The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1899-05-08
copyright, 1893. by the Author

~ WINTER. ~
copyright. 1893. by the Author.l
"That's good. If Mrs Hamilton lin
gers there must be nurse got in, Of
course but for tonight there will be lit
tie or nothing to do, only she must not
be left. III help you to get her into
bed"
1--WE can manage, SIR"
at is not so easy as you think. Be-
sides, I'd like to see her safely into bed
before l leave"
The desired end was soon accomplish.
ed under the skilled hands Of the doc
tor and the willing ones of Mouncey.
Then the doctor wrote down few sim
pie instructions and went, promising to
look in again the last thing.
"Mrs. Conway" he said gently to
Mary, II must beg Of you to try to eat
your dinner. You have had great
double shock, and you will need all
your reserve Of strength. l have given
your maid all instructions. There is
little, almost nothing, to be done while
your mother continues In this state.
He went away then, and Mary sat
down again in the big chair. The cook
was busy with the dinner, and Noun
coy, after clearing up some imaginary
litter, disappeared with the tray, prom
Using to come back in few minutes.
So she was left alone with her dying
mother and the knowledge Of her own
widowhood. left alone to face the fact
that she was practically free; that all
tse horror and wretchedness which had
but few hours before lain directly
facing her had suddenly been removed.
The tears gushed out from her sad eyes
as she realized how this had come
about; but, although she wept, the
sense Of relief was there, involuntary,
yet very, very strong.
It was a wretched night which fol-
lowed. Mary honestly tried to eat the
dainty little dinner which Foster served
to her, while Mouncey mounted guard
in the sick chamber. But all the time
the sound Of rushing waters was in her
ears and the vision of drowned faces
before her eyes, and che turned loath-
ingly from the lonely meal, which would
have been thoroughly enjoyed by the
poor soul up stairs fast drifting into
eternity.
The pretense Of dinner over, she crept
back again to the sickroom, sending
the two maids down to supper and stay
ing alone to keep the watch by the dy-
ing beloved for whom che had worked
90 hard and suffered SO much, to watch
the outward passage of that frail and
feeble little bark which would leave
her tossing to and fro upon the ocean
of life with none to counsel or guide.
1t was a terrible night, and it was
followed by still more terrible day.
Mary received from the owners Of the
great ship full confirmation Of the news
which the newspaper had taken to
them in the first instance.
There was not the smallest doubt
that the large vessel was gone, that she
was many fathoms under water. There
was little or no doubt that Captain
Conway had gone down with her, and,
80 far as was known, only five persons
Of all her goodly company had lived to
tell the tale Of her disastrous end. Two
of these were passengers, two were Or
binary sailors, the fifth was the ships
purser; all the rest Of the 300 souls
who had sailed aboard Of her had found
watery grave and would be seen no
more
All through the long hours Of watch
ing and suspense did Mary Conway try
to battle down the overwhelming sense
of relief which had taken possession of
her. She cared not, did not feel the
very smallest grief for the husband who
had forgotten his manhood and her
womanhood alike, but she hated herself
for not feeling it, Her heart was torn
in twain One half was singing paan
of thankfulness for deliverance; the
other was bursting with sense Of her
own impotence and helplessness to avert
the sword then hanging above the head
of her sick mother as the sword OF
Damocles hung suspended by single
hair.
She was glad in her heart that her
care and anxiety for her mother would
naturally account for the absence of
any exhibition Of great or noisy grief
for her husband The doctor spoke Of
the loss of the Arikhama once or twice,
and Mouncey brought her the latest de-
tails that were published in the papers,
but Mrs Hamilton was during those
first few days the object of paramount
interest. Captain Conway was gonel
All the love or loathing in the world
could not affect him any more. For him
all was over; he had already passed
among the things that have been and
shall be no more. But Mrs. Hamilton
was still alive and still needed the most
minute care and the closest attention.
She was, in spite of that terrible tragedy
of the sea, the most important person
of that small household.
In health she did not improve At
times faint flashes of understanding
came back, but they were only feeble
and Pickering efforts Of the clouded
brain to re-establish its mastery Of what
was going ON around her. If she knew
any one definitely, it was Mary, but of
that, even, they were none of them very
certain. The nurse who was in charge
said positively that Mrs. Hamilton
knew no one. Mouncey, on the other
hand, insisted that she had seenthe poor
lady's eyes follow the mistress as she
moved away from the bed. This, how
ever, was question which no one could
decide positively, but in discussing it
the onlookers, although it is proven
bal that onlookers see most of the game,
never realized that in anxiety for her
mother Mrs Conway suffered no grief
for her husband.
On the fourth day after the coming
Of the news Mary received visit from
two gentlemen. One was the managing