The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1875-03-11


JOHN CAMPBELHS CONVERSION.
IT was never quite clear TO Mr.. Camp
Dell whether it was the sudden bitter
cold dfaught from the door or the sweet
voice OF the woman or the surging in of
the crowd of do-nothings that caused
him 70 set his cup of hot soda quickly
down and fsee about. Mr.. Campbell did
not drop his cup, for that would have IA
dicated precipitation, and John Camp
bell never did but one precipitate thing
his whole life long and that was some
months later
"This poor boy is seriously Injured y
said the lady to the druggist; - fear
his leg is broken. Will you take him
into your private Office and examine the
hurt? Perhaps can help you dress it.
/ have had some experience. Err
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 fellow beings suffering, melted
away with the wonderful facility for dis
persement that marks the throng that
never had any adequate cause for col
lecting.
Then john Campbell and the brown
eyed lady were left alone. She uncon-
sclous OF any presence but her own, her
thoughts a thousand miles away; he
calmly finishing his interrupted hot soda
and watching his companion's face. IA
last he ventured, sympatheticallv: Does
that unfortunate little fellow belong to
you, madam, and might be of any ser
vice IN helping you home with himyf
For the first time she looked up at him
brightly and said: "Oh, dear, no.. sir
The child is some poor gdzata, suppose.
lie was Knocked down just as | came
alafong, ana as the men who picked him
up seemed not to know what to do with
him yentured to direct them here. If
his leg Is fractured he viii have to go to
the hospital, and | should be glad TO pay
Tor 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
knoEledged thrill of curiosity, partly
from genuine desire to be of service.
he lady knelt by the child's side,
soothing him to quietness in that cooling,
doye-Iike way peculiar to women whose
strongest instincts are toward mother
hood. Then taking the cloths and lotions
from the apothecary'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
tue great Campbell estates, it would be a
strong antidote to pain to be tended by
those long, slim fingers that did their
work so swiftly and SO well.
Now must co. said the lady. rising
and shaking out the folds of her simple
gown. Bat wish ! could set this boy
on the way To the hospital first. lie viii
get so much better care there than he
will at home"
| will take him there myself; my own
carriage is at the door, and I can do SO
without trouble" returned Mr.. Camp
bell, promptly, reused 70 a pitch OF
benevolence 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. q. am sure
you couldn't do kinder act. / am
sorry cannot 90 with him mystif.n -
And the shadow of regret that had
crept into Mr.. Campbells mind after
making his offer faded into nothing. J
John Campbell wasn't bit mean. He
would give you money, and literally, too,
for almost any object under the sun; but
there's no denying he was chsry of him
self, his personal. satisfaction, his indi-
vidnality. He was fastidious also almost
10 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 a degree. of selfsacrifce that
would have been incompreheasible to
the unknown woman he wanted to
please. Why he wanted TO please her he
could not have told. He had never seen
, her until an hour before. tHeyhad hard
! ly exchanged twenty Words with her,
and those of the most ordinary kind.
Heidi not know her name, even her ma
tionality, though, with a iesh-born pat
rfotism, he decided she must be his own
countrywoman. She was not young ncr
conventionally pretty; but there was
that in her face be felt to be more beaul
tffui than beauty. He should never see
her again, yet be was not only willing
but anxious to do. something positively
unpleasant for the sake of honestly earn
inc that bright, thankful smile.
As he drove of with bis charge he
said TO himself. g What fool / am -
which might have been frcely1ndered
Into: How magnetic she is!n
Safely ensconeed before the fire in the
luxurious solitude of his own library,
Mr.. Campbell could not keep his mind
from the incident of the afternoon. He
was amazed that his weH-disclplined
intellect was entirely absorbed in solving
the insoluhle problem of; Who is shef
No question in speculative philosophy
had ever held his thoughts more steadi-
-iy, or with less prospect of an ultimately
satisfactory result. At last, givingit up
as hopeless, he changed the form to-
What is sheg
That she was woman of character
and courage went without saving; that
she was lady born and bred was as
plain in every fold of her garments as in
the carriage of her small person. This
was so evident that he old NOT even think
of it; but that she was something be-
sides all this, tina. she did something. y
he could not help believing against his
wish. There was that in her air, the di-
rectness with which she said whet she
meant and did what she said, that con.
WINGED him she was used to responsible
~ and action. She might be a tef.cher?
Yes, she might be; but he promptly de-
eidei that she wasn't. She might be half
dozen other things, but he was sure she
wasn't He stopped, appalled, by a
thought he had mentally extinguished
two or three times. Might She not be a
physieianP Every drop of his conserva.
tive blood-fiowipg, long generations
back, from the Scotch CoveRanters-
curdled 81 the idea. Yet, judging from
the aptness of her afternoons perform
ance, what more likely than that it was
the result of thorough trainings
Life in its hard, grinding, money-earn-
ing aspects had never come near enough
to john Campbell TO give him any clear
or adequate conception of it, He and
his father and grandfather before him
had been born to the purple and fine
Linen OF existence, and whole mines OF
silver could hardly exceed the wealth
their baby tongues might have command
ca Each had an income far greater than
ne spett' thus the Campbell possessions