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��The Doctor's Granddaughter.
��hurriedly, as he saw Joseph moving off. " No," said Joseph ; and he walked on, with his right hand thrust deep into his coat-pocket.
Joseph went in through the long hall, and halted at the doctor's door. He took a crumpled letter out of his pocket, folded it up, looked at the directions, and put it back. He took off his hat, pulled out his blue-and-white checked handkerchief, and wiped his face ; then he put the handkerchief back into the hat, put the hat on, and stepped up near the door. He touched the rough brass latch, and it rattled. " Come in," said the doctor. Joseph started like a thief, but it was too late to turn back. He opened the door and walked in. " Good-morning, Joseph, good-morn- ing," said the doctor. " How is your father this morning?" — "Oh, he is well ' " and there Joseph stopped. " Have a chair, Joseph ; " and the doc- tor motioned to a large square chair by the table. " No, I can't stop," said Joseph, but he seemed loath to make known his business. The doctor spoke of the heavy shower they had in June ; and Joseph answered in an abstracted way, all the while keeping his hand in his pocket. At last he said, " Doctor, we got a letter from Oliver last night, and we have heard some bad news." — "Is Alex hurt?" inquired the doctor eagerly. " Well, yes, wounded in the arm ; but you know that battle at Mon- mouth on the 2Sth of June was terrible. It was so hot." Joseph seemed over- come with the thoughts of this battle, and he dropped into the great square chair. "Where in the arm is Alex wounded, and what ails you, man?" said the doctor. " Well, doctor, to tell the truth, I have got bad news for you : John Pendexter is killed — killed out- right." The doctor sat down like one
��paralyzed. " Poor Susanna ! Poor child ! " he said. " I don't know but what this will finish her. She has seemed for a year or two like a sapling bent down by some great weight ; but this summer she has been springing back. What does the letter say?" — " Here it is, you can read it ; " and Joseph took out once more the small piece of paper freighted with so much sadness for Susanna. He dropped it as if he were glad to be rid of the crum- pled sheet.
The doctor read how the army had crossed the Delaware, and met the Brit- ish at Monmouth, N.J. Oliver de- scribed the heat of the day, how the troops suffered, and many died. He wrote that his tongue was swollen so that he couldn't keep it in his mouth, and how at times a British bullet would have been welcome. At length he wrote, " This sad news I have to write : John, Alex, and I marched together and stood together till John fell. He never spoke. Alex and I took him up, but the work was done. We buried him carefully, and wept as we would have for each other. John had got Susanna's letter telling of his mother's death, — it had been delayed. It was hard for him : he often spoke of the old home, and wanted to keep it for himself and Su- sanna," Oliver wrote kind words to his poor old father, and told him not to worry about Alex : he sent messages to the neighbors, and told Joseph to give the letter to Dr. Carwin. " Joseph, this is dreadful," said the doctor. " How can I tell Susanna?" Just as he was speaking, Susanna opened the door, and said, " Grandfather, I am going up in the pasture with Bluff." The old dog, hear- ing his name, brushed by her, wagging his tail with evident pleasure, " Why, grandfather, what is the matter ? — Jo-
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