The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1873-09-23
Hal Burgcss' Luck.

to spend Il last evening Wltn iidi Dui'
sess, broke up. Cordial adieus were
spoken, and leaving his friends at the
door OF the club house, Hal walked brisk
ly up the avenue. At that late hour OF
the night it was silent and deserted, but,
turning corner, he saw young girl
coming hastily from the opposite direction.
The bcwldcred, frightened expression of
her wan and beautiful face, revealed by
he ga,light near which they met, caused
him to stop. aud cxclaim :--'What is the
matter? Can do anything for you ?
Il must iiud Il doctor; do you know
where there is Que ? she answered, hur-
ricdly, with a quick, questi ,uiug glance,
,ud reassured by his respectful manner.
There is none very near here, Hal
said, after IA moments reflection, and adj
led, from what the young men he had
lust left would have deemed u most Quix.
otto impulse, But | am almost physl'
elan myself unless the case is very seri-
Jus, perhaps, | think can attend to it,
On! please come quickly them re.
piled the girl, and she led the way rapid
lv past several blocks Of stately houses to
one of those poor neighborhoods which arc
sometimes found crouching at the back
door of an aristocratic quarter,
who is sick 2 asked Hal, as reaching
small house, she held open the door io'
him % pass, and taking a flickcrinS can
die from the floor, lighted his way up tive
fight OF narrow rickety stairs.
My mother she answered in ;rem
bling voice.
And was there no Que in tho house
you could call upon to help you p he con
tinucd.
No; the people who have the lower
rooms 90 away at night; | was obliged tC
leave her quite alone
On the bed in the room thcy entered
lay woman apparently inscnsblc, with
sickeuing marks of blood about her, and
crimson drops still oozing from her lips
The girl FASTENED to the bedside, in mute
torror at what might have happened dur
iug her absence, but Halls practised eye
saw that she had had a dangerous but
not fatal hemorrhage, and could soon b'
restored to consciousness. With fca
consoling words to the daughter, which
enabled her to assist him, he proceeded tt
treat the case rs well as circumstances
would permit, noting as he did SO, tha
ghastly as was the pallor of the thin care
worn lace, it still showed traces OF form
er beauty and Of unmistakablc refinement
At last the sufferer opened her eye;
with the vague indifferent look Of com
plete physical exhaustion, bat closed them
again YEARLY.
Do not speak to her. said Hal in Il
whisper, she must be kept perfectly quie'
out | think she will do well now
AS he proceeded to give the necessary
directions for further treatment, his cyc'
wandered round the room, which wa:
neat. though meagcrly furnished, anc
bore wi,uess to that struggling destitutior
50 much more p;tiablc than th'litless
squaid poverty.
UuIe, the llinp un ii table lay scFcra
pieces of Gne ncedlewoik, in confusion
that showed how recently the labor upoI
them had been interrupted. Ostensibll
searching for something in his lciter-case
Hal beut over the delicate embroiderie
with wondering pity ior the Pa'ien
toll by which they were produced. II
aad been among poor people before, bu
uever when his sympathy was so deeply
eIcted as in this instance. Both mo,hc
aud daughter seemed so wholly unfiiteC
tor this hard liie---so helpless and ioGsak
en-
The girl came toward him trying to ex
press her gratitude.
Have you no relatives or friends :? hi
asked her.
She shook her head sadly
Your father?
He died two years ago, just after w
came here to live, We have no money
Just now,' she continued, misunderstood
ing the motive of his questions, but
shall get some as soon as this work is fin
ishcd, and if you will give me your ad
dress, | will
L uiu not mean tha', ho ih'Siiu iuP'S'
hastily but he did not add that he wa
really thinking how soon she might b
alone in the world, for her mother wa
evidently victim Of quick consumption
Il am going to Europe tomorrow, h
went on, so | shall not be able to cal
again but | will leave prescription 70
your mother, which trust will do he
some good
lie wrote few lines on scrap Of pa
per; then availlng himself of a momeu
when he was unobserved, he had slippe
the money he had with him into ~ en-
velope and left it on the table. Forum
ately, it was u considerable amount, a
thoueh be regretted that it was not in h
power to give something besides money
aud left, thoughtful at the contrast bt
tween prodigal, careless pleasure and ans
ious want which the last few hours ha
forced upon him
Amid the distractions Of foreign trave
the incident was soon forgotten but b,
fore a year bad passed he was reminde
f of it by receiving note dated from a lars
Western city, and inclosing draft i'
the amount he had given away that nigh
The style OF this missive was curt an
busiuess.ike
"DEAR SIR Though personally III
known to you, | am under great oblig
tions for your kiaducss to my sister au
niece al time when they were in muc
need. Without wearying you with II
personal affairs, | will merely explai
that the lady whom you attended Il
hemorrhage one night last spring, was II
sister. She married against my wishes
man who gradually squaudered the hit
, fortune she possessed. All iptercour
between US had ceased, aud | knew nc
ther of her husbands death, nor the dc
titution that followed, until the dread
leaving her daughter without any protc
tioD pvercame her pride and resentmei
and she wrote to me. reached her on