1895. 



THE AMERICAN BEE- KEEPER. 



349 



flowers '11 soon set yer right. Yer 

 ain't feelin any worse, are yer?" 



"No, old man. The doctor says 

 I'll be out this side o' Sunday." 



"That's the talk! We're camped 

 down yonder on the creek, an tho 

 day ye 're out I'll come up an fetcli 

 yer meself. The team '11 be all 

 fresh, an the loadin'll be aboard, an 

 the very nest mornin we'll have the 

 yokes on an be where a man's got 

 room to breathe." 



"Why, Bill, I never 'eard yer talk 

 so before ! It's like what the parson 

 •who comes here every Monday calls 

 poetry." 



There was an ocean of pathos in 

 the man's reply: 



"Yer see, old girl, I must talk a 

 bit different, for yer ain't been ill 

 like this afore." 



Another long silence fell upon the 

 pair. Then he rose to say goodby, 

 and his wife's face grew, if possible, 

 paler than before. 



"Bill," she began falteringly, 

 *'I've been a-tryin all the time yer've 

 been here to tell yer somethin, but 

 I dunno how to begin. It's this 

 ■way"— 



"Out wi' it, my lass. What's 

 ■wrong? Ain't they been a-treatin 

 yer well in 'orsepital?" 



"It's not that, Bill," she answer- 

 ed. "But there — I can't tell ye. 

 JFlesh an blood couldn't, let alone 

 yer wife. Ye must just ask the 

 doctor when yer get outside if 'e's 

 got anything to say agin me walkin 

 "With the team. Will yer?" 



"If yer say so, in course. But, 

 Daphne, there ain't nothin agin it, 

 ia there?" 



"You ax 'im. 'E'll tell yer, Bill. 

 But 'ere's the matron comin. I 

 guess yer'd better bo goin. Tell 

 them kiddies their mother ain't for- 

 gat 'em." 



Eaising herself with an effort, she 

 pulled the big man's tangled head 

 down to her and kissed him on the 

 forehead with a gentleness that 



would have been grotesque if the 

 sentiment that prompted it bad not 

 been so grewsomely pathetic. Then 

 as the matron approached the bed 

 he went down the corridor to find 

 the house surgeon. 



The latter, I may tell you, was a 

 rough man, imbittered by hard 

 work and insufficient returns, the 

 position of house surgeon in a bush 

 hospital being but little sought aft- 

 er by the shining lights of the pro- 

 fession. 



When Daphne's husband entered, 

 he was engaged in writing to the 

 board, demanding for the sixth time 

 an increase in his meager salary. 



He looked up and seeing the man 

 before him said roughly : 



"Well, what do you want?" 



The carrier shuffled from one foot 

 to the other with evident uneasi- 

 ness. 



"Beg 5'^er pardon, sir, an sorry for 

 interruptin, but the missus axed 

 me to ax you if it were likely yer'd 

 have any objection to 'er walkin 

 alongside the team when she comes 

 out?" 



"Whose missis? Oh, I understand 

 — the woman in the ward there. 

 Walk beside the team? Good heav- 

 ens, man, what are you talking 

 about 1 Are you mad? How on 

 earth can she walk beside the team?" 



"I mean in course, sir, when she's 

 well enough to come out." 



"Well enough to come out? Why, 

 man alive, she's as well now as ever 

 she will be. It was a compound 

 fracture of both femurs and a double 

 amputation. She hasn't a leg to 

 stand on, much less to walk with. 

 No, no! You'd better look out for 

 a house in the township and find 

 somebody to move her about for the 

 test of her life. She'll never be able 

 to travel with you again. Here, 

 hang it man, go outside if you are 

 going to be ill." 



"I ax yer pardon, sir, but — if yer 

 don't mind I'll just sit down for a 



