Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1894-08-02
CHAPTER NNI.
Tlils III STINL, ~, l,IlE -L.NAl,S


1t was now moro than three weeks since
Bcrnardinc's return to London. She had
gone back to her old homo at her unclc's
secondhand hookshop. She spent her
time in busting the books and arranging
them in some kind of order, for old Ter
eiah Holmc had ceased To interest himself
much in his belongings and sat in the lit
tie inner room reading, as usual, Gihhon 5
"History of Rome" Customers might
please themselves about coming. Zcrviah
Holmc had never cared about amassing
money, and now he cared even less than
before a frugal breakfast, frugal din
ncr, n box full of snuff and shelf full of
Gibbon were the old mans only require
mcnts, an matchmaking life and therefore
lovclcss one, since the less we ask for the
less we get,
When Malvina, his wife, died, people
said, "Hc will miss her. =
But he did not seem to miss her He
took his breakfast, his pinch OF snuff, his
Gibbon, in precisely the same way as before
and in the same quantities.
When Bcrnardinc first fell i'll, people
said: "Hc will be sorry. He is fond of her
In his own queer way.
But he did not seem to be sorry. He did
not understand anything about illness.
The thnnrht If 1t worried him. so he nut
1t from him Ho remembered vaguely
that Bcrnardinc's father had suddenly be-
como i'll, that his powers had all failed
him, and that ho fingered on, just wreck
Of humanity, and then died. That was
90 years ago. Then he thought of Der
nartlnc and said to himself, History re-
pcats itself" That was all
Unkind? No, for when it was told him
that she must go away he looked at her
wondcringly and then went out. 1t was
very rarely that he went out. He came
back with $50.
when that is done, F." he told her, Il can
find more"
When she went away, people said, He
will be lonely.
But he did not seem to be lonely. They
asked him once, and he said, Il always
have Gibbon. "
And when she came back they said, He
will be glad.
But her return seemed to make no diff
ference to him.
He looked at her in his usual sightlcss
manner and asked her what she intended
to do.
II shall dust the books, she said
"Ah, l dare say they want it, " he re-
marked.
Il shall get little teaching to dc" she
continued And l shall take care of
you"
"Ah, he said vaguely. He did not I'M
derstand what she meant. She had never
been very near to him, and he had never
been very near to her. He had taken but
little notice of her comings and goings.
She had either never tried to win his inter
est or had failed, probably the latter.
Now she was going to take care of him.
This was the home to which Bernardino
had returned. She came back with many
resolutions to help to make his old age
bright She looked back now and saw how
little she had given of herself to her aunt
and her uncle. Aunt Malyina was dead,
and Bcrnardnc did not regret her Uncle
Zcrviah was here still. She would be ten
der with him and win his affection She
thought she could not begin better than
by looking after his books. Each one was
busted carefully. The dingy old shop was
restored to cleanliness. Bernardine became
interested in her task Il will work up
the business, she thought. She did not
care in the least about the books, she new
er looked into them except to clean them,
but she was thankful to have the occupa-
ton at hand, something to help her over .
difficult time, for the most trying part
Of an illness is when we are i'll no longer;
when there is no excuse for being idle and
listlcss; when, in fact, VIC could work IL
we would. Then is the moment for us to
begin on anything which presents itself
until we have the courage and the inclina-
ton to go back to our own particular work,
that which we have lonRed to do and
about which we now care nothing.
So Bernardinc busted books and some
times sold them. All the time she thought
of the Disagrccablc Man She missed him
in her life. She had never loved before,
and she loved him. The forlorn figure rose
before her, and her eyes filled with tears.
Sometimes the tears fell on the books and
spotted them.
Still, on the whole, she was bright, but
she found things difficult She had lost
her old enthusiasts, and nothing yet had
taken their place. She went back to the
circle Of her acquaintance and found that
she had slipped away from touch with
been busily at work on matters social and
educational and political. She thought
them hard, the women especially; they
thought her weak. They We're disappoint-
ed In her. She was now looking for the
more human qualities in them, and she,
too, was disappointed.
You have changed, /" they said to her,
but then, Of course, you have been i'll,
haven't you'"
With these strong, active people to bc III
and useless IS a reproach, and Bcrnardine
felt it as such But she had changed, and
she herself perceived ii In many ways. 1t
was not that she was necessarily better,
but that she was different, probably more
human and probably less self confident.
She had lived In world Of books, and she
had burst through that bondage and come
out into q wider and frcer land