Second Period Seventh Narrative - Chapter I

In a Letter from MR. CANDY

Frizinghall, Wednesday, September 26th, 1849.--Dear Mr. Franklin Blake,
you will anticipate the sad news I have to tell you, on finding your
letter to Ezra Jennings returned to you, unopened, in this enclosure. He
died in my arms, at sunrise, on Wednesday last.

I am not to blame for having failed to warn you that his end was at
hand. He expressly forbade me to write to you. "I am indebted to Mr.
Franklin Blake," he said, "for having seen some happy days. Don't
distress him, Mr. Candy--don't distress him."

His sufferings, up to the last six hours of his life, were terrible to
see. In the intervals of remission, when his mind was clear, I entreated
him to tell me of any relatives of his to whom I might write. He asked
to be forgiven for refusing anything to me. And then he said--not
bitterly--that he would die as he had lived, forgotten and unknown. He
maintained that resolution to the last. There is no hope now of making
any discoveries concerning him. His story is a blank.

The day before he died, he told me where to find all his papers. I
brought them to him on his bed. There was a little bundle of old
letters which he put aside. There was his unfinished book. There was his
Diary--in many locked volumes. He opened the volume for this year, and
tore out, one by one, the pages relating to the time when you and he
were together. "Give those," he said, "to Mr. Franklin Blake. In years
to come, he may feel an interest in looking back at what is written
there." Then he clasped his hands, and prayed God fervently to bless
you, and those dear to you. He said he should like to see you again. But
the next moment he altered his mind. "No," he answered when I offered to
write. "I won't distress him! I won't distress him!"