第90章

She was beautiful in her life, and she was beautiful in death."Poor Shock! The unexpected tender reference to his mother, the brotherly touch, and the vision that he had from the Superintendent's words of his mother, beautiful in death, were more than he could bear.His emotions overwhelmed him.He held the Superintendent's hand tight in his, struggling to subdue the sobs, that heaved up from his labouring breast.

"I suppose," continued the Superintendent, giving him time to recover himself, "my last letter failed to reach you.I had expected to be here two weeks later, but I wrote changing my arrangements so as to arrive here to-day.""No, sir," said Shock, "no letter making any change reached me.I am very sorry indeed, not to have met you, and I hope you were not much inconvenienced.""Not at all, sir, not at all.Indeed, I was very glad to have the opportunity of spending a little time at the Fort, and meeting some of your friends.By the way, I met a friend of yours on my journey down, who wished to be remembered to you, Bill Lee of Spruce Creek.

You remember him?"

"Oh, perfectly.Bill is a fine fellow," said Shock, enthusiastically.

"Yes, Bill has his points.He has quit whiskey selling, he said, and he wished that you should know that.He said you would know the reason why."But Shock knew of no reason, and he only replied, "Bill was very kind to me, and I am glad to know of the change in him.""Yes," continued the Superintendent, "and I spent some time at the Fort meeting with some of the people, but upon inquiries I am more puzzled than ever to find a reason for the withdrawal of our services, and I am still in the dark about it."Shock's face flushed a deep red.

"I am afraid," he said, in a shamed and hesitating manner, "that Iwas not the right man for the place.I think I rather failed at the Fort.""I saw Macfarren," continued the Superintendent, ignoring Shock's remark."He tried to explain, but seemed to find it difficult." The Superintendent omitted to say that he had heard from Father Mike what might have explained in a measure Macfarren's opposition.But Shock remained silent.

"Well," continued the Superintendent, "now that I am here, what do you wish me to do?""First," said Shock, "come over to my house.Come to the manse.

Carroll will not mind."

The Superintendent put his papers together, and Shock, shouldering his valise and coat, led the way to the manse.

As they entered the big room the Superintendent paused to observe its proportions, noted the library shelves full of books, the organ in the corner, the pictures adorning the walls, and without much comment passed on upstairs to Shock's own room.But he did not fail to detect a note of pride in Shock's voice as he gave him welcome.

"Come in, come in and sit down.I hope you will be comfortable.It is rather rough.""Rough, sir," exclaimed the Superintendent."It is palatial.It is truly magnificent.I was quite unprepared for anything like this.

Now tell me how was this accomplished?"

"Oh," said Shock, diffidently, "they all helped, and here it is.""That is all, eh?"

And that was all Shock would tell.The rest of the story, however, the Superintendent heard from others.And so, throughout his whole visit the Superintendent found it impossible to get his missionary to tell of his own labours, and were it not that he carried an observant and experienced eye, and had a skilful and subtle inquisitorial method, he might have come and gone knowing little of the long, weary days and weeks of toil that lay behind the things that stood accomplished in that field.

It was the same at the Pass.There stood the hospital equipped, almost free from debt, and working in harmony with the camps and the miners.There, too, was the club room and the library.

"And how was all this brought about?" inquired the Superintendent.

"Oh, The Don and the doctor took hold, and the men all helped."The Superintendent said nothing, but his eyes were alight with a kindly smile as they rested on his big missionary, and he took his arm in a very close grip as they walked from shack to shack.

All this time Shock was pouring into his Superintendent's ear tales of the men who lived in the mountains beyond the Pass.He spoke of their hardships, their sufferings, their temptations, their terrible vices and their steady degradation.

"And have you visited them?" inquired the Superintendent.

He had not been able to visit them as much as he would have liked, but he had obtained information from many of the miners and lumbermen as to their whereabouts, and as to the conditions under which they lived and wrought.Shock was talking to a man of like mind.The Superintendent's eye, like that of his missionary, was ever upon the horizon, and his desires ran far ahead of his vision.