“Hush, you disturb her,” the doctor said, gently pushing Jessie away, and himself asking Maddy how she felt.
She did not recognize him. She only had a vague idea that he might be some doctor, but not Dr. Holbrook; not the one who had so puzzled and tortured her on a day which seemed now so far behind. From the white-haired man kneeling by the bedside there was a burst of thanksgiving for the life restored, and then Grandpa Markham tottered from the room, out into the open air, which had never fallen so refreshingly on his tried frame as it fell now, when he first knew that Maddy would live. He did not care for his homestead; that might go, and he still be happy with Maddy left. But He who had marked that aged disciple’s every sigh, had another good in store for him, ordering it so that both should come together, just as the two disappointments had come hand in hand.
From the soft cushions of his carriage, where he sat reclining, Guy Remington saw the old man as he came out, and alighting at once, he accosted him pleasantly, and then walked with him to the garden, where, on a rustic bench, built for Maddy beneath the cherry-trees, Grandpa Markham sat down to rest. From speaking of Madeline it was easy to go back to the day Guy had first met grandpa, and refused his application for money.
“I have thought better of it since,” he said, “and am sorry I did not accede to your proposal. One object of my coming here to-day was to say that my purse is at your disposal. You can have as much as you wish, paying me whenever you like, and the house shall not be sold.”
Guy spoke rapidly, determined to make a clean breast of it, but grandpa understood him, and bowing his white head upon his bosom, the big tears dropped like rain upon the turf, while his lips quivered, first with thanks to the Providence who had truly done all things well, and next with thanks to his benefactor.
“Blessings on your head, young man, for making me so happy. You are worthy of your father, and he was the best of men.”
“My father—did you know him?” Guy asked, in some surprise, and then the story came out, how, years before, when a city hotel was on fire, and one of its guests in imminent danger from the locality of his room, and his own nervous fear, which made him powerless to act, another guest had braved the hissing flame, and scaling the tottering wall, had dragged out one who, until that hour, was to him an utter stranger.
Pushing back his snowy hair, Grandfather Markham showed upon his temple a long white scar of a wound received the night when he periled his own life to save that of another. There was a doubly warm pressure now of the old man’s hand, as Guy replied, “I’ve heard that story from father himself, but the name of his preserver had escaped me. Why didn’t you tell me who you were?”
“I thought ’twould look too much like demanding it as a right—too much like begging, and I s’pose I felt too proud. Pride is my besetting sin—the one I pray most against.”
Guy looked keenly now at the man whose besetting sin was pride, and as he saw the cheapness of his attire, his pantaloons faded and short, his coat worn threadbare and shabby, his shoes both patched at the toes, his cotton shirt minus a bosom, and then thought of the humble cottage, with its few rocky acres, he wondered of what he could be proud.