CHAPTER XLVI
CHRISTINE'S GRAVE
After a moment Christine returned to her charge and said, gently, "Ithink I can take better care of you now."
The poor woman looked at her in a bewildered way, half fearing she hadlost her senses. But there was that in Christine's tone and manner nowthat went like sunlight and warmth to the heart, and in broadest Germanthe grateful creature was soon blessing her again and again, andChristine felt that she was blessed beyond even her wildest dreams.
Dennis now felt that she must have food and rest. She appeared, in theghostly light of the distant flames, so pale and spirit-like, that healmost feared she would slip away to heaven at once, and he beganlooking for some one stronger, older, and more suitable, to take herplace. At a little distance further north he at last found a stoutGerman woman sitting with her two children on a large feather bed, thesole relic of her household goods. Dennis acquainted her with the case,and she soon took the matter out of his and Christine's hands in avery satisfactory way.
To the south and west opportunity of escape was utterly cut off;eastward were the waters of the lake, so that their only chance wasto push northward. After making their way slowly for a short distanceamong the thickly scattered groups and the varied articles that hadbeen dragged to the shore for safety, Dennis thought he heard a familiarvoice.
"Dr. Arten!" he cried.
"Hallo! who wants me?" answered the good old physician, bustling upin rather incongruous costume, consisting of a dress coat, white vest,red flannel drawers, and a very soiled pair of slippers.
"Oh, doctor! the very sight of you inspires hope and courage."
"Surely a young fellow like you can be in no want of those articles?"
"If he is lacking," cried Christine, "it must be for the reason thathe has given hope and courage to every one he has met, and so hasrobbed himself."
"Heigho!" exclaimed the doctor, "you here?"
"Yes, thanks to the heroism of Mr. Fleet."
"Fleet, is that all you have saved from the fire?" asked the doctor,with a humorous twinkle, pointing to Christine.
"I am well satisfied," said Dennis, quietly, but with rising color.
"I should have perished, had not Mr. Fleet come to my rescue," continuedChristine, warmly, glad of an opportunity to express a little of hergratitude.
The doctor turned his genial, humorous eye on her and said: "Don't betoo grateful, Miss Ludolph; he is a young man, and only did his duty.Now if I had been so fortunate you might have been as grateful as youpleased."
It was Christine's turn to grow rather rosier than even the red firewarranted, but she said, "You would have your joke, doctor, if theworld were burning up."
"Yes, and after it burned up," he replied. "What do you think of that,Miss Ludolph, with your German scepticism?"
Tears came in Christine's eyes, and she said, in a low tone, "I amglad to say that I have lost my German scepticism in the fire also."
"What!" cried the doctor, seizing both her hands in his hearty way."Will you accept of our Christian superstition?"
"I think I have accepted your glorious Christian truth, and the thoughtmakes me very happy."
"Well, now I can almost say, Praise God for the fire, though old Dr.Arten must commence again where the youngsters are who kick up theirheels in their office all day."
With professional instinct he slipped his finger on Christine's pulse,then rummaged in his pocket and soon drew out some powders, and in hisbrusque way made her take one.
"Oh, how bitter!" she exclaimed.
"That is the way the ladies treat me," began the merry bachelor: "notan ounce of gratitude when I save their lives. But let a young fellowlike Fleet come along and get them out of danger by mere brute strength,instead of my delicate, skilful way, and language breaks down with theirthanks. Very well, I shall have compensation--I shall presentmy bill before long. And now, young man, since you have set out torescue my little friend here, you had better carry the matter through,for several reasons which I need not urge. Your best chance is to makeyour way northward, and then continue around the west, where you canfind food and shelter;" and with a hearty grasp of the hand, the brave,genial old man wished them "God speed!"
Dennis told him of the poor German woman, and then pushed on in thedirection indicated. But Christine was growing weak and exhausted. Atlast they reached the Catholic cemetery. It was crowded with fugitivesand the fire to the northwest still cut off all escape, even ifChristine's strength had permitted further exertion. It was nowapproaching midnight, and she said, wearily: "Mr. Fleet, I am verysorry, but I fear I cannot take another step. The powder Dr. Artengave me strengthened me for a time, but its effect is passing away,and I feel almost paralyzed with fatigue. I am not afraid to stay here,or indeed anywhere now."
"It seems a very hard necessity that you should have to remain in sucha place, Miss Ludolph, but I see no help for it. We are certainly aswell off as thousands of others, and so I suppose ought not tocomplain."
"I feel as if I could never complain again, Mr. Fleet. I only hope myfather is as safe and as well as we are. I cannot tell you how my heartgoes out toward him now that I see everything in a different light.I have not been a true daughter, and I do long to make amends. Hesurely has escaped, don't you think?"
"Mr. Ludolph was possessed of unusual sagacity and prudence," saidDennis, evasively. "What any man could do, he could. And now,Miss Ludolph, I will try to find you a resting-place. There are suchcrowds here that I think we had better go nearer that side, where earlyin the evening the fire drove people away."
The cemetery had not been used of late years, and many of the bodieshad been removed. This caused excavations here and there, and one ofthese from which the gathered leaves and grass had been burned, Dennisthought might answer for Christine's couch, as in the hollow of thisvacant and nearly filled grave she would be quite sheltered from thewind, and the sand was still warm from the effects of the fire. To hissurprise she made no objection.
"I am so weary that I can rest anywhere," she said, "and a grave isnot to me what it was once."
He arranged her shawl so that it might be mattress, pillow, andcovering, and wrapped her up.
"And how will you endure the long, cold hours, my friend?" she asked,looking up most sympathetically.
"Thanks to your kindness, I had such a good sleep this afternoon thatI feel strong and rested," he replied, with a smile.
"I fear you say so to put my mind at rest;" but even as she spoke hereyes closed and she went to sleep like a tired and trusting child. Aswith Dennis a few hours before, the limit of nature's endurance hadbeen reached, and the wealthy, high-born Miss Ludolph, who on Sabbathnight had slept in the midst of artistic elegance and luxury, now, onMonday night, rested in a vacant grave under the open andstorm-gathering sky. Soon--to be accurate, at two o'clock on the morningof Tuesday--rain began to fall. But, with all the discomfort it brought,never had rain been more welcome.
Christine shivered in her sleep, and Dennis looked around vainly forsome additional covering. The thronging fugitives were all in a similarplight, and their only course was simply to endure till some path ofescape opened.
The night was indeed a long one to him. At first excitement andhappiness kept him awake and unconscious of time and discomfort. Buthe soon felt how weary and hungry he was, for he had eaten nothingsince his slight supper on Sabbath evening. The heat of the fireperceptibly lessened as the rain began falling, and without his coatDennis was soon chilled to the bone. On every side he heard moans ofdiscomfort, and he knew that he had far more reason to endure patientlythan many near him. He tried to keep himself warm by walking around,but at last he grew too weary for that, and sat, a patient, coweringwatcher, at the head of Christine's weird couch, listening sadly attimes to the pitiful crying of little children and the sighs and groansof older sufferers.
At last the light of welcome day streaked the eastern horizon, andChristine opened her eyes in a bewildered way, but, on seeing
himswaying backward and forward with half-closed eyes, sprang up and said,"And have you sat and watched there all the long night?"
"I hope you feel rested and better, Miss Ludolph," he replied, startledfrom drowsiness by her voice.
"It has been raining, too. I fear you are wet through. Oh, how muchyou must have suffered on my account!"
"I imagine you are as wet as I am, Miss Ludolph. This has been a verydemocratic experience for you. We are all about alike in this strangecamping-ground."
"No; your kindness made me quite comfortable. Indeed, I never sleptbetter. And you, without any coat or shelter, have watched patientlyhour after hour."
"Well, you did as much for me yesterday afternoon, so we are quits."
"I think there is a great difference," she said. "And remember whata watcher I made; I let those drunken creatures run over you."
"I don't see how you could have helped it," said he, laughing. "Thatyou should have cared for me as you did was a favor that I neverexpected," he added, blushing.
She blushed too, but made no reply; at the same time she was vexedwith herself that she did not. Dennis, with a lover's blindness,misunderstood her silence, and thought that, as a friend, she was moregrateful than he could wish, but he must speak in no other character.
Then he remembered that it would be dishonorable to urge his suit underthe circumstances; it would be a source of inexpressible pain to her,with her strong sense of obligation, to put aside expressions of hisdeeper regard, and he resolved to avoid if possible any manifestationsof his feelings. While she was dependent upon him he would act thepart of a brother toward her, and if his human love could never findits consummation, he would bear his loss as patiently as possible. Butin spite of himself a tinge of sadness and restraint came into hismanner, and Christine sighed to herself, "If _he_ only knew, and _I_only knew, just the truth, how much happier we might be!" There was ageneral movement now in the strangely assorted multitude. The fire hadswept everything away so completely on the north side that there werenot hot blazing ruins to prevent crossing. Accordingly men came pouringover, looking for their families. On every side were cries of joy onrecognition of those whom fear and terrible forebodings had buried underthe blackened remains of once happy homes. But mingled with exclamationsof joy were sobs and wails of anguish, as some now realized in thelapsing hours that absent members of the household were lost.
Christine looked in vain for her father; at last Dennis said: "MissLudolph, do you feel equal to the effort of crossing to the west side?You must be faint with hunger, and there only can we hope for help."
"Oh, yes! let us go at once, for your sake as well as mine;" for shesaw that his long fasting and great fatigue had made him very haggard.
They urged their way across the burned district as fast as theirexhausted state would permit, carefully avoiding burning brands thatstill lay in the street.
"I hope you will have patience with me in my slow progress," saidChristine, "for I feel as I imagine Rip Van Winkle must have done,after his twenty years' nap."
"I think you have borne up heroically, Miss Ludolph," said Dennis,warmly.
"Oh, no! I am not in the least heroic, but I confess that I am veryhungry. I never knew what hunger was before. Well, I can now appreciatewhat must often be the condition of the poor, and hope not to be soforgetful of them hereafter."
"I am glad to hear you say that you are hungry, Miss Ludolph, for itproves that with care you will rally after this dreadful exposure, andbe your former self."
"Ah! Mr. Fleet, I hope I shall never be my old self again. I shudderwhen I think what I was when you awakened me that dreadful night."
"But I have feared," said he, ever avoiding any reference to his ownservices, "that, though you might escape the fire, the exposure wouldbe greater than you could endure. I trembled for you last night whenit began to rain, but could find no additional covering."
"No brother could be kinder or more thoughtful of me," she said, turningupon him a glad, grateful face.
"That is it," thought Dennis. "She hints to me what must be ourrelationship. She is the Baroness Ludolph, and is pledged to a futurethat I cannot share."
But as he saw her gratitude, he resolved all the more resolutely notto put it to the hard test of refusing his love. A little later heunconsciously sighed wearily, and she looked at him wistfully.
"Oh, that I _knew_ if he felt toward me as he once did!" she said toherself.
They now reached the unscathed streets of the west side, which werealready thronged with fugitives as hungry and gaunt as themselves.Mingling with this great strange tide of weak, begrimed, hollow-eyedhumanity, they at last reached Dr. Goodwin's beautiful church. Herealready had begun the noble charity dispensed from that place duringthe days of want and suffering that followed.