, 1884-01-24

mulatto. They had carried Demming to
the hotel; it was the nearest place, and
the Bishop wished it i His wife had
been sent for, and was with him Her timid,
tear-stained face was the first object that
met Louise's eye She sat In a rockingham
close to the bed, and, by sheer force Of habit,
was unconsciously rocking to and fro, while
she brushed the tears from her eyes Dem
ming's white face and tangle of iron-gray
hair lay on the pillow near her.
He smiled feebly, seeing Louise She did
not know anything better to do than TO take
his hand, the tears Frightening her soft eyes
LAWS" said Demming, Hdon' do tibet. L
amt wuth it Look a yere, 1 got sun'thin'
ter say ter you. An you must MT min,
cause / mean well. You know 'bout-yes'-
day mahnin'. Mabbe you done what you
done not knowin' yo' own min'-laws, thet's
jes girls-an' l wants you ter know jes what
pa, but you dom know, mabbe, tibet he did
MT know It was the Bishop till he d jumped
down in tibet thar iamin' pit q hell, as It
were, an fished him out He done
1t jes cause he d tibet pluck in
him, an'-don' you go fer ter
chippin' in, Cunnsl. In a dyin' man, an
dom you forget It'll Thar he is, miss, hidin'
like benin the bed.n
Louise during this speech had grown red to
the root OF the hair. She looked up into Tai
boys face. He had stopped forward. His
usual composure had quite left him so that
he made a pitiable picture of embarrassment,
not helped by crimpled linen and a borrowed
coat a world too large for him. ats just a
within of his" he whispered h~urriedly; 4he
wanted me to stay. / didn't know-I didn't
understand For Gods sake, don't suppose j
meant to take such an advantage of the stu
ationi l am going directly. l shall leave
Aiken tonight"
1t was only the strain on her nerves,
but Louise felt the oldest desire to
laugh. The elegant Martin cut such a
very droll figure as a hero. Then her eys
fell m Demming's eager face, and a sud
Cen revulsion of feeling, a sudden keen real
ization Of the tragedy that Martin had
averted, brought the tears back to her eyes.
Her beautiful head dropped. why do you
| go-nowf' said she.
"Hev you uns made 1t up yetF
Demming's faint voice.
ayes, "Talboys answered, II think we have,
and-I thank you Demming. The vagabond
waved his hand with a feeble assumption OF
his familiar gesture. "Yo' a square man,
CunneL. l allus set u heap by you, though |
didn't let on Am she's a right peart young
lady. I'm glad yo' gwine ter be 50 happy.
Laws, / kind o. wish 1 wuz to see 1t, even on
a "OOdth g olAAh a. b1 oAdS bC6o
to sob. Thar, thar, Alwynda, don take on
SO; cyan't be helped. You mus 'scuse her,
g~en'lemen; she SO petted on me she les cyan't
hole I'M"
"Demming," said the Bishop, @my poor
friend. the time Is short; Is there anything
/ you want me to DOR Demming's dull eyes
sparkled with a glimmer of the old humor.
swell, Bishop, If you dom min, I'd like you
ter conduc' the fun'al services. Reckon
they'll be a genuwine co'pse this yere time,
TO- suah. An, Bishop, you'll kind o. look
alter Alwynda; see she gets her coffee an
terbacco all right. An 1 wants ter sure you
all again thet them thar chickens wuz the
fust and an ony thing evan laid hams on
t'want mine. Thet's the solemn truf; amt it,
| Alwyndai"
The poor woman could only rock herself in
the chair, and sob, Eyes, u is. An he's been
a good husband to me. I've allus he'd the
bes' NV ev~erythingl Oh, Lordy, pears i
though l cyan't bear it, nohow"
Louise put her hand gently on the thin
shoulder, saying, II will see that she never
wants anything we can give, Demming, and
we will try to comfort her"
The cracker looked wistfully from her fresh
young face to the worn face below. "Shs
wuz s peart an purity 3 you, miss, wen
fust struck up with 'er," said he slowly. "Oul
little gal wuz her very Image. Alw lynda, :" In
a s~ingularly soft, almost diffident tone, adon
take on 50: mabbe Pm gwine fer ter see 'el
again IT won't do no harm ter think SO, ony
how" he added, with a glance at Talboys, a,
though sure there OF comprehension.
Then the Bishop spoke, solemnly, though
with sympathy, urging the dying man
whose worldly affairs were settled, to rspen
Of his sins and prepare for eternity. aShan
pray for you, Demming" he said In con
clusion.
4Jes as you please, Bishop" answered Dem
ming, and he tried to wave his hand. ="
amt noways partickler. l reckon Cox
o'mighty knows I'd be TIL same ole Dem
ming eff 1 could get up, an 1 dom mean tel
make no purtenses. But mAbbe itrl chez
up tn ole CONAN a bit. SO you begin, an
III bring in an Amen whenever it.
wantedl"
So speaking, Demming closed his eye
YEARLY, and the Bishop knelt by the bed
side. Talboys and Louise left them, thus
After awhile. the wife stretched forth he
toil-worn hand and took her husbands. Shl
thought she was awRr of a slight pressure
But when the prayer ended there came NJ
Amen. Demming was gone where prayeI
may only family follow; nor could tn
Bishop ever decide how far his vagabond ha,
Joined in his petitions. Such doubts, how
ever, did not prevent his cherishing an as
sured hope that the mar who died for hin
was safe, forever. The Bishops theology
like that Of most Of us, yielded, sometimes
to the demands Of the occasion.