The San Juan islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1898-1914, 1902-09-04
CHAPTER Nv.

occupation and the occupation of love
have combined to make the time pass
very happily and very swiftly. About
once month | have visited Chisel-
hurst and stayed over Sunday. Edith.
my Edith (of whom more presently,
and have learned to love each other
intensely more so than any quantity
of type can convey, and life without
her now would be very dreary and
not worth the living.
OF Miss Milne | have seen nothing.
Her shop was closed the week after
last saw her there, and although varj-
Gus reports have come to me of her
terrible goings-on have myself seen
nothing of her.
One Monday evening I was sitting
after dinner. reading the evening pa
per. when Ann came in with a note;
a child was waiting in the hall. she
said, to take me somewhere. The note
was from the wife of our clergyman.
l opened it and read as follows:
Dear DR.. Rigby-I am sure that I'M
der the circumstances you will forgive
me for troubling you. | have this
morning been sent for to the most
wretched house imaginable. and found
there a girl in the most utter state OF
poverty, and in need OF your help. III
you will come. and am sure you will,
the bearer of this letter will show YOU
the place. Believe ME. very truly
yours. e. N. CARPENTER.
AS hurriedly as | could | collected
in my bag the few things | might
need. and putting on my coat-the
night was bitterly cold joined my
little guide in the hail.
AS we hurried along the pavement
I tried to learn something of the case
I was going to see, but the girl knew
nothing of it. She had. she told me.
been hailed by the lady while walking
down Arlington street, and requested
to bring me the letter and show me
the house.
Before the door of the most miser-
able of all the miserable tenements
OF that wretched quarter my guido
stopped. Its up them steps, SIR she
said and up them I went as rapidly
as their rickety condition would al
low.
On landing at the very top I found
the lady who had sent for me. Il am
afraid" she said, 81 have brought you
to a very terrible place. but you must
forgive me; | could do nothing else.
But come; will you follow me?'
She led me into room. the stencil,
the misery and the absolute squallor
of which no one but those who have
visited the slums of London can pos
sibly imagine. | walked to the win
dow, and from the broken panes pulled
out the pieces of carpet. old linen
and newspapers that did duty for glass.
With the little light thus obtained ]
saw in one corner a mass of straw,
and over and about it soiled under
clothing and old dresses. This was
evidently the bed, for under the clio
thing l could distinctly discern the
angular outlines of woman's form
On the back of the door other dresses
were hung, but these were OF very
different character; they were gaudy.
if not expensive, and carried world
of meaning to mel recognized by
them not only the kind of room
was in, but also the kind OF patient
had to deal with. Mrs Carpenter had
stood perfectly still during the few
seconds | had been taking stock of
the place. 81 think" she said, I'VE
ought to be doing something" and
then added. significantly, there are
two lives involved.
"Two?" l asked. Where's the
other?" N
She pointed to another bundle in
the other corner OF the room, and
walking over to it, | threw off piece
of sacking, and exposed to view an in
FAINT that. though but few hours old,
had the wrinkled skin. troubled ex-
preston and monkey-like cast of fea-
lures peculiar to some OF the aged
poor. It's limbs were about the thick
ness of an ordinary walking stick, its
fingers long and talon-like. and as the
cold air from the broken window
awakened it. it began to emit the cry
characteristic of its order, far-away,
piping, half-whistle kind of cry, that
contrasts so markedly with the hearty
shrek of a newly born healthy child.
With natural tenderness Mrs. Carpen-
ter covered up the poor little creature,
and |. walking over to the mother.
knelt down beside her bed and spoke
to her. II was the first time l had
raised my voice above a whisper. and
at the sound of ii the inanimate pic
ture of starvation, with an evidence of
strength which astonished me. threw
her head around and stared at me.
II her body showed evidence OF star.
walton. her face did so in thousand
fold greater degree; her cheek bones
and the angles OF her lower jaw were
standing out in painful prominence.
and her eyes. always larger than HUI
man. were now perfectly startling In
their size and brilliancy. 1t was only
for a moment she stared at me. then
turning back to the wall. she buried
her face in the clothing.
who sent for you? who told you
to Gomez" she asked. loudly. Go"
and then more loudly still go at once.
and leave me-"