The county record. [volume] (Kingstree, S.C.) 1885-1975, 1904-09-08

sbshf ooAe
I Mrs. Fisk, wife Of my uncle's conf
Dental secretary, was induced by aunt
Gertrude to undertake journey to
Paris for the purpose Of bringing to
New York fhe young boy whose well
fare seemed more than all else to en-
gage my uncle's lucid moments. Mean
while kilograms arrived assuring us
that the child was we'll and in good
hands, which assurances were duly
conveyed to the patient, on whom they
appeared to have beneficial effect.
! Week after week passed away. and
still the patient hovered uncertain My
between life and death. Mrs. Fisk
safely returned to New York with her
infant charge, handsome. brieht-eyed,
intelligent boy Of exceeding vivacity,
happily ignorant of his mothers fate
and his fathers danger. The little
stranger, instead of being regarded as
an unwelcome addition to my uncle's
| family, as might not unreasonably
have been expected. was received by
aunt Gertrude with the tenderest con-
sideration, and everything needful for
his well-being was provided. BY sun
dry apparently trivial but really pro-
foundly significant words and acts
aunt Gertrude soon showed that the
newcomer had found place no less in
her heart than in her house. Though
nv uncle was informed Of the arrival
of the boy the doctors for the present
forbade the child being presented to
their patient. The nature Of my IN
cle's business was such that 1t neces-
sarily came to q standstill as soon as
his direction Of it ceased-a direction
which hitherto he had never failed to
exercise, personally when in New York
City, and Geographically when absent
therefrom. Mr. Fisk was regular in
his attendance every morning at my
uncle's house, and never failed to re-
port the patients condition to host OF
his inquiring friends.
And thus November and the greater
part of December passed away. the
spirits Of the little household in East
Thirty-fourth street being raised one
day only to be dashed the next, accord
ing to the changeable condition Of the
patient. whose malady once or twice
touched point of extreme danger. But
at the near approach Of Christmas,
when New York City lay covered with
a thick mantle Of snow and the sky
was none the less clear because the
temperature was extremely cold and
icicles of prodigious length depended
from parapet ard easement, the pa
tiert took a very decided turn for the
better. He talked less and more ra-
tionally, and was generally calmer,
and he slept better and partook CT
more nourishment.
Though my uncle's medical advisers
were not, at the first appearance OF
these signs, assured they portended a
favorable issue, they did not hesitate
to recognize in the coed symptoms, af-
ter they had endured for some days un-
abated, the beginning Of complete re-
covery.
And so, indeed, it appeared. By the
middle Of January uncle Sam had SO
far recovered that he was permitted to
sit by the fire in his room, and there
one day he dispassionately discussed
with me the tragedy which to quote
his own words. had thrown him on
his balance" His wife's loving care
Of the boy familiarly known as 1.-The
cardinal occasioned him much salts:
faction, which he gratefully acknoWl-
edged in various way, and 1t Is to that
circumstance have always attributed
more than to all else besides, his COM
plete recovery. At. this juncture the
cardinal was taken every morning by
aunt Gertrude into the patients room,
where he was permitted to frisk about
like q spaniel at his fathers feet, and
his gambols and his pertinent replies
to questions which he could not posi-
bly understand amused and delighted
everybody present
In the early stages Of the patients
convalescence it was customary for
Connie and me to read to him IN turn.
The reading was always selected by
uncle Sam, and consisted for tie most
part Of the daily papers and current
fiction. One day ventured to inquire
IL he would care to listen to some lit
erature of a higher standard-a choice
work BY one Of the great poets, for In
stance.
mo, no." said uncle Sam, mot Tor
the world. 1 like poetry too WELL
confessed my inability to under
stand tbs reply.
Poets" remarked uncle Sam, "are
pitiable handful of creatures. Their
divine gifts are compensated by pow
erle,sness to cope with the manifold
treacheries of mankind, and consequent
starvation and misery, and though by
.on,o ctroDoa accident one of the tribe |