The Newberry herald. [volume] (Newberry, S.C.) 1865-1884, 1874-10-07


Hitty said, in answer. 81 was
Watching it, / remember, the even
/ first saw him; and the rain WAS
pouring from til, low clouds full of
thunder, and u frightened bird had
lluttcred in ut my window, and I
lai hidden il in my bosom, where
its heart could grow quiet from the
very calm OF mine. I remember it
ail SO we'll / can hcnrnow, it seems
to ne, The awful cries that came
tearing up the avenue, minutes be-
fore II seryan3 from the villa stood
there, drunchcd-drowncd almost,
it scemod-and pleading for help.
"'Thc misthrcss is sthruck = she
sud, wringing her hands and tear
ing her hair lillo crazcd thing; 'an'
the masthors gone, an the poor
cripple can do nary athiny, but
schrame, an schrnmc, an schlamc
Won't somebody help us, for the
Lords Sake 2
''Thcrc was no one at home that
day but and the servants. L sent
Tom, the gardener, ut once for u
doctor, and went myself to the villa,
taking my man with me.
eve found Mrs. Hopkins still
unconscious from tho stroke, which,
strangely enough, had left the
house nninju;cl; and poor Mnrga,
ret, the cripple WAS wailing piteous-
ly stretched upon the carpet beside
her mother, and clinging to her
hands-as the drowning cling to
spars-b'lt powerlcss to aid her
"IYe did the little that we could
It was not :nuch-nt least it seem
ed not much 10 do-a-bnthinr and
a chatting of the body, that showed
little sign Of vitality; but the doc
tor said we had saved the life, for
she did live, and-lovcd mel"
Miss Noorc's chin settled down
into her palm, and for u little while
she sat with closed eyes, whose lid
grew tremulous and wet, and heart
whose beating could be heard, so
hard it WAS, against the window
ledge.
When she spoke again, she had
grown, outwardly, wholly calm.
81 am sure you can gncss how
the friendship ut first, how the love
at last, came about" sho said. For
two days scarcely left the vil3a.-
Margaret WAS almost as helpless
from tho fright rs her mother
from the stroke, and both begged
me not TO leave Them. Ellery, too,
and the doctor, wished mo to re-
main; and Was so glad to be Of some
use in the world, that had been so
good to nc, ,thatI eagerly seizod the
opportunity, which was mino by nc
cidcnt alone, to learn something Of
my ncighbors lives and needs.
"NLargarct, rs L said, had been
helpless from her birth but she
WAS q swoct-faced, swcct-spirited
girl, and L learned to love her us a
sister. She had read great deal
more than I, and in many things
she became my teacher, as her bro
ther had been hers.
The mother was sad eyed and
sad hearted Ct learned this last from
own lips, after [ had read it plain
~ in her face and heard it in her
voico), yet gentle and patient, and
fond, almost to idolatry, of the
children, rs she always called Mar
garct and Ellcry.
Little by little I learned the old
lady's trouble. The villa, left her
by her husband years before, had
been heavily mortgagcd, and by
strictost economy they could only
live on Ellcry's earnings. lie
might earn more somewhere else,
she said; but how can he leave
poor Margaret and me ?"
81 had money Of my own, even
then, enough to clear the home
stead, and I gave it to Mrs. Hop
lins, in way not tracoable to me,
though L think the good woman al
ways suspected I could tell her if I
! would. She died, however, with,
.ooet knowing; but that was long
afte,rward."
Agbain the bowed head md the
wet, Shut eyes; again n silence
broken oply by tho beat of q bro
ken heart ,, a
"I heYo tof'd you nothing of my
darling, continued she, after awhile.
81 could not if\[ would. He was
everything I had 1ooked for---long,
cd for--and we loved each other. ---
From the very first G> knew it would
be so; and he.+-he ne&or lost sight
of the social gulf botwesan us---never
for an instant, I thinh hi. | any