for talking to Benny in that way. And before he left he had grown calm, and seemingly resigned. It was a painful parting; but Nelly did her best to cheer him up, reminding him that in two days he would be able to come and see her again. Granny was in great trouble at the absence of the children, and it was no small relief to her when, about noon, Benny put in an appearance at Tempest Court. One look at his face, however, was sufficient to convince her that something had happened, and when Benny told her what had befallen his little Nell, the old woman sat down and cried; for she knew very well that never more would the little face brighten the dingy court. And granny had got to love the sweet, patient little child as her own; and though for months she had been convinced that the little flower was marked to fall, yet it had come in a way she had not expected, and, like Benny, she felt it very hard to give her up. After dinner Benny went out again to face the world. It was with a very sad heart that he did it; for he felt that from henceforth he would have to fight the battle of life alone. CHAPTER XII. FADING AWAY. The morning flowers displayed their sweets, As careless of the noontide heats, Nipt by the winds' unkindly blast, The momentary glories waste, The short-lived beauties die away. S. WESLEY. JOE WRAG heard the news in silence. Benny, who had gone to him to tell him what had happened to Nell, was not half pleased that he said nothing in reply. But Joe was too troubled to talk. Like granny, he had known for months what was coming, but it had come suddenly, and in a way that he had not expected, and the old man, as he afterwards expressed it, was "struck all of a heap." Benny waited for some time, but finding Joe was not inclined to talk, he made his way home, leaving the old man gazing into the fire, with a vacant look in his eyes and a look of pain upon his face. No one ever knew what the old man suffered that night. It was like tearing open the wound that had been made twenty years before, when his only son, as the crowning act of his unkindness, ran away from home, and had never since been heard of. "If I could only believe that there was the smallest hope o' my ever getting to heaven," he muttered, "it 'ud be easier to bear." And he hid his face in his hands, while great tears dropped between his fingers to the floor. "Bless her little heart!" he murmured; "she did not believe as how any wur excluded; she allers stuck to that word 'whosoever,' an' sometimes I wur inclined to think as how she wur right. I wonder, now, if she wur? for sartinly it looks the reasonabler. "I'm getting "Bless me!" he said after a long pause, mortal shaky in my faith; I used to be firm as a rock. I wonder if it are my heart getting righter, or my head getBut I mun have a few more talks wi' the little hangel afore she goes." ting wrong. As soon as Joe was liberated from his watch, he made his way direct to the Infirmary, and bitterly was he disappointed when told that he could not be admitted, and that if he wanted to see the child he must come again on the following day. His heart was yearning for a sight of her face, and another day and night seemed such a long time to wait; but he turned away without a word, and went slowly home. Evening found him again at his post of duty, and the next morning found him anxious and sad. The night had seemed so very long, and he was burning with impatience to get away. The men came to work at length, and off he started with all possible speed. The porter at the door knew him again, and he was admitted without a word. Nelly was expecting him; she knew it was visitors' day, and she was certain he would come, so she waited with closed eyes, listening for the footfall of her old friend. She knew without looking up when he stooped beside her, and reached out her wasted hand, and drew down his weather-beaten wrinkled face and kissed him. For a long time neither of them spoke. Joe felt if he attempted to utter a word it would choke him, for she was far more wasted than he had expected to see her, and somehow he felt that that was the last time they would ever meet on earth. Nelly was the first to break the silence. "I's so glad you's come, Joe," she said simply. "Are 'e, my honey?" said Joe, with a choking in his throat. "Ay," she replied; "I wanted to see yer once more. You's been very good to me, Joe, and to Benny, an' I wanted to thank you afore I died." "I dunna want thanks, honey," he said, sitting down in the one chair by her bedside, and hiding his face in his hands. "I know yer does not want 'em, Joe; but it does me good, an' I shall tell the Lord when I gets to heaven how good you've been." |