Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1879-11-20

III III blldti We0b-LO LIS Qearr. fl44 ff.....
'.Be .comforted, " he said, g let us rely
upon the youth and strong physique Of
your husband. .sa., 49, :, - IN.
= The incoherent mutteriEg. of his pa
tient attracted the DOCTORS attention.
Sharp and strong sentences fell upon his
ear, that excited his professional Curl
osity.s When he heard from Miss Tur-
pin of the enthusiasm and zeal of the
young student, as much as she dared
tell him ofhis defeated aspirations and
hopes, the good doctors eyes kindled
with sympathy.
81 'sLet him only get WELL" he said.
8 and we will sweep these lions out of
his path" Fg t 7.
Miss Turpin smiled through her
"He will get well, thanks to you,"
she said. 7sI
"And to your he added. looking
around the room with appreciation. It
had been suddenly metamorphosed into
the model of a chamber for the sick.
The open fire, with its cheerful blaze and
yentilating draft; the subdued light;
the white and warm drapery of the bed !:
her own little couch near by; pretty.
shadowy pictures upon the walls tinted
~
reigning over all.
''It is lucky for yonder lad, thought
the doctor, " that in all this big wretcRed
barrack the one little snuggery is his
own. - siffs
And so the days went by, each one
freighted with hope and fear. There
came one at last upon which rested the
life or death OF the young student.
"Some time this evening"" said the
doctor to Miss Turpin, he will regain
consciousness; be sure that Won do not
leave his bedside. / would not for the
world at that critical moment, that a
strange face should meet his own"
Miss Turpin turned pale, and stretched
out her hands with a gesture of entreaty.
Then she slipped from her chair to her
knees, and from thence to the floor.
Now had come the supreme moment Of
torture Now her labor, her joy, her
life was done.
A strange face! What face could be
stranger than her own?
s :" Tut, childp' said the doctor; &c I
thought you had more courage. There
is every hope for him. Can't you bear
joy as you have sorrow? I only want
that he shall first see the face of his
wife, the dearest to him in the world
He put down his hands to her. but
still she hid her face from his. Her
whole frame trembled. She wished
that she could die there and then.
''Oh, doctor" said she, lifting at last
her eyes to his, chow can tell YOU /?
how can / make you know? / am not
his wifen'
The doctor drew back coldly; but as
her frank, earnest eyes caught his own.
he could not resist the innocent pleading
there. She might be poor Magdalen
even, but he had never seen so childIiKe
and yet womanly a creature.
"We must think of nothing now but
our patient" he said, gently "your face
is at least familiar and dear to him."
ALAS! no." she said; 1T is strange.
almost unknown. 1t is far better /
should go away"
Then she told the doctor all. And as
she went on to confess how she had
dared shelter this poor neighbor of hers,
without a roof to cover him, without
money, without friends, sick unto death,
helpless and alone-how she dared at
any risk to shelter him and to nurse him
back to life-the good surgeons eyes
blinked under his shaggy brows. He
put his heavy hands in benediction upoh-
her bowed head.
.'Thou good little Samaritanln he
said.
And two big, hollow, handsome eyes
upon the white bed in the corner also
filed with tears. He was so weak,
this poor young Blake, that he could
scarcely help sobbing outright at so
touching story.
Why-why,n he faltered to himself,
!" in little Miss Turpin's rooml Oh,
thou merciful heaveni in little Miss
Turpin's bed! With the CHEEKY little
fire in the CRATE to foil yonder biting
blast, with all the little knick-knacks
and furbelows about-the little pictures
on the wall. her bird-cage at the win
dow, and a neat medicine stand, with
lots of spoons in various doses, each
spoon with little Miss Turpin's name;
and to her, then, under heaven. owe
my life! All, may God do so to me, and
more also, it | desert little Miss Turpih.
or let little Miss Turpin desert metz
/" And now" said the sweet, sad voice
of Miss Turpin, take me to his bed
side. am foolishly weak, can scarcely
see. Let me look upon him just once
more before I go. You will take care
of him now, doctor, won't you? But
let me say goodbye
The doctor, undecidedly, scarcely
knowing what to say, half carried her
to the bed.
Goodbye. good bye." she said,
bending over him, her warm tears fall
ing on his pale, sunken face, her hot,
trembling hands, clasping themselves
together.
But suddenly two other hot, trembling
hands seized hers in feeble grasp-the
hollow, sunken eyes of the student tasuen
themselves upon Miss Turpin;s face with
a very hungry tenderness.
"Oh, no." he said, "you cannot 60
from here, not for the world; you see
the good doctor has said it will not do
to have a strange face at my bedside.
Yours is the dearest to me in the world,
love you, Miss Turpin. 1t is per-
haps sad fate / offer you; but OH be
still more generous-be my wife. I
have, dear little Miss Turpin-oh! I
have loved you long!"
He didn't say how long he was too
weak to talk. He didn't tell her that
perhaps his love dated only a little half
hour back, when he listened to that Won
drously touching little story of hers.
What mattered itp Cannot love be
as strong as life and deep as the sea,
howsoever and whenever it is born?
Coed DR.. Havershaw took care of their
future. 1t began in neat, two-story
brick house, with a big brass sign upon
the door, to which the worthy surgeon