Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1900-09-19

| closed binds, but the impression was
| vague and transitory, and was gone
before he could attach any meaning
to it.
you were not looking for me,
then" he asked. IF you will tell me
the name of the man you want to find
perhaps l can help you"
"1-don't know his name-I-don't
remember it," she said, with a flush
and little deprecatory smile. 1--WE
been to great many doctors in Ellis
vile and have not found him-I'm
afraid he must have gone away-or
be dead"
DIR. Eaton looked puzzlcd and sat
for a moment, his eyes narrowed in
thought and his fingers beating
noiseless tattoo on his knee. The
woman watched him silently, the color
coming and going in her p&le face.
"1ou-you don't remember Mrs.
Grafton?" she asked ut last with some
cagerness.
Mrs. Grafton-Mrs. Grafton" he
repeated, shaking his head. "She is
not a patient of mine"
Not now, but-somehow, | feel as
if you must be the man l am looking
for. Is there any way you can find
out whether you had a patient named
Grafton twenty years ago? Oh, it is
very important that | should know
she concluded earnestly.
4 will consult my books OF that
time" he said kindly, and arose.
AS he walked across to the closet
where he kept these records of his
early struggles the woman's eyes fol-
| lowed him with eager intentness. Sud
| denly she got up and ran to his side.
"Ah, | know it is you! The moment
you walked away l knew beyond Il
doubt. 1t was just as Ii We're back
again in the room where my baby died
and saw you leave me to so for my
husband! Oh, you must remember
me! You tried hard to save my dear
little boy. l lived in an old stone house
that stood in big garden. l was ill
after my baby died and you attended
me-so kindly-so well! and then we
went away and did not pay your bill.
/ y
changed, but know you now"'
DR.. Eaton had turned and was look
ing thoughtfully down into her eager
| face. AT last he said slowly:
Il think l do remember you-yes, l
know l do. Is there anything 1 can do
to serve you, Mrs. Grafton?"
Yes" she answered. when we
went away from here we We're very
poor. We could not pay yor, nor pay
for the burial OF the baby'-her eyes
dropped and she clasped and unclasped
her hands neryously. But oh, how 1
wanted to. For time my husband
was very fortunate, and made a great
deal of money, but the debts l speak
of, while the thought of them drove
me almost wild, did not seem to trou-
! BILE him. When l urged their payment
he always grew inpatient and said
they belonged to time he could not
| bear to think of. He thought l was
heartless to remind him of them You
see" she added hastily, ''the loss of
our little boy preyed upon his mind
and made him depressed and morbid.
So at last / ceased altogether to speak
of the matter, and made up my mind
that somehow-some time-I would
pay them myself. l never rellnquished
my purpose, and in all the years after,
whether we prospered or whether we
struggled for Il bare existence. / never
touched the sum l had put by as II nu-
|
and now | think | nave enough. 1t
has taken long time, and only God
knows what a haunting horror has
been to me the thought ,hat my little
child's funeral expenses that L felt to
he Il sacred deht-were still unpaid
ana lay like blemish on his innocent
memory. And now, will you tell me
how much l am to pay You, and do
what you can to help me find the un-
dcrtaker?"
The doctor sat thoughtfully for n
moment. Then he glanced up and
flashed a smile at his visitor-a smile
of such surprising sweetness that she
felt herself smiling, too, half tearfully,
in sympathy.
"Twenty years is n long time to re-
member little bill like mine," he said.
SIT cannot be little bill"
You came here from"
"Grimby," she replied.
"And you have dined?"
MOO"
'Then you must ne my guest, and af
terward l will help you find that man
to whom you owe-the other bill.
think / remember who it was. Are
you and Mr.. Grafton living in Grim
by"
"Mr. Grafton has been dead some