MESTER ORMEROD'S WIFE.

Lake Wakatip Mail, Issue 2280, 29 September 1899, Page 5

MESTER ORMEROD'S WIFE.

JAM) Rights Rbskrtib,)

Sy JQB. BAHON.

1. PARADISE LOST. Kit AUton was one of that tribe of whom it baa been truly »aid can ask more questions in a minute than a wise man canor will—answer in a month ; and Kit had jott asked the schoolmaster Farley how Mestur Ormerod's wife were gettin' on *sited of all other people Farley, who had formerly been so friendly with the Ormetods ! A dozen keen glances were bent upon the schoolmaster by the company assembled in the Bay Horse kitchen ; but they be it i.npotently upon the invulm rable mask of silence which already guarded the old man's features ; with unchanged face and voice he finished his remarks anent a new sort of manure the landlord was thinking of trying. Kit cleared his throat and repeated the question ; "Ah say, barley, heaw's Mester Ormelod's wife gelin' on ? " "I am sure I cannot tell thee, Christopher Alston,'" was the -choirmaster's reply in a deliberate voice, with a still more deliberate look : the rest of the company knew thai lhe I cannot" might be taken two ways, but Kit Alston did not.

"Ah thowt yo' were i' the teawn yon yesterday afternoon,'' he said inquii ingly. ' Is it true that your grandmothers white hen layed away thi» morning ?" was Farley's mysterious rejo nder.nnd the gleam in his tye and the threat m his vcice effectually silenced the inquisitive Kit. No one spoke ior some time, when the wheelwright said very quietly : " Well, hon were olez as nice a woman, an' as a woman, as ever bit th' edge off a niowtin, were Mrs. Ormerod."

" Ay, up to her startin' drinkin' sooa," Kit put in, and two others sat bes de him murmured, " Ay."' The schoolmaster turned upon them furiously, but suddenly conttullirig himself by a greal effort he answered : " Let him that is wilhout sin among you cast the first stone."

Not another word was spoken, ai an aw kwh'd silence ensued. The remaind' rof the evening passed in talk about the weather, the eddish, and the sheep, until on the «tn ke of nine the villagers rose to tak their departure. " Happen yo'll stop tooathri minutes, Faiiey." tfie landlord said ; " Ah want vo' to calculate th' weight an' price o' yon haystack as Ali'm selliri' to Shuttlewo'ih."

" All rigi.t,'' was Farley's and lis resumed ins seat with a " Good night to you all." The others returned his " good night " civilly enough, but looked both suspicion? and envious. They had an idea that Farlry had brought some ntws from the town, and they had an idea that he would impart it to the landlord ; for the two were groat friend*, theugh they differed from each other as much ns cheese and chalk are said to differ. The news the} were all interested in, and genuinely anxious to hear, was that relating to Meeter Ormerod's wife ; and that was the only new* Farlej would car? to pick up in the town. They had known and respected Mrs. Ormerod for but Farley's acquaint ance with her went back to the time when she first went to his school, a beautiful child of eight, with black hair, and dark, Hashing eyes ; that- was twenty years ago, but for seven otth«m he had ?een her daily, loved her open, generous affectionate dis position, and taken mote than a tfucher's pride in her mental and physical development. What a lovely wem in she was at twenty-one ! Why, she eclipsed the Squire's daughters in looks and learning, and as she stood before the aiur with John Ormerod, the cotton manufacturer, the spectators acknowledged I.eras the lovekev bride the village had known lor many a generation —and the village had more than a i"Cnl refutation for its bonn e wenches. ihe first three years of her married life wcie perfectly i leal ones. The nalivee—in their jealousy of ihe " foreigner " hadwoighed Ormerod in the balance and found him wanting ; he had hnrdlv enough ballast, was worldly, Ac. certainly not at all the man for Ellen Dobson. But Ormerod had risen to her influence, and proved tiie truth of Coventry Pattnure's lines :

You love ? That's high as vou shall go, For 'tis as true as gospel text Not noble then i* never -o, Either in tin-* woild or the next. His nobdity showed itself in every form of self-sacrifice ; he forestalled her every wish, 110 matter at what [icr.-onal inconvenience. He had leased .1 handsome residence standing in its own grounds, simply because it commanded a view of the fell she loved so ; for it was reminiscent of youthful pleasures. and redolent of their courting davs Three beautiful and healthy chidren had blest their union by the end of the third year. There had been opportunities for lmprowi g herself, and of dung good toothers, both of which Ellen em braced. She was a true wife and mother, a thorough Christian, a credit and a joy to all who had a hand in her training. For the rest, her husband simply worshipped her.

But, alas! with the coming of her third babv there also cam • the serpent into the litlle Eden, the Paradise w< indeed lost beyond regaining ; for Ellen fell —for a time —to inconceivable depths of degra lation. And the terrible tragedy was brought about by an apparently trivial thintr by the thoughtlessness of a well-meaning bu; ignorant woman. Ellen " had a bad time of it " and the nurse hail unknown to the doctor, insisted on administering brandy as a stimulant. It may be that the un fortunate mother w 1.-, in her weak state, easily persuade t to take it for the s.iKe of '.he clu'd, but certa:ri it i- that the brandv was continued during the whole of the nurse's two month ' stay, and when-lie went Ellen Ormerod was a confirmed drunkard I VVhat occurred during the next six months could only be gathered fro n the stray fragments of gos-ip dmp|>ed by chattering servants, but in all probability the fragments made up the sum of all that did hap(ien, pet liaps even more. " Master had found the mi»sus dead drunk seveial times before hcsu-pected what it was ; then (here had b-en awr'ul row-. The ilr.u children were neglected ; -o wa« everything. Th" missus had been awav three da* s at a <tr tch on more than 011 c o ".msioii and ma-ter had ' <■ 11 ned on,' and begged hei t>> be iitlerent. But she had gnuaway again and neve" C 'tile 1 a' k ; iier nam. was never mentioned .v. the Hall : it waas murh a- one's p 1 »<-e was worth, he wabitter again-t tier. But tie ha-l had a lot to put up with master had. Si ill -he warn good and so kind heior- -v- to >k to the drink No, nothing tiad been heaid of hei for long enough now . And -0 on. "Well, what abeawt Nelly. Farley? and "he landlord- voice wa- painfully eager. " Eh. Tom, it s a weary tale, a wean tale! But -tie's c-'in|uered it-tramped :t underfoot : and yet And what tin «.•!. 1 ,l:na.-ter 1- it un- i: i indicate I a world or - ine-s. "T mk l!i<l for that •' wa- the lan i J,.[ 1 n-artfelt t xi'iamati.m. "ltlt'.-daik wi hei neaw we ho n't to forget a.- th h - t come- at alter th o u Farlev -w ill »v • I : he lump w bic'n ro-e m his tliroat bet I" ei.i:! i an-wer : " A V. but r here - 11 1 -ign- > f l'_'h' - 1, , hoi e- it light t >r 1"" r V llv. :ti. t v> arning to:. I ne dal ktC-s ot tic va lev 1 t ttie -ti uloW :• about hei; her la.i raise* ;,n ill. i--able i-i a-ill l»-tw • • n hei -e.f and hei 01..l ti .-in I 'oi-hind. Eli, pjor, j►>ia-s 1 The landlord left the room for a tew

minutes, and by the time h 6 returned the schoolmaster had recovered liin se'f Hume what, for he reaumed in a less desponding voice :

" I daresay, Tom, you'll have heard me me itionmy niece Annie, she that left me to yo dressmaking at B some years since now 1" " Ay, that ah do," he said.

" Well, she joined the Salvation Army as soon as she went ; and though I never thought much of their so-called religion—l think I've said so many a time, Tom " Yo' hev, Farley, ' replied the landlord ; 1 nor all reckoned owt. on 'em. ' Happy Sal.th' converted washerwoman, 'll fire redhot shots at th' devil at eight o'clock.' Nice sooart o' nooatice that to give eawt, what ? And o' sooart.? o' bad karieluers givin' their experiences, an 1 dancin' an' cai r\in'on woes nor a lot o' pace eggers." " Theii ways are not our ways, Tom, and I am fully convinced that they are doing a good work, and going the right way about it, too.''

"Well, Farley, if yo'say sooa, aw feel »atistied as it is sooa and Farley bent !iis he id in acknowledgment of the trust plac a in his judgment, and continued " Well. Ann.e rose to be a lieutenant, with a workroom of girls —or a brigade—under her, and in ner last letter she gave me a piece of information which caused me to visit her yesterday afternoon. Then 1 heard the whole cf Nelly s sad storv, fiom the day she left husband and children up to-well, up to yesterday afternoon and Farley fiaused.

" Shall ah ax Mary to come in ?" the landlord pleaded, but the schoolmaster shook his head.

" No ; you can tell I er after if you want to. , . It seems that a bit over three years Annie was out on night duty with another lieutenant— l'J to - in the lowe.-t districts of London-and of two poor cieaturcs picked up in Whiteehapel that night one was Nelly, sodden with drink, and just thrown liom a gin palace as though she were a bag of rubbish." " Good Lord !" and the landlord stared at Farley, completely stunned. " It was most heart-rending to Annie to recognise in the wasted outcast the former pride of Ribblevale—nay, Tom, drinking was her worst sin—and the scene at the shelter next morning made her ill, as brave as she was. There was Nelly's shame, and her tears, followed by harrowing calls for spirits, and a wild demand to be set at liberty ; but Annie had only to mention the children to calm her, and the good cry the mention brought on did much to restore her lo her old sweet self. She gave Annie a faint idra of her sufferings from the time she abandoned herself to the curse—from the time her husband first found her s upefied .vith brandy, to leaving him ; then the visits in town to her relatives, and tiie disgraceful exhibitions she had made of herself, and ultimately her drifting to London to lose herself. She had a pound a woek coining in, ten shillings from Ormerod and the same amount from the money her rather left her. Eh ! what a blessing it was her parents were taken before she sank 50 low ! "

"Go on, Farley," tho landlord said huskily. " She told of her shifts to get drink—of her descent from respectable lodgings to the cheap doss houses-of the temptations her good looks brought her, and of Ormelod's hatred of her, and his determination never to let her enter his door again ; and 6he vowed solemnly that one chance would have saved her. Well, at the shelter they won her by kindness and love—what mighty miracles are wrought by them ! that in.-eUd of stopping the usual six month; she was tiiere for over a year. Then •he fell again ! . . . She left the Army :ogo to her sister Jane for a month, in order to nuiseher; but one morniii!'— a fortnight after I lie confinement—she left for the dav, saying she was going to see Annie. She did not return at night, and she was absent at ten o'clock next night, so Jane's husband took the train and went straight to Annie to enquire about her. " God help us ! " he said when he heard she was not there. She returned at midnight, Irunk and with a black eye, and her story was a pitiful one. Urged by a yearning she could not lesist, she had taken train to the town yon', so as to have just one look at children, timing her arrival so as to see them on their afternoon walk ; the excitement ieoins to have taken such a hold upon her as to give her palpitation of the heart, and to ease the pain, «he called at an inn on the way for some brandy. What took place afterwards can only be guessed. According to Nelly, the children passed the liouse in which she was waiting, but the father was with them, and she shrank from going near them jurt then ; later, she s'ie c. uld not keep from the house, but on presenting herself there, the servant lefused u let her in. Annie is afraid iliat Nelly was so overcome with drink that sl.r ould nut know wiiat took place exactly. 1 don't think for a moment that Ormerod would be so unmanly as to strike her. 1 ' • - "N'o do ah think it, ayther,'' the landlord added. - - ■

" Ay, but it was an upsetting for the Salvationist? ! All the good work of a twelvemonth undone in sucti a strange way. But tliev starced afresh, and Annie and the others have every cause to be satisfied with the result. Annie was removed to the town yon'over two years since, and very soon afier tint Nelly got an appointment at the Inrirmiry th-re under her new name Annie tells ine there isn't any woman so loved and respected in all Lancashire as Nelly is, and that from being picked up again to the present t me not a diop of anything intoxicating has crossed her lips, and she doe-n': think she'll ever taste again the longest day she lives." - •' '• Eh, what a blessing, what a blessing ! I'o you know, Farley, ah think ah shall let my license goa by next year, an' do nowt else but farm ? Ah've thowt on't mony a tune, but a tale 0' that sooart's enough to -et onnybody against th' trade."

" I think I wouldn't do that, Tom," the sciioolmast'i advised after a moment's thought, " because if you do someone else w ill set up who is not so particular as you are and it would be adieu to our homebrewed and our social evenings then. A victualling house is a neces-ity, and if well conducted the village inn is no place to be ashamed of."

'A ell, well, ah'll see. But what were vo sayin abeawt there bein' 110 hooap o' leet for her '

" Ah, that's the terrible part of it," said I arley. Annie told ine how proud toe Army 1- of Nelly, and how they loved her; her owii re'ntions have taken her to their In aits again, and not only forgiven tier, but love her more than ever ; the in'irmary patients siniplv worship her ; but with ail tier goodness and greatness, her own huu.-e, husband, and children are denied tier. A'ter her day's work she has spent hours an I hours over th',- making of beautiful garments tor piesents for the children

sewing her ting, is to the bone and injuring her eyesight : nut a- ften a- -he >-eiil them 1 hey w ere retain ed,and not aline with them. So it wa- when -he spent her -avings onawoikl)..* tor little Eily's sixth hr' hi lay, tiirely live weeks ago, and that w ling- r Irt in ire thin any till 11 "An hp reigtit iies.l>hn Orini iod to pi !gv her -00 a. an' to tie so unfoigivio'

the landlord demanded fiercely "He - liohhut 111 rtal " Ah, that i- P.- ti.e pity ot it ! Here iN'eliy, -trong and pi.r from ttie crucible ot ■ot row toll i f precious experience, and ' mm; ti' with the repaid ot enduring tit - . rthe I'ara li- at w inc] i-ed doors -tie -t -.iid- 'limit, will' • - . |lantc wli_;.t in - . • 01 low wa - the ••:: 1 •-111 !■: a ay - w 1 en m Ill's. , y | Vc wept ill.l -till we- ; . " Nay, ie|oire o'er a -1 -Ol'-I as c. 'i, -hepte r.I rej .u e- ■ i'e as is browt back to th !■

" Ay, but I meant they weep for John Orm.iod. Whal a tragedy it all id ! The children left to the mercy ot servants at so impressionable and critical a time in the ; r lives—their father so young -vet no warm h in his heart -nothing but disgust and loithinir, if not hate, for her—fur her-so nuble, so good, so strong. Oil, but Ood will touch him in his own way, soon or late, and all will be well." The landlord rose and left 'he room without saving a wmd ; but. ne telurned a couple of minutes later, and held a piece of cusp paper folded to Farley, and said :

o'll be writin' to Annie sometime soon, happen, an' vo' mon send me that as a bit u' suinmat to help i' th' good work as is bein' done. An'—Failev- yo' mini let me know every mossel o' news o' Nelly as soon as ever yo hear it."

Farley put the note in his pocket and gripped the donor's hand in silence.

PARADISE RF(iAINEp. The winter passed away and .summer was well advanced, but no welcome sign or sound came to the two men who watched and listened in all but intolerable suspense. St. Switlnn's Day had been gloriously tine, and a drowsy stillness brooded about Hibblevale next morning, as a young girl entered the short narrow lane in which the little school-hou3e stood. On turning in from the highway she slackened her pace for a moment and wiped the prespiration .'roin her forehead and neck ; then, after hearkening to the straggling chorus of "twice times'' which floated to her through the open windows, she went to the school door and knocked timidly. " If you please, sir," she said, as Farley appeared, "I've corned from Sea View with this ; the housekeeper's sent it ; " and she handed him a crumpled note, damp with lhe moisture from her hand. It was a foreign telegram, and read as follows : "Am starting for home at once. (Jet best physicians and nurses ; spare no expense. See Farley, the schoolmaster, for advice. Write me to Poste Hestante, , this afternoon, and to B , to-morrow morn ing.—Ormerod." It was a white face Farley turned to the girl, and could scarcely frame his lips to ask : " What does this mean? Is Mrs. Ormerod "

" Oh, no, air ; it's the children all down with the fever, and master away on ihe Confident (I think they call it) on business." "When did he go ? How did he know ? " Farley enquired " He went day afore yesterday, sir, and they were startin' then ; but the housekeeper thought it might be colds. She telegraphed to him last night, und that came nearly an hour since, Mrs. Smith couldn't come herself, sir."

" I'll go up with you in a minute," said Farley; and, turning round, as he called out, " You have holiday to-day, children ; get out on the fell." He took his hat fiom the peg, and something seemed to strike him, ,'uddenly ; so he went to tho girl und said, "Has Mrs. Smith done anything yet ? Sent for a doctor or anyone 1 " " No, sir," was the rep y ; she wants you to tell her who to send for."

" Then run back as fast us you can, and say I'm telegraphing for both nurse and doctor, and that I'll be up at tho houso in an hour ; " and as the girl hurried off one way the schoolmaster went the other at a greater speed than one would have expected of his sixty years. On the way to the little post-office in the village he was talking to himself excitedly.

"It has come at last. For good or ill, joy or sorrow, Nelly and Ormerod are to be brought together. It's God's own work, this. vVh.it a ble«.«ing it is that all the servants about the place are new."

In less than five minutes the one message he wrote out was being flashed to his niece Annie in the big town, and was probably in her hands before he had covered the first of the two and a half miles bet ween Kibblevale and " Sea View," the feverstricken residence of the Orruerods."

On returning home Farley found a reply to his telegram awaiting him, and a smile lit u|i his countenance a? he read it ; then, having swallowed an apology tor a dinner, he made his way towards the Kay Horse. Next morning, as arranged, the girl brought iiim t lie news from the house, "Mrs. Smith says as the nurse says as the children are getting worse, sir, but as there's no danger yet ; and the doctor told her as the nurse knew as much as him, and she could feel easy in her mind, and to master. I've just corned from the post office.'' " And what sort of person ia the nurse, my girl" Farley asked. " Oh, she's a reg'lar lady, sir, and so pretty. Mrs. Smith says as she never saw anybody so beautiful m her life. No, sir, not tall, about as big as me, with black hair, and about thirty years old, Going a bit gray, too."'

This came as a shock to Farley, for Annie had said nothing about that.

" And what do thev call her ? " lie in quire J in order to be quite certain. "Mrs. Armstrong, sir,and the schoolmaster smiled. Then he thanked tha girl and bade her " Good morning." He nad only just closed the door when there was a knock, and on opening it he saw the girl had turned back. ■

, " Oh, if you please, eir, I forgot to tell you as she—the nurse—was up all night with the ohildren ; never had her clothes oti her back, sir—poulticing tnein, and dismsecting the rooms. 1 think thev call it that," she added, seeing Farley smile over the " disineecting ; " then, rather embarrassed, she made an awkward departure, and the schoolmaster returned to his leaching. - - . --

In the evening he was in liis usual corner at the Bay Horse, and before many minutes had elapsed he found that the whole company was aware of the fever being at " Sea View." "It's said as one o'Ormerod's neflys browt it fro' th' teawn yon'," the wheelwright remarked, " but ah think it's th drains as is bad. Onyway, ah think th' skoo' owt to be shut up for a week What do yo' say, Mester Farlev '!

" I daresay it would be as well," was the schoolmaster's answer ; " it is best to be on the safe side. And then the children can go getting ' w 1111 berry 'un the fell." "By gum.but ah wouldn't iiev Ormerod's state o' mind,not tor a pension," the wheelwiiglit went on. "Fanes him away fro tiooam, an' his three childer mav be deead afore he con see em ageean, an' th' mother a- should be watchin' o'er em i j goodness I'oblmt imi ly) knows wiieer, if hoo's-till 1' thi- wuild ; an a!! hecose o' th' hard, UNforgivin' heart o' one as took her for better or wo.-s, to love an' to cheri.-h 1' sickness an' f health. 11' what were her likin' for Irmk but a sickm ss a- woul 1 ha' left her 1' time, an'what wratig did hoo ever In yon' childer, an why should they be deprived of her care an love ':

"There 1- -urh a thing as example," Failey leturneii strategically. He knew that the wheelwright was laudably curious about (trine rod's w ite, an I t le .light to 11 raw him in an unguaii le 1 in. iinent. " Ay, an' th re - sich a thing as settin' a' example, ' wa- the retort ; " an' ah tell yo' if t»rmerod axes foigneness tor hi- tiepasses, as lie forgive.- ot tier's tie-| -a.-.-es, lc'.nohhut a h\ p n:rite, an' he to he done to as he d >t's to ot hers. ' " It is 11 t for or to judge him," said Far ley, quietly and rep lovingly : and the subj. et droppe 1.

Tin- girl from " Sea \ lew lid not get (I, t !.e -clio .1 holl-e until t lie middle of i he foie n 'On next day, an.l Farley had been in an agony of -u.-pen-e a, 1 me 111 'riling. The ~-holir- hid given : In- most a-t. 111-hing an-w ei's 111 history an I arithmetic, all of vi hich 11 i--ei I unh'e led. And it wa- no very good new - m hen .-he came. " d'he two younger 1 ; 1 iten were no dliferent, but the eldest. M>- F.ilv. was

much woras. The nurse hud asked why she was called *' Eily," and Mr*. Smith had told her that it was something about her motiier leaving home ; she hadn't been called Nelly since then. Oil, and the nurse had made Mr.-. Smith cry dreadful, for Mrs. Smith had heard her praying tor the children to be spare:! ; she'd never heard anything like it. Master had sent a telegraft to say that he woul I get home t he lay after to-morrow, and the nurse hadn't had a wink of deep yet, and looked awful ill herself. Mr*. Smith said she must he a angel from heaven ; " and Farley's smile corroborated the opinion. The only information he received the following day was brought by the gardener's boy, and was to the etlect that the nurse had told Mrs. Smith that the children were no worse if no better, and that she would know -omething definite next day.

And next day the „nl herself came, excited and full of trouble. "Everything was going on beautiful. The children had taken a turn for the better, but —but—the nurse was going away in the afternoon, and another was coming. Oh, why did they want her in Uie big, nasty, smoky place over yonder ! Mrs. Smith was awful sorry too ; she had touk to her, and she wanted her to stop just until master came at six o'clock ; but J he couldn't slop. She said she had done nothing but what their own mother could have done foi them if she'd been there, and Mrs. Smith said they'd want doctors and nurses to her when she did go back to the Inlirmary. But she must be getting back, and see her again afi/re -she went." And the girl ran oil at full speed. " Thank (>od ! " Failey murmured as he watched her up the little lane.

The schoolmaster was bent over his book in his modest sitting-room, but his thoughts were elsewhere. The clock's striking eight roused him from his reverie, and the sound had barely died away when there came the rattle of wheels to the door ; there was a sharp "Whoa !" a knock, and the next instant John Ormerod entered the parlour. He went forward, and took Farley's two hands in his own. " Heaven bless you for the precious service you have rendered me,'' he said, and the schoolmaster's heart leapt with gladness as he noticed the change in his visitor. " Nay, i\lr. Ormetod," he remonstrated, " it was very little I did.'' " Little ? Why, Farley, that nurse was an angel; if she had been their own mother" —he was beginning, and stopped. "My God ! " he groaned, and, worn out with his journey and the anxiety he dropped in a cliuir and laid his head on his arms on the tablo for a space. " Excuse me Farley ; I think it's reaction or something. It's all this trouble coming at the end of nearly five years of continual trouble, and I was not prepared for it. My heatt was too stubborn and full of rebellion, but, ah ! how it has been humbled —melted—opened to the blessed light of reason and of mercy. Five long years have I been the slave of a poor weak passion—for five long years it has shackled me body and soul ; but the fetters have fallen from me—not too late, please God ! . . . What sort of a woman is this nurse ? "

" I didn't see her," was Farley's reply ; " but the girl who came here said she was quite a lady with hair just turning grey."

" And her name is—? Let me see, the housekeeper did tell me." " Did she say Mrs. Armetrong ? " Farley asked.

"Yes, yes ; that's it. I forget everything about her except what she has done for me. How did you know of her ? "

" Oh, I sent a wire to my niece at the town yon'to get the best nuise she could from the Infirmary, and to bring the best doctor in the place. I knew I could depend on Annie." " Oh, site is skilful, good, and brave! Ttie scores of hours she has worked and prayed wotked fiercely, unrestingly prayed. Mrs. Smith says, as no human being ever prayed before. But for her I should have been childless as well as There was another pause ; then Ormerod said : " And she may have done all this for a stranger, at the cost of her own life ; for she was quite done up when she left this afternoon. Farley, would you like a run as far as the town ? 4 It's a beautiful evening, and only half an-hour's drive each way ; and I cannot rest until I know how she is, and send a word of thanks. .. What do you sav '! " - ~'- i —-

For answer the schoolmaster put his book away, then w rapped a small scurf round his neck ; a few seconds later they were on the way to the Infirmary. For a time Ormerod had very little to say, but gradually he talked freely. He spoke of hi* feelings on getting the news when he was in Germany, and how impotent he felt a* he realised the length of time which would elapse before he could reach home, and all that might happen in the meantime ; and the swallow could make the journey in a few hours I " His first thought had been of his wife and all that might have been. ' Then such a storm had raged about his soul, and such a calm had succesded as he had never imagined possible. He thanked (!od for the chastening. He should find his wife if il were possible—if she were still alive ; and his voice trembled. The weekly allowance he made through his solicitor had now accumulated for close upon three years, and lie was afraid to say what he thought. He had endured much in the past—according to his poor idea of endurance - but lie had acted wrongly all through. Love, not anger, was the remedy for the disease.' Farley did not trust himself to speik ; he simply moved his head to convey his sympathy and agreement, and in his heart blessed the coming dusk for hiding the look on his face.

On reaching the Infhmary they were shown into the waiting-room, and, in answer to his inquiries, Ormerod was informed that the head nurse, Mrs. Armstrong, was resting m her room, being tired out. Perhaps, said Ormerod, the atten dant would convey to Mrs. Armstrong his sincere thanks, and ask when he could see her personally, with a view to making a gift to the institution ; so the attendant went, and the two men waited. " What a time the girl i J , said Ormerod impatiently, and it seemed an age to Farley before she re-appeared with the message - "Mrs. Armstrong would see Mr.Oimerod in her room now; wo ild he please come this way ' " Oh, my brave Nelly ! " Farley whispered to himselt a 5 thev lett the apartment ; and the nld man's hp.- moved as it in prayer. How long In- knew, for it had long been dark out-ide when Ormerod came back —pale, trembling, ami happy. " John,'' he said sottlv, " Nellv is h und —she is Mrs. Armstrong—it leas: Mrs. Armstrong is Nelly—the noblest woman in the whole'world. And she is coming home 10-inoi row for good. t>od was not so dist.mt or -o .leaf as 1 thought. Oh, how un-dcsr-r\ing lam of his goodness. It has I'fpn worth while enduring and sufleiing tor this She'.- coming home, .John ! and there wa» an indescribable ee.-tacy in his voice. Farley did not -peak, but the grip of liH haul was more ploquint than words.