"I wanted to see
you, oh, so much! I wanted--to--thank--you!"
She lay back on her pillow with a stifled groan while James Denton wiped
her brow--his own the color of ashes.
"You were so good," murmured poor Maggie again as Faith leaned over her.
"You taught me, to pray. May the good God bless you."
She closed her eyes and a sigh escaped her lips. In an instant the
physician took her wrist between his fingers.
"Gone," he said, softly, "the poor child is at rest. Cheer up, Mr.
Denton, your wife is in heaven."
"Thanks to her," whispered James Denton, with a look toward Faith. She
was kneeling, convulsed with sorrow, with her mother's arms about her.
No one really knew how the secret leaked out first, for the physician,
acting as he thought wise, refrained from telling it openly, but Faith
soon learned that Maggie's death was not natural--she had died by her
own hand--it was her full and complete penance.
"It is not for us to judge," whispered Mrs. Marvin when she heard it.
"God alone knew her thoughts," was Faith's tearful answer.
When the news reached the store, even Mr. Denton wept. It was the end of
a familiar but heart-rending tragedy.
And now it came time for Faith to change her plans--for reasons of her
own she felt that she must stay behind the counter no longer.
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