THE REVELATION OF A SECRET.
The old engineer fell into a sleep or a stupor in a short time, and
little Nell, exhausted, was taken to the bed in Frank’s room. Merry
carried her in his arms.
“Now you must sleep and rest, dear little girl,” said Frank, as he
placed her gently on the bed.
“I am afraid I can’t.”
“Why not?”
“Oh, I shall think, think, think; and you know it is hard to sleep when
you are thinking.”
“You need the rest, Nellie. The excitement to-night might bring on a
relapse and make you ill again. You do not want to be ill any longer.”
“No! no!”
“Then keep still and count yourself to sleep. You can do it if you try.”
“If uncle wakes up and calls for me----”
“You shall know it. But I think he will sleep straight through till
morning. He has been drinking heavily since he was discharged to-day,
and that was why he fell downstairs.”
“I know, for I could smell his breath. Oh, don’t you suppose we may be
able to get him to sign the pledge? Perhaps we can save him and make a
good man of him.”
“You may be able to do it, Nellie; but it is not possible for me to do
anything. I have tried my best with him, and it has been a failure.”
“I will try. Somehow I am not afraid of him the way I was. He seems so
ill and lonely in the world. It must be terrible to be all alone in the
world, with no one to work for, and no one to care about.”
“Yes,” said Frank, a touch of sadness coming to his handsome face; “I
realized it, for I was all alone in the world till we met. I have had
more courage since.”
“But--some time--we must be separated.”
Something in the way she said the words smote Frank with a sensation of
pain. He had not thought of that.
“I suppose so,” he said, slowly; “it always happens so. Our early
friendships are broken, and we are separated from those without whom we
often fancied we could not exist. In time we form other attachments,
which, in turn, may be broken.”
“Oh, but I know--I know----”
“What is it that you know, dear little girl?”
“I know we can never care for anyone as we care for you. I know it,
Frank!”
She reached up her slender arms as he bent down to kiss her, clasping
them about his neck and straining him close to her with all her
childish strength. He was surprised, for this was quite unlike her; she
usually demonstrated her affection by a gentle touch or a whispered
word.
“You are overwrought, Nellie,” he said, gently. “Your nerves are all
unstrung. It is too bad that that man followed Jack here to-night.”
“No; I am glad of it,” she declared, with her eyes upturned to his
face, as if she were trying to pierce the black veil between them. “I
do not think it will hurt me, and I shall have a chance to try to save
him from certain ruin. It is his last chance. If I fail----”
“If you fail, dear little girl, an angel from heaven could not save
him!”
Her lips quivered, and then a slow smile came and lingered on her pale
face.
“You do care for me, don’t you, Frank?” she eagerly asked.
“Care for you? Nellie, I love you as if you were my own--sister.”
“And you never had a sister?”
“No.”
“You were the only child?”
“Yes.”
“How lonely it must have been! Just think what if I had not Jack. I
love him, and he loves me. But I love you just as much, dear Frank.”
She reached up her hands and placed them on either side of his face,
holding them there.
“There,” she softly breathed, “now I know I am looking straight at you,
and I fancy I can see you. You are so manly and so noble! Your eyes
are dark brown, and so is your hair. Your mouth is tender, but firm,
without a hard line about it. You have a high, wide forehead, which is
fair and unlined. You are young, and you will always remain young, for
your heart will not let you grow old.”
“Why, Nellie, how do you know my eyes are brown--my hair is brown?”
“Ah-a!” she laughed. “A little bird told me. And I have dreamed of you.
I saw you in my dream, and I am sure I saw you as you really are. When
I can really see again, I shall know you without having you pointed out
to me.”
He began to realize how much she loved him--how much time she had spent
thinking and dreaming of him.
Still he regarded her as a mere child, nothing more.
“I know how you learned so much,” he laughed. “Jack told you.”
“Yes,” she confessed; “I have had him describe you to me many times.”
“Jack is a good boy.”
“He has always been good to me, and I love him; but, oh, Frank! it does
not seem that I care for--anybody--else--as much as--I care--for you!”
She seemed frightened when she had said this, and she half sat up,
clasping an arm about his neck.
“Is it wrong?” she whispered--“is it wrong for me to care more for you
than I do for Jack? He is my own brother. It does not seem that I could
love him more than I do, and yet, somehow, I seem to care more for you,
Frank, than I do for Jack. Oh! I am afraid it is wrong. I am afraid I
am a wicked girl!”
“There! there!” he exclaimed, smoothing back her hair and patting her
head. “Don’t get so excited over it, Nellie. You simply fancy now that
you care more for me--that’s all.”
She shook her head, leaning away back as she did so.
“No! no! no!” she whispered. “It is not fancy. I did not think I could
care more for anybody than I did for Jack; but, this very day, the
truth came to me, and I knew I loved you more. I don’t know what you
will think of me for telling you all this. I can’t help it, Frank! I
must tell somebody, and I can’t tell Jack. I couldn’t keep the secret
longer. I thought I would bury it deep in my heart, and never, never
let anybody know; but I could not keep it. If there had been some one
else for me to tell, I should not have told you; but there was no one
to whom I could talk about you, save Jack, and I could not tell him my
secret. He must not know it. It would break his heart.”
Frank knew not what to say. For the first time he was confused.
“Lie down and sleep, Nellie,” he finally murmured. “I know your nerves
are unstrung, for you are trembling all over.”
“It is because I am happy,” she declared, and the color came to her
face that had been so pale. “I am happy because I told you my secret.
You must keep it for me. It will be a secret between us. Oh, I have not
had a secret for so long, and it is just lovely to have one now!”
Again she appeared like a mere child, and the troubled look disappeared
from Frank Merriwell’s face.
“Yes,” he returned; “if you say so, it shall be our secret, dear little
girl. But you must not care for me more than you do for your brother.”
“Mustn’t I?”
“No.”
“Is it wrong?”
“I fear it is.”
She dropped back on the pillow, covering her face with her hands, and
lay there quietly. He bent over and spoke some gentle words to her.
“Frank!” she breathed.
“Yes, little one. What is it?”
“What was your pet name for Elsie?”
“My pet name? Why, sometimes I called her Sweetheart.”
“Frank!”
“Yes, Nellie.”
“Just once--for to-night--just once--won’t you call me--that?”
Frank Merriwell started and turned pale, and, for the first time, he
fully realized how much the blind girl cared for him.
“Oh, is it wrong for you to call me that--just once?” she asked. “Won’t
you be true to Elsie just the same? If it is wrong, don’t do it, Frank.
But I’ll never ask it again--I’ll never expect it. Only once, and I
know Elsie would forgive you if she knew.”
Remarkable were the emotions which thrilled Frank’s heart, for he
understood now what it all meant. Never again could he look on little
Nell as a mere child, and he was sorry.
She knew he was hesitating, and she feared he would refuse. She turned
away, and it was wonderful how the blood rushed to her face and neck.
Frank bent over her.
“Only once!” he said to himself. “Elsie would not mind.”
Then, with infinite tenderness, he murmured:
“Sweetheart!”
She thrilled all over, and something like a sob came from behind the
hands that were again clasped over her face.
He waited, unable to say another word. After a little time she put out
one hand and he took it with his own.
“Thank you, Frank,” she said, with as much calmness as she could
command. “It was foolish of me, and I am ashamed; but you were kind,
and I’ll not forget. You’ll never see me this way again--never! I
promise you that.”
He was silent.
“Go to bed and dream of Elsie,” she softly said. “Some day you and
Elsie will be so happy together! I will pray for her, Frank--and for
you! Good-night!”
“Good-night.”
He rose and started from the room. At the door he paused and looked
back. She was lying as he had left her, with her hands over her face.
He went out and closed the door.
Then, without making a sound, she wept herself to sleep.