This is section nine of The Gilded Age. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. The Gilded Age, A Tale of to Day by Mark Twain and C. D. Warner, Chapter nine. Washington dreamed his way along the street, his fancy flitting from grain to hogs, from hogs to banks, from banks to Eyewater, from Eyewater to Tennessee Land, and lingering but a feverish moment upon each of these fascinations.
He was conscious of but one outward thing to wit the General, and he was really not vividly conscious of him. Arrived at the finest dwelling in the town. They entered it and were at home. Washington was introduced to missus Boswell, and his imagination was on the point of flitting into the vapory realms of speculation again when a lovely girl of sixteen or seventeen came in. This vision swept Washington's mind clear of its chaos of glittering rubbish in an instant.
Beauty had fascinated him before many times. He had been in love, even for weeks at a time, with the same object, but his heart had never suffered so sudden and so fierce an assault as this within his recollection. Louise Boswell occupied his mind and drifted among his multiplication tables.
All the afternoon. He was constantly catching himself in a reverie, reveries made up of recalling how she looked when she first burst upon him, how her voice thrilled him when she first spoke, how charmed the very air seemed by her presence, blissful. As the afternoon was delivered up to such a revel as this, it seemed an eternity, So impatient was he to see the girl again. Other afternoons
like it followed. Washington plunged into this love affair as he plunged into everything else, upon impulse and without reflection. As the days went by, it seemed plain that he was growing in favor with Louise, not sweepingly so, but
yet perceptibly he fancied. His attentions to her troubled her father and mother a little, and they warned Louise, without stating particulars or making allusions to any special person, that a girl was sure to make a mistake who allowed herself to marry anybody but a man who could support
her well. Some instinct taught Washington that his present lack of money would be an obstruction, though possibly not a bar to his hopes and straightway, his poverty became a torture to him, which cast all his former sufferings under that into the shade. He longed for riches now as
he had never longed for them before. He had been once or twice to dine with Colonel Sellers, and had been discouraged to note that the colonel's bill of fare was falling off, both in quantity and quality, a sign he feared that the lacking ingredient in the eye water still remained undiscovered, though Sellers always explained that these changes in the family diet had been ordered by the doctor, or suggested by some new scientific work the Colonel had
stumbled upon. But it always turned out that the lacking ingredient was still lacking, though it always appeared at the same time that the Colonel was right on its heels. Every time the Colonel came into the real estate office,
Washington's heart bounded and his eyes lighted with hope. But it always turned out that the Colonel was merely on the scent of some vast undefined land speculation, although he was customarily able to say that he was nearer to the all necessary ingredient than ever, and could almost name the hour when success would dawn, And then Washington's heart would sink again, and a sigh would tell when it
touched bottom. About this time a letter came saying that Judge Hawkins had been ailing for a fortnight and was now considered to be seriously ill. It was thought best that Washington should come home. The news filled him with grief, for he loved and honored his father. The Boswells were touched by the youth's sorrow, and even the General unbent and said encouraging things to him. There was balm in this. But when Louise bade him good bye and shook his
hand and said, don't be cast down. It will all come out right. I know it will all come out right, it seemed a blessed thing to be in misfortune. And the tears that welled up to his eyes were the messengers of an adoring and grateful heart. And when the girls saw them, and answering tears came into her own eyes, Washington could hardly contain the excess of happiness that poured into the cavities of his breast that were so lately stored to the roof with grief. All the way home,
he nursed his woe and exalted it. He pictured himself as she must be, picturing him, a noble, struggling young spirit, persecuted by a misfortune, but bravely and patiently waiting in the shadow of a dread calamity, and preparing to meet the blow as became one who was all too used to hard fortune and the pitiless buffetings of fate. These thoughts made him weep, and weep more broken heartedly than ever, and he wished that she could see his sufferings now.
There was nothing significant in the fact that Louise, dreamy and distraught, stood at her bedroom bureau that night, scribbling Washington here and there over a sheet of paper. But there was something significant in the fact that she scratched the word out every time she wrote, examined the erasure critically to see if anybody could guess at what the word had been, then buried it under a maze of obliterating lines, and finally, as if still unsatisfied, burned the paper.
When Washington reached home, he recognized at once how serious his father's case was. The darkened room, the labored breathing and occasional moanings of the patient. The tip toeing of the attendants, and their whispered consultations were full of sad meaning. For three or four nights, Missus Hawkins and Laura had been watching by the bedside. Clay had arrived, preceding Washington by one day, and he was now added to the core of watchers. Mister Hawkins would have none but these three,
though neighborly assistance was offered by old friends. From this time forth, three hour watches were instituted, and day and night the watchers kept their vigils by degrees. Laura and her mother began to show where, but neither of them would yield a minute of their tasks to Clay. He ventured once to let the midnight hour pass without calling Laura,
but he ventured no more. There was that about her rebuke when he tried to explain, that taught him that to let her sleep when she might be ministering to her father's needs was to rob her of moments that were priceless in her eyes. He perceived that she regarded it as a privilege to watch, not a burden, And he had noticed also that when midnight struck, the patient turned his eyes toward the door with an expectancy in them, which presently grew into a longing, but brightened into contentment
as soon as the door opened and Laura appeared. And he did not need Laura's rebuke. When he heard his father say, Clay is good, and you are tired, poor child, But I wanted you so. Clay is not good. Father, he did not call me. I would not have treated him, So how could you do it? Clay? Clay begged forgiveness
and promised not to break faith again. And as he betook him to his bed, he said to himself, it's a steadfast little soul whoever thinks he is doing the duchess of kindness by intimating that she is not sufficient for any understanding she puts her hand to makes a mistake. And if I did not know it before, I know now that there are surer ways of pleasing her than by trying to lighten her labor, when that labor consists in wearing herself out for the sake of a person
she loves. A week drifted by, and all the while the patient sank lower and lower. The night drew on. That was to end all suspense. It was a wintry one. The darkness gathered, the snow was falling, The wind wailed plaintively about the house, or shook it with fitful gusts.
The doctor had paid his last visit and gone away with that dismal remark to the nearest friend of the family that he believed there was nothing more that he could do, a remark which is always overheard by some one, it is not meant for, and strikes a lingering, half conscious hope dead with a withering shock. The medicine files had been removed from the bedside and put out of sight, and all things made orderly and meet for the solemn event that was impending. The patient, with closed eyes, lay
scarcely breathing. The watchers sat by and wiped the gathering dapths from his forehead, while the silent tears flowed down their faces. The deep hush was only interrupted by sobs from the children grouped about the bed. After a time, it was toward midnight. Now mister Hawkins roused out of a doze, looked about him, and was evidently trying to speak. Instantly, Laura lifted his head, and in a failing voice, he said while something of the old light shone in his eyes. Wife, children,
come nearer, nearer the darkness grows. Let me see you all once more. The group closed together at the bedside, and their tears and sobs came. Now without restraint. I am leaving you in cruel poverty. I have been so foolish, so short sighted. But courage, A better day is is coming. Never lose sight of the Tennessee land. Be wary. There is wealth stored up for you there, wealth that is boundless. The children shall hold up their heads with the best in the land. Yet, where are the papers? Have you
got the papers? Safe? Show them? Show them to me. Under his strong excitement, his voice had gathered power, and his last sentences were spoken with scarcely a perceptible halt or hindrance. With an effort, he had raised himself almost without assistance, to a sitting posture. But now the fire faded out of his eyes, and he fell back, exhausted. The papers were brought and held before him, and the answering smile that flitted across his face showed that he
was satisfied. He closed his eyes, and the signs of approaching dissolution multiplied. Rapidly. He lay almost motionless for a little while, then suddenly partly raised his head and looked about him as one who peers into a dim, uncertain light. He muttered, gone, no, I see you still it is. It is over, but you are safe. Safe the ten the voice died out in a whisper. The sentence was never finished. The emaciated fingers began to pick at the coverlet,
a fatal sign. After a time, there were no sounds but the cries of the mourners within the gusty turmoil of the wind. Without Laura had bent down and kissed her father's lips as the spirit left the body, but she did not sob or utter any ejaculation. Her tears flowed silently. Then she closed the dead eyes and crossed
the hands upon the breast. After a season, she kissed the forehead reverently, drew the sheet up over the face, and then walked apart and sat down with the look of one who is done with life and has no further interest in its joys and sorrows, its hopes, or its ambitions. Clay buried his face in the coverlet of the bed. When the other children and the mother realized that death was indeed calm. At last, they threw themselves into each other's arms and gave way to a frenzy
of grief. End of Chapter nine,