Page:Meda - a tale of the future.djvu/291

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A TALE OF THE FUTURE.
287

excuse himself; "I have been much in this young man's company, and while in his company I have constantly read his thoughts, and can testify that he never once thought of his first wife while in my company." He explained that his daughter was ruined for life, and degraded in the eyes of the people. She was now a defiled woman. His sorrow and grief were great—great indeed—but his belief in a divine Providence caused him to think that some good might yet come out of this terrible sorrow; and he said further, "I loved this stranger who had come among us; I was pleased with his intelligence, besides believing that my daughter's marriage with him would be for the good of the people, because of the great distance in time of the relationship between them, dating back as it does over 3000 years. I feel for this man, knowing as I do that he was ignorant of the law of our people that forbids any man to be married a second time."

He now sat down, and the President of the court asked me had I anything to say in my