The Red Cloud chief., 1883-10-12


Some scattering remnant II what
once -had heen my-Sasssligynee 4ssg.
gcsted that this Young lady might be
sDapA Arthu 'ssris,ers, who kad seusse
homo u~nexpectpdly, and had stepped
uorefvc thrlirsems Of a sick mani Sser
the lalcosY Into the psrsor
ho are youy' asked.
81 am Helen froment. the goycrncss.
said she; .'sent down by Mrs. Clark for
some forgotten books. The trsin ran
on ofe track. got here just now. I
have rung and rung and rung. but as
no one let me in. !. seeing the blinds
open. naturally clambcred over the
iron railing. and here | am. Now. who
and what arc you?'
Il am a sick man. Horatio Bronson.
3 believe. Arthur Brought me here"
oh. Of course, How absurdf lie
wrote TO his mother all about you. /
had forgotten. Ny nerves have been
50 shaken by that railroad accident !
had forgotten that YOU were here. /
beg Thousand. psrdons for this intrrr
sion. l will creep up into my room
and disturb nobody"
Stop n minute. my mind j. weak.
Turn up the gas. please. will youe How
do you happen Ia be calkS Helen Fro
ment. like the picture on the wall?'
The lady laughed and turned up the
gas. ut Is a curious coincidence"
said she. The young ladies call me
~ Rubens.' ] am simply n German
girl. with a common enough German
name, Helena Froment. the g~oyerness."
took n good look at her.
She was a quiet girl, in a gray travel
Ing dress. although I thought her
smiling German face not unlike that Of
the picture.
Then the gas went down. and she
went of. and the crowbar went on fall
ing every iivc minutes outside. and tire
httle bell tinklcd at THREE O'Clock.
About this time Arthur began Ia fade
away. II seemed To me that I only saw
him one after this. and then I said to
him; Nice girl. Helen Fromeni,' in a
%jocsllar way.
He laughed and said: What queer
things You do say!"
Il mean the g~oyerness, your sisters
govcrness," hoping he would tell me
about her.
.'Oh! yes: the governess; Yes; ha!
ha. Helen Froment. Oh. yes. Horatio.
old fellow. keep cool: keep quiet.
Yes. She Is a nice girl enough but
be laughed and would not explain.
Arthur disappeared about this time.
| asked for him. and they said he had
gone away. should have missed him
more. but Helen. Helen Froment, be-
came so devoted 10 me. She did not 90
back to Mrs. Clark with the books. She
staid and nurscd me most assiduously.
She could draw and paint very well in
wafer colors. and finding that this quiet
accomplishment amused without weary
Ing me, she was kind enough to sit by
my side and let mc watch her. Then
she Told mc Quaint stories in Alderman
accent, and read poetry To me. and in n
low recitative, or in n sort Of chant she
gave my weary ears the relief of pr tty
and p~laintive ballads Of her own Ger
man land, which she sang in n pure,
simple ballad voice, the best of all
voices.
One hot evening she said to me: "Do
You know what night this is? IL is the
eve Of ST. John. Midsummer Night.
when the spirits Of men 20 forth Ia meet
God in the woods; the angels are all
about us
And she drew with her water colors
for me a little picture of a procession Of
DruidS walking in a forest, while
through the gothic arches of the trees
long lines Of white-winged angels came
down 10 meet them. | remember how
clcverly she touched in the wings with
a CLEAN of white.
but | was getting too much white
about this time. and the strong white
drapcry and the sad face of the Cenci
began to trouble me. i asked Helen tn
put that picture away. so | could not
see it. THAT | can not do" said she,
but can throw my dark shawl over
il" and she did.
Helen Fromcnt, meantime Rubens'
Helen, continued To smile and be- amia-
bic. | asked the other Helen To make
me "A little copy of that bright face. and
to leave it where | could tip il up with
.nSweak hand, and look ut il a little
nearer. This eac did. but when | tried
To grasp il, | found out how ~o.LI WAS
] foundthat | could not even mas -
that frail piece of paper.
"iou must remember" said Helen.
lyon are still very ill.," and she laid
the sketch away in II drawer of my 1t
tie table.
Then | began to get better. | was
strong. convalesecnt. returned in
thought Ia the world. and with me into
the land of health came the patient
girl who had now become my daily
companion. She did not take all the
care of me. Two men seemed to do
that. i could not exactly tell where or
when they came in, but Iust about with
the disappearance of Arthur. | should
say-that vague, uncertain period, not
far from the time when IIelon came i'm.
Somehow, | did not care To ask ques-
tions. Life was delightful enough.
with the music, the painting. the
poetry. which this accomplished Girl
brought into it. The other people made
d~isagreeablc noises, and were not al
together agreeable Ia feeble nerves.
My men nurses tramped heavily and
tangled glasses, and the doctor was.
although the most respectable of his
species. what | should call a loud man.
Helen made no noise: she was the very
essence of stiffness, except when she
saiS vi tdAhSu, stuu -tIitt. WAS music
which is not noise. DiScord is what
hurts Helen was all concord. |
Noise is diScord. Ii seems 10 me that
this state of things had gone on for
weeks. and that began to know Helen
as n man ought to know a woman
whom he shall love and marry. | be-
gan TO watch for fitting opportunity To
tell her that l loved her. that she was |
the being Of all others to make me
happy. lowed it to Helen to tell her
SO, and | felt that we must make some
excuse to our friends for being SO much
together. that even the doctor might !
think itsstrange, that, perhaps. Arthur
-yes-Arthnr. : Hhere was Arthur? /
But when | was ready TO frame these /
sentences, Helen always evaded me:
sometimes a thinking of that ridiculous
bell and the men nurses came in
sometimes the doctor himself, never
Arthur.
The parlor began TO look unlike the
parlor. The piano was covered over
with a white cloth, and bottles stood
upon it. Nothing seemed changed on
the walls but the cloth which had b;a- |