The Storyteller

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXV, Issue 7, 14 February 1907, Page 3

The Storyteller

HIS DAUGHTER ELIZABETH

.- . . from last? week.) «,-h Vo^ 6 "^ Mrs ' Win S and h^ 'daughter -Laura,' said Father Reade, < and you can imagine how they - are .beseeching the intercessions of Heaven.' I am almost as much interested as they/ said Dr. 1 But not more confident/ returned the priest, with a 1 , A " d again, a week later, they met to "exchange ideas and hazard conjectures. ' • 'Mrs. Wing told me that there was a low windowf!?^ 1 ? i? er h " sband ' s room, and that he often remarked that it would make a splendid hMing-plaee for anything of value. .Try the suggestion on the fellow, if you get a chance. * It may help.' " So spoke. Father Reade. Dr. Burton- smiled *ou can well say,.-" if I .get the chance.'' I have been acting a part this last two weeks, and fancy SS ng iv convinced that I have no untoward intentions. Nevertheless— ' _ ' - Next day fortune - favored him. He sent " Elizabeth for hot water, and while she was out of the room turned to the old man. -' " - ' Can you remember ? ' he asked eagerly The old man shook' his head - b>r '2? Sw-sttf '<• ■ Wi " S dte " - in -^° y°u>pmem«A^, sudd6n Sleam shot across the others face" • .v I- window-seat^- the centre panel— ' he began • then he shook has head once more ' . # ' Forgive me, doctor— it is all' blurred. I shall never remember.' - - :~: ~ ___°««" But he had given the physician foadr'for ,tHo%ht— and then a plan that- almost took his breath, away by its daring suggested itself. It necessitated his calling upon the two in whose lives he' had become such a factor for good, and when,, in his earnest way, he had unfolded his scheme, . Mrs. Wing, trembling with excitement rose to the occasion. . • ' For my child's sake, who has been such a good and tender daughter, I will place myself under your- guidance/ slie said simply. ■ a «t- D . r * Burton had been a frequent- vfeitOFsW>>*-Miss Wing s, and when, two days later, he called,^accompanied by a sweet-faced, elderly woman attired irf deep mourning, no one made any objections when he said he would go. to Miss Elizabeth's sitting-room and await her* return. Three-quarters of an hour later he summoned one of the servants and said that his good friend toad sudUenly been taken ill, and that he could not wait^ for the young lady. The pale and agitated countenance of the woman with him bore out his assertion. Later, when Miss Wing did return, she could not understand the- ..motive of the doctor's visit nor who his companion might- be, nor* did sbe.-know that her years of scheming had been rendered fruitless by . their visit. She. was too ...much concerned over- John - Hempstead's case to allow the thought .of Dr. Burton to worry her for -any length. of time. Try as she might she could not break down the seeming obstinacy of the old man. .- But she was not prepared for the letter which reached her " early the next morning, informing her that a later will of Benjamin Wing's had been discovered. For a moment her violent temper asserted itself, and __ her first impulse was to turn on the old man, who she felt," had betrayed the secret to other ears.- • She had not- removed her outside clothing, and, -crumpling the letter in her hand, 1 she left" . the house "V immediately. When she came into the room where John Hemps tead lay, she found Dr. Burton with him. ; 'So ! I she said with scorn. 'It is truly surprising what an interest the disinterested Dr. Burton finds in an old beggar V . . 'He, is a dying man, and a Catholic/ said Dr. Button, with dignity. ' Let that explain my interest.' /I will -request? you to leave us at once/ she exclaimed/ ' and to cease your attendance upon him.' 'My attendance ceases with' this -hour/ .said Dr. Burton. 'Do not make a scene in the presence of the dead, Miss Wing. And allow, me 'to inform you that I know the whole story. > She brushed him aside and stared down at the face upon, the pillow— no whiter now than her own. She did not hear, nor did she say anything further. The -day that Mrs. Wing * and. her daughter Laura moved back to their lovely home, from which they had

been so long banished, Elizabeth left America, she declared, forever. JNo hint -of her wrong-doing ever crept out, a,nd when the fair-weather friends of old came flock-ing about them, the -two, who had been,, so sorely tried, -knew what value" "to place" on their ' pleasant speeohes and effusive apologies. That .was many years ago: Laura has been, for a number of these years, the loving and beloved wife of Dr. Burton. He, as well as her best friend and counsellor, Father , Reade, can say, as the latter said of old :

She has the firmest faith I ever saw in a woman ' From Benjamin Wing's daughter, Elizabeth, they never beard again.—' Benziger's Magazine ' ' '