The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1897-05-08

over-exertion bringing about relapse,
when, as is usual il such cases, the con-
ditions were far more grave than in the
first illness.
Now he was delirious, babbling Of his
worlds fair lady, his Dorothy, his
sweetheart, until his voice had grown
to be but husky whisper as he sank
down into the very shadows of death,
while the doctor, listening, understood,
comprehending what mischief he had
inadvertently wroughtby his half-truth:
about Dorothy's letter.
It was an amazing revelation to him,
a revelation that left him very grave.
He had not been q man if he had not
perceived that Dorothy Meredith was
"a rarely beautiful girl, if he had not
felt the winning sweetness of her per-.
sonality. he had enjoyed but bare
speaking acquaintance with her during
most of her stay at Windy Gulch; but
he had fallen into habit then of watch.
ing to see her come and go as he idled
away the hours before his Office door,
his thoughts lingering about her more
than he had perhaps quite realized at
the time. and he had eagerly seized
upon the opportunity to be of service
to her at the time of her fathers death.
They had parted on the footing Of
friends as result of the small favors
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 a letter of in
quiry in respect to 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 woman whom for
herself he might love with all his heart;
while he was moreover sufficiently prac-
tical not to overlook altogether the
wealth which by her fathers death had
become hers, a 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 a house of
cards before the sick man S unconscious
bombs of truth. But the doctor was
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.
And soon after this Harvey began
to dream of seeing Dorothy standing
now and then by his bedside, 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 awol<e, his great. hollow eyes, eager
.ly searching the room, came back to the
doctors face with = look of helpless
disappointment, 81 - thought she was
here. he wnisn S! 4, weakly. 81 have
been dreaming."r, , -
ooh, it's ali T}ghf, old fellow" his
friend returned, }Y3vallowing something
in his throat as he -cIasped the poor thin
fingers in q tremulous grasp of graf
u1ation. 1t was as by a miracle that
poor Neil had heens saved. cts all
right. Go to sleep and dream that she
lis coming by and by" And, family
smiling, as thot she accepted the
promise with, :tf 3mple credu1ity of
a child, Neil cld l&is eyes obediently
IN He st ala not 10 saa fancy when
next he awoke,; Seeming 1ist1essly 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 pottons- 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 bit, aren't
you, old man? The terms of compro-
mise between the mines, now-you re-
member that Miss Meredith's lawyer
wrote you about it. OF course you
haven't been giving it any thought,
butter"
"No, haven't been giving it much
thought" the invalid returned, a shade
passing across lis face. ''They must
see Bartels, if there is any hurry"
"H'm, 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 express
sion in his great eyes. II 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. "But 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 to your
COMPOUNDED lunacy in rampaging round
when you should have been in bed.
dropped line to the attorney telling
him you were beyond business pro tem.,
and then, as was answering Miss Mere
dith's letter, it occurred to me to ex-
plain to her as we'll why her proposition
must be laid on the shelf. But her
heart seems to have been set on ar
ranging that compromise somehow;
q T.