The Portland daily press., 1897-11-06
(Chapter IV.)

newly arrived from Tangier on their way
to Fez. They were drawn up amid a
throng of the townspeople before the Pal-
ace of the Grand Shereef, and with the
Moorish passion for powder play they
were firing their matchloeks into the air
as salute and signal. Sight of the nall
| bags slung at their sides and of the
Shereef's satchel which they had come
some miles out of their course to deliver,
suggested the thought that sthey might
be carrying letters for me, which could
never come to my hands unless they were
given to me now. The conriers spoke
some little English. L explained my case
! to them, and begged them to open their
| bags and see if anything had been sent
forward in my name from Tangier to Fez.
| True to the phlegmatio character of the
Moor in all affairs of common life, they
| protested that they dare not do SO; the
| bags were tied and sealed, and none dare
open them. If there were letters of mine
inside they must go on to Fez and then
return to Tangier. But with the usual
results / had recourse to my old expe-
dent; bribe broke the seals, the bags
were searched, and two letters were found
for me.
The letters, like those that came to Fez,
were one from my wife and one from
Wenman. l could not wait until ] was
alone, but broke open the envelopes and
read my letters where stood. A little
crowd of Moors had gathered about me-
men, youths, boys, and children-the rag
ged inhabitants of the streets of the holy
city. They seemed to be chatting and
laughing at my expense, but paid no
heed to them.
Just as before. SO now. and for the
same reason, 1 read ,Wenman' 8 letter first.
l remem bered every word of it, for every
word seemed to burn into my brain like
flame.
"My dear fellow" wrote Wenman, 81
think it my duty to tell you that your
littlesson is seriously ILL
1 knew it, knew it, who knew it. so
we'll as l, though l was more than a
thousand miles away?
''It is a strange fact that he ia down
with the very disease of the throat which
you have for so long a time made your
especial study. Such at least is our dag
| nosis, assisted by your own discoveries.
The case has now reached that stage
where we must contemplate 1.-THE posi-
bility of the operation which you have
performed with such amazing results.
Our only uneasiness arises from the cir
oumstance that this operation has hither-
to been done by no one except yourself.
We have, however, your explanations and
your diagrams, and on these we must
rely. And even if ou were here this is
not a case in which your own hand
euouiu po eHgag0u InSrelofo fes1 ssS-
sured, MY dear fellow, etc., etc."
Blookheads! If they had not done 1t
already they must not do it at all. l
| would telegraph from Tangier that / was
coming. Not a case for my hand! Fools,
fools 1t was a case for my hand only.
| l did not stop to read the friendly part
of Wennan S letter, the good souls ex-
preston of sympathy and solicitude, but
in the fever of my impatience, sweating
| at q pd hToa III jDfn lOnI nv-
CARNATIONS, l toresopen the letter from my
wife. My eyes SWAN over the sheet, and
| | missed much at that first reading, but
the essen :ial part of the message stood
out before me as if written in red.
"We so delighted :. your
letters. Trust make you
strong and we'll. We are having
I am sorry to tell you, dearest, that our
darling is very i'll. 1t is. his throat again.
This is Friday and he has grown worse
every day since I wrote on Monday.
When he can speak he is always calling
for you. He thinks if you were here he
would soon be well. He is very weak,
for he can take no nourishment, and he
has grown SO thin, poor little fellow. But
he looks very lovely, and every night he
says in his prayers, God bless papa, and
| bring him safely home. -
l could bear no more, the page in my
hands was blotted out, and for the first
| time since | became man | broke into a
| flood of tears.
| o, Omnipotent Lord Of Heaven and
earth, to think that this child is as life
| of my life, and soul of my soul, that he. is
dying, that alone OF all men living can
| save him, and that We are twelve hun
dred miles apart Wipe them ont, o
Lord-wlpe out this accursed space divid-
ing us; annihilate it. Thou canst do all.
| Thou canst remove mountains and this
| is but little thing to Thee. Give me
my darling under my hands and 1 will
| snatch him out of the arms of death
| itself
| Did utter such words aloud out of the
great tempest of my trouble? l cannot
say; do not know. Only when | had
lifted my eyes from my wife's letter did
L become conscious of where l was and
what was going on around me. | was
| still in the midst of the crowd Of idlers
and they were grinning, and laughing,
and jeering, and mocking at the sight of
| tears-weak, womanish, stupid tears-on
| the face of a strong man.
| was ashamed, but | was yet more an
| CRY, and to escape from the danger of an
outbreak of my wrath [ turned quickly
| aside, and walked rapidly down a narrow
alley. AS l did so a second paper dropped
| to the ground from the She of my wife s
AOOIoI. 0clOIS utiu p1Chcu ~ up saw
what it was. 1t was message from my
boy himself, in the handwriting of his
nurse.
"He is brighter tonight" the good
creature herself wrote at the top of the
page, land he would insist on debating
this letter."
My dear, dear papa"
When I had read thus far was con-
scious again that the yelling, barking,
bleating mob behind were looking after
me. To avoid the torment Of their gaze,
l hurried on, passed down q second alley,
and then turned into narrow opening
which seemed TO be the mouth OF third.
But paid small heed to my footsteps,
for all my mind was with the paper
which / wished to read. Finding. myself
in quiet place at length, l read 1T. The
words were my little darling's own, and
1 could hear his voice as If he were speak
ing them.
"My dear, dear papa, I am i'll with my
throat. and sometimes L can't speak.
Last night the ceiling was falling down
on me, and the fire was coming up to the
bed But Pm very nearly all right now.
We are going to have thanksgiving
party soon-lne, and Jumbo, and Scotty
the puppy. When are yoQ coming home?