Idaho semi-weekly world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1875-1908, 1888-02-07

Margaret OIDuuu khsl iuih " Vs.
home. and of several minor associations
and nude over TO them small Accommodations
of money found in as many envelopes labeled
aud locked i'm Helen's desk. ! sent a message
In elisabeth Stubbs' Sunday school teacher
hsrcino her TO excuse our maid from prepar-
inc elaborate lessons, as we needed all her
n,;nd az home. In the meantime Aunt Char
lotte fell i'll from anxiety, and IN search OF
nurse went from Morning street TO Nespe,
street At the last house on Vesper street l
found Mrs. Newman, an ACCOMMODATING
woman, who did not object to sitting pehi'''
a screen when Aunt Charlotte was not ieei-
ing strong enough to SEQ her IN tine rooih' as
for Helen, she remained during several daysih
a stupor, thereby giving us an opportunity 10
arrange her affairs; then she opened hef
ewes and said she wished to have sentence
fixed on her forehead, this being, she ex-
planned, the custom of the dweilefs on the
Euphrates before the fall of Babylon. She
wished Mildred Smith to print it with CHAR
coal on brown wrapping paper
Mildred Smith began to cry when asked
her to do this, and said she couldn't PRINT,
her hand trembled so, and that she oldh
know what sort of sentence | wanted, ana
that perhaps Helen was going to die.
Aunt Charlotte thought we might ma
something in Helen's note books Mrs New
man. behind the screen, suggested timidly
verse of Scripture. "Print something"
said, going back to Mildred; "it doesn't much
matter what Mildred printed in trembling
letters the word "Helen," and we fastened 1t
upon her forehead.
"Helen"-many time we looked at that
name, wondering if the Helen we knew would
ever come back out of the multitudinous
forms and fanc.es which seemed to replace
her. Throughout all those strange weeks
my sister would not allow the removal OF
this bit of brown paper. 1t was as if she
wished to preserve some clew to her own
identity. As Aunt Charlotte said, "Poor
Helen was always taking notes, and now
she had taken n note on herself" Aside
from the one continual feeling that her
head was square block of wood, my sis
ter seemed to suffer 10 pain, and her tenn
perature and pulse were unaffected. She
talked incessantly-not wildly-but in a
quiet low tone, as if she were reciting
Sometimes she described herself as a
Chinese pagoda, with bells on every story;
sometimes she was large paper bag, COLI
tanning ounce packages and pound packages;
tnen she would suddenly become bass viol
or q Polish exile; and remember at this stage
she tod me that she wished to play Chopin
well, and therefore she must be filled with the
sufferings of his country!
Helen had taken a tremendous overdose of
mental food which the brain, in self-defense,
was gradually throwing Off. As long as she
continued to talk we had only to wait pa
tiently; but there would come moment when
10 Of thorrIt ho Il
mnsbed as to leave great emptiness and
this emptiness must be at once tenderly
treated and judiciousIy fed, or the difference
between extreme high pressure and want of
pressure would be fatal
The delicate question was, of what should
this mental cruel consist9 1t must be simple,
soothing and not likely to excite any train of
deep thought.
One day there came a sudden silence in
the room. Helen had ceased talking. Her
eyes were fastened upon me with a hungry,
eager look. | sat down by the bed, aud said
quietly and gently, in a matter of course way,
and feeling very sure of myself:
Sing song of sixpence, a pocket full of rye,
| Four and twenty blackbirds baked in q pie
| When the pie was opened the birds began to
sing.
1t was an unfortunate selection. Helen, to
my amaZement. instead of being gradually
lulled to sleep, interrupted me in startled
way, with touching weakness in her voice
as if its strength were spent.
"The pie represents the earth; the top of
the pie is the sky; when the pie was opened
means the break of day and then the birds
begin to sing; the king is the sun"-- And
thus she rambled OH from Mother Goose
rhymes, by way of German fairyland and
Morse legends, to the mysteries of ancient
mythology.
The doctors came and went Mildred. Aunt
Charlotte and | sat helpless in Heens bright
little sitting room. Mrs. Newman waited be-
hind the screen. That strange atmosphere
which creeps over a house in supreme mo-
ments crept into ours. The light that fell
shyly in through the half closed blinds did
not seem like light; the children's voices
coming up from the street were not
like childrens voices; we were in n
far away, shut off place of suspense
and drxd. We seemed unknown to
ourselves. Mildred sat pale and motionless.
looked at her, and wondered would she also
lave this strange affection. Would all of
Helens set have it3 Must they also pay this
terrible price for their love of humanity and
human advancement!
Was it love, pure and simpei Was it not
a folly, fashionl A verse ran through nv
mind, Whatsoever thy hand fndeth to do.
| DO 1t with thy might" What did that mean
Had 1t any connection with the philanthropic
women of the day? Helen had worked with
all her might She had lived two DAYS in one.
l do not think she did it from ambition or
from fashion; she did it from sort of neces.
slty. She was i'll the whirl of the time and
the customs of the time 1t would have been
useless TO stop her, for she could not stop.
went back in my thoughts to the days
when good Queen Bertha spun among her
maidens. Was that wiser and better time
when women spun, when women gathered at
the village fountain, morning and eveniugY
Were they happier than the women who
gather today around centers of art and OF
Sclences Physically they were stronger. Was
not that time of quiet, simple life time of
physical development, as today is a time of
mental development Might there not he n
! period coming later in history when both de-
Veiopments would be united and perfecteda
OF was something wrongl was it all wrong,
or was nothing wrong?
from Helen's room came discorneoto5I,,
the words-pre- Adamite-realism-b art
--,symbolisms-unities. Then the dreaded
silence We looked at each other. "Ouick
Mildred" l said nervously, "give me some,
ll'hs TO say-'omething to repeat over and
4 cannot think of anything" said Mildred
neipiessly Mrs. Newman came out from her
screen and with an evident professional
leelll,g mat She must come to our aid, whis-
pered: There's that lovely hymn. Sister
thou vert mild and lovelv.'p