The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1891-04-10
chances, he could estimate their worth

Tar more accurately than could his mon
itor; his opportunity for observation had
been greater, and, as he had stated, he
had followed the case from the begin
ming. Tohis mind the question involved |
was less me of choice between life and
death than an estimate Of endurance /
under diverse conditions and OF hours
ere death should come. His pain had
been lesssning for several hours, and a |
torpor was gradually stealing over his
lower limbs, whose significance was un-
mistakable. His brain was clear and abb |
normally active, and he lnyoluntar1y
trusted to his strength of viii TO chnch |
his grasp on life until his purpose should
| be ACCOMPLISHED. Like most forcefu
men he cut his margins close, and some
times neglected to make sufficient allow
ance fer nature.
He waved the opiate aside.
81 don't intend TO sleep yet," he de-
clared. Prop me UP trife, please, and
| give me something to fight this cursed
weakness. You look fellow to be trust
ed, aside from the order. and want you
to help instead of hindering me. Ny mar
rage before IL o'clock tomorrow isn't
! simply question of anxiety or NORTH
cation toa woman, though that would be
bad enough. It's question of food, raj
ment, hope, ioy-all the things which
| would goto make life full and, IN a meas
ure, satisfying, as set against the devils
grind of poverty and dependence, and
for woman physically incapacitated for
Il holding her own In the scramble.
Royal put the rejected opiate aside
and did as the patient requested. Then
he drew chair TO the bedside and com
posed himself to listen. There would be
no rest for the bruised body, he knew,
until the mind should be at liberty TO
rest also. He must get the load, what
ever 1t might be, transferred TO his own
shoulders, or the case would be beyond
his skill. 1t must be done quietly, too,
for excitement might bring on internal
, hemorrhage, of which there was immi-
nent danger.
Take it easy he said gently. I'm
going TO help you. Put what you've got
to say IN as few words as possible and
| then leave the matter TO me. You've
overt axed your strength already, but
there isn't any hurry now. We've got
eight hours before that train goes. But
first L want TO suggest something.
: Wouldn't viii set the matter right for
the young Lady,"
The patient shook his head
Not mine, he answered. I'm worth
nothing outside of my profession. It's a
worse tangle than you think. Listen.
: This is how the affair stands"
Divested Of all superiority of detail,
. for which there was neither time nor
strength, the facts of the case were
these: Some fifty years before there had
! bec@ : c--z..E-al n enc branch of the
Royal family over the disposition Of GER
tain property vested in northern secur-
ties. The family consisted Of two broth
ers and a sister, and the property be-
: longed to a maiden aunt who made her
home with them. The aunt's affections
had seemed pretty equally divided be-
tween ngphews and niece, and without
overt declaration to that effect on her
part, the family feeling had been that
the young people would share and share
alike In the property, When, therefore.
: on the old lady's death it had been dis
covered that the entire estate had been
willed to the niece without reservation,
the nephews not unnaturally suspected,
and what is more, being men Of choleric
temper, proclaimed aloud that there had
been unCue influence.
1t is true that, while the men disported
themselves according to their pleasure,
the woman had nursed and tended her
relative with loving care and patience.
BI1t this did not strike the brothers as af-
: fording sufficient reason for the viii be-
ing made so unequivocally In their sis
tiers favor, since anxiety and care and
household pains and troubles fell natu-
rally within a woman's province. Per-
haps they recognized the family foible,
too, and the fact that to those who love
dominion the possession of wealth is apt
to secure 1t. They forbore from suit to
break the will, first because the family
lawyer assured them that they had not a
leg to stand on, and furthermore because
their very souls abhorred public scan
dal. They made evident their sense of
wrong in forcible and intemperate Ian
guage, giving their sister to understand
that they were distinctly disappointed in
her, and then leaving her to her con-
science.
For many years family relations were
somewhat strained, and then the war
broke out and all smaller fires were e1-
tinguishedin the national condagration.
Miss Royal, by that time woman past
her first youth, and saddened by dead
romance, retired to lonely plantation
! in the mountains of Virginia, where she
led an isolated life, filed only with old
books old influences and old imaginings.
Such neighbors Of her own caste as were
accessible were people with views as
primitive and experience but little larger
than her own. Her life and environ
ment interplayed to foster conceptions
Of duty and Of moral obligation such as
to the world at large would be untena-
BILE, and, as time went on, her views
! became more and more impractical,
conservative and romantic. She was a
woman OF sturdy viii and donineering
spirit. and. while kind of heart by ma
] tHre, prone 80 let that kindness flow
only along channels of her own making