THE LITTLE BOY WHO NEVER WAS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2950, 28 September 1910, Page 90

THE LITTLE BOY WHO NEVER WAS.

By A. Maxon Sphagub.

She lay very still, gazing between balfclosed lids straight before her. What was that strange glow? Long ago, when she was a little girl, she had seen a great golden star like that. There was a heavy fragrance of Japanese honeysuckle about her now, just as there had been then. Perhaps it was the same star; perhaps . There was a sudden .soft rustling. Between her and the star a woman stepped. She knew now. The star was the shaded night lamp in her dressing room; the woman was her nurse. Slowly she lowered her lashes until they lay upon her white cheeks. She felt the eyes of the nurse upon her, yet she remained motionless. She heard the door open, and then a man's voice, curiously muffled. "Well. Miss Bingham?" "Still in the stupor, doctor. ( She has been this way since midnight." "Ah!" She felt cool fingers touch her wrist, yet she made no sign. She smiled in her heart. . They thought her unconscious, but her mind was as clear as theirs—clearer, perhaps, for she felt strangely light and airy, as if her body was none and only her brain remained. ■comprehending abnormally every sound in the room about her. Tho man's voice, .-! : 1! muffled, broke in upon her thoughts. "If she regains consciousness before dawn I think there is hope. Ttaeve will probably be no change for an Lour. It might b« x&U— —-" •*•

The nurse and doctor parsed into toe outer room. For a moment, she heard them speaking in low tones; then caine the faint click of a closing door. Slowly she raised her lashes. XTie shaded lamp glowed Jake a golden sta". =-.-. ~.,,.f . ,. hwiide it. h«c aeacJ resting on her hand. Again the woman smiled without moving her lips. They thought her still in that land of slindows where she. had groped for so long. It seamed years before she had heard the call and come back. She .remembered those long, dark hills with the cold wind on her face and the sound of sobbing in her ears—the sound of her own sobs as sho hunted .or her way back. Then suddenly a voice had sounded in the blackness, and she lxad opened her eyes to see the lamp, the. nurse, and the great white bed. She felt curiously strained and eager, as if she were waiting for something or someone. Yet the heavy fragrance of the honeysuckle seemed to weigh her down; the light blurred, and she felt herself climbing the hills again, with the wind in her face. With an effort she struggled back, and lay watching the light and the drooping head of the nurse. She must wait a little longer—perhaps not very long. She turned her head until her cheek lay in the warm hollow of the pillow. Then—then she knew vhy she had come back-. How glad she was! A joy that was passionate in its intensity leaped up in her heart and glowed on her smiling face ; for there in the doorway stood the Little Boy Who Never Was. 'She had never seen him before, but always, always her heart had known him. There could be no mistake. She knew he would .»ave just such curly hair, just euch grave blue eyes. Then, ae she watched him, he smiled, and she knew, before r-he saw it, that there would be the little three-cornered dimple in his cheek. As she lay with her eyes uftfffl him, all the lonely years which were behind bur, the years when he. had lived only in her dreams, passed in slow procession before her. Yet she felt no bitternesi that h<; had come so 'ate —only a great, joy that he had come at last. He moved quickly toward her, and she saw with a sudden rush of tenderness, how fine and sturdy he wa«. li be had only come in time to grow up! She stifled the rising regret, and her eyes were clear and beautiful as he leaned against the bed looking down at her. 'You called me back —why?' * she asked him, as she lifted her hand nnd twehed Ms hair; she wanted to hear »na v^ice. "You know," he replied, with quaint gravity, drawing her hand down to his cheek and holding it there. "The hills were so dark and cold, and I wanted to take care of you—always." "You knew me?" ehe queried. "Oh, yes," he replied simply. "I saw you from yonder. I chose you for mine even before you thought of there being any me!" He laughed softly, brushing his lips across her hand. I'm twelve now!" Twelve! So she had drear.<>.d of him that long! He was almost a mac now, and able to take care of hei !<■ was "«> good to be able to be taken care of! All those years when she had struggled on alone; wher) there had only been her lonely dreams ; when "You mustn't think of that," Raid the Little Boy Who Never Was, reading aright the shadow on her eyes. "I'm hero now—that is all. You must come —It'a ! almost dawn. Come!" He smiled as he slipped his sturdy atm : beneath her head. For a long time she had been too tired i to move; at times it had an effort I hardly worth the trouble to-lift ! heavy eyelids. Yet now she felt light d airy and full of eagerness, as "if her body were gone, leaving her soul burning like a clear flame. She "felt as young and rfrtmK as on that night long ago, when, >■ a little girl, she had seen the golden star. She was glad, glad that the ye r <rs hai sliprsed away, leaving her a fit companion for the Little Boy who bad come at last! With his hand in hers, she rose. Hand in hand they went to the door. There she stopped and looked back. In the outer room the shaded lamp glowod faintly; the nurse still sat with drooping head. "It is almost dawn," the Little Boy Who Never Was repeated. "We must So, still hand in hand, they Passed down the broad staircase. The hall door stood ajar, allowing a heavy fragrance of Japanese honeysuckle to come stealing in. Without, in the garden, where a faint light was beginning to glow, there was a rustling and stirring as of myriads of tiny wings flutteiing. The dawn was coming fast, yet the two lingered a moment before an open door. Standing on the threshold they <;azed silently. At a long table sat a man with his head sunk upon his breast; the fingers of his outstretched hand clasped a halfempty glass. The woman shivered. The long, lonely years Then sturdy closed on hers, and she met the "gravely tender eyes of the Little Bov Who Never Was. It was very good to be taken care of! Together they turned and passed down the hall. The nurse arose and entered the inner room. For a moment she paused beside the great white bed. "How beautiful she is!" she murmured. "To think that she can smile so! Then something in the attitude of the beautiful figure struck ber. She bent ■forward. The jov in the white- face held her spellbound, and silenced the cry on her lips. Out in the fraarrant garden the Little Boy Who Never Was said softly, as they I turned their faces to the dawn: ".' ,:...;: ■ ■ '..■- ■ :- r rot: si- .ys, Little ( Dream Mother!" —Mtmsey's.