In all his after-life Timothy never forgot that night he spent with
Teddy. It left upon him an abiding impression for good, and if in his
manhood he stepped out of his way to do a kindness, he would sometimes
think that he was urged to it by the spirit of his dear friend.
Teddy was more than glad to see him; he said it was the one thing he
had been wishing for before he--, and then he stopped, and looked at
his friend with a half-wistful, half-whimsical expression on his face.
"Before you what, Teddy?" asked Timothy, a great lump rising in his
throat.
"Before I go to another place," replied Teddy.
"Where?"
"Ah! now you ask a question, Tim." He paused awhile, and added: "But
somewhere. You've been talking to mother, haven't you?"
"Yes--and I met your father as I was coming here."
"He was cut up, wasn't he?"
"Yes."
"Speaking of me?"
"Yes. He could hardly get his words out."
"He has been a good father--I couldn't have had a better; no boy
could. My dear, good mother, too, she will feel it. They told you I
was dying, didn't they?"
The mournful look in Timothy's eyes was an eloquent answer.
"It's true, Tim; I knew it before they did, before even the doctor
did. Long ago I knew I should never live to be a man. I don't
know whether I'm sorry or glad. There's Shakespeare and Sir Walter
Scott--I say, isn't 'Ivanhoe' splendid?"
"I don't know, Teddy. I never read it. But what about Shakespeare and
Sir Walter Scott?"
"They're dead, aren't they?"
"Of course they are."
"There it is, you see. It comes to the same thing. The only difference
is in being born earlier or later."
"I say, Teddy, where did you get all this from?"
"All what, Tim?"
"This way of talking."
"Wasn't I always so?"
"Not quite so; it's new, a lot of it--at least to me."
"Comes from reading, I suppose, and thinking a bit, like a parrot."
His mother here entered the room, with a tumbler of wine in which
Timothy's new-laid egg was beaten up.
"Timothy brought the egg, my love," she said; "it is new-laid."
"Did he, now? Lift me up, Tim, please."
Timothy raised the dying lad, and supported him in his arms, and Teddy
drank the wine and egg slowly.
"It's nice," he said; "it seems to make me strong."
"The doctor said it would, my dear," said his mother; "it will help
to make you well."
Teddy looked tenderly at her.
"Kiss me, mother."
She took him from Timothy's arms, and for a little while the mother
and son lay in a close embrace. When she was gone Teddy said:
"Did you bring the new-laid egg for me, Tim?"
"I must have done," replied Timothy, more cheerfully, hailing with
hope the delusive sign of renewed strength in his friend, "because
you've eaten it."
"But intentionally?"
"No Teddy, not intentionally."
"It's funny you should have had one, though, just when the doctor
ordered it for me. Perhaps you're in the egg business now?"
This caused Timothy to laugh and Teddy to smile.
"I'm not in the egg business yet," said Timothy. "How I got it is part
of a story."
"Your story, I can guess. You've been away a long time.
Tell me everything about yourself, and everything that has
happened--everything!"
"It will take so long, Teddy."
"All the more reason," said Teddy, with a grave smile, "why you should
begin soon. Fire away, Tim. It will be a pleasure for me to lie and
listen."
It is not so uncommon as may be supposed to chance upon a lad in
Teddy's station in life able to express himself so well. Looking round
upon the familiar faces in the gallery of art and literature, and
recognizing in this one and that one portraits of earnest workers, the
fruit of whose labors have imparted intellectual pleasure to hundreds
of thousands of men and women, one cannot fail to be struck by the
fact that it is not from the ranks of the rich and powerful that the
majority of these bright stars have emerged. It may be that the rich
have not that incentive to succeed--the spur of necessity forming part
of it--which the poor have, but the fact remains. Thus it is not
surprising to find a lad of Teddy's stamp in the squalid East, and his
weak physical frame may be set down to his intellectual advantage.
He lay and listened to Timothy's story. Timothy spoke softly and
slowly, and when, at the expiration of fifteen or sixteen minutes, he
saw Teddy's eyes close, and judged that he had fallen into slumber, he
stopped till Teddy, after the lapse of another few minutes, opened his
eyes, and said:
"Yes, Tim, and then--"
Then Timothy resumed his story, pausing again when Teddy closed his
eyes again, and continuing when the dying lad was sensible once more
of what was going on around him. Now and then the mother would enter
the room, very softly, and, in obedience to Timothy's finger at his
lips, would close the door behind her and step to the bedside so
quietly and noiselessly that she might have been a pitying spirit of
air instead of a suffering mother whose heart was filled with woe.
Then would she bend over the bed, sometimes with a terrible fear that
her son had passed away; but she would raise her head and look at
Timothy with tears in her eyes, and whisper:
"Thank God, he only sleeps!"
Ah! in these vigils of love, kept through day and night in the homes
of the rich and poor, drawing the sick ones together until they stand
upon the eternal platform of equality, there is much to be thankful
for. If the lessons they teach were more enduring the world would be
more human than it is, and justice--not that kind of justice we seek
in wig and gown--would be dispensed more equally.
At length the story was finished, and Teddy, awake, but growing weaker
and weaker, lay and thought over it. His voice now sometimes wandered
away, and the sense of his words was blurred by the approaching
change, but for the most part he held himself in control, and spoke
intelligently, with a full consciousness of what he was saying.
"It was a lucky thing you got into that school, Tim."
"Yes, Teddy, it was."
"I always knew you were clever, and only wanted teaching. You must
read 'Ivanhoe.'"
"I will, Teddy."
"And 'The Old Curiosity Shop,' and 'The Cricket on the Hearth.' Oh,
how I've laughed and cried over them. Is Miss Emily pretty?"
"Very pretty, Ted."
"That's nice. I like pretty things--faces, flowers, and pictures. I
can shut my eyes and see them--oh, such crowds of them, disappearing
and coming up again. I am sorry for poor Dr. Porter. Perhaps you will
see Miss Emily again."
"I hope so."
"There was little Alice Goldsmid; she was my sweetheart"--he was
wandering now--"and she died a long, long time ago. I shall see her.
She wore a white dress and a blue necklace. Is that you, father?"
"Yes, my boy," replied Mr. Meadows, who, with his wife, had just
entered the room; "do you feel better?"
"Much better; oh, so much better! Give me your hand, father." He
took it and held it to his lips. "Did you hear about Timothy and his
new-laid egg?"
"Mother has told me about it, my boy."
"Is mother here?"
"Yes, my dearest."
A sudden strength animated Teddy's frame. "I could almost sit up
alone," he said; and he strove to rise.
"You had better lie and rest, my boy," said his father.
"But I have something to do," he said, "that mightn't be thought of
afterwards. Though if you did think of it I am sure you would do it,
because it would give me pleasure."
"We would do anything to give you pleasure, my boy."
"I know you would, father, and thank you for all your goodness to me.
It shall never be forgotten--never. Please help me up."
They humored him, and propped him up with pillows. Timothy was now
sitting at the foot of the bed, and the dying lad's parents one on
each side at the head. Their hands were clasped at his back, forming a
frame for their dear one, in which he found support.
"Mother and father," he said, "I am going to make my will."
As he said this Timothy saw in his face the same half-wistful,
half-whimsical expression he had observed upon his first entrance into
the sick-room. The tears which welled into the mother's eyes at
mention of a will--a strange fancy to enter the brain of one so
young--almost blinded her. Mr. Meadows's eyes were tearless, but he
suffered none the less.
"First, though, I must say good-bye to Harry and Joe and Nelly."
These were Teddy's brothers and sisters, all younger than he.
"Good-bye!" murmured the mother. "Oh, my poor boy, my poor boy!"
"It is right," said Teddy; "it is, isn't it, father? I shall see them
again; but after to-night they won't see me, perhaps, for a long, long
time. No, don't take your arm away, father; I like it where it is, and
mother's." He turned to each of them, and received their loving kiss.
"Tim will go and bring them up. And, Tim, don't say anything to them
about my dying; it might frighten them, and they wouldn't understand.
Tell them that Teddy wants to kiss them good-night. Not good-bye, Tim,
good-night."
Timothy went down-stairs and brought the youngsters up, telling them
to be very quiet, as brother Teddy's head ached badly.
"Lift them up, Tim," said Teddy. "Good-night, Harry."
"Good-night, Teddy," said Harry. "Won't you get well soon, and have
larks?"
"You shall have plenty of fun, Harry. Say God bless you, Teddy."
"God bless you, Teddy."
"And God bless you, Harry, and mind you must be a good boy."
"I will, I will," said the little fellow.
And so with Joe and Nelly, who kissed and bade their brother
good-night, and gave him God's blessing.
"Would you mind, mother," whispered Teddy, "if they said their prayers
now before going to bed?"
In obedience to their mother's directions, the children knelt at the
bedside and said their prayers aloud, Timothy, the sorrowing parents,
and Teddy himself mutely joining in the simple supplication. Mr. and
Mrs. Meadows's heads were bowed upon their breasts, but Timothy's eyes
were fixed upon Teddy's face, and a great tremor ran through him as he
noticed the dying lad's lips form the words, "Now I lay me down to
sleep; I pray the Lord my soul to keep." The solemnity of the occasion
sank deep into Timothy's heart. "He says that prayer," he thought,
"for the last time, for the last time. Poor Teddy!"
The prayers being over, the children were taken quietly from the room.
Teddy's eyes followed their figures until the door closed upon them.
Then his lids dropped, and no one spoke until he himself broke the
silence. His voice was weaker now, and he often paused, as if to
gather strength for the words he wished to utter.
"Harry will be just like you, father, when he is a man. He is proud of
it when I have told him. 'I want to be like father,' he has said many
times."
"I hope he will be a better man," said the father.
"He couldn't very well be that, eh, mother? And Nelly will be like
you, mother, but not so pretty, I think."
Mrs. Meadows sighed. She was a buxom woman; but her best-looking days
were gone. She knew that quite well, and had always wondered at
Teddy's praises of her prettiness.
"And now, father, about my will. You won't mind, will you?"
"No, my boy, we will do everything you wish."
"Thank you, father. But first, though, about what I've got a right to
do."
"You've the right to do anything, Teddy. Only say what it is."
"Are my books mine, father?" asked Teddy. "Yes, my boy."
"I know exactly how many I've got--forty-seven, some of them nicely
bound. I should like Timothy to have five."
"He shall have them, Teddy, the best there are."
"He won't pick out the best, father; he knows they are only as a
remembrance, and I want him to have something else. Father, you must
have my desk."
"I will keep it and cherish it, my boy."
"There is something in it for mother--a little ivory brooch I bought
for her birthday before I was taken ill. Your birthday comes exactly
four weeks to-day, mother. I sha'n't be here; but think I give it to
you _then_."
Mrs. Meadows could not speak. She lowered her face to the wasted hand
she held in hers and kissed it, and held her head down.
"My other books I should like divided between Harry, Joe, and Nelly.
That will be fourteen each. You will know which to choose for them.
Father, are my clothes mine?"
"Surely they are, my dear lad."
"To do whatever I like with?"
"Whatever you like, my boy."
"I am glad of that, because there is something I very much wish to do.
Timothy is just my height, father."
"Yes, my boy, he is."
Timothy held his breath, divining the idea bred by the thoughtful love
of his friend.
"Has he told you that he can get a good situation if he has a decent
suit of clothes to go in?"
"No, Teddy; but I am glad to hear it."
"He'll tell you all about it another time--not now, because my breath
is going. Would you believe that the only thing in the world he can
call his own is a fowl? Such a wonderful layer! That is how it was he
was able to bring the new-laid egg to me. I should like Timothy to
have my best trousers, my best coat and waistcoat, my best shirt--no,
two shirts--and my best boots."
"He shall have them, Teddy."
"Thank you, father. He isn't to wait for them, you know, because it is
_now_ he wants them. It would do me a great deal of good if I could
see Timothy in them with my own eyes."
Mrs. Meadows rose, and, selecting the clothes mentioned by Teddy, told
Timothy to go into her room and put them on. "If the dear Lord in his
mercy should spare us this blow," she thought, "my darling boy can have
new ones. How thankful, how grateful I shall be if this blessing is
granted me!"
Timothy was absent from the sick-room for a much longer time than was
necessary for him to throw off his ragged garments and get into
Teddy's clothes. It was not out of vanity, but of delicacy, he did
this, for he did not have the heart to look at himself in his better
raiment. His young life had been already full of adventures, and many
of them sorrowful ones, but this was the most mournful of them all.
Ideas with respect to Teddy's clothes were stirring in his brain as
well as in that of the mother sitting by the bedside of her dying son.
"If Teddy takes a turn for the better, I can easily get into my rags
again." He consoled himself with this idea, and he did up his tattered
garments into a tidy bundle ready for the better emergency. He prayed
that his dear friend might live. There would be little hope then of
his obtaining the situation which was offered to him, but shrewd and
clever as he was he was void of that kind of selfishness the
gratification of which entails misfortunes upon others. "If I can't
get into Mr. Loveday's shop," he thought, "I shall get something else
to do, I dare say. I shall manage to rub along somehow." He would
dearly love to obtain service with Mr. Loveday, but not at the expense
of the life of the best friend he ever had. He remained from the
sickroom so long that Mrs. Meadows had to come and beg him to return
to it.
"Teddy is asking for you," she said. "Oh, my dear, he is sinking fast,
I am afraid!"
"I hope you don't think it wrong of me to do this," said Timothy,
looking down upon Teddy's clothes.
"Wrong, my dear? No, indeed not. It is to please our dear boy--and you
shall keep them even if he does get well. But I fear--I fear-- Oh, my
dear, he is the sweetest lad that ever drew breath! Never an angry
word from his lips, never, never--and I have spoken cross to him often
and often. He never answered me, never once. And now I am punished for
it, now I am punished for it!"
It was painful to witness her anguish.
"You must not, you should not speak in that way, Mrs. Meadows," said
Timothy, to whom came at this juncture an impressiveness of manner
which spoke well for a true manliness of spirit in the future when he
should have arrived at manhood's estate; "if Teddy knew it he would be
very grieved--it would hurt him badly. You have nothing to vex
yourself about, I know, who never had a mother to love"--and here
Timothy's voice shook. He was aware of the strange mystery attached to
his being thrust, a stranger, upon the care of strangers, and at this
solemn time it forced itself upon him with a new significance.
"Oh, my dear," said Mrs. Meadows, "I am sorry for you."
"I know," continued Timothy, "from Teddy's own dear lips how good and
loving you have been to him--"
"Has he told you so--has my dear boy told you so?"
"Over and over again; and he has said that he could never repay you
and his father for your goodness to him."
"That came out of his own kind heart, always thinking of others, never
of himself."
"It is true, Mrs. Meadows. He said once to me, 'I wish you had a home
like mine, and a mother and father like mine.'"
"The dear lad--the dear, dear lad! It makes it all the harder to lose
him, all the harder."
"It is hard--but let us go in now. He will be restless."
"Yes, yes, let us go in. You are a good lad, Timothy, and we shall
always be glad to see you here. Remember that, my dear."
"I will, Mrs. Meadows, and thank you."
The mother wiped the tears from her eyes, but as fast as she wiped
them away they flowed afresh.
The moment he entered the room Timothy saw the change that had come
over Teddy. But Teddy could still speak in a faint, weak voice, and
his eyes brightened as they rested on Timothy.
"How nice you look!" he murmured. "Do they fit you?" Timothy nodded.
"Bend down, Timothy. That's right." He kissed Timothy. "If you get
along, as you're sure to do, you must pay me for them."
"How can I do that, Teddy dear?" asked Timothy, in wonder.
"By helping some poor boy, and trying to get him out of his trouble."
"As you have got me out of mine. I promise, Teddy, faithfully."
"I think," said Teddy, suddenly raising himself up in bed, and
speaking in a thin, clear voice, "that everything is very beautiful.
Good-night. I am very happy. God bless you, Tim!"
"God bless you, Teddy!"
"Mother, father, put your arms round me."
Close, close beat the loving hearts, one growing fainter, fainter,
until, though still it fluttered, they could neither see nor hear its
pulsation. Teddy lay still for hours, for the most part with his eyes
closed; but at long intervals the lids were slightly raised for a few
moments at a time. Whether he saw anything before him they did not
know, but they knew by an occasional slight movement of his fingers,
which feebly strove to clasp the hands in which they were enfolded,
that the tide of life had not quite run out. In the midst of their
deep trouble it consoled them that he was in peace, and that it was
mercifully ordained that he should pass away without suffering; for
all through these memorable hours, which formed for them a sad and
loving memory till they themselves received the summons to eternity, a
smile rested on his lips. It was there when a linnet in a cage
down-stairs began to chirp and twitter in the early morning. Teddy did
not hear the sweet sounds; he had answered the call, and his soul was
with God and the angels.
"So you've got the clothes, Timothy," said Mr. Loveday on the
following day.
"Yes, sir," said Timothy; and he told the bookseller about Teddy.
"Ah," said Mr. Loveday, "so goes on forever and a day the mystery of
life and death, never for one moment ceasing its work. Timothy, your
fowl has laid another egg. Shall we value it at five farthings?"
"Keep it, sir, and welcome," said Timothy.
"No, my lad. Justice is justice, and I get it cheap. I engage you,
Timothy, as my assistant, at eighteen pence a week and board and
lodging. Satisfaction given, a rise of sixpence a week at the end of
six months; satisfaction still given, and all going along comfortably,
a rise of another sixpence at the end of twelve months. What do you
say?"
"I am very thankful to you, sir," replied Timothy.
"You will want to go to the funeral, Timothy?"
"If you can spare me, sir."
"Of course I can spare you. Friends are not so plentiful, dead or
alive."