A silence fell like a lightning flash on the room as that white face peered in at the door. Slowly Zora‚Äôs hands fell and her eyes blinked as though waking from some awful dream. She staggered toward the woman‚Äôs outstretched arms.‚ÅÝ‚Ää‚Å݂Ķ
Late that night the girl lay close in Miss Smith’s motherly embrace.
“I was going to hell!” she whispered, trembling.
“Why, Zora?” asked Miss Smith calmly.
‚ÄúI couldn‚Äôt find the Way‚ÅÝ‚Äîand I wanted to forget.‚Äù
“People in hell don’t forget,” was the matter-of-fact comment. “And, Zora, what way do you seek? The way where?”
Zora sat up in bed, and lifted a gray and stricken face.
‚ÄúIt‚Äôs a lie,‚Äù she cried, with hoarse earnedstness, ‚Äúthe way nowhere. There is no Way! You know‚ÅÝ‚ÄîI want him ‚ÅÝ‚ÄîI want nothing on earth but him‚ÅÝ‚Äîand him I can‚Äôt ever have.‚Äù
The older woman drew her down tenderly.
“No, Zora,” she said, “there’s something you want more than him and something you can have!”
“What?” asked the wondering girl.
“His respect,” said Sarah Smith, “and I know the Way.”