Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1889-07-05
CHAPTER XIII.
MRS. GRIFFIN


nette had fallen at the railway station
lasted so long that the friendly telegraph
operator became thoroughly frightened,
and sent one Of the hangers-on for the
nearest physician.
He came. His face wore a very grave
expression as he bent over the fOrlOrR lit
tie figure lying upon one OF the hard
wooden benches, and laid his hand upon
the wrist Of the unconscious girl.
There must be some place near by to
which she can be taken, and where she
can be made more comfortable" he SAID
half lnterrOgatiVely.
The hotel is half mile away, you
know, was the answer. "But there's
Mrs. Griffin, my own landlady, just
around the corner of the next street"
THE very place. We will go there.
But, objected the telegraph operator,
"the lady's friends may appear at any mo-
ment to take her home. She is Miss Lyn-
ton, of BOnnyview Hall"
Yes, yes, impatiently. "Of course I
recognized her. But only a mailman
would dream of dragging her away on a
| long journey in her present condition.
She must receive attention at once, or I
will not be answerabIe for the conse-
quences."
Toinette's own hired carriage still
waited outside the little station. and in
this she was conveyed to a three-story
lodging house in a quiet street.
Mrs. Griffin, a woman past middle age,
with q kind though somewhat heavy look
ing face, consented to take her in on
simply learning that a young lady had
fallen down in a sWOOn at the railway
station.
Poor dear, she said. You may carry
her up stairs to the front room and lay
her on my own bed.
| She hurried for smelling salts and a
! plentiful supply of cold water, then fol-
/ lowed the good doctor into the upper
/ chamber, where the patient lay extended
on comfortable bed.
As she approached nearer, and looked
/ for the first time on the pale, lovely face,
| with its closed eyes and tangled golden
/ curls falling loosely over the pillow, her
| whole expression changed
| Good heavensi" she exclaimed, recOil-
| ing, with angrily knitted brOWs and q
| look of unutterable CONSERVATION, almost
of fear; who is this girl you have brought
! to the shelter of my roof"
| Her name is Toinette Lynton, an
! swered the doctor. She lives with her
| guardian, Major Yillars, at BonnyView
| Hall.
"Ah! Tits Toinette, and not the other
one"
Mrs. Griffin bent lower, earnestly scru-
tinized every feature of the unconscious
! girl, and her brow grew darker, her eX-
! preston more troubled, as she muttered
/ harshlv:
aHow like! Strange that her child
! should be brought to my door after all
| these years
The doctor was curiousIy watching
| every movement the woman made. He
| knew that Mrs. Griffin had abruptly made
| her appearance in the village some three
months before, after an absence of several
years.
She was voted Strange" by her i'm
mediate neighbOrs; but as she seemed
! quiet and unoffending, and worked hard
to earn an honest living, they soon ceased
| to comment upon her pecuharities.
! But what did she mean by @the other
One?" AS he busted himself with efforts
to restore TOinette to consciousness,
| DR.. Dodge ventured to inquire:
you have seen Miss LyntOn before?
When you lived in the neighborhOod years
"I knew her mother, was the brief,
| harsh response, accompanied by a look
that efectually silenced the loquacious
! physician.
When Toinette began to show signs of
returning life consciousness, the woman
/ touched DR.. DOdge's arm, and said firmly:
Take your patient away as soon as pos
| sible. She must not remain here.
"Why nOt?" he angrily demanded. You
seem to have plenty of room; and it can't
be a question of money. Miss LyntOn is
able to pay any price. You wouldn't turn
a sick dog into the stTeet?"
SShe must go, was the surly answer.
But when her senses came back, TOi-
nette was too weak to rise from her bed.
After the exposure, fatigue and anxiety
Of the past few days she was threatened
with a relapse into the fever from which
she had never fully recovered.
Her first inquiry, as she opened heI
eyes and glanced eagerly around the room,
/ was for Philip RaVnOr
as the down train in? Has he come
back?"
She was told there had been no train
from either direction since she had fallen
ILL
Send some one to the station, she
| commanded, and when Mr.. RaynOl
comes, bring him here at once"
She tossed restlessly on her bed, start
ing and flushing at every sound. She felt
absolutely certain that Philip would turn
| back the moment he received her message
It told him ALL and even DUlcie would see
the folly Of longer keeping up the farce.
But the night wore slowly on, the morn
ing express rushed kissing past, Other
| trains succeeded it, and there was nc
Philip, not even message.
He never got the dispatch sent,
sObbed Toinette, Wringlng her hands de-
spairingly, or he would hasten bach
4 without the loss OF a moment.
! The reader knows with what utter dis
dain Philip had treated that ineOherent
message.
Long before morning broke, Mrs. Griffin
had worked herself into q state Of nervous
excitement scarcely eXcelled by that Of
! Toinette herself. She realized the impos-
/ sibility Of getting rid of the sick girl fOl
| several days TO come, and walked the mar
row hall with restless footsteps and frown-
ing brow.
sHe must not see mel" she muttered
foot. He would know me, even after all
these years.
Hearing the doctors footsteps Feeeding
from the door OF the sick room, just as the