her back towards the
edge of the bluff.
"Miss Minturn, do you see a vessel far out at sea?" he asked.
"Yes, it is a--"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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