Didactic fiction; Roe, Edward Payson, 1838-1888; Short stories
"Miss Helen, like the captain, is going to do just as I say, aren't
you? You can do more for yourself than I can do for you. Remember, you
must act intelligently and cooperate with me. His father, and
especially his mother, exhibited the utmost degree of emotion and made
the strongest appeals without effect. Now we must try different
tactics. All must be quiet and nothing occur to confuse or irritate
him."
"Ah, how little you all understand me! The moment you give me a chance
to act I can be as calm as you are. It's this waiting, this torturing
suspense that I cannot endure. Hobart would not have permitted it. He
knows, he understands. Every effort will fail till Albert sees me. It
will be a cause for lasting gratitude to us both that I should be the
one to restore him. Now let me manage. My heart will guide me better
than your science."
"What will you do?" inquired her father, in deep solicitude.
"See, here's his picture," she replied, taking it from a table
near--"the one he gave me just before he marched away. Let him look at
that and recall himself. Then I will enter. Oh, I've planned it all! My
self-control will be perfect. Would I deserve the name of woman if I
were weak or hysterical? No, I would do my best to rescue any man from
such a misfortune, much more Albert, who has such sacred claims."
"That's a good idea of yours about the photograph. Well, I guess I must
let Nature have her own way again, only in this instance I advise quiet
methods."
"Trust me, Doctor, and you won't regret it."
"Nerve yourself then to do your best, but prepare to be disappointed
for the present. I do not and cannot share in your confidence."
"Of course you cannot," she said, with a smile which illuminated her
face into rare beauty. "Only love and faith could create my confidence."
"Miss Helen," was the grave response, "would love and faith restore
Captain Nichol's right arm if he had lost it?"
"Oh, but that's different," she faltered.
"I don't know whether it is or not. We are experimenting. There may be
a physical cause obstructing memory which neither you nor any one can
now remove. Kindness only leads me to temper your hope."
"Doctor," she said half-desperately, "it is not hope; it is belief. I
could not feel as I do if I were to be disappointed."
"Ah, Miss Helen, disappointment is a very common experience. I must
stop a moment and see one who has learned this truth pretty thoroughly.
Then I will bring Nichol and his parents at once."
Tears filled her eyes. "Yes, I know," she sighed; "my heart just bleeds
for him, but I cannot help it. Were I not sure that Hobart understands
me better than any one else, I should be almost distracted. This very
thought of him nerves me. Think what he did for Albert from a hard
sense of duty. Can I fail? Good-by, and please, PLEASE hasten."
Martine rose to greet the physician with a clear eye and a resolute
face. "Why, why!" cried Dr. Barnes, cheerily, "you look a hundred per
cent better. That quinine--"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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