Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1884-08-14

community upon her and wall ior MIN 10
diet was too much.
( TIE doctor was secretly in sympathy
with what he called the Mutual Benefit
association. and the result OF all this was
an immediate and quiet wedding at which
the groom did not wear the regulation
black
Anv unpleasant gossip that might have
followed the event was neatly ayerted oy
a story industriously circulated by Tom
Ainslee to the effect that Hemingway was
really an old lover of .'Meg's." and some
mysterious hints Of a romantic story in the
BACKGROUND. that he could tell if he felt
50 disposed.
A week later. when Ainslee came for
his usual afternoon visit to the Invalid,
Meg called MIN aside and hesitatlngly IN
auired whether he thought it would hurt
/ the patient to be moved.
"I-m-m. no. don't think it would hurt
him TO be moved; in fact, | am sure It
would not: but | would suggest that you
are in danger OF defeating your own pur-
pose. If YOU nurse him too well, you
I know. he might recover, which, under the
circumstance. would fall little short Of
disaster
/ Don't be brutal, Tom" she said
This place Is ineffably dismal. and he
NAV a. well be comfortable for the little
time that is left"
She took a cottage in the suburbs near
the river. with plenty Of space around It
and windows that looked out upon an eX-
panse OF shining water and tar blue rims
Of bills. 1t was June about the verandas
and windows hung mass OF clngIng
roses that filled the place with fragrance,
and into the airy front room. with us woe
windows and its distant gimpses OF river
and hills beyond, went the inyalid's bed.
All day long the fresh breeze from the
river. laden with the odor Of roses, parted
the fleecV drapery of the wiadows and
blew softly upon his face. Everywhere
reigned the delicious quiet his tortured
nerves needed so much; the grateful abb
sence..f the sound of wheels and other
urban noises that had fretted his soul with
their din-,he only echo of these that
reached him now was the daily pilgrimage
of Tom Ainsley's buggy. Near him sat
Me-" in her soft white dress and her
flowers with the soft light on her brown
hair, and a softer light in her great violet
ewes surroundings which certainly invited
an interest in terrestrial things, and as the
weeks passed by John llemingway,a man
of honor and sensitive conscience, began
10 be troubled with a misgiving-a mis-
giving that after all he was not going to
fulfil his part of the contract.
He felt that for the first time in his life
he was about to 20 squarely back on an
obligation. He had entered into delib
crate contract to die within given time,
b,.
unpenerous recovery? 1t would be but Il
poor return for her assiduous attention and
tender miui~tratiOns. She could not have
been more Swectly careful of his comfort
if she had loved with a love that was
more than love. a return for which he
was about to intljct upon her a permanent
and unmitigatcd disappointment. In vain
he assured himself that had he even
dreamed of possible recovery he would
never have allowed her to take such
risk This could not possibly alleviate
her disappointment nor excuse his pertidy.
He was thinking of these things one
day as he lay with his face turned inward
looking in ut Meg. whose eyes had wan
dered from the book in her hand to the
hills beyond the river She brought them
back presently, and they rested for a mo-
ment on the face among the pillows. The
diStiguring beard had been removed and
the face was certainly fuller than when
she had first seen it. She supplied an inn
aginary roundness of contour and decided
that nothing but health was needed to
make him a very handsome man.
John your face is certainly getting full
Ter, suppose after all you should get
well p
This sentence inspired by a tender inter
est. had somehow heartlesS ring when
uttered.
at would certainly be an ungrateful
return for all your kindness, but | am
afraid am getting better he said. APP
pologetically. ain fact, Tom intimated
to-day that might recover"
Meg also had a misgiving. She had
thought a good deal about the possibility
of his recovery, and wondered whether it
would make much difference to him.
Whether John Hemingway, restored to
health and no longer in need of nurs-
inc. might not wish himself a single man
again: whether there might not be in all
the lands he had traversed some one he
could have preferred if he could have had
his choice and knew that he was going to
live, and there was nothing reassuring in
his remark that he was afraid he was
getting better"
Don't you want to get well, John ?'
She asked. sadly, trying to sean his face
in the deepening twilight
1T is not the thing to do under the cir
cumstanccs. he answered plaintively.
After moments silence he reached down
for the hand that was resting on the coun-
terpaue and asked TREMENDOUSLY;
Would YOU he-verv much disappoint-
ed if should ret well ?"
In an instant she was kneeling by the
bed. with her arms around him. her moist
laShes brushing his face.
Jack" she said, Iii you don't get
well I'll be the wretchedest widow that
ever sobhed above the wreck of bliss"
Though a man were dead yet shall
he live at such solicitation" said John,
rs his arms enclosed her with a pressure
that argued retaining vitality. They were
not the arms of man living at death 5
door, indifferent to the possibilities of the
world beyond him.