They all gathered to see the wanderer coming back. She was not as she had
been when she went away. Her face, which had been so easy, was worn with
trouble; her eyes were deep with things unspeakable. Pity and knowledge
were in the lines, which time had not made. It was a great event in that
place to see one come back who did not come by the common way. She was
received by the great officer who had given her permission to go, and her
companions who had received her at the first all came forward, wondering,
to hear what she had to say; because it only occurs to those wanderers
who have gone back to earth of their own will, to return when they have
accomplished what they wished, or it is judged above that there is
nothing possible more. Accordingly, the question was on all their lips,
"You have set the wrong right,--you have done what you desired?"
"Oh," she said, stretching out her hands, "how well one is in one's own
place! how blessed to be at home! I have seen the trouble and sorrow in
the earth till my heart is sore, and sometimes I have been near to die."
"But that is impossible," said the man who had loved her.
"If it had not been impossible, I should have died," she said. "I have
stood among people who loved me, and they have not seen me nor known me,
nor heard my cry. I have been outcast from all life, for I belonged to
none. I have longed for you all, and my heart has failed me. Oh how
lonely it is in the world, when you are a wanderer, and can be known of
none--"
"You were warned," said he who was in authority, "that it was more bitter
than death." "What is death?" she said; and no one made any reply.
Neither did any one venture to ask her again whether she had been
successful in her mission. But at last, when the warmth of her appointed
home had melted the ice about her heart, she smiled once more and spoke.
"The little children knew me. They were not afraid of me; they held out
their arms. And God's dear and innocent creatures--" She wept a few
tears, which were sweet after the ice tears she had shed upon the earth.
And then some one, more bold than the rest, asked again, "And did you
accomplish what you wished?"
She had come to herself by this time, and the dark lines were melting
from her face. "I am forgiven," she said, with a low cry of happiness.
"She whom I wronged, loves me and blessed me; and we saw each other face
to face. I know nothing more."
"There is no more," said all together. For everything is included in
pardon and love.