Light Dawns for Uncle Darcy
For some time the faint jangle of a bell had been sounding at intervals far down the street. Ordinarily it would have caught Georgina’s attention long before this, but absorbed in the letter to which she had returned after putting the eggs down cellar, she did not hear the ringing until it was near enough for the Towncrier’s message to be audible also. He was announcing the extra day of the Bazaar, and calling attention to the many new attractions it would have to offer on the morrow.
Instantly, Georgina dropped her pencil and flew out to meet him. Here was an opportunity to find out all about the Brewster trip. As he came towards her she saw the same look in his weather-beaten old face which she had wondered at the day before, when he was bending over Aunt Elspeth, patting her on the cheek. It was like the shining of a newly-lighted candle.
She was not the only one who had noticed it. All the way up the street glances had followed him. People turned for a second look, wondering what good fortune had befallen the old fellow. They had come to expect a cheery greeting from him. He always left a kindly glow behind him whenever he passed. But to-day the cheeriness was so intensified that he seemed to be brimming over with good will to everybody.
“Why, Uncle Darcy!” cried Georgina. “You look so happy!”
“Well, is it any wonder, lass, with such news from Danny? Him alive and well and sure to come back to me some of these days! I could hardly keep from shouting it out to everybody as I came along the street. I’m afraid it’ll just naturally tell itself some day, in spite of my promise to Belle. I’m glad I can let off steam up here, you knowing the secret, too, for this old heart of mine is just about to burst with all the gladness that’s inside of me.”
Here was someone as anxious to tell as she was to hear; someone who could recall every word of the interview with the wild-cat woman. Georgina swung on to his arm which held the bell, and began to ask questions, and nothing loath, he let her lead him into the yard and to the rustic seat running around the trunk of the big willow tree. He was ready to rest, now that his route was traveled and his dollar earned.
Belle, back in the kitchen, preparing a light dinner for herself and Georgina, Tippy being away for the day, did not see him come in. She had not seen him since the day the old rifle gave up its secret, and she tried to put him out of her mind as much as possible, for she was miserable every time she thought of him. She would have been still more miserable could she have heard all that he was saying to Georgina.
“Jimmy Milford thought that the liniment folks calling the boy ‘Dave,’ proved that he wasn’t the same as my Danny. But just one thing would have settled all doubts for me if I’d a had any. That was what he kept a calling in his fever when he was out of his head: ’Belle mustn’t suffer. Belle must be spared, no matter what happens!’
“And that’s the one thing that reconciles me to keeping still a while longer. It was his wish to spare her, and if he could sacrifice so much to do it, I can’t make his sacrifice seem in vain. I lay awake last night till nearly daylight, thinking how I’d like to take this old bell of mine, and go from one end of the town to the other, ringing it till it cracked, crying out, _’Danny is innocent,_’ to the whole world. But the time hasn’t come yet. I’ll have to be patient a while longer and bear up the best I can.”