The county record. [volume] (Kingstree, S.C.) 1885-1975, 1904-06-09
CHAPTER XIV.
FATHER AND SON.


kindly face.
I pressed my fathers hand and re-
garded him steadfastly, but made no
reply. feeling painfully weak and i'll.
please don't irritate my patient,
Mr.. Trueman. With quietude, in day
or two ne will be as well as ever" said
a voice at my side, which recognized
as belonging to DR.. Thurlow.
For few seconds 1t was difficult
to realize my surroundings, familiar
though they were. Yes, this was my
room, and was lying in my own bed.
That was our housekeeper, sitting by
the clear. low fire; and the sunlight,
which the drawn curtains subdued
but could not exclude, seemed to denote
midday.
With great effort 1 suddenly sat
upright. Leave me with my father"
I cried; II want to talk with him."
"Not now. not now," answered the
doctor; another time will do for that
You must rest"
"No; now, noww l exclaimed, with
great excitement. Father, send these
people away"
my dear boy. be calm. know all
that you would tell me. and care moth
ing about it. My only anxiety is to
have you we'll again"
mo, no; you do not know. 1 must
tell you now"
Ernest. my boy, for my sake don't
excite yourself. l say again, know
all that you would tell me. For two
days and nights you have talked of
nothing else"
Impossible! Two days and two
nights! What do you mean?
II think you had better withdraw
for a few hours. Mr.. Trueman," said
DR.. Thurlow; your presence disturbs
my patient"
My father relinquished his grasp of
my hand and moved reluctantly to-
wards the door.
"Don't leave me, father" / implored.
stretching my arms out towards him;
and he at once returned to me. Tell
me, what day is this"
Wednesday"
"wednesday" I repeated stupi0ly;
"wednesday. My father says to-day
is Wednesday. Then all is lost" and
j lay back again on my pillow.
"Yes, to-day is Wednesday," corrob-
GRATED DR.. Thurlow, gently putting
back the hair from my forehead with |
Dis hand: land before Wednesday |
comes again. hope to see yor on your
pony, galloping past my house in your
usual style. But you are mistaken III
thinking that all is lost; on the con-
trary, nothing is lost. There have
been no thieves here
4 long silence ensued, during which !
] lay quite still, my face towards my
father, who had seated himself by the
side oe the fire. That two days and
nights had elapsed since went down
into the. crypt extinguished my last
ray o. hope OF obtaining the sequins,
and niy normal calmness, to which
had been a stranger from the hour Of
reading my ancestors Record, began
to reassert itself. At last the house
keeper rose from her chair and noise
lessIy quilted the room. She was soon
afterwards followed by DR.. Thurlow,
who whispered a few words to my
father, and then departed on tiptoe.
My wished-for opportunity had now
arrived, but was careful not to lose
il by too great precipitancy, recent
events having taught me some policy.
and j therefore allowed several min
utes 20 elapse before 1 spoke.
How was it that came to be here:
The last thing | remember is being In
the crypt on Monday night. not long
after my return from London. What
has been the matter with me? Don't
fear to tell me- 1 am nearly, if not
quite, we'll. and it will relieve my mind
to know"
"But DR.. Thurlow has just impressed
upon me that am not to talk to you
of that; he says it will distress you"
1T is only natural that he should
think so; but he is wrong. If he only
knew what know, he would not have
given you such advice. See, am
calm and rational. Do please tell
me-"
There is really very little to tell,
and it is hard to refuse you anything.
You must not let Dr.. Thurlow know
that l have 6isobeyed him. On Men
day night, or rather very early OIL
Tuesday morning, John came into my
room in a great fright and woke me
up. l thought the old man was ,oad,
and for q little while in my sleepy
state could make nothing Of his rapid
utterances and violent gesticulati0nS;
but at last he got me to understand
that he had been unable to sleep, har-
ing heard strange noises in the house
which induced him to go down stairs
to see if all was right. He found the
door of the stillroom open, anc also
the door which leads to the crypt.
The old man had the courage to de-