Part 4 (1/2)
CHAPTER V
A Sacred Confidence
'Duke Radford was very ill For a week he hovered between life and death, and Mrs Burton's skill was taxed to the uttermost There was no doctor within at least a hundred miles One of the fishers at Seal Cove had set the broken collar bone, the work being very well done too, although theBut it was not the broken bone, nor any of his bruises and abrasions, whichthat black week of care and anxiety He was ill in hi that her father's constitution had broken up, and that half a dozen doctors could not pull hih if his tilooainst hope If only the waters had been open, a doctor ht have been procured from somewhere; but in winter time, when the small lakes andin the way of outside help was available, and the dwellers in re up in nursing as lacking in medicine
By the tins of ain, while Katherine was nearly beside herself with joy It had been a fearfully hard week for thehbours had been as kind as possible Stee Jenkin's wife ca as much work as she could find to do, carried the twins off with her to her little house at the Cove, which was a great relief to Mrs Burton and Katherine Mrs M'Kree was ill herself, so could do no e; but even that was better than nothing, for sys on earth when one is in trouble
Sunday was a blessed relief to the her father so much better, Mrs Burton betook herself to bed at noon for the first real untroubled rest she had enjoyed for many days The boys were stretched in luxurious idleness before the glowing fire in the kitchen, and Katherine was in charge of the sickroom She was half-asleep herself; the place was so warm and her father lay in such a restful quiet It had been so terrible all the week because no rest had seeht his sy, only rousing to take nourishment Presently he stirred uneasily, as if the old restlessness were co back, then asked in a feeble tone:
”Are you there, Nellie?”
”Nellie has gone to lie down, Father; but I will call her if you want her,” Katherine said, co forward to where the sick man could see her
”No, I don't want her; it is you I want to talk to, only I didn't knohether she was here,” he replied
”I don't think you ought to talk at all,” she said, in a doubtful tone ”Drink this broth, dear, and then try to sleep again”
”I will drink the broth, but I don't want to go to sleep again just yet,” he said, in a stronger voice
Katherine fed him as if he were a baby, and indeed he was ale his talking, although she could not prevent it, as he see that has been troubling reat deal, and I want to tell you about it,” he said ”I could not speak of it to anyone else, and I don't want you to do so either But it will be a certain co andburdens than Nellie, who has had more than her share of sorrow already”
Katherine shi+vered There was a longing in her heart to tell her father that she wanted no more burdens, that life was already so hard as toat him as he lay there in his weakness, she could not say such words as these
”What is it you want to tell ; he should never have to guess how she shrank froive her, because her instinct told her that it was so which she would not want to hear
”Do you remember the day ent up to Astor M'Kree's with the last h before the waters closed?” he said abruptly, and again Katherine shi+vered, knowing for a certainty that her father's trouble was proving too big for him alone
”Yes, I remember,” she replied very softly,
”That was a black day for s to life in a way that I had thought iht the fishi+ng fleet”
”That one? Are you sure it is the same?” she asked in surprise ”The name is uncommon, still it is within the bounds of probability that there ht be two, and you said the one you kneas a poor man”
”I fancy there is no manner of doubt that it is the same,” 'Duke Radford said slowly ”The day ent to Fort Garry, M'Crawney told me he had a letter from Mr Selincourt too, in which the nener said he was a Bristol man, and that he had knohat it was to be poor, so did not , and that hy he was co here next summer to boss the fleet”
”Poor Father!” Katherine murmured softly ”Ah, you may well say poor!” he answered bitterly ”If it were not for you, the boys, poor Nellie, and her babies, I'd just be thankful to know that I'd never get up froe to face life now”
”Father, you must not talk nor think like that, indeed youtone ”Think hoe need you and hoe love you Think, too, how desolate we should be without you”
”That is what I tell myself every hour in the twenty-four, and I shall ht for it as I can for your sakes,” he said in a regretful tone, as if his faainst his will Then he went on: ”Oswald Selincourt and I were in the sareat wrong”
Katherine had a sensation that was almost akin to what she would have felt if someone had dashed a bucket of ice-cold water in her face But she did not asp, only sat still with the du her heart, until she felt as if she would never feel happy again Her father had always seemed to her the noblest of men, and she had revered hiht and true Then so horribly too, and because she could not speak she slid her war hand and held it fast