Her face was glorified. She sang to that silent one, and to the world
that had been hers. In a dream she sang on, as the mother and her boy
were taken from her sight, sang on while the people silently departed.
"Somewhere, somewhere," she sang,
"Beautiful isle of Somewhere,
Isle of the true, where we live anew,
Beautiful isle of Somewhere."
Her voice broke as uncontrollable sobs rent her slender body, and she
sank against the shoulder of her father and followed Bill from the
church. Half-a-dozen kindly hands were carrying Jap outside.
The long line of carriages had already started on its way to the little
plot of ground where two fern-lined graves awaited the loved ones of
Ellis Hinton. The horses of the remaining carriage pawed the ground
restlessly in the sharp November air.
"Better take him to his room in a hurry," Dr. Hall commanded. "The boy
has been through too much. I was afraid of this."
"You can't take him to that dreary office," Isabel pleaded. "Papa,
tell Dr. Hall what to do."
And, as always, she had her way. In the sunny south room above the
library, with the shadows of the stark elms doing grotesque dances on
the window panes, with Isabel and her mother hovering in tender
solicitude over him, Jap Herron tossed for weeks in the delirium of
fever, calling always for Flossy.
CHAPTER XIX
"Mr. Bowers wants to talk to you," Isabel said, smoothing Jap's limp
hair from his haggard face. "He has been here every day for a week,
and Mamma wouldn't hear to his bothering you, especially as you had
concluded that you must talk to Bill about the office."
"Let him come," said Jap wearily.
The Judge tramped heavily into the bedroom.
"I want to talk to you about Flossy's affairs," he declared, dropping
into a chair and blowing his nose.
Jap's face flushed, then paled. He lifted one thin hand to his eyes
and leaned back in the pillows.
"I sent for Bill to meet me here and have Brent Roberts read Flossy's
will."
"Why?" Jap's voice rasped with pain.
"You have been sick nigh a month," said the Judge, "and there's a power
o' things that oughter be seen to, and Brent refused to read Flossy's
will till you could hear it. I want to settle the bills."
Isabel slipped her arm around Jap's shoulder and glared at the Judge.
"You ought to be ashamed," she cried. "Jap is not strong enough to be
bothered with business."
Jap put her aside gently and sat up.
"The Judge is right, sweetheart," he said. "I will not be tired with
doing anything for--for her."
He covered his face with his hands. Bill entered softly. His brows
lowered at sight of his father.
"What did you want with me and Roberts?" he queried shortly.
"It is all right, Bill," Jap said brokenly. "It will hurt whenever it
comes, so let's get it done."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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