An' she's goin' to have an organ. I've got
the money saved, an' it's coming to Churchill on the next ship. That's
goin' to be a surprise--'bout Christmas, when the snow is hard an'
sledging good. You see--"
He stopped again to cough. A hectic flush filled his hollow cheeks, and
there was a feverish glow in his eyes. As he bent his head, the priest
looked at Weyman. The doctor's lips were tense. His cigarette was
unlighted.
"I know what it means for a woman to die a workin'," Severn went on. "My
mother did that. I can remember it, though I was only a kid. She was bent
an' stoop-shouldered, an' her hands were rough and twisted. I know now
why she used to hug me up close and croon funny things over me when
father was away. When I first told my Marie what I was goin' to do, she
laughed at me; but when I told her 'bout my mother, an' how work an'
freezin' an' starvin' killed her when I needed her most, Marie jest put
her hand up to my face an' looked queer--an' then she burst out crying
like a baby. She understands, Marie does! She knows what I'm goin' to
do--"
"You mustn't talk any more, Bucky," warned the doctor, feeling his pulse.
"It'll hurt you."
"Hurt me!" Severn laughed hysterically, as If what the doctor had said
was a joke. "Hurt me? It's what's going to put me on my feet, doc. I know
it now, I been too much alone this last winter, with nothin' but my dogs
to talk to when night come.
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