Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1875-03-12
JOHN CAMPBELL's CONVERSION

JOHN CAMPBELL'S CONVERSION q.
1T was never quite clear to Mr.. Camp
bell whether il was the sudden bitter
cold draught from the door or the sweet
voice of the woman or the surging in of
the crowd of do.nothings that caused
him to set his cup of hot soda quickly
down and face about. Mr. Campbell did
not drop his cup, for that would have in
dicated precipitation, and John Camp
bell never did but one precipitate thing
his whole life long and that was some
months later.
ruis poor boy is seriously injured"
said the lady to the druggist; " / fear
his leg is broken. Will you take him
into your private office and examine the
hurtS Perhaps l can help you dress it.
| have had some experience"
While she spoke the lad was carefully
carried behind the glass doors at the rear
of the shop, and the crowd, finding
itself deprived of the rich treat of gaZ-
ing at a fellow. beings suffering, melted
away with the wonderful facility for dis.
persement that marks the throng that
never had any adequate cause for col
lscting.
Then John Campbell and tile brown
eyed lady We're left alone. She uncon-
scious of any presence but her own, her
thoughts a thousand miles away; he
calmly finishing his interrupted hot soda
and watching his companions face. At
last he ventured, sympathetically: Does
that unfortunate little fellow belong to
you, madam, and might be of any SER
vice in helping you home with him!"
For the first time she looked up at him
brightly and said: "Oh, dear, no, sirl
The child is some poor gdmtn, suppose
He was knocked down just as l came
along, and as the men who picked him
up seemed not to know what to do with
him | ventured to direct them here. If
his leg is fractured he will have to go to
the hospital, and l should be glad to pay
for carriage to take him there if you
would be good enough to find one"
Before Mr.. Campbell could reply the
druggist came back, said the boy had
only badly sprained his ankle, and
begged the kind lady would hold his
hand while the druggist bandaged the
leg; for by this time the poor little fellow
was crying nervously, as much from fear
as from pain. She rose at once to follow
the man of potions, while John Camp
bell followed her, partly from an unac-
knowledged thrill of curiosity, partly
from genuine desire to be of service
The lady knelt by the childs side,
soothing him to quietness in that cooing
dove-like way peculiar to women whose
strongest instincts are toward mother
hood. Then taking the cloths and lotions
from the apothCcary'S hand she quickly
and gently bound up the swollen ankle,
talking softly to the boy the while. John
Campbell looked on wonderingly at the
deft performance, thinking that if he
had been the Arab, instead of the heir to
the great Campbell estates, it would be a
strong antidote to pain to be tended by
those long, slim fingers that did their
work so sAifly and so we'll
Now | must 60" said the lady, rising
and shaking out the folds of her simple
gown. :" But ] wish could set this boy
on the way to the hospital first. He will
ct so much better care there than he
will at home"
will take him there myself my own
carriage is at the door, and l can do so
without trouble" returned Mr.. Camp
bell, promptly, reused to pitch of
beDevolence he would have regarded as
impossible two hours before.
Thank you, sir" responded the little
woman, smiling up into his face with
her beaming brown eyes. ~ am sure
you couldn't do kinder act. | am
sorry cannot go with him myself"
And the shadow OF regret that had
crept into Mr.. Campbells mind after
making his offer faded into nothing.
John Campbell wasn't bit mean. He
would give you money, and literally, too
for almost any object under the sun; hui
there's no denying he was chtry of him
self, his personal satisfaction, his indi
viduality. He was fastidious also almost
TO morbidness. While he would gladly
have paid for dozen carriages, had they
been necessary to remove the injured
lad, to transport him in his own clarence
required degree of self-sacridce thai
would have been incomprehensible tC
the unknown woman he wanted tC
please. Why he wanted to please her hC
could not have told. He had never seer
her until an hour before. He had hard
ly exchanged twenty words with her
and those of the most ordinary kind
He did not know her name, even her ma
tiOnality, though, with tlesh-born pat
rlotisn, he decided she must be his OWE
countrywoman. She was not young mel
conyentionaliy pretty; but there wal
that in her face he felt to be more beau
tiful than beauty. He should never Sc,
her again, yet he was not only willinl
but anxious to do something positivell
unpleasant for the sake of honestly earn
ing that bright, thankful smile.
AS he drove Oft with his charge h
said to himself: "What a fool / am =
which might have been freely rendered
into; Z" How magnetic she isl"
Safely ensconced before the fire in thu
luxurious solitude of his own library
Mr.. Campbell could not keep his minC
from the incident of the afternoon III,
was amazed that his well-discIplineC
intellect was entirely absorbed in solvin,
the insOluble problem of; Who is she
No question in speculative philosoph,
had ever held his thoughts more steadf
ly, or with less prospect of an ultimatel,
satisfactory result. At last, giving it nj
AZ hopeless, he changed the form to-
What Is shei
That she was a woman Of characte
and courage went without saying; tina
she was lady born and bred was a
plain In every fold of her garments as II
the carriage Of her small person. Thi
was 80 evident that he did not even thinl
OF II; but that she was something be
sides all this, that she "did something,
he could not help believing against hi
wish. There was that in her air, the dI
rectness with which she said what sh
meant and did what she said, that COZ
Vincod him she was used 10 responsible
~ and action. She might be q teacher
Yes, she might be; but he promptly de
pided that she wasn't She might be hal
4 dozen other things, but he was sure sh
wasn't He stopped, appalled, by
thought he had mentally extinguishe
two or three times, Might she pot be