The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1898-09-16
on the ground, crazed from pain and


fever.
He placed the pitcher upon STOOL
tenderly took into his arms the pre-
cious charge delivered to his keeping
by that deity he served so soulfully,
and laid her upon the bed. Taking
both of her feyered, restless hands in
his own he murmured:
He restoretl my SOUL He lead
eth me into Il 9 paths of Righteousness
for His names sake Yea, though l
walk through the vaney of the shadow
of death l will fear no evil, for Thou
art with me- Thy rod and Thy staff they
with me; Thy rod andThy staff they
comfort me. Surely goodness and mer-
cy shall follow me all the days of my
life; and | will dwell in the house of
the Lord forever For in the time of
trouble He shall hide me in His pa
vilion in the secret of His tabernacle
shall He hide me; He shall set me upon
rock. Let NOT your heart be trou-
bled;ye believe in God, believe also in
me-
There was soothing in his voice, his
words, his touch; or perhaps it was
only in the fact of human presence;
and she was Gained. She began to
talk upon subjects familiar to her.
Sometimes it was to her sisters; some
times to Bell Morton; most of all, to
the adjutant.
After time the Prophet released her
hands and repaired to the altar before
which he so frequently prayed, and
again communed in his simple, reliant
way with that Father whose will ruled
his SOUL whose benificence and love he
gratefully and deyoutly acknowledged;
whose favor and protection for the
Virgin he besought in fervent words.
Surely the prayer was heard by the
Supreme Protector! When the suppl
cant arose the water caught his sight
and he remembered the purpose for
which it was desired. He took the
pitcher and poured the fresh, pure,
cooling contents upon the bound limb
Of the delirious sufferer until the band
ages were thoroughly saturated; and
from that hour he kept them so, day
and night, toilingly caring for her with
patient tenderness born of that love
which is deeper and greater than the
love of youth and maiden, because it
was a love of sacred duty and a rever-
CllIlil W luO Will VI Till III
whom was 4.xed the faith of the loving
servant.
That service was the purest religion.
1t was the willing, joyful obedience of
the trustful disciple who regarded the
sufferer as the One Chosen, the one
taken out from among all His crea-
lures, to give to the sons of earth that
Son whose first coming had opened to
all the gates of eternal life and whose
second coming was to purify the earth,
free the world from sin and emanci-
pate men from temptation.
The devout nurse never forsook the
presence OF his CT arge, save In her
service: to bring fresh water, to get
her a drink; to mirister to her; or to
kneel at the altar wherein stood the
ever-burning lamp, and appeal to the
Father in her beha
Day after day, nj hit after night, her
fever and her deli UNI continued and
neither the patient nor the nurse knew
aught of the fight of time or the null
tiplication of days.
One afternoon she awoke from a
sleep and saw the Prophet kneeling
at the altar Remembering that he
had gone after wat IT and how fright
ened she had been = his long absence
she thought that 81 had fallen asleep
aid that he had sturned while she
slept. She asked:
did you get the water?''
The Prophet arose and approached
her, and she. wondering why her voice
sounded so strange, continued:
please y. me have the water? ]
must battle my limb"
She made an effort to sit up but
could not RISE
What is the matter with me? l am
so weak feel terribly tired, yet
have been asleep aud ought to feel
rested. How strange my voice
sounds"
i" 1 am the voice of one crying in the
wilderness, saying. Prepare We the
way of the Lord; make His path
straight
please help me to sit us"
He gently assisted her and she add
ed:
Thank you! Won't you please take
the pitche. and pc II water on those
bandages till | tell y III to stop? l must
keep them wet or his hurt may be-
come serious. But it does not pain me
now; before went to sleep the pain
was fearful"
She examined the injured limb and
was utterly bewildered. The infiamma-
ton was gone and there was not even
trace of soreness
She sat in silence, her mind fixed
upon her wonderful recovery
Motionless and silent, with the water
pitcher extended toward her, stood the
faithful Prophet, unnoticed, for she
was endeayoring to collect the frag-
mentary recollections of many days of
anguish, many nights of horrors. many
hours of fright and fear and pain and
torture. And yet she could not realize
that she had slept beyond a few hoursl
Still. if she had slept but night and
during that sleep rest had been bro
ken by SO many disturbing dreams,
how was it that her limb had so sud
denly healed? Why had she grown so
weak? She saw her hands and in
wonder held them to the light. They
were wasted and thin and looked al
most like the withered hands of an old
woman! She was frightened and
thought of Rip Van Wrinkles sleep of
twenty years and with terror at her
heart cried: