of unrest; a pledge of the fulfillment of a prayer; a surety for
tomorrow's sunshine! Already I can see a smile in the East: may I
hope, and hoping believe?....

"To Helen, my full blown rose, spirit of perfect womanhood, my
inspiration and guide; to her whose love exceeds all others, to her
memory I bow my head in everlasting devotion and admiration...."

Thus spoke a man who had watched the train disappear eastward with the
body of his sweetheart, four years prior to the writing of this book.
When I think of all the tragic stories of the divorce colony, Helen's
was perhaps the most pathetic. She was the daughter of a wealthy
family in New York State. She ran away when only sixteen, and married
a man whom she thought she loved, and for years she struggled to find
happiness, ignored by her people because of her choice of a husband.
She found herself poverty stricken and unloved, paying the price of
her folly. What a pity that we must be young and know too little, and
then grow old and sometimes know too much! Ideals are simply mental
will-o'-the-wisps, of which we are always in pursuit, but which we see
realized but seldom.

For ten long years this woman faced neglect, humiliation and days and
nights of anguish in her efforts to fulfill her duty, until she could
stand it no longer, and crept back to her father's door to ask
forgiveness. The millionaire father sent her to Reno, with ten dollars
a week to live on, and a promise of forgiveness if in future she would
promise to live according to his wishes. Poor little Helen! For years
her heart had been starving for love, and now Reno meant to her the
call of honor and duty, the sworn obligation of her family. But, alas,
Helen was beautiful: a girl who had only just become a woman; whose