Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1896-12-04

grow TO i.s a big man. His little fingers
werc so struug-he hurt me sometimes.
What "a great mustachc. knew you had
been n soldier And the skin of your face
is brown and little Tough. What is thisH
What il this Stephen, dear? Is this
wound?'
Eyes, y" answered the prodigal, speaking
for the first time. "Ihut is IA sword cut
l got that in the last war. am a colonel
In the Chilean army, or was before re
signed
There was something wrong, something
subtle, which the dying woman's dullcr
senses failed to detect. Her son, her Ste
phen, was quiet and had not much to say
for himself There was no enthusiasm,
but rathera restraint in his manner, more
especially toward Joyce.
The girl noticed it, but even her small
experience of humankind had taught her
that large fair skinned men are often
thus.
After the first excitement Of the return
was over it became glaringly apparent that
Stephen had arrived just in time. His
mother fell into II happy sleep before sun
set and when the active young doctor
came little later in the evening he shook
his head.
For the first time Joyce's courage
seemed to give way When she had been
alone, she was brave enough; but now
that her brother was there, womanlike, she
seemed to turn to him with a sudden fear.
Mrs Leach lived through that night in
the same semicomatOse state. The two
watchers sat in her room until supper
time, when they left their mother in
charge of hired nurse whose services
Joyce had been forced to seek.
L nab. na1 ne
last to find his tongue, and he talked in
his quiet, almost gentle voice, such as
some big men possess, not about himself
or the past but about Joyce and the fu'
ture
In a deliberate, businesslike way he pro
ceeded to investigate the affairs of the dy-
ing woman and the prospects of her daugh-
term a word he asserted his authority
as a brother, and Joyce was relieved and
happy to obey him.
At 10 o'clock Stephen quietly insisted
+ that Joyce should go to bed while he lay
down, all dressed, on the sofa in the dining
/ room.
They went up stairs together and told
the nurse Of this arrangement. Joyce re-
manned for some moments by the bedside
watching her mothers peaceful sleep, and
when she turned she found that Stephen
had quietly slipped away.
The next morning Mrs Leach was fully
conscious and appeared to he stronger
Nevertheless, she knew that the end was
near. She called her two children to her
bedside, and, turning her blind eyes toward
them, spoke in broken sentences:
II am ready now am ready" she
said
"Dcars, am going to your father-and
i II -. a
left you together ] always knew Stephen
would come back. found it written ev-
erywherc in the Bible. Stephen-kiss me,
dear"
/ The man leaned over the bed and kissed
| her.
"Ah, " she sighed, "how wish could
see you-iust once before l die. JoyceW
she added suddenly turning to her daugh-
| ter, who stood as the other side Of the bed,
"tell me hat he Is like Butt know
! 1 know feel it. Listen! He is tall and
spare like his fathcr His hair is black,
/ like his father sit was black before he
went away His eyes, | know arc dark
/ almost black. He is Talc--liao Span
iard!'
Joyce, looking across the bed with slow
/ horror dawning i'm her face. looked into
/ pair of blue eyes beneath tawny hair, cut
/ short as Il soldiers hair should be She
/ looked upon man big, broad, fair-Eng-
lish from crown to toe-and the quiet COM
mand of his lips and eyes made her say;
Eyes, mother, yes. -
For some moments there was silence.
Joyce stood pale and brcathless, wonder
ing what this might mean, Then the dy
ing woman spoke again:
Kiss me, - she said. lam going.
Stephen hrst-my firstborn And now,
Joyce-and now kiss each othcr-across
the bed l want to hear i'll want-to
-yOur-father. "
With last effort she raised her hands,
seeking their heads. A first Joyce hest
tated then she leaned forward, and the
old woman's chilled fingers pressed their
lips together, That was the end
Half an hour aftnrward Joyce and this
man stood facing each other in the little
dining room. He began an explanation
at once.
stephen" he said, "was shot-out
there-as II traitor could not tell her
that | did not mean to do this, but what
else could do?"
At the door he turned to justify himself
81 still think " he said gravely, that it
was the best thing to do "
Joyce made no answer. There was
something very pathetic in the distress of
this strong man, facing, as it We're, an
emergency of which he felt the delicacy to
be beyond his cleverness to handle.
Last night" he went on, 81 made all
the necessary arrangements for your future
just as Stephen would have made them
us a brother might have done. The
and were brother officers in very wild
army. Your brother-was not a good
man. None of us was. -
They stood thus--he watching her face
with his honest soft blue eyes, she failing
to meet his glance
May 1 come back again." he asked
suddenly.
She gave little gasp, but made no an
swer.
81 will come back in six months, " he
announced quietly, and then he closed the
door behind him. -Cornhill Magazine.