Aunt Jane's Nieces at Work
Eliza laughed once or twice, her head resting upon the back of her
chair. Then the words of Louise began to sound dreamy and indistinct in
her ears. The chair rocked with less regularity; soon it came to a stop,
and Eliza was peacefully sleeping in its ample depths.
Louise now rose softly and rang her bell. Footsteps approached, and a
knock came upon the door. She admitted Dr. Hoyt, Mr. Burke, and two
servants.
The physician approached the sleeping girl and gently lifted the lids of
her eyes. Then he nodded with satisfaction.
"There was no suspicion on her part? She made no struggle--no attempt to
evade unconsciousness?" he asked.
"None at all, sir," replied Louise. "She ate the bon-bon, and was asleep
before she realized it."
"Excellent!" said the doctor. "We will now place her in her own room,
upon her bed, while Mr. Burke and I drive over to her former home to
complete our arrangements."
"Won't she waken?" asked Louise.
"Not until tomorrow morning, and when she does I hope for a complete
restoration of her memory."
Beth went with Dr. Hoyt to the Rogers farm, because she knew Mrs.
Rogers. It was necessary to break the news to the poor, blind woman
gently, but Beth's natural tact stood her in good stead. She related the
story of the search for Lucy, the discovery that one of the maids at
Elmhurst resembled the missing girl, and the detective's conclusion that
Eliza Parsons was none other than Lucy Rogers, who was suffering from a
peculiar mental aberration and had forgotten every detail of her former
life.
Mrs. Rogers followed the tale with intelligent understanding, and her
joy at the discovery of her wandering child was only tempered by the
fear that Lucy would never know her mother again or be content to remain
in her humble home.
Then Dr. Hoyt took up the conversation and related the many instances of
complete recovery that had come under his observation.
"I am adopting heroic methods in this case," said he, "but I have
reasonable hopes of their success.
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There was once a king who was very powerful. He had great influence over the wild beasts and animals. Now the tortoise was looked upon as the wisest of all beasts and men. This king had a son named Ekpenyon, to whom he gave fifty young girls as wives, but the prince did not like any of them. The king was very angry at this, and made a law that if any man had a daughter who was finer than the prince's wives, and who found favour in his son's eyes, the girl herself and her father and mother should be killed.
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