A KNIGHT OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY by Edward Payson Roe (red seas under red skies .TXT) π
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- Author: Edward Payson Roe
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Good! It'S Less Dark. It Seems To Me That I'Ve Got Hold Of A Hand That
Can Sustain Me."
"Bress De Lord!" Ejaculated an Old Negress Who Sat In a Distant Corner.
"I Install This Young Man As Your Nurse To-Night," Said Dr. Orton,
Huskily; "I'Ll Be Here In the Morning. Come, Little Girls, Go Now."
"We Shall Meet Again, Amy; We Shall Meet Again, Bertie, Darling;
Remember Papa Said It And Believed it."
Haldane Saw A Strange Blending Of Love And Terror In amy'S Eyes As She
Led her Little And Bewildered sister From The Room.
Dr. Orton Took Him One Side And Rapidly Gave His Directions. "His
Pulse," He Said, "Indicates That He May Be Violent During The Night; If
So, Induce Mrs. Poland To Retire, If Possible. I Doubt If He Lives Till
Morning." He Then Told Haldane Of Such Precautions As He Should Take For
His Own Safety, And Departed.
The Horrors Of That Night Cannot Be Portrayed. As The Fever Rose Higher
And Higher, All Evidence Of The Kind, Loving Husband And Father
Perished, And There Remained only A Disease-Tortured body. The Awful
Black Vomit Soon Set In. The Strong Physical Nature In its Dying Throes
Taxed haldane'S Powerful Strength To The Utmost, And Only By Constant
Effort And Main Force Could He Keep The Sufferer In his Bed. Mrs. Poland
And The Old Colored woman Who Assisted her Would Have Been Totally
Unequal To The Occasion. Indeed, The Wife Was Simply Appalled and
Overwhelmed with Grief And Horror, For The Poor Man, Unconscious Of All
Save Pain, And In accordance With A Common Phase Of The Disease, Filled
The Night With Unearthly Cries And Shrieks. But Before The Morning
Dawned, Instead Of Tossing and Delirium There Was The Calm Serenity Of
Death.
As Haldane Composed the Form For Its Last Sleep He Said:
"My Dear Mrs. Poland, Your Faithful Watch Is Ended, Your Husband Suffers
No More; Now, Surely You Will Yield To My Entreaty And Go To Your Room.
I Will See That Everything Is Properly Attended to."
The Poor Woman Was Bending Over Her Husband'S Ashes, Almost As
Motionless As They, And Her Answer Was A Low Cry As She Fell Across His
Body In a Swoon.
Haldane Lifted her Gently Up, And Carried her From The Room.
Crouching at The Door Of The Death-Chamber, Her Eyes Dilated with
Horror, He Found Poor Amy.
"Is Mother Dead Also?" She Gasped.
"No, Miss Amy. She Only Needs Your Care To Revive Speedily. Please Lead
The Way To Your Mother'S Apartment."
"I Think There Is A God, And That He Sent You" She Whispered.
"You Are Right," He Replied, In the Natural Hearty Tone Which Is So
Potent In reassuring The Terror-Stricken. "Courage, Miss Amy; All Will
Be Well At Last. Now Let Me Help You Like A Brother, And When Your
Mother Revives, I Will Give Her Something To Make Her Sleep; I Then Wish
You To Sleep Also."
The Poor Lady Revived after A Time, And Tried to Rise That She Might
Return To Her Husband'S Room, But Fell Back In utter Weakness.
"Mrs. Poland," Said Haldane Gently, "You Can Do No Good There. You Must
Live For Your Children Now."
She Soon Was Sleeping Under The Influence Of An Opiate.
"Will You Rest, Too, Miss Amy?" Asked haldane.
"I Will Try," She Faltered; But Her Large, Dark Eyes Looked as If They
Never Would Close Again.
Returning To The Room Over Which So Deep A Hush Had Fallen, Haldane Gave
A Few Directions To The Old Negress Whom He Left In charge, And Then
Sought The Rest He So Greatly Needed himself.
Chapter LI "O Priceless Life!"When Haldane Came Down The Following Morning He Found Bertha Playing On
The Piazza As Unconscious Of The Loss Of Her Father As The Birds Singing
Among The Trees Of Their Master. Amy Soon Joined them, And Haldane Saw
That Her Eyes Had The Same Appealing and Indescribable Expression, Both
Of Sadness And Terror, Reminding One Of Some Timid And Beautiful Animal
That Had Been Brought To Bay By An Enemy That Was Feared inexpressibly,
But From Which There Seemed no Escape.
He Took Her Hand With A Strong And Reassuring Pressure.
"Oh," She Exclaimed with A Slight Shudder, "How Can The Sun Shine? The
Birds, Too, Are Singing as If There Were No Death And Sorrow In the
World."
"Only A Perfect Faith, Miss Amy, Can Enable Us, Who Do Know There Is
Death And Sorrow, To Follow Their Example."
"It'S All A Black Mystery To Me," She Replied, Turning away.
"So It Was To Me Once."
An Old Colored man, The Husband Of The Negress Who Had Assisted haldane
In His Watch, Now Appeared and Announced breakfast.
It Was A Comparatively Silent Meal, Little Bertha Doing Most Of The
Talking. Amy Would Not Have Touched a Mouthful Had It Not Been For
Haldane'S Persuasion.
As Soon As Bertha Had Finished, She Said To Haldane:
"Amy Told Me That You Did Papa Ever So Much Good Last Evening: Now I
Want To See Him Right Away."
"Does She Not Know?" Asked haldane In a Low Tone.
Amy Shook Her Head. "It'S Too Awful. What Can I Tell Her?" She Faltered.
"It Is Indeed inexpressibly Sad, But I Think I Can Tell The Child
Without Its Seeming awful To Her, And Yet Tell Her The Truth," He
Replied. "Shall I Try To Explain?"
"Yes, And Let Me Listen, Too, If You Can Rob The Event Of Any Of Its
Unutterable Horror."
"Will Bertie Come And Listen To Me If I Will Tell Her About Papa?"
The Child Climbed into His Lap At Once, And Turned her Large Blue Eyes
Up To His In perfect Faith.
"Don'T You Remember That Papa Spoke Last Night Of Leaving You; But Said
You Would Surely Meet Again?"
At This The Child'S Lip Began To Quiver, And She Said: "But Papa Always
Comes And Kisses Me Good-By Before He Goes Away."
"Perhaps He Did, Bertie, When You Were Asleep In your Crib Last Night."
"Oh Yes, Now I'M Sure He Did If He'S Gone Away, 'Cause I 'Member He Once
Woke Me Up Kissing Me Good-By."
"I Think He Kissed you Very Softly, And So You Didn'T Wake. Our Dear
Saviour, Jesus, Came Last Night, And Papa Went Away With Him. But He
Loves You Just As Much As Ever, And He Isn'T Sick Any More, And You Will
Surely See Him Again."
"Do You Think He Will Bring Me Something Nice When He Comes?"
"When You See Him Again He Will Have For You, Bertie, More Beautiful
Things Than You Ever Saw Before In all Your Life, But It May Be A Long
Time Before You See Him."
The Child Slipped down From His Knees Quite Satisfied and Full Of
Pleasant Anticipation, And Went Back To Her Play On The Piazza.
"Do You Believe All That?" Asked amy, Looking as If Bertha Had Been Told
A Fairy Tale.
"I Do, Indeed. I Have Told The Child What I Regard As The Highest Form
Of The Truth, Though Expressed in simple Language. Miss Amy, I Know That
Your Father Was Ever Kind To You. Did He Ever Turn Coldly Away From Any
Earnest Appeal Of Yours?"
"Never, Never," Cried the Girl, With A Rush Of Tears.
"And Can You Believe That His Heavenly Father Turned from His Touching
Appeal Last Night? Christ Said To Those Who Were Trusting In him, 'I
Will Come Again And Receive You Unto Myself; That Where I Am There Ye
May Be Also.' As Long As Your Father Was Conscious, He Was Clinging To
That Divine Hand That Has Never Failed one True Believer In all These
Centuries. Surely, Miss Amy, Your Own Reason Tells You That The Poor
Helpless Form That We Must Bury Today Is Not Your Father. The Genial
Spirit, The Mind That Was A Power Out In the World, The Soul With Its
Noble And Intense Affections And Aspirations--These Made The Man That
Was Your Father. Therefore I Say With Truth That The Man, The
Imperishable Part, Has Gone Away With Him Who Loved humanity, And Who
Has Prepared a Better Place For Us Than This Earth Can Ever Be Under The
Most Favoring Circumstances. You Can Understand That The Body Is But The
Changing, Perishing Shadow.
"When You Compare The Poor, Disease-Shattered house In yonder Room, With
The Regal Spirit That Dwelt Within It, When You Compare That Prostrate
Form--Which, Like A Fallen Tree In the Forest, Is Yielding To The
Universal Law Of Change--With The Strong, Active, Intelligent Man That
Was Your Father, Do Not Your Very Senses Assure You That Your Father Has
Gone Away, And, As I Told Bertha, You Will Surely See Him Again? It May
Seem To You That What I Said About The Good-By Kiss Was But A Fiction To
Soothe The Child, But In my Belief It Was Not. Though We Know With
Certainty So Little Of The Detail Of The Life Beyond, We Have Two Good
Grounds On Which To Base Reasonable Conjecture. We Know Of God'S Love;
We Know Your Father'S Love; Now What Would Be Natural In view Of These
Two Facts? I Think We Can Manage To Keep Bertha From Seeing That Which
Is No Longer Her Father, And Thus Every Memory Of Him Will Be Pleasant.
We Will Leave Intact The Impression Which He Himself Made When He Acted
Consciously, For This Which Now Remains Is Not Himself At All."
Further Conversation Was Interrupted by The Arrival Of Dr. Orton; But
Haldane Saw That Amy Had Grasped at His Words As One Might Try To Catch
A Rope That Was Being Lowered to Him In some Otherwise Hopeless Abyss.
"I Feared that Such Might Be The End," Said The Doctor, Gloomily, On
Learning From Haldane The Events Of The Night; "It Frequently Is In
Constitutions Like His." Then He Went Up And Saw Mrs. Poland.
The Lady'S Condition Gave Him Much Anxiety, But He Kept It To Himself
Until They Were Alone. After Leaving Quieting Medicines For Her With
Amy, And Breaking Utterly Down In trying To Say A Few Words Of Comfort
To The Fatherless Girl, He Motioned to Haldane To Follow Him.
"Come With Me To The City," He Said, "And We Will Arrange For Such
Disposal Of The Remains As Is Best."
Having Informed amy Of The Nature Of His Errand, And Promising To
Telegraph Mrs. Arnot, Haldane Accompanied the Physician To The Business
Part Of Town.
"You Have Been A Godsend To Them," Said The Kind-Hearted old Doctor,
Blowing His Nose Furiously. "This Case Comes A Little Nearer Home Than
Any That Has Yet Occurred; But Then The Bottom Is Just Falling Out Of
Everything, And It Looks As If We Would All Go Before We Have A Frost.
It Seems To Me, Though, That I Can Stand Anything Rather Than See Amy
Go. She Is Engaged to A Nephew Of Mine--As Fine A Fellow As There Is In
Town, If I Do Say It, And I Love The Girl As If She Were My Own Child.
My Nephew Is Travelling In europe Now, And I Doubt If He Knows The
Danger Hanging Over The Girl. If Anything Happens To Her It Will About
Kill Him, For He Idolizes Her, And Well He May. I'M Dreadfully Anxious
About Them All. I Fear Most For Mrs. Poland'S Mind. She'S A New England
Lady, As I Suppose You Know--Wonderfully Gifted woman, Too Much Brain
Power For That Fragile Body Of Hers. Well, Perhaps You Did Not
Understand All That Was Said Last Night; But Mrs. Poland Has Always Been
A Great Reader, And She Has Been Carried away By The Materialistic
Philosophy That'S In fashion Nowadays. Queer, Isn'T It? And She
Two-Thirds Spirit Herself. Her Husband And My Best Friend Was As Genial
And Whole-Souled a Man As Ever Lived, Fond Of A Good Dinner, Fond Of A
Joke, And Fond Of His Family To Idolatry. His Wife Had Unbounded
Influence Over Him, Or Otherwise He Might Have Been A Little Fast; But
He Always Laughed at What He Called her 'Yankee Notions,' And Said He
Would Not Accept Her Philosophy Until She Became A
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