Iron County register., 1898-05-26
CHAPTER XIII.

But Harvey did not go east as he had
planned.
The very vehemence of his desire to
escape an environment he had come tn
loathe, whipped to a frenzy by the sud-
den, unreasoning jealousy aroused by
the doctors statement that Dorothy
had written to him, defeated itself by
its own impetuosity. Thinking it best
to humor the sick mans whim, if only
to convince him of his weakness, Mrs.
Bowen had allowed him to be dressed
and to sit up for a little while that even.
ing, with the result that her argument
carried beyond her expectations, the
-over-eSertion bringing about Il relapse,
when, as is usual in 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 a husky whisper as he sank
down into the very shadows of death,
while the doctor, listening, understood,
'comprehending what mischief he had
inadvertently wrought by his half-truth
about Dorothy's letter.
a revelation that left him very grave.
He had not been man if he had not
perceived that Dorothy Meredith was
n 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 a result of the small fayorS
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 a work of charity
which had occurred to her, only he
could ever know what vista of hope
had opened before his dazzled imagina-
ton. The doctor was man enough to
feel that she was a woman whom for
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 house of
cards before the sick mans unconscious
bombs of truth. But the doctor was Il
good fellow, and, better still, good
friend; and so he only called himself |
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 awoke, his great, hollow eyes. eager
" searching the room, came back to the
doctors face with look of helpless
disappointment. 81 thought she was
here" he whispered, weakly. Il 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 n tremulous grasp of graft
IIlation. 1t was as by a miracle that
poor Neil had beeTI saved. It's all
right. Go to sleep and dream that she
is coming by and by" And, family
smiling, as though he accepted the
promise with the simple credulity of
q child, Neil closed his eyes obediently
and slept again.
He did not speak of the fancy when
next he awOke, seeming listlessly to ac-
WeD& the conditions as he found them /