The Forged Note: A Romance of the Darker RacesMicheaux, Oscar
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The Forged Note: A Romance of the Darker Races
Micheaux, Oscar
African Americans -- Fiction
"There, there, dear," he cried, rising and coming hurriedly around to
where she sat. Whereupon she became worse. He raised her to a standing
posture, and took her affectionately in his arms, but the weeping went
on unchecked. He held her and stroked her hair with his hand, but said
nothing. He could not, for he was too overcome himself. By and by, he
knew it would pass, and then they would speak of her in the terms they
had known her. She was a good girl.
"Oh, Wilson, I will never get over it--never, never, never!" Constance
moaned and gripped him convulsively. "Just think of it, too, and when we
were beginning to realize how much she was to both of us. And just think
how she acted about the Y.M.C.A.! Went to the bank and drew all the
money she had saved this summer, walking by day in the sun to sell the
book, and gave it, every dollar of it, to the cause of our people!" She
cried harder now than ever. He drew her closer, and as he did so, one
tear dropped from his eye upon her hair. She never felt it, and he would
not have had her know for anything. He was a strong man, and had ever
kept from tears.
"If we could only do something, only help a little," he said now, in a
constrained voice. "I would give the rest of my life to the cause of
that girl," he said, with words that spelled of fire. "Whatever this
lurking evil is that has driven her from the protection of those who
love her, _it was in that church last Sunday_!" He paused now, and while
he stood silent, his sister released herself, looking at him for a
moment sympathetically, and then sank again into the chair.
Their breakfast had been neglected, forgotten, and was growing cold.
"Come, Wilson," she called softly, and pointed to his plate. He heard
her and obeyed. They ate in absolute silence, automatically putting from
their minds the emotion that had possessed them.
And even as he ate the food, with the strength it required to force it
down, his mind played about the incident connected with her strange
leaving. He tried vainly to recall who was at the church that he did not
know. And it occurred to him that there were many. Yes. There were many;
then he remembered suddenly how cheered he had been, when he saw his
little church filled to its capacity. He recalled with a pang, that, as
he stood at the rostrum, Mildred had passed, and, upon seeing him, had
glanced at the congregation that had gathered, and then back at him and
smiled. He continued his meal, but he knew he could never forget that
smile.
Mildred Latham had wanted to help him. And when she saw his small church
filled with people that day, some there purposely, while others were
merely curious, she had, in that smile, shown how glad she was. It was
that unselfishness about her, which was evident in many little ways, and
which had finally won him.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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