The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-12-25
THE INDIANAPOLIS JOURNAL, FRIDAY DECEMBER % 1885

hand, my darling. and we will follow it. It is
the star of Bethlehem
We laid him back on the pillows, and DIR. Alice
lifted the widowed girl from his side and bore
her tenderly cut of the room. We performed
the last service for him we could, and covered
him with the sweet scented leaves and blossoms,
for which Mrs. Mason stripped her last house
plant.
The next evening, at 9. Christmas night, was
the hour set for our weddings.
Ours must not be put off" said Floy. 'It is
always a bad sign to postpone wedding no
matter what are the circumstances
So DR.. Alice, our one unfailing standby,
through the aid of a legal friend, succeeded in
obtaining the license. Our landlord was JUS
tce of the peace, consequently we had the
requisites for legal marriage. Precisely at the
appointed hour, in an adjoining room TO the one
in which Scott lay, with his love keeping her
watch beside him. Floy and l. with DR.. Alice for
witness, made one.
So were Scott and Ida one at their appointed
time-not the one until death do you part"
but one that death cannot part.
At IL o'clock the two black men came with the
cart to bear Scott away. They brought up the
casket, into which they lifted the swollen. dis
figured form. No hands had touched him but
| those that loved him. and no others should.
Eyes, he shall have a Christian burial" said
DR.. Alice to the sobbing girl. Il can pray"
Then the black men bore him through the long
hall, down the back stairway, out through the
alley into the silent. cold star-lit night the two
widowed women arm-in- arm following; as sincere
mourners as ever followed any man to his last
resting place.
At the midnight hour, when the gay festivities
ali over the land were drawing to close, at the
cemetery at Brewster, two dusky men with
bowed heads leaned on their spades, and two
women knelt in the snow beside an open grave,
while one repeated in a clear, calm voice, which
rose above the sobs of the other
Il am the resurrection and the life; he that be-
lieveth in me, though he were dead yet shall he
live"
A half hour later we heard soft footsteps in
the hall, and Dr. Alice saying in soothing tones
to the broken hearted girl:
Unto you this day Savior is born"
Christmas wasaover had my promised gift;
SO had Scott DR.. Alice was right in predicting
my attack very light one. | was kept in my
bed only two or three days. Perhaps, having
my wife for nurse made it seem even lighter
than it The auburn haired doctor was
further correct iii prophesying that neither of
the girls, nor any one else in the house, would
contract the disease Indeed, there was not an
other case in Brewster that year.
But two weeks later, in another town in the
same section of the State, the contagion broke
out with terrible violence. People fed panic
stricken, leaving the victims of the plague with
out necessary care. DR.. Alice and Ida at once
went to the scene of distress. and labored night
and day for the helpless sufferers, until the cpl
demic was over
Ida has never left Dr. Alice They are work
ers together for burdened humanity. Now,
when Christmas eve comes while Floy and are
coniecturing what kind of demonstrations s'our
boy" will go through with over his stuffed stock
ing. in the town of Brewster may be seen two
slight women, side by side. loaded with baskets
and bundles, hurryng through back streets,
from howell to howell, bearing comforts to the
sick and distressed. When the midnight hour
arrives, they may be found kneeling in the Silent
city," beside snow covered mound upon which
winter flowers are strewn; and the gray-eyed
girls broken voice may be heard saying: ''Oh
Star of Bethlehem, will follow wherever Thou
shalt Lead