Abram's Daughters 03 The Sacrifice by Unknown Page A

unpredictably ml himself in? The policeman at the collision scene had
    11 correct in his assessment; no charges had been discussed \\ Robert nor filed. He had been driving well under the Mil limit, so there was no question of a reckless driving H'Hf. He felt he should be somewhat relieved, but he was (Iling of the kind. A sense of despondency encompassed
    n, mid he was miserable with the knowledge that, however
    mi'leiiH, Ik- was responsible for snuffing out a young life.
    i .i ling out the car window, he was aware of the blur that
    one Amish farmhouse, then pastureland, cornfields,
    iinl tinnlher farmhouse, and so on, one after another. He had ..iitvlvril the horrors of war on foreign soil only to come home .mil iiidclentally kill an innocent civilian.
    Si mined with grief and struggling to sit through the long lnili'iiil in the house of worship house of sorrow, Mary Ruth ilimiuhr she attempted to keep her hands folded, yet every i i ill I'll she noticed she had been unconsciously wringing her Imh. II iM'chief. At one point Hannah leaned close to her and ' u lii i i rod, "I believe that's the driver of the automobile."
    In' sighed ever so deeply, her breath coming in ragged in iji!< us she fought tears and looked over at the man Hannah itwiiinril to be Robert Schwartz. The mere thought of a car |i|m\vIi\| into Elias's vulnerable pony cart made her wince; it Mil in \l lo impossible for a person to survive such an impact, ill. I>.iitied the urge to despise the Englisher. Who does he
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    think he is, coming to the funeral?
    Somehow, as the service progressed, she was able to deny her tears, having spent all day yesterday and Sunday night, too, wearing herself out in distress over her beau. Through sheer will, she had managed to go with Leah and Aunt Lizzie to the Stoltzfus farm early yesterday morning to help with some of the cooking, cleaning, and tending to the small chil' dren, just as other church members had.
    Presently she was in desperate straits, trying hard to listen to the first sermon, thirty minutes long and given in Pennsylvania Dutch, followed by Scriptures read in High German, which she did not understand. Who of the People did? Most of the old-timers perhaps, but none of the youth.
    She was suddenly stirred, then and there, wishing she might comprehend the words Preacher Yoder read from the Old German Biewel wanting to know what was being said at her beau's funeral, for pity's sake!
    During the second sermon, she noticed Robert Schwartz sitting tall and stately, yet weeping silent tears that coursed down his solemn face. Strangely, he made no attempt to brush them away. Mary Ruth found this curious, never having seen a grown man shed tears in public, let alone at a large gathering. She felt compelled to glance his way every so often but only with her eyes, never moving her head.
    Goodness knows what he must be feeling, she thought, but her heart was bound up with fond memories of dear Elias, as well as her own great sadness. How could she ever forget how he'd made it a point to put off joining church to run around a bit longer? What did this mean for his everlasting soul?
    The People were admonished to live righteous lives, as
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    !> never knew when his or her "day of reckoning" might line, The second minister spoke on this subject for nearly an
    111, urging young people to think carefully about joining pilit'h. "Do not put off the Holy Ordinance. It has the power
    1 Ntntl your eternal fate."
    I Mtiry Ruth felt a quiver run up her spine as the minister htlnued preaching. She wondered, just then, if what had pull en Elias was connected in any way to his decision to
    I1 a|nine church membership "till another year," as he'd said. In no, she couldn't allow herself to be that superstitious.
    I ' .lie did wonder if Elias had died in his sins. Since he was In luiprized at the time of the accident, were the ministers Lhi' Was her beloved standing outside the gates of