Show N OP tahe by ETHEL B by the bobba company CHAPTER XIII continued 16 will wel and carol added will you kiss prudence good night for us and tell her we kept praying all the time prudence Is such a great hand or praying you know fairy promised and the twins crept upstairs it was dark in their room well undress in the dark so as not to awake poor little connie whispered lark its nice she can sleep like that it and the twins went to bed and fell asleep after a while never doubting that connie in her corner of the room was already safe and happy in the oblivion of slumber but poor connie t she bad not wakened when fairy closed the dungeon door it was long afterward when she sat up and began rubbing her eyes she did not enow where she was then she remembered I 1 she wondered it prudence she scrambled io her feet and trotted over to the dungeon door it was locked she could not turn the knob at first she thought of screaming and pounding on the door but that will arouse prudence and frighten her and maybe kill her she thought wretchedly ill just keep belll until someone passes but no one passed for a long time and connie stretched her aching body and sobbed worrying about prudence fearful on her own account she had no idea of the time she supposed ft was still early and the parsonage was deathly quiet maybe prudence had died I 1 connie writhed in agony on th ehard floor and sobbed bitterly still she would not risk pounding on the dungeon door upstairs in ano front room prudence was wrestling with fever eigher and higher it rose until the doctors looked very anxious they held a brief consultation sul tation in the corner of the room then they beckoned to mr starr has prudence been worrying about something this winter yes she has it Is that young man it inquired the family doctor a methodist member yes can you bring him here yes aa boon as he can get here from des better do it she has worn herself down nearly to the point of prostration we think we can break this fever without serious consequences quen ces but get the young man as soon as possible she cannot relax and rest until she gets relief so he went downstairs and over the telephone dictated a short message to jerry please come prudence when he entered the front bedroom again prudence was muttering unan words under her breath he kneeled down beside the bed and put his arms around her she clung to him with sudden passion jerry 1 jerry 1 she cried her father caressed and petted her but did not speak oh I 1 cant she cried again t cant jerry I 1 cant I 1 again her voice fell to low mumbling yes go go at once I 1 p you know they any mother 1 I promised jerry jerry I 1 then panting she fell back on the pillows but mr starr smiled gently to himself so that was the answer 1 oh foolish little prudence I 1 oh little martyr girl I 1 hours later the fever broke and prudence drifted into a deep sleep then the doctors went downstairs with mr starr talking in quiet ordinary tones oh she Is all right now no danger at all shell do fine let her sleep send fairy to bed too keep prudence quiet a few days all ashes nil right they did not hear the timid knock at the dungeon door but after they had gone out mr starr locked the door behind them and started back through the ball to see it the kitchen doors locked lie distinctly heard a soft tapping and he smiled elcel he thought then be heard something else a faintly whispered father 1 with a sharp exclamation he unlocked and opened tho dungeon door and connie fell into his arms sobbing and he did the only wise thing to do under tho circumstances he sat down on the hall floor and cuddled the child against his breast lie talked to her soothingly until the sobs quieted and her voice was under control now tell father he urged how did you get in the dungeon the twins ob no father of course not the twins do such a thing as that I 1 went into the dungeon to pray that prudence would get well and I 1 prayed myself to sleep when I 1 ap the door waa locked but you child he whispered why you call out or wind on the door 1 I was afraid it would excite prue and make her worse she answered nil her fathers kiss was un wontedly tender as be carried her upstairs to bed prudence slept late the next morning and when she opened her eyes her father was sitting beside her all right this morning father she said smiling are the girls at school no this Is saturday oh of course well bring them up I 1 want to see them just then the distant whistle of a locomotive sounded through the open window but she did not notice her father s sudden start she nodded up at him again and repeated 1 I want to see my girls her father sent them up to her at once and they stood at the foot of the bed with sorry faces and smiled at her say something whispered carol kicking lark suggestively on the foot but lark was dumb it was carol who broke the silence oh prudence do you suppose the doctors will let me come in and watch them bandage your head I 1 want to begin practicing up so as to be ready for the next war then they laughed and the girls realized that prudence was really alive and quite as always they told her of connies sad experience and prudence comforted her sweetly it just proves all over again sho declared smiling but with a sigh close following that you can t get along without me to look after you would I 1 ever go to bed without making sure that connie was safe and sound downstairs meanwhile mr starr was plotting with fairy a willing assistant hell surely bo in on this train and you must keep him down here until I 1 get through with prudence I 1 want to tell her a few things before she sees him bring him in quietly and dont but mr starr smiled gently to him self let him speak loudly I 1 do not want her to know he Is on hand for a few minutes explain it to the girls will you after sending the younger girls downstairs again he closed the door of prudence s room and sat down beside her prudence I 1 cant tell yon how bitterly disappointed I 1 am in you father 1 yes I 1 thought you loved us the girls and me it never occurred to me that you considered us a bunch of selfish heartless ungrateful animals I 1 father I 1 Is that your idea 0 love Is that oh father it really did hurt me prudence my dear little girl how could you send jerry away breaking bouy heart and his and ours too just because you thought us such a selfish lot that we would begrudge you any happiness of your own dont you think our love tor you Is big enough to make us happy in seeing you happy you used to say you would never marry we did not expect you to marry then but we knew the time would come when marriage would seem beautiful and desirable to you we were waiting tor that time we were hoping tor it we were happy when you loved jerry because wo knew he was good and kind and loving and that he could give you all the beautiful things of life that I 1 can never give my children but yon thought we were too to let you go and you sent him away but father 1 who would raise the alris who would keep the parsonage who would look after you aunt grace to be cure we talked it over two years ago when her husband died before that she was not free to come to us but she said then that whenever we were ready for her she would come we both felt that since you were getting along so magnificently with the girls it was better that way for a while but she said that when your flitting time came she would come to us gladly we bad it all arranged you wont want to marry tor a year or so yet you II 11 want to have some happy sweetheart days first and you II 11 yant to make a lot of those pretty useless nonsensical things other girls make when they marry why I 1 advised you to save your burglar money so you would have it for this well have aunt grace come right away so you can take a little freedom to be happy and to make your plans and you can initiate aunt grace into the mysteries 0 parsonage housekeeping A bright strange light had flashed over Pru dences face but her eyes clouded a little as she asked do yau think they would rather have aunt grace than me of course not but what has that to do with it we love you so dearly that we can only be happy when you are happy we love you so dearly that we can be happy with you away from us just knowing that you are happy but you you thought our love was such a hideous selfish little make believe that oh father I 1 I 1 you know I 1 I 1 but maybe jerry wont forgive me now why dlan t you talk it over with me prudence 1 I knew you too well father I 1 knew it would be useless but it seem wrong father that a girl that I 1 should love jerry more than you and the girls that he should come first it seem wicked no prudence it Is not after all perhaps it Is not a stronger and deeper love you were willing to sacrifice him and yourself for our saleal but it Is a different love it Is the love of woman for man that 13 very different from sister love and father love and it Is right and it is beautiful 1 I am sure jerry will forgive me maybe if you will send me a paper and pencil I 1 can write him a note now theres no use waiting Is there fairy will bring afi am sure but when a few minutes later she beard a step in the hall outside she laid her arm across her face somehow she felt that the wonderful joy and love shining in her eyes should be kept hidden until jerry was there to see she heard the door open and close again put them on the table fairy dearest and leave me for a little while will you thank you and her face was still hidden then the table by the bedside was swiftly drawn away and jerry kneeled beside her and drew the arm from her face jerry I 1 she whispered half unbelievingly lievin gly then joyously oh jerry I 1 she gazed anxiously into bis face nave you been sick how thin you are and so pale I 1 jerry harmer you need mo to take care of you dont you but jerry did not he looked earnestly and steadily into the joyful eyes for a moment and then he pressed his facelo hers ann END |