The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1897-09-29

I
he had been permitted to render then;
and afterward. when of her own sweet
Will she wrote to him first little note
of thanks and later letter of in
quiry in respect to a work of charity
which had occurred to her, only he
could ever know what vista of hope
had opened before his dazzled magma
ton. The doctor was man enough to
feel that she was a woman whom for
herself he might love with all his heart;
while he was moreover sufficiently prac-
teal not to overlook altogether the
wealth which by her fathers death hal
become hers. consideration delight
fully restful to contemplate after the
long years of struggle against poverty
and disappointment which had been
his. And so he had builded his fair air
castle but TO see it fall like house of
cards before the sick mans unconscious
bombs of truth. But the doctor was IA
good fellow, and, better still. a good
friend; and so he only called himself a
fool for his dreams and thanked heaven
he had excuse to write certain letter
which he hoped might bear good fruit.
TO dream of seeing Dorothy standing
now and then by his bedside, a dream
which seemed to fill him with peace
more potent for good than all the doc
tors medicines-the fancy so possess
ing his Imagination that when one day
he awolle. his great, hollow eyes, eager
w searching the room, came back to the
doctors face with a look of helpless
disappointment. IL thought she was
here" he whispered, weakly. 81 have
been dreaming"
"Oh. it's all right, old fellow" his
friend returned, swallowing something
in his throat as he clasped the poor thin
fingers in a tremulous grasp of graf
ulation. 1t was as by miracle that
poor Neil had been saved. Its all
right. Go 10 sleep and dream that she
is coming by and by" And, family
smiling, as though ne accepted the
promise with the simple credullty of
a child, Neil closed his eyes obediently
and slept again.
He did not speak of the fancy when
next he awol<e. seeming listlessly TO ac-
cept the conditions as he found them
the trained nurse, deft, quiet fellow,
who had replaced loquacious Mrs
! Bowen, the doctor coming and going,
the flowers on the table, the recur-
rent broth and potions. But in few
! days the doctor, sitting by the bedside
! cheerily observed: by the way, you're
! getting almost strong enough to begin
TO think about business a bit, aren't
]
mise between the mines, now-you re-
member thai Miss Meredith's lawyer
wrote you about it. Of course YOU
haven't been giving IL any thought,
! but-er-"
mo, l haven't been giving it much
thought" the invalid returned, a shade
passing across his face. "They must
see Bartels, if there is any hurry"
HIN, yes" the doctor indifferently
rejoined. "But-well, you remember
my telling you that Miss Meredith had
written TO ask me about the families OF
the men who were killed in the mine,
she wanted TO do something for them"
! Neil looked up with startled expires
sion in his great eyes. Il did not
know" he faltered, plucking nervously
at the bedclothes. You said she had
written, but"
Possibly it did not occur to me to
explain" the doctor nonchalantly re-
joined, staring hard at something out
of the window. "Bnt she wrote to ask
about that just at the time of her law
yer's letter suggesting terms of COM
promise-just before you were taken
down with this relapse, owing 70 your
COMPOUNDED lunacy in rampaging round
when you should have been in bed.
dropped a line to the attorney telling
him you were beyond business pro tenn,
and then, as l was answering Miss Mere
diths letter, it occurred to me to ex-
plain TO her as well why her proposition
must be laid on the shelf But her
heart seems to have been set on ar
ranging that compromise somehow;
when a woman will, she will, you know;
and so-well, you recall how Mohammed
went to the mountain under the stress
of circumstances"
DO you mean-oh, what do you
mean?" gasped Neil, his gaunt features
strangely working, his eyes hungrily
|
Yes; she is herewith her aunt,
typical society old maid. She will
amuse you, that aunt" So the doctor
placidly went on, thinking it wise to
say no more of Dorothy for the mo-
ment. 'She is so obviously out of her
element here, so uncompromisingl
down on the west and all things west
ern. / fancy she leads Miss Dorothy
rather a dance with her protests and
aristocratic agonies, but"
when can / see her?" demanded the
sick man, in tone of breathless plead
ing. will she see me? will she
Gomez"
why, certainly. AS / said before,
rather think she has come on purpose
to see you, old fellow. And if you feel
well enough-though / cannot have
you talking business today - but if
you would like to see her for mo-
ment-"
Like to see her! Great heavens, doc
tor, don't keep me waiting. l have
waited so long."