The Way to Peace [13]
were, and the great heaps of sawdust-- but the noise made his head ache; and--and the fire didn't seem hot. . . .
It was in one of those moments when the mists thinned, and he knew that he was shivering over the stove instead of basking in the sunshine in his mother's room that smelled of rose-geranium leaves, that Athalia came in. She looked conscious and confused, full of a delightful embarrassment at being for once alone with him. The color was deep on her cheeks, and her eyes were starry.
"Eldress asked me to bring your mail down to you, Brother Lewis," she said.
"Thalia!" he said; "I am so glad to see you, dear; I--I seem to be rather used up, somehow." The mists had quite cleared away, but a violent headache made his words stumble. "I was just wondering, Thalia--don't you think you might go home now? You've had a whole year of it--and I really ought to go home--the mill--"
"Why, Lewis Hall! What do you mean!" she said, forgetting her part in her indignation. "I am a Shakeress. You've no right to speak so to me."
He blinked at her through the blur of pain. "I wish you'd stay with me, Athalia, I've got a--a sort of--headache. Never mind about being a Shakeress just for to-night. It would be such a comfort to have you."
But Athalia, with a horrified look, had left him. She fled home in the darkness with burning cheeks; she debated with herself whether she should tell Eldress how her husband-- no, Brother Lewis--had tried to "tempt" her back to him. In her excitement at this lure of the devil she even wondered whether Lewis had pretended that he was ill, to induce her to stay with him? But even Athalia's imagination could not compass such a thought of Lewis for more than a moment, so she only told the Eldress that Brother Lewis had "tried to persuade her to go back to the world with him." The Lord had defended her, she said, excitedly, and she had forbidden him to speak to her!
Eldress Hannah looked perplexed. "That's not like Lewis. I wonder--" But she did not say what she wondered. Instead, she went early in the morning down Lonely Lake Road to Lewis's house. The poor fellow was entirely in the mists by that time, shivering and burning and quite unconscious, saying over and over, "She wouldn't stay; she wouldn't stay."
"'Lure her back,'" said Eldress Hannah, with a snort. "Poor boy! It's good riddance for him."
But Eldress Hannah stayed, and Brother Nathan joined her, and for many days the little community was shaken with real anxiety, for they had all come to love the solitary, waiting husband. Athalia, abashed, but still cherishing the dear insult of having been tempted, took what little part Eldress allowed her in the care of the sick man; but in the six or seven weeks of his illness Brother Nathan and the Eldress were his devoted nurses, and by-and-by a genuine friendship grew up between them. Old Eldress Hannah's shrewd good-humor was as wholesome as a sound winter apple, and Nathan had a gayety Lewis had never suspected. The old man grew very confidential in those days of Lewis's convalescence; he showed his simple heart with a generosity that made the sick man's lip tighten once or twice and his eyes blur;-- Lewis came to know all about Sister Lydia; indeed, he knew more than the old man knew himself. When the invalid grew stronger, Nathan wrestled with him over the Prophecies, and Lewis studied them and the other foundation-stones of the Shaker faith with a constantly increasing anxiety. "Because," he said, with a nervous blink, "if you ARE right--" But he left the sentence unfinished. Once he said, with a feeble passion--for he was still very weak--"I tell you, Nathan, it isn't human!" and then added, under his breath, "but God knows whether that's not in its fa-vor."
When he was quite well again he was plainly preoccupied. He pored over the Prophecies with a concentration that made him blind even to Athalia's tired looks. Once, when some one said in his presence, "Sister 'Thalia is working too hard," he blinked at her in an absent way before the old, anxious attention
It was in one of those moments when the mists thinned, and he knew that he was shivering over the stove instead of basking in the sunshine in his mother's room that smelled of rose-geranium leaves, that Athalia came in. She looked conscious and confused, full of a delightful embarrassment at being for once alone with him. The color was deep on her cheeks, and her eyes were starry.
"Eldress asked me to bring your mail down to you, Brother Lewis," she said.
"Thalia!" he said; "I am so glad to see you, dear; I--I seem to be rather used up, somehow." The mists had quite cleared away, but a violent headache made his words stumble. "I was just wondering, Thalia--don't you think you might go home now? You've had a whole year of it--and I really ought to go home--the mill--"
"Why, Lewis Hall! What do you mean!" she said, forgetting her part in her indignation. "I am a Shakeress. You've no right to speak so to me."
He blinked at her through the blur of pain. "I wish you'd stay with me, Athalia, I've got a--a sort of--headache. Never mind about being a Shakeress just for to-night. It would be such a comfort to have you."
But Athalia, with a horrified look, had left him. She fled home in the darkness with burning cheeks; she debated with herself whether she should tell Eldress how her husband-- no, Brother Lewis--had tried to "tempt" her back to him. In her excitement at this lure of the devil she even wondered whether Lewis had pretended that he was ill, to induce her to stay with him? But even Athalia's imagination could not compass such a thought of Lewis for more than a moment, so she only told the Eldress that Brother Lewis had "tried to persuade her to go back to the world with him." The Lord had defended her, she said, excitedly, and she had forbidden him to speak to her!
Eldress Hannah looked perplexed. "That's not like Lewis. I wonder--" But she did not say what she wondered. Instead, she went early in the morning down Lonely Lake Road to Lewis's house. The poor fellow was entirely in the mists by that time, shivering and burning and quite unconscious, saying over and over, "She wouldn't stay; she wouldn't stay."
"'Lure her back,'" said Eldress Hannah, with a snort. "Poor boy! It's good riddance for him."
But Eldress Hannah stayed, and Brother Nathan joined her, and for many days the little community was shaken with real anxiety, for they had all come to love the solitary, waiting husband. Athalia, abashed, but still cherishing the dear insult of having been tempted, took what little part Eldress allowed her in the care of the sick man; but in the six or seven weeks of his illness Brother Nathan and the Eldress were his devoted nurses, and by-and-by a genuine friendship grew up between them. Old Eldress Hannah's shrewd good-humor was as wholesome as a sound winter apple, and Nathan had a gayety Lewis had never suspected. The old man grew very confidential in those days of Lewis's convalescence; he showed his simple heart with a generosity that made the sick man's lip tighten once or twice and his eyes blur;-- Lewis came to know all about Sister Lydia; indeed, he knew more than the old man knew himself. When the invalid grew stronger, Nathan wrestled with him over the Prophecies, and Lewis studied them and the other foundation-stones of the Shaker faith with a constantly increasing anxiety. "Because," he said, with a nervous blink, "if you ARE right--" But he left the sentence unfinished. Once he said, with a feeble passion--for he was still very weak--"I tell you, Nathan, it isn't human!" and then added, under his breath, "but God knows whether that's not in its fa-vor."
When he was quite well again he was plainly preoccupied. He pored over the Prophecies with a concentration that made him blind even to Athalia's tired looks. Once, when some one said in his presence, "Sister 'Thalia is working too hard," he blinked at her in an absent way before the old, anxious attention