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Page 29
CHAPTER VIII.
AT SUNSET.
Elsli continued to go daily to the little invalid, and, from the first
visit, she had been a dear friend and companion to the sick girl, who
would not hear of her going on errands, but kept her by her own side
from the moment she came, till it was time to go home. Mrs. Stanhope,
whose only object in life was her little girl's happiness, was more than
pleased with this arrangement; and watched with delight as Nora grew,
from day to day, more cheerful and even lively in the companionship of a
girl of her own age. And Elsli, too, profited by the intercourse; she
was of a yielding nature and easily took new impressions, and now that
she passed all her time in refined society, she insensibly grew into its
likeness; and her voice, her manners, her way of speaking, all seemed
assimilated to those of a very different way of life from that to which
she had been accustomed. Was it that this new way was really more suited
to her nature than the old?
The two girls studied together every day Elsli's lessons for the morrow,
greatly to the pleasure and advantage of both. To Elsli especially, it
was a new and delightful sensation to go to her class with a perfectly
prepared lesson, and to hear the praises which the teacher daily
bestowed upon her improvement; while Nora, whose invalidism had long cut
her off from her books, found a fresh zest in resuming her studies with
her eager friend. After lessons came supper, and then the evening with
its long talks. These were generally about the beautiful country, to
which Nora hoped soon to go, and where Elsli followed her in sympathetic
thought. One regret began to dim Nora's satisfaction at the prospect;
the thought that they couldn't go together; and Elsli would say, sadly,
"If you should go and leave me here alone, how could I bear it?"
At last September came, with its cool but sunny days. One evening, as
the children sat at the window looking across the meadows towards the
setting sun; from a dark cloud that hung in the western sky, a great
flood of shining light suddenly poured down across the valley,
illuminating the trees, the grass, and the shrubs with its dazzling
radiance.
"Look! look!" cried Nora, "that is the crystal stream! there it comes
rolling toward me! Oh, I wish I could go there now! It is certainly the
promised land, where we all shall be so happy. Come nearer to me,
Elsli. I feel so weak I cannot sit up alone."
Elsli sat close by her, and drew the tired head to rest upon her
shoulder; and so the two friends sat, silently gazing at the wonderful
sight, until at last the sun disappeared behind the woods, and slowly
the mists of evening filled the valley, and all the glory was over.
But for Nora it had only just begun. When her mother came in from the
next room, she thought her little girl was asleep on Elsli's shoulder.
She was asleep, indeed; but she would never awaken on earth. Mrs.
Stanhope took her in her arms, and burst into tears.
"Run, Elsli, for the doctor, as fast as you can!" cried she, and Elsli
ran. The doctor was not at home, but Mrs. Stein soon saw the truth, from
Elsli's answers to her many questions.
"Dear little Nora!" she said sadly. "Her sufferings are over forever.
She has gone to heaven to be at rest."
Elsli stood as if struck by lightning.
"Is she gone? Is Nora really gone to heaven?" she exclaimed, and then
she burst into tears, and trembled so that she could scarcely stand.
"My dear child," said the doctor's wife tenderly, taking Elsli by the
hand, "come and sit down with me a little while, till you feel better."
But Elsli could not. She covered her face with her apron, and ran out of
the house, crying bitterly.
"Oh, how could she go and leave me behind?" she kept saying to herself
as she hurried back to Oak-ridge. She found Mrs. Stanhope still bending
over Nora, and sobbing as when she left her. Elsli seated herself on
Nora's footstool, and wept in silence. It was not long before the
doctor came. He bent over the child's form a moment, and then turned to
the mother.
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