Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 146, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 July 1917 — Message from Mary [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Message from Mary

By Katherine Howe

(Copyright. 1817. by W. G. Chapman.) Alvin and Mary Towne had been married 12 years, and no children had come to them. Mary, in whose heart the mother love was strong, longed for a child. One day she talked with Alvin about adopting one, but he, thinking only of the trouble it would cause, and how the order and comfort of his home would be upset, discouraged the project. He thought not of the empty .arms and yearning heart of his wife, but of his own comfort which might be disturbed. So Mary said no more, but often in the park she sat and watched the children, and sometimes talked with mothers about them. One day something terrible happened. A steamer on one of the great lakes went down, Alvin’s widowed sister was drowned, but her little child was saved. Alvin Towne seemed so stunned and stricken with the news of the loss of his only sister that Mary did not at once speak of the child. But when she thought he had grown calmer, and she could speak, she said: “Alvin, what is to be done with the child?” “Why, I don’t know,” he answered, rather hopelessly. “But there is the mother-in-law.” “A helpless, fretful invalid,” protested Mary. “That’s out of the question.” “Well, I suppose she can be put with someone who can be paid to take care of her.” , 5 “Oh, Alvin, think of the dear little thing at the mercy of strangers! Besides, you know Helen could not have left anything much. Who would pay for her care?” This proved something of a poser, the man was silent and thinking. “She couldn't be put in an asylum, you know! Oh, that would be terrible!” ~ 7 “No,” he answered, “of course not. I suppose I shall have to pay.” “Why not have her brought here till we can find a place? It might not be

more than a little while,” wheedled the wily woman. Alvin saw no other way than to consent. “See what a little darling she is!” cried Mary, bringing him a photograph. “She’s nothing but a baby,” he sighed dubiously. “Oh, but that was taken quite a while ago! She must be more than three years old.” said Mary. At first Alvin growled when his sleep was disturbed, or he found his cane sticky, but the weeks lengthened into months, and years, and there was- no longer any question of letting the little one go. They formally adopted Eva, and gave her their name. When she first began to talk, Alvin was for teaching her to call him uncle, but Mary Baid: “She remembers no father or mother. Let her call us that. It is nearer, more comforting to it child.” So Mary had her way, and bothgrew 'to love her as their own. Mary had great delight in the companionship;jdfL the child. Whenthe girl was eighteen the mother she loved as her -very own passed •on to that unseen world, which for aught w$ know lies quite as near to us as the seen. Alvin Towne had always been a foolish man, and such natures often feel the keenest shock, and sense of loneliness at the loss of those they love. "In less than a year after the death of his wife he became totally (blind. Eva now had a heavy task and responsibility to shoulder. Her father fretted and chafed at any attention from a hired attendant, and Eva, deeply sympathetic with his hopelessness, became his constant and untiring companion, reading to. him, and w'alking with him every day when the weather permitted of his leaving the house. Friends, knowing of Eva’s shut-in life, began to come to the house, and enliven the evenings with music, cards, and conver&tion. The blind man en-

joyed these times, but when Eva was invited out it was another matter. While he did not actually demur at her going, he, by reproachful words or looks, showed he considered himself neglected. So the pattent, self-sacri-ficing girl blamed herself for living taken the pleasure, and stayed home more and more. Then something happened. It was Joe Whitman. Joe was about twentyfour, with a rather stubby nose, bristling brown hair, and eyes that seemed to laugh no matter how serious he tried to be. Joe was not opulent, he was slowly making his way up in lawyer's office; but everybody liked him and wanted him, which, after all, for one’s peace of mind may be better even than opulence. Eva did not seem to regard the lack of money seriously, since Joe was apparently climbing steadily toward the achievement of a decent living. She thought only of the joy. the new impetus to live which his presence gave to her. The young man was what they call “a live wire,” which really does rightly apply to those who are so much alive they make it felt by others. “For Eva he made the drab days full of sunlight. After awhile she wondered if he came only out of pity for her. Then she, knew that if it was only that it would be more cruel than death. The blind sometimes seem to develop a sixth sense, and Alvin Towne divined that she loved this man. At once he was tortured with the fear that Eva might leave him. The thought was unbearable, and one day he let her know a little of what was in his mind. “What could I do without you?” he wailed. “What could I do?” “Why think of such a thing?” she said, putting her arms around him, and laying her cheek against his. “Aren’t you all I have in the world? Why should I go away?” “Are you sure,” he urged, “there is no one else?” She protested and petted him into a happier mood. But one evening when she was letting Joe out, and was alone with him in the hall, he held the hand she gave him in good-by, and would not let it go. Her eyes fell beneath his gaze. “There’s never been any time to say it,” he said. “So it’s got to come blunt, but I mean it! I want you, girlie! Do you want me?” “I never wanted anything so much in my life!” she laughed a bit hysterically. Joe’s reply seemed to be expressed in those actions that speak louder than words; and w’hen the door finally closed Eva stood in a kind of blissful trance only to be awakened by the rather Impatient call of her father. The sight of his helplessness seemed suddenly to drop the gitl from the heights of heaven to the depths of self-reproach. What could she say to him? How could she tell him of her happiness? When Joe came the next evening she wrote upon a slip of paper, and handed it to him. He was not to speak to her father yet. Later she would explain. They wrote all sorts of funny and foolish things on the slips of paper, and laughed so over them that the father’s inquiries put Joe’s ingenuity to test in inventing answers. Eva saw that the time had come when her father could be put off no longer. . She must tell him. It would better come first from her than from Joe. The blind man hearing the confirmation of that which he had feared the worst, broke out with a pitiful wail of reproach and despair. I “But. dear!” she coaxed. “We will ! both be with -you. It will not be leav-

ing you!” “Oh, I know,” he wailed.. “You will think only of each other. That’s natural. You will forget met forget me! I'd rather be alone than that. Can’t y'ou wait a little till I’m gone? It won t be long.” Then Eva had to promise him that they would wait a while. The next time that he heard Joe was coming he refused to meet him. saying he was only in the way. He would lie down for a while, perhaps he would sleep. ! I’oor Eva had to face another trying ’ interview. Joe had grown rather ■ restive over the prolonged delay in bej Ing allowed to speak to her father. Al'though she had tried to make him understand the situation, he had begun ! to almost doubt if she really cared for him. Youth and the impatience of a lover cannot always be strictly unselfish and reasonable. So when she -told him how her father felt. and that It seemed the only thing for them was to wait, he asked in a choked voice: “Do you love me?” “Joe!” she cried. “What a cruel question!” “No!” he said, “Not so cruel as to Jiave to ask it!” g “If you think thatTYwirrnorasfrycnr Jto wait You must go your way, and ; leave me to mine,” she said, A cane struck against a chair. They turned to see Alvin Towne standing inside the room. “Wait!” he commanded. “I think I fell asleep—l don’t know —but Mary came to me. I tried to go to her, but she would not let me. Her eyes accosted me, as they never did when she was here. I got up, and found my way here. I heard what you both said. It is well Mary led me here. I have been a selfish beast. Joe Whitman! if you spoil my girl’s life —as~l came so near spoiling Mary’s—l” “Father!” broke in Eva. “Dear !” he went on, “I know you love him with your whole heart and soul! I hope he deserves it.” “I’m going to try to,” said- Joe, “and there’ll be two "of us to make you comfy.” ’ “ The blind man put out a trembling hand. “Come here, son!” he said.

What Could She Say to Him?