Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1908-10-06
Continued from last Issue).
1865.

mer rotten rookery. l could not pelleVt
at first that was in the same place.
walked through a quiet street, clear
and orderly. Mothers were nursing
their children on the doorsteps; there
were flowers in the windows, and more
than one bird trilling as I passed by
There is not a pothouse or tavern In
one of the rows. 1t seems to have be-
come the abode Of genteel workmen
and peace and comfort reign where dirt
and disease, drunkenness and crime
once festered and reveled unmolested
1t is a remarkable change and a great
improvement"
Then DR.. Girtney famed out on him
"All that was Anthon's work. That
is what he has done with the check you
sent him. Such as that is what he does
with every check that comes to him.
If he saves the lives Of the rich, 1t Is
only to be a salvation to the poor!
This is why, miser-like, he is glad of
money! With all your millions, have
you ever made a waste place like that
sing with joy?"
Croesus quailed a little; but he was
a manly man, too, and his spirit was
reused up within him. He sat down
at the doctors table and wrote a few
words on a scrap of paper.
There" he said, handing it over,
make him glad once more with that
for his poor. He that could make Bes-
mer Street blossom like a rose must not
go into such slums empty-handed."
And DR.. Girtney looked at the gener-
Gus order on a bank. and shook hands
with Croesus and told him he was "all
right" and Croesus felt very much like
a happy schoolboy who has been COM
mended by his master.
But Dr. Anthon went upon the usual
tenor Of his way, working just as hard
as if the world outside Of the destitute
and debased had never heard Of him.
The civil war came and he burned
with the ardor Of patriotism; there
were times when his hands ached for a
sword, and a martial inheritance in his
southern blood made his veins tingle
with a very passion Of military desire.
But the war passed, and he was still at
his post in the city's haunts Of misery.
He, too, had fought his battles, but
they were unseen of men. He was
growing to be an old man, older in his
looks than DR.. Girtney, who was con-
IL hi 10 ho i~ NvoC
gray and his face furrowed. Even the
mother who bore him, if she had lived
through his youth and had not seen
him since, would scarcely have recog-
nized that mysterious something which
we call identity, though there was
something Of early grace left in his
spare figure, and no man ever looked
in his eyes without trusting him, and
no woman without yearning.
Patience, which is "the soul Of
peace" and an exquisite sympathy,
shone in his scanned countenance, which
vivid intelligence made luminous,
amid it's never changing sadness. The
many sufferings he had witnessed, the
inward strife he had undergone, the
unceasing labor which he had never
relaxed, had made their marks on him.
Yet he was beautiful beyond express
sion to the sight Of many, and If bless
ings had been lilies. the path beneath his
feet would have been white as never
melting snow.
And through all these years Of toll,
Of privation, of perpetual, enforced self
abnegation, a woman's face forever
haunted his dreams, and woman's
name was cherished like sacrament
in his heart But he had never once
heard Of her-he had never dared to
inquired. Between them forever lay his
own terrible deed; neither could ever
pass across the stark body, with the
white face ever upturned to his own
that had been her brother. She might
be dead-he did not know; but on earth
or heaven, she was buried in the secret
place of his life.
So the years passed away. Then
there came up from stricken cities In
the south an awful cry for help. Fever
the most dreaded, the most fatal, de-
vastated their populace and desolateo
their homes. Fear seized upon the
multitude. AL! who could go, fed away
from the virulence Of the plague, leav-
ing only the dying and the dead be-
meath deserted roofs. The very ties oi
consanguinity were gnored-fatherS
abandoned their wives and children
children left their parents to die un-
aided. In some places there was scarce
ly a house without its sick.
The large cities became like solitudes
and the villages even as the wilderness
The heroes of humanity, the physi
clans, the nurses, the volunteer assist
ants, fell one by one beneath the pre-
vailing scourge, or propped into thei
graves from exhaustion.
Day after day all over the land flash
ed the frightful news; the commones
newspaper reports were pathetic will
the tragedy of facts. Worse and wors'
grew the accounts, more and more har
rowing the scanty details, till on'
morning this appealing telegram as
sailed the compassion of the north:
Send us physicians-if only one
ours are all dead"
Dr.. Girtney had the paper before hin
when Anthon walked into his office.
You have seen it?" the latter said
pointing to the dispatch.
Yes" said Girtney; but who cal
go? 1t is certain death to an unaccli
mated man. There would be but shor
use and shrift for any among us"
Il am going" Anthon simply answer
ed.
"Anthon," somewhat severely reptile,
the other, there is such thing i
this world as being Quixotic. Let m
say plainly that such as you are to
indispensable to be lost 1t will b
throwing away your life"
Not necessarily" replied his friend
Il face death every day-sometimes i
even worse forms. And the need
too sore to consider that"
DR.. Girtney sat thinking a momen
before he replied.