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Page 30
Dr. Woodburn continued about the same all the following day, saving that
he slept more. The next day was Sunday, and Beth slept a little in the
afternoon. When she awakened she heard Dr. Mackay going down the hall,
and May came in to take her in her arms and kiss her. She sat down on
the bed beside Beth, with tears in her beautiful eyes.
"Beth, your father has been such a good man. He has done so much! If God
should call him home to his reward, would you--would you refuse to give
him up?"
Beth laid her head on May's shoulder, sobbing.
"Oh, May--is it--death?" she asked, in a hoarse whisper.
"I fear so, dear."
Beth wept long, and May let her grief have its way for a while, then
drew her nearer to her heart.
"If Jesus comes for him, will you say 'no'?"
"His will be done," she answered, when she grew calmer.
The next day lawyer Graham came and stayed with Dr. Woodburn some time,
and Beth knew that all hope was past, but she wore a cheerful smile in
her father's presence during the few days that followed--bright winter
days, with sunshine and deep snow. The jingle of sleigh-bells and the
sound of merry voices passed in the street below as she listened to the
labored breathing at her side. It was the last day of the year that he
raised his hand and smoothed her hair in his old-time way.
"Beth, I am going home. You have been a good daughter--my one great
joy. God bless you, my child." He paused a moment. "You will have to
teach, and I think you had better go back to college soon. You'll not
miss me so much when you're working."
Beth pressed back her tears as she kissed him silently, and he soon fell
asleep. She went to the window and looked out on it all--the clear, cold
night sky with its myriads of stars, the brightly lighted windows and
the snow-covered roofs of the town on the hill-slope, and the Erie, a
frozen line of ice in the distant moonlight. The town seemed unusually
bright with lights, for it was the gay season of the year. And, oh, if
she but dared to give vent to that sob rising in her throat! She turned
to the sleeper again; a little later he opened his eyes with a bright
smile.
"In the everlasting arms," he whispered faintly, then pointed to a
picture of Arthur on the table. Beth brought it to him. He looked at it
tenderly, then gave it back to her. He tried to say something, and she
bent over him to catch the words, but all was silent there; his eyes
were closed, his lips set in a smile. Her head sank upon his breast.
"Papa!" she cried.
No answer, not even the sound of heartbeats. There was a noiseless step
at her side, and she fell back, unconscious, into May's arms. When she
came to again she was in her own room, and Mr. Perth was by her side.
Then the sense of her loss swept over her, and he let her grief have its
way for a while.
"My child," he said at last, bending over her. How those two words
soothed her! He talked to her tenderly for a little while, and she
looked much calmer when May came back.
But the strain had been too much for her, and she was quite ill all the
next day. She lay listening to the strange footsteps coming and going in
the halls, for everyone came to take a last look at one whom all loved
and honored. There was the old woman whom he had helped and encouraged,
hobbling on her cane to give him a last look and blessing; there was the
poor man whose children he had attended free of charge, the hand of
whose dying boy he had held; there was the little ragged girl, who
looked up through her tears and said, "He was good to me." Then came the
saddest moment Beth had ever known, when they led her down for the last
time to his side. She scarcely saw the crowded room, the flowers that
were strewn everywhere.
It was all over. The last words were said, and they led her out to the
carriage. The sun was low in the west that afternoon when the Perths
took her to the parsonage--"home to the parsonage," as she always said
after that. Aunt Prudence came to bid her good-bye before she went away
to live with her married son, and Beth never realized before how much
she loved the dear old creature who had watched over her from her
childhood. Just once before she returned to college she went back to
look at the old home, with its shutters closed and the snow-drifts on
its walks. She had thought her future was to be spent there, and now
where would her path be guided?
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