The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1898-05-18

Oh! Ii is CtuGIS, 11tAN AiS, W ~ AANO it
bc afraid. She has done no wrcrS. #
there is heaven above, she must needs
go there
"Weu, that, after al, is the great
thing and should give you comfort, fcs
you viii meet again.
was young man at the time, With
such platitudes at the tip CT ny tongue.
That they are well meant is the beass
that can be said of them. Wien child
is going to school fer the f.! time, ve
say, ''The months will soon pass;
when a friend is e1nigrating for lis
health, 'sIn a few years we shall see
you again strong and well, - and since.
under these circumstances, this vacant
chaf we'll meant fer grain IS fond 5c
be ineffcacious, how can it De otherwise
when the separation is complete, The
bourne whittier our dear one is bound
one from which there is nc return and
our meeting with hin without date and
doubtful? A clergyman may say these
things. From his mouth they may have
their effect, but though "never" is a
hard word we have most Of us to bear
it. From the doctor, at all events,
glance Of the eye and touch Of tie
hand in token of human sympathy are,
it is my experience, more welcome TO
the mother that is about to be childless,
to the wife that is about to be widow,
than this vague consolation.
Comfort and meet again, she
echoed, with a sort Of contemptuous
despair, and, shaking her head, like one
with the palsy, re-entered the sickroom.
The whole situation amazed and per
picked me. On all other topics the wo-
man was what one would have expected
her to be. Save for somewhat excep.
tional honesty, cleanliness and diligence
Rebecca Bent was like otheE charwomen,
but il all that pertained to her sister
she was tender and emotional to an ex-
traordinary degree. I made inquiries
about them without eliciting much in
formation. They had liveo in Star court
for nearly three years, but Rebecca
alone was known to their fellow lodgers.
Her sister had been always recluse #
not an invalid She had never left her
rocm. twas understood that she took
in needlework when she could obtain
employment, which was Tot often, but
Rebecca was the breadwinrer. She
toiled early and late, but no one had
heard word Of complaint frcn her.
As a general rule, it IS not the lard
workers who complain. 1t IS net that
they are resigned 10 their harsh fate,
whatever cant may have to say about it
it is not in human nature to be that
but there is often certain grin reO1-
cence about then, q not unjussifiable
resentment. Tkis was not the case with
Rebecca, however. sne had her reasons,
as I afterwa-d discovered, of liking
work for its own sake. Work preserves
us from thinking. She was -quieS in her
ways and kept herself to herself, but
she had temper Of her cwn.
A ncighbor once condoled With her
on having sick sister to keep. "She
didn't seem to help much. Coaldn' she
put her own shoulders to the wheel
little more: There didn't seem so very
much the matter with her, ~ and so On.
Then Rebecca broke out and exhibited
quite an unexpected command OF lan-
guage. She impressed upon that neigh
bor the desirability Of minding her own
business in such convincing terms that
nobody ever ventured to sy@ratai2e
with her upon the labor question again.
But she had not been popular before,
and this ehullition set society against
her. She was for tie future very Sc
yerely let alone.
Gaust and grim though she was now,
for my part, strange to say, Rebecca IL
terested me at least as much as my pa
tient, Notwithstanding Eer many ady:sn-
taees. Her beauty wss Of tie kind t.a5
is heightened rather thsn otherwise b5?7
delicacy Of constitution; even disease
only rendered it more exquisite. It re-
minded me OF tee lily If the vale,
@whom youth makes ,ir and pas
sion so frail that the lig-.; Of its trem-
ulous bells is seen through their pavll-
ions Of tender green" so tr91psarent
was its splendor. That she was dying L
had now no doubt, NOE cculd tie end
be far distant The spectacle was very
touching, even to professional eye, but
what, I confess, lesseued my sympathy
for her was her conduct toward Rebec-
ca. She seemed to take everything she
did for her as matter Of course. Il
was quite true that she gave one the
impression Of belonging to quite anoth-
er and higher sphere of being, but to
see her so self conscious Of it was de-
plorable. If she had been princess,
she could hardly have been served net
only with more devotion, but with
more respectful reverence. noticed II
particular that, though Reoecca lavished
every term Of endearmeut upon her sis
ter, she never addressed her by her
Christian name, and l only discovered
it to be Lucy by direct enquiry.
With the selfish egctism of the ha-
bitual invalid every doctor is familiar,
but with Lucy Bent it was carried be-