The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1894-12-12

Engagements, and tneSe TWO started per
fectly heartwhole. AT the end Of a fort
night Eustace was very far gone indeed,
but just as ne arrived Al the point of con-
Tossing much to himself in his private
medltatiOns their meetings suddenly
stopped short. He no longer encountered
her on her jetty nor on any Of her favor
lite walks, and he would not attempt to
waylay her in the house; he felt himself
as il were on parole. and submitted I'M
conditionally- But it made wonderful
difference in the attractions of Mylton
Pogis: the little parade seemed to have
grown dull and lifeless, and he found him
self signing for the return of Carry, or,
better still, for that Of old Nanny, as Miss
Dove always called her duenna.
Had Garry had the slightest idea of the
peril in which her brother stood she would
have undoubtedly flown to the rescue. Her
little boy was nearly well again by this
time, but she could not make up her mind
to forsake her brood again. as Eustace
ssnt such good accounts of himself, and
beside his occasional mention of Miss Dove
convinced her that he was in excellent
hands. What a truly marvellous gift you
women have Of reading character from
mere name,' he had observed in one let
ter. Il often laugh at myself when l look
at Miss Dove and recall your graphic pic
tura." And in another: 1.-The old lady real
ly outdoes you in care for my health;
she is always lecturing me, and when we
had shower or two the other day 1 al
most faDcied she would have made me
buy pair Of glloshes." These romances
he now recalled with some embarrassment.
and wished he had not 50 completely given
the reins to his fancy; if it came to an
nouncing an engagement he would look
rather foolish.
How long this posture of affairs could
have been maintained it is difficult to say;
Eustace would probably have soon reached
the limits of his patience, but before it
had lasted quite a week this new aloOf
ness was suddenly broken up.
Either he missed Tabitha's company SO
much that dizziness drove him to excuses
In the way of eXertion, or he overrated his
newly restored strength. for he took n
chill; but one evening Mary Anne, carry
ing In his supper found him stretched on
her experience that, depositing the tray
with a bang. she burst in upon her mis-
tress with the intelligence that she
thought Capt. Harfeld was dying. Down
flew Tabitha TO find her ledger, not dead
indeed, but PROSTATE, white and painting,
and clearly in need of aid of some kind.
He was not unconscious. but tried to gasp
out: stupid Mary Anne! L told her not
to brighten you"
Brandy seemed the most obvious thing
to try, and raising his head on her arm,
Tabitha managed to force a little into his
month. Then while Mary Anne ran bon
netless for the doctor, she sat beside him.
watching him distressfully, with a sense
]
to do nothing, but without the fainteSt
idea Of what to do. But at least she had
the humanity to refrain from asking him
every minute whether he felt better she
was horribly frightened and overwhelmed
with a sense of her own incapacity as
nurse, and, moreover, in spite Of her very
real and deep concern she could not help
feeling that his new development added
greatly to the awkwardness of the situa-
ton. Supposing just supposing-he were
to die. She passed a decidedly mauvais
quart d'heure till the doctor came. though
the patient began to revive a little, and
drew himself up into a less death-llke
posture AS DR.. Dibbs hustled in she
slipped away, and awaited his coming out
in her little back dining-room.
She was not much afraid Of him, luckily;
he was an old friend. and she knew his
wife. They were aware Of her circum-
stances, and though they might langh at
the result of her experiment, they would
never gossip about it.
''Why, Miss Tabitha," said he presently
as she waylaid him, you look worse than
the patient. / think / had better prescribe
for you. You need not be frightened about
our friend; he will probably be all right
in the morning. He must keep quiet, and
be a little more careful
Then you think need not send for his
sister?' said Tabitha. That would be
respite. She did rather dread encounter
ing Mrs Romer after the silly fraud they
nad practlceQ upon ner.
"Oh, dear, no; not unless he should get
another attack, which l see no reason to
fear. He has had rheumatic fever, he tells
me, and il has left his heart in rather
funny state. He mustn't go trampng over
Ninebarrow Down and the White Nose
again. You and your old woman-what
il her name?-Mrs. Bloomer-must keep
him in bette" order. Don't you worry
about him. She is a famous nurse if he
should get another bad turn"
rTT,t.
she has been sent for to her own family.
1 am expecting her back every day. but
for the moment am without her"
"Oh SO there Is nobody but you to look
after him?"
And Mary Anne responded Tabitha.
fortunate l should never have taken In
an invalid If he had not had sister with
him. but she had to go home for some
reason. l had no notion of turning my
house into a hospital"
She spoke with great asperity. Half an
hour ago she had fe,t ready to lay down
her life for the sick man; now, in the re-
vu.sion Of hearing that there was no cause
for alarm, she felt quite indignant; and in
the fear Of betraying too tender an interest,
she appeared almost savage.
DR.. Dibbs looked at her, and his eyes
twinked
Never mind" he said. 'If he should
be going to be H., which I don't think is
the case, we can soon get him hospital
nurse. and you shall come and stay with
Laura. IL look in early tomorrow, and L
expect he viii be all right
AS he foretoid, the next morning the pa
tient was down stairs. and almost himself
again. There were no more pa,pitations:
any talk of sending for either sister or
nurse would have seemed absurd. He did
rather expect that his ,andlady would have
come after breakfast to inquire for him.
and was lite disappointed that she. did
not but contented herself with civil mes
sage through Mary Anne.
In the afternoon that young woman, GO
ing out with a tray, had left the door ajar,
and he heard a lady's voice in the front
hal.
'WeI. Tabitha, dear" and there was the
sound of a kiss, how is your white ele-
plant? Dick says"
And then from Tabtha: "Oh. take care.
Hush! Come up stairs He viii hear
you"
Mrs Dibbs was on rather intimate terms
with Tabitha, and when they had reached
the latter's sanctum took the privilege of
friendship 10 chaff her numerically about
her .odger and the complications to which
her experiment had given rise. She was
one of those people 20 whom a joke is all
important and she would sooner risk en-
dangerng friendship than miss insisting
on the comicai aspect of affairs She wound
up with a piece of advice
"We1. my dear, to my mind by far the
best thing you could do wosld be to marry
him.
Marry him. cried Tabitha, her face
ahame Never! He is the very last man
+ta word T c0u1d ever draa m of m rrxy-