I know now--"
"Oh, Morris," Ruth broke in, "we will always love you as the nearest
and dearest friend on earth."
"As for you, Frank Gordon," he went on. "I could no longer hate you
if I tried. In the presence of a love so pure, so divine as that
which hallows your life, I uncover my head. I am on holy ground--I
am in the presence of the living God."
He turned away, and Ruth broke into a sob, while the man by her
side hung his head and sat down as though too weak to stand.
The Governor lifted Gordon from the seat, seized Ruth's hand and
placed it in his.
"I know your heart's desire, Ruth," he said, slowly, "I have an
officer of the law here to perform a marriage ceremony. Holding
your first marriage a divine sacrament, you once planned a civil
one in this grim prison. No matter how I learned this: it shall be
so to-day."
The magistrate advanced and pronounced them husband and wife, sat
down by a desk, and made out the record.
The Governor rose and handed the official pardon to Gordon.
"To you I give life."
He tore the other paper into two parts by its dotted lines, handed
Ruth one half and held the other in his trembling fingers.
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