Northwest enterprise. [volume] (Anacortes, Wash. Ter.) 1882-1887, 1883-02-03

upon hio piAo"' S"'o hiii u 81 III
uIant; and by and~by, when he looked
up with his gray eyes expressing ar
apology for his weakness, l confess
to sensations of sympathy I had
never before felt.
Il thought l was stronger" he
said; pray forgive me. Let me
finish my story; it will do me good
to tell you my troubles. l would
give the world to see her once more
for the sake of my poor, dear mother
who loved her so much. L found
traces of her. She had had letter
from her lover, bidding her good by
forever. 1t was believed he had en-
listed for soldier. A detective officer
whom L employed fancied he traced
him to India. His name was not to
be found on the list of any regiment
at home or abroad.
THAT is the story of my life; this
is the story of my wanderings. l
am in search of my sister, in search
of them both-Lucy and her hus-
band. l have forgiven them long
ago. What right had L to stand be
tween her and tho man she loved
Heaven forgive me!'
The season of Christmas came, with
its kindly thoughts. its Christian-like
feelings, its genial associations. We
always decorated the hospital for
Christmas eve The patients all
seemed to get better in presence Of
the little excitement of the time.
Every ward had it's bit of holly and
mistletoe. The nurses rivaled each
other in the making of festal wreaths
Friends of the patients brought in
contributions from the country
winter evergreens from their little
| gardens, holly from rural hedge rows,
and luxuries of mince-pie and plum
pudding which it was hard to inter
dict. There were some poor crea
lures whom nothing could injure.
These had their beef and pudding,
their pies and wine.
Poor Mr.. Newbold, he was among
these hopeless cases. But no friend
brought gifts to lay beside his bed.
He had thanked me, however, for a
handful of misletoe and holly, which
L hung up in his ward with my own
hands, wishing at the same time all
the best wishes of the season.
II don't make complaint, my dear
friend" he said; "but / have small
request to prefer; / am very trouble
some, am sure, very; and it is very
hard for my nurse not to have a
change to some other ward. Will
you find me another nurse-a woman
with a softer voice, dear friend-a
softer voice?"
He was very ill; he had grown
weaker and weaker; his end was
drawing near. She was querulous
but most reliable woman, the nurse
attached to his ward. She had re-
placed an attendant who had OBJ
tained leave to spend Christmas at
home. Poor Newbold was sensitive,
and the loud voice and somewhat
demonstrative manner of the new
woman Jared upon his nerves. 1
went to the matron.
"There is young woman sent
here through Florence Nightengale
"a most respectable, kind looking
person." said the matron. 'She has
only been here a week; but / don't
doubt for moment she will turn
out to be the best nurse in the hos
pital Shall I send her to your
"Thank you very much; pray do"
I said. "Send her up to the ward at
once"
The Christmas bells were ringing;
you could hear the music wandering
up and down the streets, carried
hither and thither by the wind. Wis
itors had all left the wards for the
night; the patients lay there listen
ing to the melody of the bells, and
thinking of other things; the light
of the Christmas candles fell upon
the dark leaves of the holly; here and
there the white berries of the mistl-
toe reflected back the subdued glim-
mer. 1t is sad picture, hospital
on Christmas eve; the shadow of the
place seem so significant--such
tender memories hover about the
narrow beds.
The new nurse came into the ward
while I sat there. It was sweet
face, as l saw it with the light upon
it-a kind, sad, pitying face. New
bold looked at her curiously as she
entered. Then he raised himself up
suddenly, and before l hardly knew
what had happened, he was locked in
her arms.
"Lucy, Lucy, my dear, dear sisterw
he was saying, his voice nearly
drowned in the sobs of the woman
whose face was lying upon his shoul-
der. soss
The bell appeared to be gaining
new strength at that moment. 1t
was the wind which brought the
sound close up to the windows on its
way down the river.
''Thank God," I exclaimed; and
my heart leaped with a strange joy.
felt like child ready to weep 1t
was as if 1 had been reading some
pitiful story.
l walked out into the corridor,
opened window. and put my head
into the frosty air. The stars
crowded the sky, and the bellmusic
seemed to belong to their purity!
was never fit for a hospital sur
geon; my feelings were always too
little under control. When l went
back into the ward, she was sitting
by his side holding his hand. His
face was full of peace and happiness.
1t was as if an angel had been there.
Wo bur;a1 him on Naw Yaar's dav