"You are aware, of course, that we doctors are used to seeing pain and usually try to get at the cause, so that we may better know how to relieve it. I should judge that you have known a lot of suffering; that sort of thing leaves marks. Fortunately, they can often be effaced in the young. I have been thinking that you were in need of a friend. No! Don"t draw back! I"ll say right now that my wife "s the best woman on earth and I"ve got four kids. You ought to see the little rascals. Now I might as well tell you that I"m grateful to you for taking such good care of my patient. I"d also be glad of a chance to help you a little, or give advice if you happen to need any."
Madge stared at him for a moment during which her eyes became somewhat blurred. The doctor"s offer seemed like the first really disinterested and friendly one that had been proffered to her for some years. In that vast New York she had become unused to that sort of thing. The other people in this place had been ever so kind, of course, but it was on account of their friend Hugo. At first she hesitated.
"You look like a man that can be trusted," she said, very low.
"I feel that I am," he answered, simply.
Then, gradually, moved by that desire to confess and trust in a friend that is one of the best qualities of human nature, she told of her coming, in halting, interrupted words. The doctor kept silent, nodding now and then so that she became impressed with a certainty that he understood. At times that deep red color suffused her cheeks, but they would soon become pale again, all the more so for her dark-ringed eyes. Little by little her story became easier to tell. She had sketched it out in a few broad lines, but the man to whom she spoke happened to know the world. Her speaking relieved her burdened heart and gave her greater strength.
"And--and I think that"s all," she faltered at last. "Do--do you really understand? Do you think I"ve been a shameless creature to venture into this? Can you realize what it is to be at the very end of one"s tether?"
The doctor looked at her, the tiny wrinkles in the corners of his eyes becoming more p.r.o.nounced. He put out his long-fingered, capable hand to her, and she stretched out her own, timidly, in response.
"You and I, from this time on, are a pair of friends," he told her.
"Indeed, I"m acquainted with that huge beehive you came from, with its drones and its workers, its squanderers and its makers. I studied there for a couple of years, and I know why some of the women have a choice between the river and even fouler waters. But let me tell you what I think of this matter. The desperate effort you made to save yourself may not have been very good judgment. Ninety-nine times out of a hundred such an endeavor would be worse than jumping from the frying-pan into the fire. But at least it argues something strong and genuine in you. You came because you felt that you could not give up the fight without one last supreme trial. Such a thing would take a lot of pluck."
He stopped for a moment, looking into the whites of her eyes.
"And now you"ve made up your mind that all your struggle has been in vain and that the end is in sight. Now I can"t tell where that end lies, Miss Nelson, but it looks to me as if it had retired into the far distance. You are going to keep on taking care of this man, of course. He needs you badly, in the first place, and the toil and stress of it will be good for your soul. And then saving a life is tremendously interesting. There"s nothing like it. But your new life is only to begin when this job is finished."
"I--I don"t understand," said the girl, watching him eagerly.
"When you"re through with this case, Stefan will bring you back to Carcajou. There he"ll put you on the train and send you to me. I can a.s.sure you that my wife will welcome you. She"s that sort, strong and friendly and helpful. My poor little chaps don"t see very much of their daddy, but they"ve got a mother who"s a wonder, to make up for it. Now our village can"t yet afford a trained nurse, though some day I"m going to have a little hospital and two or three of them. The railroad will help. But in the meanwhile you"re going to work for me, at little more than a servant"s wages. You"re quick and intelligent and have a pair of gentle and capable hands. There are scores and scores of little houses and shacks where your presence would be simply invaluable. My wife tries it, but she can"t do it all, with the kids and the husband to look after. I shall work you like a horse, when you get strong enough, but every bit of the work will help some poor devil. My wife can give you a bed, a seat at our table and plenty of good wise friendship. In all this you"re going to give away a lot more than you will receive. How does it strike you?"
But Madge was weeping silently, with her face held in her hands. The doctor had certainly not tried to make his proposition very attractive, and yet she felt as if she were emerging from deep waters in which she had been suffocating. Now there was pure air to breathe and there would always be G.o.d"s sunlight to cheer one and bring blessed warmth. From the slough of despond she was being drawn into the glory of hope.
"I shall try," she promised. "Oh, how hard I"m going to try! It--it seems just like some wonderful dream. But--but can I really earn all this--are you sure that it isn"t--"
"Charity on my part?" interrupted the doctor. "Not a bit, Miss Nelson.
We"re scantily provided with women in these new countries. And there are enough poor fellows who get hurt in the mines, or on the railroad, to give you plenty of employment without counting the regular settlers. A good woman"s face at their side may make the end easier for some of them and help others get well quicker."
"If--if you are very sure--"
"I know what I"m talking about. You see, Miss Nelson, there is really no need of any one despairing in one of those big cities, so long as there is enough strength and courage left to get out of them. In this great expanse of wilderness toilers are needed, but we can"t use mollycoddles. The men have to hew and dig and plow, and need women to work at their sides, to look after the injured, to teach the little ones, to keep the rough crowd civilized and human. More than all they are needed to become the mothers of a strong breed engaged in the conquest of a new world, one that is being made first with the axe and the hoe and in which the victory represents germinating seed and happy usefulness. Countries such as this are not suited to the dross of humanity. We cannot find employment for the weak, the lazy, or the shiftless. The first of these are to be pitied, of course, but we cannot help them. To the red-blooded and the clean of heart it offers all that st.u.r.dy manhood and womanhood can desire. Surely you can see how wide our horizons are, how full of promise is this new world that stretches out its welcoming arms to you!"
"I see--I see it all," answered the girl. "Oh, what a glorious vision it is! How can I ever thank you?"
"You don"t have to," replied the man, sharply. "If you decide to accept my offer I will be the one to feel grateful."
He looked at her keenly, and was doubtless satisfied with what he saw.
Then he tilted back the legs of his stool, rested his head on the log wall behind him, and took another good sound nap.
He went away again just before sunrise, and Madge was left once more alone with the sick man. Soon she noticed that his eyes opened frequently, and followed her when she happened to move about the room.
She could see that her presence strengthened him. In Hugo"s mind, however, there was the dim impression that he was returning from a long blindfolded journey that had left no impressions of anything but vague pain and deep weariness. And it was utterly wonderful to be greeted by a gentle voice and given care such as had not been his since childhood.
CHAPTER XIV
The Hoisting
On the few rests the dogs were compelled to take on their way back to Carcajou, Dr. Starr again questioned Stefan, carefully. The story Madge had told him was interesting, it sounded a little like some of those tales of detectives and plots marvelously unraveled, but the trouble was that no sleuth was at work and the mystery was as deep as ever. He inquired carefully in regard to the enemies Hugo might have made, but struck an absolute blank. Yes, there was one fellow Hugo had licked, but a couple of weeks later the young man had obliged him with a small loan, which had been cheerfully repaid, and the individual in question had moved a couple of hundred miles east. Oh, that was way back last summer!
Having thus easily eliminated the masculine element of Carcajou, it took no great effort on the doctor"s part to turn to the women. Were there any who had reason to dislike him; had he made love to any of them?
"Hugo make lofe to any gals in Carcajou!" exclaimed Stefan, holding a burning match in his fingers and letting it go out. "Hugo don"t nefer make lofe to n.o.botty. Dere"s McGurn"s gal over to the store as looked like she vanted bad to make lofe to him; alvays runnin" after Hugo, she vos. Vhen he go in de post-office she alvays smile awful sveet at Hugo, and dere"s dem as say she vere pretty mad because he don"t never pay no attention. Vhat he care for de red-headed t"ing?"
"She looks after all the mail, doesn"t she?" asked the doctor.
"Yes, McGurn he too busy vid oder t"ings. De gal tends to all de letters an" papers."
This seemed an indication worth following. When they reached the depot at Carcajou, Joe Follansbee informed them that the freight would be about an hour late. Madge had, during the course of her story, told the doctor all about the visit of the Carcajou Vigilantes, and from Stefan he had obtained the names of the people who had made up the party. Most of them were known to him, since he was frequently called to Carcajou, especially when the mill was running. From the girl he had obtained the letters she received from Hugo, as she had formerly believed. The matter could not be allowed to rest. He must investigate things further. Meeting old man Prouty, whom he had once cured of rheumatism, he drew him aside. The old man quite willingly told of his share in the event.
"We only wanted to see that everything was straight and aboveboard,"
he told the doctor. "And there wouldn"t have been no fuss there at all if Sophy McGurn hadn"t come out kinder crazy; the way them excitable women-folks does, sometimes."
"What did she do?" asked Dr. Starr.
"Oh, she went an" accused that young "ooman over there of havin" tried to murder Hugo. Said somethin" about the gal wantin" to get square on him for--for somethin" or other as ain"t very clear. But soon as Pat Kilrea he begins to pin her down to facts she takes it all back an"
says she don"t really know nothin"."
"Thanks, Mr. Prouty, I"m very much obliged to you. I"ll stroll over there."
He walked over to the general store and post-office where he was greeted by old McGurn, who at his request produced a box of cigars.
"Yes, Doc, I can recommend them," he said. "There was a drummer stopped here last week who said they smelled just like real Havanas. I bought two barrels of crockery off him."
The doctor nodded, admiring the drummer"s diplomacy, and walked over to the other counter behind which Miss Sophy was standing.
"How do you do, Miss McGurn?" he said, amiably.
"How d"ye do? How"s Hugo--Hugo Ennis?" she asked, eagerly.
"He may perhaps pull through, though he"s still hanging on to a pretty thin chance. I suppose you know that you"re soon going to be called as a witness?"
"Me?" she exclaimed. "What for?"
"Well, that story about an accident looks rather fishy to me, you know. I have an idea that it wouldn"t be a bad thing to have the sheriff come over here and investigate things a little. We"re beginning to get too civilized on this line to stand for gun-play.
I"ve talked over the matter with some of the people who went with you to Roaring River, and I gather that you are the only one who can enlighten us a little."
"I--I don"t know anything!" she stammered.
"You"re probably too modest, Miss McGurn, or you may perhaps be trying to shield some one. That shows your kind heart, of course, but it won"t quite do for the law. At any rate you will tell us what aroused your suspicions. It"s very important, you know, for the slightest clue may be of service. And then, of course, there is the matter of the letters."
"What letters?" cried the girl, biting her lips.