The Red Cloud chief., 1880-09-30
FROM II TO LAST.

ia Nv SAp
TELL me the worst at once, doc
Dr.
Even If | had not seen the man 8 face,
should have felt sure from the voice
hat il was no time for falsehood or
vasion. Yet there was really no need
or either. Mr.. EIery was unnecessa-
ilv alarmed. The lady, his wife's Sis
er, had been taken with a succession
T fainting fits, the result of fatigue
rom the long journey TO Colorado
Springs. She had been thrown from a
carriage six weeks before, her brother
n-law told me, and sustained an injury
o the head, and the trip had been I'M
lertaken by the advice of her New York
physician, who considered an immedi-
Ate change necessary.
1 was glad TO assure him that there
was no danger, and that she needed
only complete rest, yet was not sorry
that he urged me TO see her the next
day, and still the next. He was ex-
ceedingly anxious about her until, in
the course of two or three weeks, she
began Il make rapid progress towards
recovery. At the end of a month he
made arrangements to return East,
leaving her iii the little hotel 10 which
they had come on the night of their ar
rival-the house which was the nearest
approach to a home that l bad found
since the beginning of my professional
existence, twelve years before.
Il would like to feel that she is NOM
inally in your care, DIR. jerks her
brother said to me before he went away.
.'She will stay several months. | hope,
and | shall come for her when she
thinks best To return nome.
She wa 4 most lovely and interesting
woman; not Young, for the hair which
had been cut short after the accident
Was Just touched with gray. Yet a
kyhysician's eye could easily detect the
kfact that there was something wrong I'm
the spiritual nature, which reacted on
the physical, that in spite of Colorado
air and sunshine and her determination
to grow well and strong and happy, 1t
was a struggle against great odds. L
said a physicians eve, yet with me IL
had become a lovers also. Agnes
Kingdom was the only woman, except
NV mother. for whom | had ever cared,
and from the first | realized the utter
hopelessness of my affection. could
not ignore the u%nreasoning, intultive
KNOWLEDGE. felt sure that she had
lived through the greatest experience
of a woman's life, that it had made her
prematurely old. that it had saddened
-ae,d repressed a naturally buoyant and
happy nature, vet that hers was a tldel-
ity unto death. Unreasonably, help
Ifssly, [ only loved her the more Tor
this belief.
AS the weeks went on and she grew
no she became a little anxious
about herself, and finally spoke to me
about il. / could make but one an
swer:
"Tell me nothing that you do not
wish to. Miss Kingdom. but In my
Spinion YOURS is more of a mental thar
a bodily fla trouble which no physi-
clan can reach or cure"
She grew very pale as l spoke, but,
with the frankness which was n OF
her greatest charms, replied, without a
moments hesitation'
..You are probably right. DIR. Jeuks.
As your patient L have no right to de-
aeiye YOU. / nave no wish TO do so. i
km doing my best, however,"
She tried hard to smile. The white
Inns ouivered, the delicate face never
looked SO ratient OF heroic. instinct
lively / caught her hands
..You have nv sympathy" L ex-
claimed, Il wish / could help you; l
wish -"
- do not know what else L might have
said had she not turned away from
me. and before she saw what l felt was
II in my face.
II believe You; 1 thank you," she said,
simply; and, without another word,
went ont of the room.
IT was five months before her brother
came for her. 1t was plain that he ex-
nected to find her much better than she
kResily was.
..Her letters have given us no idea
that she was so delicate" he said to
me. ..yet it would not be like her to
complain"
..Of course, as her brother" began,
with som embarrassment, '.you under
stand that what is troubling her men
LILY has much to do with her physical
condition. She has so far honored me
with her confidence that l know -"
Course him. he mutteed under his
breath, springing up and pacing the
floor, not realizing i n his excitemen
that he might be saying too much,
..he has been killing her by inches fol
years and years. He would be more
merciful -"
..Stopr I cried. checking him by my
A10rssp upon his shoulder. "Ysu are
FEELING me more than l have any night
to know"
He looked at me keenly.
AZ thought you knew already"
shook my head silently.
"And YOU" he added, after a long
> nause and the same fixed look, "you
1eve not told her, either"
He did not say what; there was nc
need. In that moment he read my
heart as she had never done.
eIf she could have loved a man o
tbvo of her." he went on; eff she could
love YOU, jerks" but he mercifu1ly
forebore to add another word.
. Something went out of my life with
,heir departure-something that the
Years could never restore. But it had
never been mine-never could be; and
that consciousness helped mi somewhat
- hear its loss. Two years later l wa
thankful for an opportunity to set my
!, s.ce eastward once more. thinking less
SS,ever. of the friends / was to NEE
ts.n of her whom in all probability
should never see again.
SYDNEY Meredith, my old colleg'
hmm. had changed more in the tel
A%.srs that had elapsed since our las
meeting than any member of our class
%Soso Teunion we had met to celebrate
~Xeemed natural to be sitting again il
~ 81 of the Old North Middle, look
;n~ at each other through curlins
n1ote across the table covered wit
hooks and papers, pipes and cigars
The literature belonged to a younge
49,