第92章 IN WHICH THE MINISTER RECEIVES A LETTER(2)
I know you did.Now,Mr.Ellery,I'm disappointed in you.I thought you were a sensible man who would take care of his health,now that he'd got the most of it back again.I've got news for you--good news--but I'm not sure that I shall tell it to you.Good news!Dr.Parker,if you've got news for me that is good,for Heaven's sake tell it.I've been imagining everything bad that could possibly happen.Tell me,quick.My health can stand that.Ye-es,yes,I guess it can.They say joy doesn't kill,and that's one of the few medical proverbs made by unmedical men that are true.You come with me and sit down in that chair.Yes,you will.
Sit down.
He led his patient back to the chair by the window and forced him into it.
There!he said.Now,Mr.Ellery,if you think you are a man,a sensible man,who won't go to pieces like a ten-year-old youngster,I'll--I'll let you sit here for a while.Doctor?
You sit still.No,I'm not going to tell you anything.You sit where you are and maybe the news'll come to you.If you move it won't.Going to obey orders?Good!I'll see you by and by,Mr.Ellery.
He walked out of the room.It seemed to Ellery that he sat in that chair for ten thousand years before the door again opened.And then--Grace!he cried.O Grace!you--you've come back.She was blushing red,her face was radiant with quiet happiness,but her eyes were moist.She crossed the room,bent over and kissed him on the forehead.
Yes,John,she said;I've come back.Yes,dear,I've come back to--to you.Outside the shanty,on the side farthest from the light and its group of buildings,the doctor and Captain Nat Hammond were talking with Mrs.Higgins.The latter was wildly excited and bubbling with joy.
It's splendid!she exclaimed.It's almost too fine to believe.
Now we'll keep our minister,won't we?
I don't see why not,observed the doctor,with quiet satisfaction.Zeb and I had the Daniels crowd licked to a shoestring and now they'll stay licked.The parish committee is three to one for Mr.Ellery and the congregation more than that.
Keep him?You bet we'll keep him!And I'll dance at his wedding--that is,unless he's got religious scruples against it.Mrs.Higgins turned to Captain Nat.
It's kind of hard for you,Nat,she said.But it's awful noble and self-sacrificin' and everybody'll say so.Of course there wouldn't be much satisfaction in havin'a wife you knew cared more for another man.But still it's awful noble of you to give her up.The captain looked at the doctor and laughed quietly.
Don't let my nobility weigh on your mind,Mrs.Higgins,he said.
I'd made up my mind to do this very thing afore ever I got back to Trumet.That is,if Gracie was willin'.And when I found she was not only willin'but joyful,I--well,I decided to offer up the sacrifice right off.You did?You DID?Why,how you talk!I never heard of such a thing in my born days.Nor I neither,not exactly.But there!with a wink at Parker,you see I've been off amongst all them Kanaka women and how do you know but I've fell in love?Nat HAMMOND!
Oh,well,I--What is it,Grace?
She was standing in the doorway and beckoning to him.Her cheeks were crimson,the breeze was tossing her hair about her forehead,and she made a picture that even the practical,unromantic doctor appreciated.
By George,Nat!he muttered,you've got more courage than Ihave.If 'twas my job to give her up to somebody else I'd think twice,I'll bet.The captain went to meet her.
What is it?he asked.
Nat,she whispered,will you come in?He wants to see you.John Ellery was still seated in the chair by the window,but he no longer looked like an invalid.There was no worry or care in his countenance now,merely a wondrous joy and serene happiness.
He held out his hands and the captain shook them heartily.
Mr.Ellery,he said,as they used to say at the circus,'Here we are again.'And you and I have been doing all kinds of circus acrobatics since we shook last,hey?I'm glad you're pretty nigh out of the sick bay--and the doctor says you are.Captain,began Ellery.Hammond interrupted him.
Hold on!he said.Belay right there.If you and I are to cruise in the same family--and that's what I hear is likely to happen--I cal'late we'll heave overboard the cap'ns and Misters.
My name's 'Nathaniel'--'Nat'for short.
All right.And mine is 'John.'Captain--Nat,I mean--how can Iever thank you?
Thank me?What do you want to thank me for?I only handed over somethin'that wasn't mine in the first place and belonged to you all along.I didn't know it,that was the only trouble.But your promise to your father.I feel--
You needn't.I told dad that it was just as Grace said.She says she's got a better man,or words to that effect.And--I don't know how you feel about such things,John--but I b'lieve there's a broader outlook up aloft than there is down here and that dad would want me to do just what I have done.Don't worry about me.I'm doin'the right thing and I know it.And don't pity me,neither.
I made up my mind not to marry Grace--unless,of course,she was set on it--months ago.I'm tickled to death to know she's goin'to have as good a man as you are.She'll tell you so.Grace!Hello!
She's gone.
Yes.I told her I wanted to talk with you alone,for a few minutes.Nat,Grace tells me that Aunt Keziah was the one who--She was.She met me at the Cohasset Narrows depot.I was settin' in the car,lookin'out of the window at the sand and sniffin'the Cape air.By the everlastin'!there ain't any air or sand like 'em anywheres else.I feel as if I never wanted to see a palm tree again as long as I live.I'd swap the whole of the South Pacific for one Trumet sandhill with a huckleberry bush on it.Well,as Istarted to say,I was settin'there lookin'out of the window when somebody tapped me on the shoulder.I looked up and 'twas her.
You could have blown me over with a fan.By the jumpin'Moses,you could!You see,I'd been thinkin'about her--that is,I was--He hesitated,turned red,coughed,and went on.