Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1880-11-18

lines of decision forming about his mcuth
and chin; and. having bathed and cieanly
dressed, went out. - -" +' - ess4 as.~ ~ =
where Scip the boasnIan lived. Seip was at
home. He lived quite alone. His father,s
his mother and four brothers had died of the
plague since j une. He started when he saw
Hope, and his habitual look of fear deep
ened to craven terror; he would rather
have had the yellow fever than to have seen
the Northern nurse just then. But Zerviah
sat down by him on the hot sand, beside n
rather CHASTITY palmetto that grew there, and
spoke TO him very gently. He said:
The Mercy came in last night, Sept
know. And you rOwed down for the supplies.7
You heard something about me on board the
Mercy. Tell me, scip.,,
Z ~ WHO'S sa q . darn faels, jill
'That dem Mate.''
$50 it was the Mate? Yes. What did he
say, Scip!" -
81 never done believe it, urged Scip,
with an air Of suddenly recolected virtue!
:" But you told OF it. Scip." -
81 never told nobody but Jupiter, the
durn fool" persisted Scip.
"Who is Jupiter!'
t'Doctor Remane's Jupiter, him that
holds the boss, that he brung up from the
fever. He said he wouldn't tell. never
done DeIleve IL, neCer,
''It seems to me, Scip," said Zerviah, in a
dow, kind voice, '.1hat Iwouldn' t have told
if I'D been you Butnever mind.'
r 81 never done FmeantO hurt your cried
Scip, following him into the road. "Jupiter
the durn, he said he ID never tell. L never
| told nobody else."
"You have told the whole town." said
zeryiah Hope patiently. "lm sorry but
| He stood for moment looking across the
| CT RI 10 stretch of
road, across the glare, to the town. His eyes
blind edr&nd-f fixed. qp.zs--zzs ,y.rs.
'sIt wouldn't have been great while,'' he
said. q wish you hadn't, seip, but never
k1He shookthe negrogenty off,sss if he had
been child. There was othing more to say;
He would go back to hiswork. AS he walked
along, he suddenly said to himself:
"She did not Smile this morningt Nor the
lady at the telegraph office, either. Nora
good many other folks. l remember now.
-. Lordn' he added aloud, thought
breaking into one Of his half unconscious
prayers, which had the more pathos because
| it began with the rude abruptness of an APP
parent oath-"Lord! what in the name Of
| heaven am going to do about it:" xzy..s.
Now, as he was coming into the little city,
with bowed head and broken face, he met
Doctor Dare. She was riding on her rounds
upon patient Southern tackey, and she
/ was riding fast But she refined up and con-
| fronted him. ~ H.
"Mr. Hope! There is hateful rumor
| brought from New York about you. lam
goin,g; to tell you Immediately. 1t is said
swat minute ~ he pleaded, holding out
both hands. "Now. Go on.' -
at is said that you are an escaped con-
VICE." continued the lady, distinctly. -
cit is false!" cried the nurse, in a ringing
voice. ~sr@
The Doctor regarded him for moment,
81 may be wrong. Perhaps it was not 50
bad. was in cruel hurry, and so was
Doctor Frank; ,, Perhaps they said DIS
'.What else!" asked Zerviah, lifting his
eyes to hers.
"They said you were just out Of a seven
years. imprisonment for laughter. They
said you killed man-fOr jealousy, l believe;
| something about aswoman.
| "What else:" repeated the nurse, steadily.
"I told them 1 did not betieUe one acOfd u
it," cried Marian Dare.
"Thank you, madam" said Zerviah Hope,
] after scarcely perceptible pause; "but it
4 is true"
|. He drew one fierce breath.
Il "She was beautiful he said. 81 loved
her; he ruined her; I stabbed him"
! He had grown painfully pale. He wanted
to go ON speaking to this woman, not to de-
| fend or excuse himself, not to say any thing
weak or wrong, only to make her under
stand that he did not want to excuse him
self; in some way, just because she Was a
/
enough to bear the burden of his deed. He
| wanted to cry oaIt to her, " You are a WON
an! Oh, be gentle, and understand how
sorry man can be for a deadly sin"' but
his lips were parched. He moved them drl-
| ly; he could not talk.
She was silent at first. She was prudent
woman; she thought before she spoke.
"PoOr feIlow!'' she said, suddenly. Her
| clear blue eyes Overtlowed. She held out her
hand, lifted his, wrung it, dropped it, and
|fco nd ad Non mind ~ much a.
if he had been child or a patient-much
as he himself had said, Never mindW ia
Scip.
Then Zerviah Hope broke down. -
:. / haven't got a murderer's heartP' he
cried. ''It has been taken away from me
/ AIM, so bad--noao. I meant to be-
"Hush| she 81 e said; you have and you
"Yes," said the penitent convict, in g
dull voice, s.God is fair, and SO he let ZEN
tell of me. Tve got no fault to find with
Him. So nigh as 1 can understand Almighty
God, He means we'll. L guess He'll pull
ME through some way. But 1 wish scil
sorry. 1t wasn't that 1 wanted to cheat,
but'-he choked-''the sick folks used tc
like me. Now, do you think I'd ought tt
go on nursing, Doctor? Do you think I'd
ought to stop" 3 "@
SYou are already an hour late" replied
the woman of science, in her usual business
like voice. ''Your substitute will be sleepy
and restless; that affects the patient. &c
back to your work as fast as you can. ASK
me no more foolish questions"
/ She drew her veil; there was an unprofes
sional moisture on her long, feminine
lashes. She held out her hearty hand grasI
to him, touched the tackey, and galloped
away.
"She is a good woman said Zerviah
half aloud, looking down at his cold fingers.
"She touched me, and she knew! Lord
| should like to have you bless her!'
He looked after her. She sat her horse
finely; her gray veil drfted in the hot wind
His sensitive color came. He watched hel
as il he had known that he should never
see her again on earth.
A ruined character may be as callous as
paraly zed limb. A ruined and repentan
one is in itself an Independent system Of sen
stive and tortured nerves. szas
Zerviah Hope returned to his work
shrinking under the foreknowledge of hi!
fate. He felt as il he knew what kind o.
people would remind him that they had be-
| conn aeon a ipfad with his history and xyha