People without imagination and without a proper conception of what true love really is, wondered why the girl did not marry the man, for he was quite wealthy, handsome, and of good character. Some even alluded to his good family, but the nurse declared that a man was good through education, and not through inheritance. She referred to the case of a child taken from a large family of children and placed in the home of a rich man who gave her many educational advantages. She outgrew the daughter even in intelligence and beauty, while all the other brothers and sisters left in the home nest grew up in ignorance and immoralities and did not resemble their educated sister at all. It was all the effect of education and not of blood or inheritance.
And the strong man gave up the girl and went away to a distant town to go into business. Bad investments swept his fortune away and he fell ill. His last dollar was gone and his health so bad that he no longer resembled the physical giant of former years.
At last he became so ill that he was taken to the hospital for treatment, where in his delirium he called for “Agnes, Agnes!” all the time. The physician declared that this Agnes must be found, or the man would surely die. His old town was located and old acquaintances consulted, and the Agnes called for was the girl in the hospital learning to become a trained nurse.
When told who it was that was calling for her she said she would go to him. All her nature seemed changed. Harry was no longer the physical giant inviting her to cling to his sturdy frame for support. He was now lying helpless on his back, his fortune and physical strength all gone. She would be the strong uplifter and the inspiration that would bring him back to health. She was now in her proper sphere. She was all woman, all sympathy and affection. She who could not cling to the strong man, now gave her strength to assist the weak.
“Agnes, Agnes!” he called one night, and when she went to him and placed her cool hand on his feverish brow and asked tenderly: “What is it, Harry? I am your Agnes—don’t you know me?” He looked up with a world of joy in his eyes and exclaimed: “Thank God, Agnes! I have wanted you so badly! I was going to die. I shall now get well!”
And he fell asleep while she watched. Was it strange that she now loved the man better than her own life? How weak and helpless he was; only the shadow of his former physical strength and beauty. And yet, as she looked upon his helplessness, and realized that his fortune was gone, and that he was now even poorer than herself, her heart and soul went out to him, and all missions in life narrowed down to a resolve to nurse him back to health and happiness.
When he recovered sufficiently to sit up, and noticed the changed look in her beautiful eyes, he one day asked: “Agnes, dear Agnes, is it possible that since my health and wealth are gone you can love me?” She dropped her head and remained silent. “Forgive me,” he said sadly, “I was foolishly mistaken in what I saw in your eyes. I was looking through my love. Nobody could love a wreck like me.”
She looked up with a world of love in her eyes and cried: “You were not mistaken, Harry! I do love you! and all the more because you need me now. I could not be a vine, but I can be your support and guide!”
THE SALOON IN OUR TOWN
