"I cannot!" cried Vesta Dale, wringing her hands and weeping. "I cannot leave you, Rejoice. You know I cannot leave you."
Both women felt for the first time, with a pang unspeakable, the burden of restraint. The strong woman wrung her hands again, and moaned like a dumb creature in pain; the helpless body of the cripple quivered and shrank away from itself, but the soul within was firm.
"You must go," said Miss Rejoice, quietly. "Neither of us could bear it if you stayed. If I know you are searching, I can be patient; and I shall have help."
"Amanda Loomis could come," said Miss Vesta, misunderstanding her.
"Yes," said Rejoice, with a faint smile; "Amanda can come, and I shall do very well indeed till you come back with the child. Go at once, Vesta; don"t lose a moment. Put on your bonnet and shawl, and Doctor will drive you over to the Corners. The stage goes by in an hour"s time, and you have none too long to reach it."
Dr. Brown seemed to wake suddenly from the distressful dream in which he had been plunged. "Yes, I will drive you over to the stage, Vesta,"
he said. "G.o.d help me! it is all I can do. I have an operation to perform at noon. It is a case of life and death, and I have no right to leave it. The man"s whole life is not worth one hour of Melody"s,"
he added with some bitterness; "but that makes no difference, I suppose. I have no choice in the matter. Girls!" he cried, "you know well enough that if it were my own life, I would throw it down the well to give the child an hour"s pleasure, let alone saving her from misery,--and perhaps from death!" he added to himself; for only he and the famous physician who had examined Melody at his instance knew that under all the joy and vigor of the child"s simple, healthy life lay dormant a trouble of the heart, which would make any life of excitement or fatigue fatal to her in short s.p.a.ce, though she might live in quiet many happy years. Yes, one other person knew this,--his friend Dr. Anthony, whose remonstrances against the wickedness of hiding this rare jewel from a world of appreciation and of fame could only be silenced by showing him the bitter drop which lay at the heart of the rose.
Rejoice Dale rea.s.sured him by a tender pressure of the hand, and a few soothing words. They had known each other ever since their pinafore days, these three people. He was younger than Miss Rejoice, and he had been deeply in love with her when he was an awkward boy of fifteen, and she a lovely seventeen-year-old girl. They had called him "doctor"
at first in sport, when he came home to practise in his native village; but soon he had so fully shown his claim to the grave t.i.tle that "the girls" and every one else had forgotten the fact that he had once been "Jack" to the whole village.
"Doctor," said the sick woman, "try not to think about it more than you can help! There are all the sick people looking to you as next to the hand of G.o.d; your path is clear before you."
Dr. Brown groaned. He wished his path were not so clear, that he might in some way make excuse to turn aside from it. "I will give Vesta a note to Dr. Anthony," he said, brightening a little at the thought.
"He will do anything in his power to help us. There are other people, too, who will be kind. Yes, yes; we shall have plenty of help."
He fidgeted about the room, restless and uneasy, till Miss Vesta came in, in her bonnet and shawl. "I have no choice," he repeated doggedly, hugging his duty close, as if to dull the pressure of the pain within.
"But how can you go alone, Vesta, my poor girl? You are not fit; you are trembling all over. G.o.d help us!" cried Dr. Brown, again.
For a moment the two strong ones stood irresolute, feeling themselves like little children in the grasp of a fate too big for them to grapple. The sick woman closed her eyes, and waited. G.o.d would help, in His good way. She knew no more, and no more was needed. There were a few moments of silence, as if all were waiting for something, they knew not what,--a sign, perhaps, that they were not forgotten, forsaken, on the sea of this great trouble.
Suddenly through the open window stole a breath of sound. Faint and far, it seemed at first only a note of the summer breeze, taking a deeper tone than its usual soft murmur. It deepened still; took form, rhythm; made itself a body of sound, sweet, piercing, thrilling on the ear. And at the sound of it, Vesta Dale fell away again into helpless weeping, like a frightened child; for it was the tune of "Rosin the Beau."
"Who shall tell him?" she moaned, covering her face with her hands, and rocking to and fro,--"oh, who shall tell him that the light of our life and his is gone out?"
CHAPTER VIII.
WAITING.
How did the time pa.s.s with the sick woman, waiting in the little chamber, listening day by day and hour by hour for the steps, the voices, which did not come? Miss Rejoice was very peaceful, very quiet,--too quiet, thought Mandy Loomis, the good neighbor who watched by her, fulfilling her little needs, and longing with a thirsty soul for a good dish of gossip. If Rejoice would only "open her mind!" it would be better for her, and such a relief to poor Mandy, unused to silent people who bore their troubles with a smile.
"Where do you s"pose she is, Rejoice?" Mrs. Loomis would cry, twenty times a day. "Where do you s"pose she is? Ef we only knew, "t would be easier to bear, seems "s though. Don"t you think so, Rejoice?"
But Rejoice only shook her head, and said, "She is cared for, Mandy, we must believe. All we have to do is to be quiet, and wait for the Lord"s time."
"Dear to goodness! She can wait!" exclaimed Mrs. Loomis to Mrs. Penny, when the latter came in one evening to see if any news had come. "She ain"t done anything but wait, you may say, ever sence time was, Rejoice ain"t. But I do find it dretful tryin" now, Mis" Penny, now I tell ye. Settin" here with my hands in my lap, and she so quiet in there, well, I do want to fly sometimes, seems "s though. Well, I am glad to see you, to be sure. The" ain"t a soul ben by this day. Set down, do. You want to go in "n" see Rejoice? Jest in a minute. I do think I shall have a sickness if I don"t have some one to open my mind to. Now, Mis" Penny, where do you s"pose, where do you s"pose that child is?" Then, without waiting for a reply, she plunged headlong into the stream of talk.
"No, we ain"t heard a word. Vesta went off a week ago, and Mr. De Arthenay with her. Providential, wasn"t it, his happenin" along just in the nick o" time? I do get out of patience with Rejoice sometimes, takin" the Lord quite so much for granted as she doos; for, after all, the child was stole, you can"t get over that, and seems"s though if there"d ben such a good lookout as she thinks,--well, there! I don"t want to be profane; but I will say "twas a providence, Mr. De Arthenay happenin" along. Well, they went, and not a word have we heard sence but just one letter from Vesta, sayin" they hadn"t found no trace yet, but they hoped to every day,--and land sakes, we knew that, I should hope. Dr. Brown comes in every day to cheer her up, though I do declare I need it more than she doos, seems"s though. He"s as close as an oyster, Dr. Brown is; I can"t even get the news out of him, most times. How"s that boy of "Bind Parker"s,--him that fell and hurt his leg so bad? Gettin" well, is he?"
"No, he isn"t," said Mrs. Penny, stepping in quickly on the question, as her first chance of getting in a word. "He"s terrible slim; I heard Doctor say so. They"re afraid of the kangaroo settin" in in the j"int, and you know that means death, sartin sure."
Both women nodded, drawing in their breath with an awful relish.
""T will be a terrible loss to his mother," said Mandy Loomis. "Such a likely boy as he was gettin" to be, and "Bind so little good, one way and another."
"Do you think they"ll hear news of Melody?" asked Mrs. Penny, changing the subject abruptly.
Amanda Loomis plumped her hands down on her knees, and leaned forward; it was good to listen, but, oh, how much better it was to speak!
"I don"t," she said, with gloomy emphasis. "If you ask me what I reelly think, Mis" Penny, it"s that. I don"t think we shall ever set eyes on that blessed child again. Rejoice is so sartin sure, sometimes my hopes get away with me, and I forgit my jedgment for a spell. But there! see how it is! Now, mind, what I say is for this room only."
She spread her hands abroad, as if warning the air around to secrecy, and lowered her voice to an awestruck whisper. "I"ve ben here a week now, Mis" Penny. Every night the death-watch has ticked in Mel"dy"s room the endurin" night. I don"t sleep, you know, fit to support a flea. I hear every hour strike right straight along, and I know things that"s hid from others, Mis" Penny, though I do say it. Last night as ever was I heard a sobbin" and a sighin" goin" round the house, as plain as I hear you this minute. Some might ha" said"t was the wind, but there"s other things besides wind, Mis" Penny; and I solemnly believe that was Mel"dy"s sperrit, and the child is dead. It ain"t my interest to say it," she cried, with a sudden change of tone, putting her ap.r.o.n to her eyes: "goodness knows it ain"t my interest to say it.
What that child has been to me n.o.body knows. When I"ve had them weakly spells, the" warn"t n.o.body but Mel"dy could ha" brought me out of "em alive, well I know. She tended me and sung to me like all the angels in heaven, and when she"d lay her hand on me--well, there! seems"s though my narves "ud quiet right down, and blow away like smoke. I"ve ben a well woman--that is to say, for one that"s always enjoyed poor health--sence Dr. Brown sent that blessed child to me. She has a gift, if ever any one had. Dr. Brown had ought to give her half of what he makes doctorin"; she"s more help than all the medicine ever _he_ gives. I never saw a doctor so dretful stingy with his stuff. Why, I"ve ben perishin" sometimes for want o" doctorin", and all he"d give me was a little pepsin, or tell me to take as much sody as would lay on the p"int of a penknife, or some such thing,--not so much as you"d give to a canary-bird. I do sometimes wish we had a doctor who knew the use o" medicine, "stead of everlastin"ly talkin" about the laws o"
health, and hulsome food, and all them notions. Why, there"s old Dr.
Jalap, over to the Corners. He give Beulah Pegrum seven Liver Pills at one dose, and only charged her fifty cents, over "n" above the cost of the pills. Now _that"s_ what I call doctorin",--not but what I like Dr. Brown well enough. But Mel"dy--well, there! and now to have her took off so suddin, and never to know whether she"s buried respectable, or buried at all! You hear awful stories of city ways, these times. Now, this is for this room only, and don"t you ever tell a soul! It"s as true as I live, they have a furnace where they burn folks" bodies, for all the world as if they was hick"ry lawgs. My cousin Salome"s nephew that lives in the city saw one once. He thought it was connected with the gas-works, but he didn"t know for sure. Mis"
Penny, if Rejoice Dale was to know that Mel"dy was made into gas--"
Martha Penny clutched the speaker"s arm, and laid her hand over her mouth, with a scared look. The door of the bedroom had swung open in the breeze, and in the stress of feeling Mandy Loomis had raised her voice higher and higher, till the last words rang through the house like the wail of a sibyl. But above the wail another sound was now rising, the voice of Rejoice Dale,--not calm and gentle, as they had always heard it, but high-pitched, quivering with intense feeling.
"I see her!" cried the sick woman. "I see the child! Lord, save her!
Lord, save her!"
The two women hurried in, and found her sitting up in bed, her eyes wide, her arm outstretched, pointing--at what? Involuntarily they turned to follow the pointing finger, and saw the yellow-washed wall, and the wreath of autumn leaves that always hung there.
"What is it, Rejoice?" cried Mandy, terrified. "What do you see? Is it a spirit? Tell us, for pity"s sake!"
But even at that moment a change came. The rigid muscles relaxed, the whole face softened to its usual peaceful look; the arm dropped gently, and Rejoice Dale sank back upon her pillow and smiled.
"Thy rod and thy staff!" she said. "Thy rod and thy staff! they comfort me." And for the first time since Melody was lost, she fell asleep, and slept like a little child.
CHAPTER IX.
BLONDEL.
Noontide in the great city! The July sun blazes down upon the brick sidewalks, heating them through and through, till they scorch the bare toes of the little street children, who creep about, sheltering their eyes with their hands, and keeping in the shade when it is possible.
The apple-women crouch close to the wall, under their green umbrellas; the banana-sellers look yellow and wilted as their own wares. Men pa.s.s along, hurrying, because they are Americans, and business must go on whether it be hot or cold; but they move in a dogged jog-trot, expressive of weariness and disgust, and wipe their brows as they go, muttering anathemas under their breath on the whole summer season.
Most of the men are in linen coats, some in no coats at all; all wear straw hats, and there is a great display of palm-leaf fans, waving in all degrees of energy. Here and there is seen an umbrella, but these are not frequent, for it seems to the American a strange and womanish thing to carry an umbrella except for rain; it also requires attention, and takes a man"s mind off his business. Each man of all the hurrying thousands is shut up in himself, carrying his little world, which is all the world there is, about with him, seeing the other hurrying mites only "as trees walking," with no thought or note of them. Who cares about anybody else when it is so hot? Get through the day"s work, and away to the wife and children in the cool by the sea-sh.o.r.e, or in the comfortable green suburb, where, if one must still be hot, one can at least suffer decently, and not "like a running river be,"--with apologies to the boy Chatterton.
Among all these hurrying motes in the broad, fierce stream of sunshine, one figure moves slowly, without haste. n.o.body looks at anybody else, or this figure might attract some attention, even in the streets of the great city. An old man, tall and slender, with snowy hair falling in a single curl over his forehead; with brown eyes which glance birdlike here and there, seeing everything, taking in every face, every shadow of a vanishing form that hurries along and away from him; with fiddle-bow in hand, and fiddle held close and tenderly against his shoulder. De Arthenay, looking for his little girl!
Not content with scanning every face as it pa.s.ses, he looks up at the houses, searching with eager eye their blank, close-shuttered walls, as if in hope of seeing through the barriers of brick and stone, and surprising the secrets that may lurk within. Now and then a house seems to take his fancy, for he stops, and still looking up at the windows, plays a tune. It is generally the same tune,--a simple, homely old air, which the street-boys can readily take up and whistle, though they do not hear it in the music-halls or on the hand-organs. A languid crowd gathers round him when he pauses thus, for street-boys know a good fiddler when they hear him; and this is a good fiddler.
When a crowd has collected, the old man turns his attention from the silent windows (they are generally silent; or if a face looks out, it is not the beloved one which is in his mind night and day, day and night) and scans the faces around him, with sad, eager eyes. Then, stopping short in his playing, he taps sharply on his fiddle, and asks in a clear voice if any one has seen or heard of a blind child, with beautiful brown hair, clear blue eyes, and the most wonderful voice in the world.
No one has heard of such a child; but one tells him of a blind negro who can play the trombone, and another knows of a blind woman who tells fortunes "equal to the best mejums;" and so on, and so on. He shakes his head with a patient look, makes his grand bow, and pa.s.ses on to the next street, the next wondering crowd, the next disappointment. Sometimes he is hailed by some music-hall keeper who hears him play, and knows a good thing when he hears it, and who engages the old fiddler to play for an evening or two. He goes readily enough; for there is no knowing where the dark stranger may have taken the child, and where no clew is, one may follow any track that presents itself. So the old man goes, and sits patiently in the hot, noisy place. At first the merry-makers, who are not of a high degree of refinement, make fun of him, and cut many a joke at the expense of his blue coat and bra.s.s b.u.t.tons, his nankeen trousers and old-fashioned stock. But he heeds them not; and once he begins to play, they forget all about his looks, and only want to dance, dance, and say there never was such music for dancing. When a pleasant-looking girl comes near him, or pauses in the dance, he calls her to him, and asks her in a low tone the usual question: has she seen or heard of a blind child, with the most beautiful hair, etc. He is careful whom he asks, however; he would not insult Melody by asking for her of some of these young women, with bold eyes, with loose hair and disordered looks. So he sits and plays, a quaint, old-world figure, among the laughing, dancing, foolish crowd. Old De Arthenay, from the Androscoggin,--what would his ancestor, the gallant Marquis who came over with Baron Castine to America, what would the whole line of ancestors, from the crusaders down, say to see their descendant in such a place as this? He has always held his head high, though he has earned his bread by fiddling, varied by shoemaking in the winter-time.
He has always kept good company, he would tell you, and would rather go hungry any day than earn a dinner among people who do not regard the decencies of life. Even in this place, people come to feel the quality of the old man, somehow, and no one speaks rudely to him; and voices are even lowered as they pa.s.s him, sitting grave and erect on his stool, his magic bow flying, his foot keeping time to the music.