St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-01-06
night Jim left his home.
CHAPTER w

SI1h1 LII I've
In hospital ward woman Law toss
ing from side to side in wild delirium-
woman with the remains of wonderful
beauty, though her hair was snowy
white on her brow. young though the
face that showed beneath it. By the
bed stood one of the cleverest, kindest,
but reputedly one of the most scepticaI
physicians England boasts. The case
interested" him. he said; for brain
diseases were his specially, and this
had some peculiar features.
Very grave looked his strong. clear
cut face as he listened to the incessant
raving, one persistent idea reappearing
in thousand forms as the poor creature
tried to unravel life's tangled maze.
WAS it so very, very wicked to spare
is justice, justice such as mortalS
know. so holy thing? Thou shalt
not bear false witness against thy
neighbor'-No, no, no, I'd never have
done that, never; only just to lie once
to spare fellow creature from such a
death-and what good would it have
been? Ii could not bring the dead to
life again--c0uld not undo one bit of
the Sin-Robert'S brother, too!-and
Robert loved him-said he would miss
something even in heaven if Jim never
came, Little JinI-the wee chap, whose
HlilpplllSo IG lttu DSSSCu tllUIC GIldIl
once to bear when they were lads to-
gether, and once, just once, his mother
only jim would be whipped, tOO-ah
-af-he told me all the story just, just
before.
where's Jim? Oh-God find Jim
for Roberts sake, and Christ's, who
Wandering still, poor soul! What
strange nonsense she does talk" said
the nurse, drawing near the bed. but
the physician silenced her with q look.
The next few hours would bring the
crisis, which he more feared than
hoped. Life it might bring, but it was
doubtful whether the poor storm-tossed
brain would ever right itself. If not
death would be preferable.
"WhO was l that L should dare to
send another creature out of Gods fair
wordP IL to cast stone? who had
played with two mems heartS-c0stly
plaYthings for such careless fingers?
'Oh, the lonelinesS-the loneliness -
never to dare to tell one man or woman
what one knew. and the thought that
was eating into ones very soull And
the little childreni To shrink from
touching even babe, and letting its
dear wee head nestle on ones breast,
where no babe of ones own might ever
All! ah! to be near Gne with such Sc
cret might make it dream of hell, and
baby souls go to heaven when they
sleep. VIII they let me hold one when
die, do you think?"
The voice grew quieter and the words
slower, and sort of sleep came; yet
the physician. who had seated himself
now by the bed, never shifted his posi-
ton. never moved, as it seemed, for
hours, his arms folded, his brow lined
with thought. A strange drama had
shaped itself to his quick insight to the
poor girls random talk. Midnight
passed, and brought change in the pa
tient. The fever lessened, and the rest
less tossing ceased, and by and by the
or ay dawn crept into the room.
The eyes opened, and a wan smile
played on the lips.
Come near, come near, and l'll tell
you; you look kind-kind and wise. |
have been in hell-hell! Oh, how deep
it $50 deep! Yet what do you think
l learnt there? Love is deeper still,
and Gods justice better than MANS
not worse, not w0rse!'
"Mad, poor soul. quite mad; Just as
you fe ared." sighed the nurse. turning
away. her cOmcly, usually phlegmatic
face sqdder than its wont; but. though
the physician sighed, too, as he looked
into the eyes that were turned upon his
own, yet there seemed mercy to him in
the fact he read there. Mad she might
be, as men count madness; but, though
reason had failed in the lonely conflict
with her life'S hard problem. strange
and mystic peace now rested on her
soul.
As he turned away from the infirm-
airy. wearied with his vigil, and worn
with the burden OF human agony that
ChrSt-like, though nominally unchris-
tlan. he ever bore, his agnoSticiSn grew
one with alteration as there came to his
soul across the centuries, like an echo
OF his patients word, the old. old say
ing: Higher than heaven, what cans't
thou do; deeper than hell, what cans't
thou know?"
1t was after skirmish in the Soudan.
private soldier lay dying on the sand,
officer knelt by him, the tears making
channels down his furrowed cheeks,
blackened in that days futile conflict.
you were young and l was old, nv
lad; you shouldn't have given your life
for mine," murmured the officer, press
ing tenderly the hand he was holding in
his own.
"Thank God! thank Godi Eve saved
better life than my own; i who-took
one worthier still. But, o Christ!
Christ! the past remains: deal. thou
with that, with that!" faltered the dying
soldier; aud, as the voice ceased, the
man that human pity had spared went
TO meet the divine.
'l;astus Had No Doubts.