The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1884-04-02

lie mad seldom known. 4 loved her
very, very dearly, and | was all she
had to love. So We two, man and
child, passed through the long win
ter, quite happy in being together.
Spring had come, when | was sum
moned hastily to railroad accident.
! One of the first who demanded my
care was an old chum of mine
More than once | had thought of
him in the long winter just passed,
/ but | had no clue TO his Wherea-
bouts. When my painful duties
were over, ! returned to the low, cot
bed upon which he lay, and asked
him something of his life, since our
parting six years previous.
"Ah." he said, there have been
many changes, old fellow. My faith
er is dead, | am married and have
two baby boys
And where is your home
at will be in N, but | have
been in this country but a few
months. 70 tell the truth, | am
here upon an errand at once sad
and hopeful" "
What is tha; >"
1T is long story. I had a sister
whom / loved very fondly, and who
was with my father when | went
abroad, twelve years ago. Soon af-
ter my departure she married a
scamp, a thoroughly bad man, who
hoped to finger her Inheritance You
know what women are. The more
my father opposed the match, the
more closely Caroline clung to the
lover who was all perfect in her
eyes. In spite of all entreaty. all
opposition, she married him, making
a runaway match at length. NV
father threw her off, ard aftei a few
months of angry solitude in his old
home, Joined me in Paris. | wrote
to Caroline. but never received any
answer. When my father died less
than a year ago, he repented his
harshness to his only daughter He
would not alter his viii !, that left me
a wealthy man and nv sister beg
gar, but he begged of me to find her
and divide the inheri tance. | had
made my home in Par and married
a French lady, so that | could not
at once leave that city and take pos
session of my home ir ", and
my fathers property. But as soon
as | could | came to England, One
of the first newspapers | opened adj
vertjsed for ME or my father, in my
sisters name, and begged me 10 send
my add:ess to this place | only
waited TO establish my family in
their new home and came here"
Seeking Caroline Rivers ?'
"Ah you know"
Yes, for the advertisement is
mine"
Then | told him of his sisters
death, and where he would find his
niece.
Il have your sisters marriage GER
tificate, that OF her husbands death,
and Lina's birth, and some few mex
pensive trinkets she said that you
would recognize" "
l cannot dwell upon it. Ny little
household fairy drifted out of my
life again, leaving a blank darkness
nothing would tighten. Her uncle
was only slightly hurt, and in less
than a week was journeying back to
", carrying Lima to her ideal
home had often imagin ed for her
Even Martha was sorry when she
was gone. In the seven years that
followed | rose in my profession by
dint of hard work and study. 1t was
uphill work, but l neared the top
by steady application, and was al
ready III easy circumstances, when |
fell heir to a moderate fortune. Not
a vast estate, but sufficient tor ease
from pecuniary care for lifetime.
Soon after this came to me, letter
reached my home from my old
friend, Gordon Walters. We had
never corresPopded, but he wrote:
Lima is quite i'll from the sane dis
ease, | think, of which poor Caro-
line died We have had the best ad-
vice for her, but she fancies that you
and you alone, can cure her. Can
You come and try your skill for her ?
1t is useless for me to tell you how
profound will be OR gratitude if you
can help her"
1t had been a theory of mine that
this same disease | always consider
ed incurable could be eradicated
from the system if taken in time.
It's inroads were made so gradually
that, as rule, the patient applied
for relief only when it was too late.
Never can | forget the expression
of the pale face when | first stood
beside her. A thrill of Joy unuttera-
BILE filed my heart when | read
there certainty that I had been held
in loving remembrance during all
the long years of separation. In our
many long talks | learned that all
the love lavished upon her. the hap
piness of her new home, the advant-
ages of education she highly priced
had never shaken her tender mem
ory of our winter together. / could
not have my practice in one city
and Lima under my care in another,
so sold my home and came to n
A II tho pepfle uafience of her
girlhocd was needed for the course
of treatment l was compelled to
prescribe, but she never questioned
the wisdom of the harshest meas
ures, or shrank from any remedy /
advised. So, together, my patient
and | won back the boon of health
to the young frame, and | proved
my theory by curing Lima of the
hereditary illness we had all feared
would end her young life. And
while T strove TO master the disease.