Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1883-09-21

once nad been my intelligence sug-
gested that this young lady might be
one Of Arthur's sisters, who had come
home Unexpectedly, and had stepped
! forgive the dreams Of n sick mani over
the balcony into the parlor
'Who are you?' asked.
81 am Helen Froment, the governess.
said she; ''sent down by Mrs. Clark for
some forgotten books. The train ran
of the track. got here just now. /
have rung and rung and rung. but a
no one let me in, /, seeing the blinds
open. naturally clambered over the
iron railing. and here / am. Now who
and what are yOu?'
II am n sick man. Horatio Bronson,
believe. Arthur brought me here"
''Oh. Of course, How absunlH He
wrote TO his mother all about you. l
had forgotten. Ny nerves have been
so shaken by that railroad accident |
had forgotten that you were here. /
beg a thousand pardons for this intru-
sion. j will creep up into my room
aud disturb nobody"
stop n minute. my mind is weak.
Turn up the gas. please. will you? How
do YOU happen To lie called Helen Fro
ment, like the picture on the wall?"
The lady laughed and turned up the
gas. ''lt is curious coincidence"
said she The young ladies call me
the Rubens. | am simply German
girl. with common enough German
name. Helena troment. the governess.
took a good look at her
She was a quiet girl, in n gray travel
ing dress, although ! 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 five minutes outside. and the
little bell tinkled at three o. clock.
About this time Arthur began To fade
away. IL seemed TO mo that only saw
him once after this. and then | said to
him: mice girl. Helen Fromcnt,'' in n
jocular way.
lie laughed and said: .'What queer
things you do sayl'
IL mean the goyerncss, your sisters
governess, hoping he would tell me
about her.
''Oh! yes; the governess: YES; ha!
ma! Helen Froment. Oh! yes. Horatio.
old fellow. keep cool: keep quiet.
Yes. She is a nice girl enough but
he laughed and would not explain.
Arthur disappeared about this time,
j asked for him, and they said he had
gone away. ! should have missed him
more, but Helen. Helen Froment. be-
came 80 devoted to me. She did not 90
/ back to- Mrs. Clark with the books. She
staid and nursed me most assiduouslv.
She could draw and paint very well in
water colors, and finding that this quiet
accomplishment amused without weary
ing me. she was kind enough TO sit bv
my side and let me watch her. Then
she told me quaint stories i'm German
accent, and read poetry to me. and i'm n
low recitativc. or in sort of chant she
gave my weary ears the relief of pretty
and plaintivc 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 Isl? IL is the
eve of ~. John. Midsummer Might.
when the spirits Of men 90 forth To meet
God I'm the woods; the angels are all
about "a.
And she drew with her water colors
for me n little picture of procession of
/ DruidS walking i'm forest, while
/ through the gothic arches of the trees
I long lines Of whitc-winged angels came
down To- meet them. | remember how
I clcvcrly she touched in the wings with
CLEAN of white.
I hut | was getting too much white
about this time. and the strong white
| drapeTy and the sad face of the Cenci
1 lfHrrnNn tn H.. 4 a
put that picture away. so | could not
see It. THAT ] can not do" said she,
hut | can throw my dark shawl over
it. AMI she did.
Helen Froment, meantime Rubens
Helen, continued to smile and be amia-
bic. asked the other Helen To make
me little copy of that bright face. and
to leave it where could tip it up with
my weak hand. and look at IL a little
ncarers This she did. but when tried
to grasp IL. found out how weak was.
! found that ! could not even master
that frail piece Of paper.
"IOu must remember" said Helen.
'you are still very ILL.," and she laid
the sketch away in drawer of my lit
/ tie table
Then began to get better. / was
strong, convalcscent. / returned in
thought Ia the world, and with me into
the land of health came the patient
/ girl who had now become INV daily
I companion. She did not take all the
care of me. Two men seemed 10 do
that. / could not exactly tell where or
when they came in, but Just about with
the disappearance of Arthur, | should
say That vague, uncertain period, not
lar from the time when Helen came i'm.
somehow. | did not care To ask ques-
tons. Life was delightful enough.
with the music. the painting. the
poetry, which this accomplished girl
brought into it. The other people made
disagreeable noises, and were not al
together agreeable tn feeble nerves.
My men nurses tramped heavily and
tangled glasses, and the doctor was.
although the most respectable of his
species, what / should call n loud man.
Helen made no noise: she was the very
essence of stiffness. except when she
sang or talked, and that was music
which is not noise. Discord is what
hurts us. Helen was all concord
Noise is diScord. 1t seems To me that
this state of things had gone on for
weeks, and that began to know Helen
as n man ought to know n woman
whom he shall love and marry. I 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. | owed il To Helen to tell her
so, and felt that we must make some
excuse TO our friends for being SO much
tnufN hnr that ha 4.
think 1t strange, that, perhaps, Arthur
-yes-Arthur. Where WaS 1rthur?
But when / was ready to frame these
sentences, Helen always evaded me;
sometimes n tinkling 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 waite cloth, and bottles stood