Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 48 — page 13: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

! a ed is not a pleasant patient, and as time goes on, becomes itively offensive to delicate nerves. Poor Dick Darling, haggard and unshorn, with rominent cheek-bones and glaring eyes, amid a orest of frowsy, tangled hair, was very differ- ent from the Dick Darling who rode out, trim and handsome from Dolores Station. As his nu- merous wounds began to suppurate in that sul- try climate, the odor became very sickening and altogether, while an object of the greatest pity, there was nothing attractive or in any way romantic about him. Here he had been, lingering between life and death, for a full month, when at last the fever and delirium subsided, and he lay there, as we found him at the beginning of our chapter, inexpressibly weak, but on the road to recov- ery. And beside him, in the cool, dark infirmary, with her white hood drawn forward over her face, but watching the sleeper furtively, while a ntle smile of ineffable content wreathed her ps, sat La Chiquita, telling her beads slowly. Dick Darling suddenly opened his eyes, and they met hers. ‘Who are you?’ he asked, faintly, ‘“ and what is this place?’ CHAPTER XIX. AN IDYL. La Curgurra turned on her patient with a se- vere and magisterial air. She did not under- stand a word he said, Spanish being her only tongue, but she conceived that he was question- ing er. She put her finger on her lip, and said, th an assumption of authority that was very ludicrous in one so childishly beautiful: ‘*‘ Es menester que tu no hables chico.” (You must not speak, little one.) Dick Darling stared in wonder, and a faint smile crossed his lips. It was the first return to absolute sense, since his wounds. Like all Californians, he under- stood some Spanish, and more than most of them. It was with a very humble air that he said: “ Ah, senorita, quiere usted me decir en donde yo soy? No hablara mas, si yo lo supie- ra.” (Ah, miss, will you tell me where lam? I would not talk any more, if I knew it.) La Chiquita ed, but held up her finger re- provingly. ‘*You are in the convent of Santa Clara, among friends. You were hurt before our gates, and have been very ill. Iam Sister Francesca, our nurse; and you must be very obedient, or shall go away and leave you, for Padre Juni- pero says you must not . Now lie still. I am going to give you some food, you poor child, and then you must go to sleep,” It was interesting to note the commanding and motherly addressed her patient. To see her repair to the little soup-saucepan which was simmering in a corner of the room over a little lamp, pour some into a basin and approach the patient, was a wonderful sight in itself. With her brow puckered in a_ thoughtful frown, and her rosy lips compressed in an ex- ression of anxious importance, she proceeded to administer the said soup to the wounded man with scrupulous care. When a drop ran down his chin she scolded him gently for his carelessness, and abashed the oh ems so that he choked over the next mout , and a spasm of pain seized him, Then the severe little nurse dropped her dig- nity and became dreadfully frightened, Dick ceased to gasp for breath and rg rage exhausted, when she began to cheer him up once more, and pet him as if he was a little child. At last, with an innocent unconsciousness that showed that she must have frequently done it before, she softly dropped a kiss on his forehead, and told him to go to sleep or she would leave him. Dick obeyed orders with marvelous docility. It is surprising how much more influence is exerted by a beautiful nurse than an ugly one. He lay back and fell asleep, dreaming that he was wandering in the y bowers of Para- dise, and that a bevy of angels surrounded him and carried him off, of which every one wore the serious Madonna face of Francesca de Ribera. When Dick woke again it was quite dark the room was chilly, a small night light burned near the bed, and he felt shivering and decided- ly hungry. In the great wicker chair by the bed sat a solemn black figure, bowed over and hunched up, very different from the slender figure of bt in its white robes. * air with which the little novice Dick Darling. a ee ee eee ee Dick lay staring at it for a few minutes, in doubt whether it were not merely a change of dream. He perceived the wrinkled face of a fat old woman encircled by a white a like that of a corpse, while the rest of her y was enveloped in somber black. The old nun had fallen asleep with her nose on her breast and was snoring and wheezing away in peaceful unconsciousness. The young man stirred and tried to raise himself, finding, in the operation, that he was absolutely unable to turn in bed. He was free from pain while he lay still, but when he moved either arm he was sensible that he was more or less damaged—how, he had quite for- gotten. The past seemed but a dream to him since he left Carson on his return trip. He had a faint memory of a confused Indian fight, and that was all. Now, however, the discomfort of his position, for he was weak and cold and hungry, made him irritable. He began to call out as loud as he could, which was little above a whisper, and the old nun suddenly gave a start and snort of affright and woke up. Once awake she soon made him comfortable, for, like all old nuns, she was a trained nurse. She threw a soft warm cotton quilt over the bed to warm him, fed him skillfully with soup, and talked to him all the while in the comfort- ing, motherly strain that good nurses assume to their weak patients. Dick, at inclined to be sulky about his change of nurses, soon became reconciled to the Cc , ate a hearty supper of thick soup, and slept like a top, till next noon, when he woke, refreshed and voracious. To his inexpressible satisfaction, Sister Fran- cesca was there by his bedside; and when he awoke, she bent over and kissed him again, just as innocently as if he was a child, while she talked to him in the same low, soothing man- ner as the old nun, which in such a young girl had something inexpressibly and funnily charming. Dick Darfing. it must be confessed, took un- fair advan of his position as a patient that morning. He put on airs, and made himself out worse than he was. The real fact was, that he felt quite free from pain, clear in head, and very hungry. He was able to move his arms, ——_ not to turn his body. He pretended that he needed raising up, his pillows arranged, etc., etc., that he might have the pleasure of feeling the soft arms of the little novice round him. He was so much reduced in weight that she had no difficulty in moving him. en he demanded to sit up and be propped up with illows while he took his breakfast, and kept r Francesca waiting patiently, spoon in hand, for at least twenty minutes, while he slowly enjoyed the meal that he pretended to be unable to swallow. At last he grew ashamed of himself for his tyranny, and when the little novice came to lay him down again he caught hold of her white hand and kissed it fervently, saying: ‘*God bless you, Sister cesca. You are an angel.” The little novice blushed ever so slightly, but she smiled with an air of calm p on, as she said: | “You must not excite mga: child, or Padre Junipero will scold. Now you must go to sleep.” But Dick suddenly became rebellious and demurred. He wanted to talk and ask some uestions. He was growing nervous, he said. e could not sleep. He would not sleep. He felt the fever coming on. She must talk and tell him how he came there, or he might grow worse. Little Sister Francesca, yielding by nature, was frightened into a quick compliance. Her patient already discovered that he was the master there, and, man-like, used the -power. The little novice to flutter, a month before it were, swallowed up in the past, as if he had never been, The poor _patient before her was quite a distinct being, to whom she felt a sort of motherly protecting love, that seem to her perfectly innocent and commendable. Insensibly to herself, she fell into a long con- versation with Dick, wherein he lay quiet, ask- ne an occasional question, while she talked on, in her low sweet tones of voice, telling him how she saw the terrible fight before the convent walls, and how bravely the cavalier fought, ere he was shot down. She described it, as if he had been another person, for she had evidently forgotten that the man lay beside her, and her face glowed with 13° enthusiasm as she told of the battle. Then, when she came to tell of his sufferings, and how she first found that he was alive, her eyes filled with tears, and insensibly she found herself holding Dick’s hand and petting it softly, asshe ee ate the long struggle between life and eath. When Padre Junipero looked into the sick room one hot afternoon about six weeks later, on his medical visit, what should he see but his innocent little novice La Chiquita, sitting beside his patient’s couch in a most endearing attitude, cooing away like a dove to her mate, while the American lay back on his pillows, with his hollow eyes gleaming with light, and a soft happy smile irradia ting his face. It was a clear case of love. ‘‘AnEM! !” said Padre Junipero, as he looked at them. . CHAPTER XX. THE SIRENS. WuHeEN Padre Junipero uttered that vigorous cough, La Chiquita started violently, and look- up. Then, as she caught the severe glance of the old priest, she suddenly turned deep crimson, and covered her face with her hands, trembling from head to foot. Her eyes were opened at last. As for Dick Darling, he turned round on the priest with very different feelings. Ten weeks’ repose and the best of food had made a great change in the wounded man. Early that morn- ing, Dick had risen from his couch alone and un- assisted, when Sister Agatha, whose turn it was to watch, was snoring in her chair. He had made several discoveries when he came to stand: first, that his arms and other flesh wounds were almost well; second, that the hole in his right breast was filled up; third, that although he was very weak, he could walk, without any trouble. It was in the full triumph of these discoveries that he had returned to his couch, determined _ to make an effort to get out, for he was tired of his imprisonment among the old nuns. It was only when Sister Francesca came, as she always did about an hour before noon, to assume her post, that Dick began to reconsider his determination. After all, there were worse positions than being petted by a little nun with the face of a Madonna. And so, somehow, their conversation that morning had ually taken a confidential character, as the young mail-rider began to ask questions about convent life, and the novice had told him of her determination to take the vail-at the end of the year. And then Dick had implored her not to do it, for his sake, and had begun to coax her, though still without daring to declare the love that really burned in his breast. And La Chiquita, still innocent of what she was coming to, had admitted that of late, the convent duties had begun to be irksome to her, and that her brother Gonzalo did not want her to be a nun; and finally, won by Dick’s entreat- ies, she consented to think over leaving the con- vent, and returning to the world, while the mail-rider, who, as we have di was a rson of considerable refinement and education, — or all his whee calling, pictured to her how happy he should be, after his trips, to be able to visit her at her hacienda near Santa Barbara. It was while describing the future to each other in glowing colors, though still without any word of love or roti that Padre Junipero came in and found La Chiquita prattling away, while she patted and played with Dick’s listless — a nga! that had poeeee habitual with her, when petting her patien But the old Eriedt's 3 pe mer 11” opened the eyes of the lovers in a moment. hile La iquita quivered with shame and confusion, id not know her own heart | Dick turned fiercely aye Padre Junipero. yet. The handsome cavalier that had caused it | had disappeared, as | ‘‘ It is usual for gentlemen to knock at the door when they enter a sick-room,” he said. ‘ You have frightened the lady and me, father.” ‘“‘ Be content, my son,” said the priest, dryly. ‘This is no eer oe ane ou are wing well, perhaps well. Pachita, m child, you will come to confession at three this afternoon. Meantime, you can send Sister Agatha here.” — ick rose up in bed. ‘“‘Stay_ here, senorita,” he said, firmly. ‘Padre Junipero has no right to control you, = you have just promised me not to take the g Oh, no, no, Ricardo, I did not quite prom- ise,” murmured La Chiquita, brokenly, while Padre Junipero opened his eyes very wide. COMME NOOO KS (EC)