OCR Text |
Show BBBBB H --- .. . - - ( IN MEMORY OF A BABY B By CARL MAYER. BBj It was In the lute autumn, yet a BBJ I iiimmor day, when all tbo air was I toft Kith a scarcely perceptible haze which gives October that penslveneaa which Is not aadneaa, and et which tempore Joy Miriam sat on the porch crooning a lullaby to hor baby aa ahe gently rocked back nnd forth and contempt contem-pt plnti'd thi quietude of the country as BBJ j It lay before her In a glory of crimson BBfl and gold, BBJ 1 A r. oimiM came slowly up the street BBJ I j ami paused mm ahe caught Hlgjit of BBJ , ' mothtrand bnbe. A woman, haggard, BBJ j i Jaded, dust stained, joung In years, BBJ ' I but wilh )outh'H blooni gone from the BBJ I pale cheeks nnd wretched eyes, Hash- BBJ lng suddenly with u wild light as she BBJ ' held nut her arms In supplication BBJ Miriam shrunk back In her chair BBJ I and held her baby closer, thinking BBJ ! the woman Ituuiiu, but seeing her BBJ mistake, leaned forward a bit, Inquir- BBJ Ing If the woman was 111 or needed J BBJ help BBJ "No, madam, not HI, but It has been BBJ io long since I've seen a baby! You BBJ ro good, ou are so happy, you have BBJ ! not seen sin, you don't know what BBJ It la to have lost your baby and go BBB about tho world with empty arms nnd BBB ( despairing heart. My baby la gonel BBJ If you will only let tnu kiss your BBJ baby, let mo hold It Just once I would BB8 I bo more fit to die." BBB Intuitively, Miriam anw that this BBB woman had suffered much; wronged BBB i her womanhood, perhaps; but suffer- BBJ j cd. rity (lashed toars Into hor eyos BBJ ln shockod hor but sho could not BBJ . send n fellow-creature away perhaps BBJ j to death, without giving what help aho ! could. Hesitating but a moment, she said: BBB h "Como, sit here besldo me; baby la BBB almost asleep," and rising, she laid BBJ the llttlo bundle of warmth and fro- BBJ I grance In tho stranger's arms, BBJ I With n atlfled cry the woman sank BBB Into a chair, while toars coursed down BBB her wan cheoka. She wopt wept with BBJ grief unspeakable with that agony of BBB ' an overcharged spirit, until In tho full- BBB nass of compasBlon Miriam put her BBJ arm around (he Bhaklng shoulders and BBJ ' tried In her gentle maj to sympa-BBJ sympa-BBJ BBJ ! Tho Imby slept H (j Miriam brought light refreshment, BBB i, dainty Hniidwlchcs nnd cool, rich milk. BBB j Refreshed, the woman, now calm, soft- BBB ' ly whispered: "If jou know what I BBB ' have been you would despise me. You BBB i would not let mo touch your pure, BBB sweet baby. You have been so good, BBB now lot mo go" H ft nut Miriam gently detained iter "If BBB , It will help you to tell me your BBB trouble, I may be able to aid you," she BBB BBB Then the woman wept again, but BBBJ tenderness prevailed ami bit by bit BBBJ tho story of n joung girl, born nnd BBBJ brought up on u farm far from the BBBJ city's whirl, lured nivaj from home on BBBJ proinlhe of marriage, then deserted, BBB camo. How her baby had been born BBS In a chnrlty liospltal, how- she had BBBJ searched and searched for her faith- BBBJ lesB lover, only to find him emerging BBB from n great church witli a radiant BBBJ brldo on his arm; how she had wnlked BBBJ i tho streets night and day searching BBBJ for work no one would give, how ren- BBBJ , aon had left her when her baby died BBBJ In hor arms; how she was nursed BBBJ -1 back to puny health by others who BBBJ ' had suffered, who gave her a homo BBBJ and certain rough but tender care; BBS how sho was led on to a life of shame BBB ' because she could find no other means BBB to earn broad, nnd how, sickened by BBB ' the revolting life, sho had cast aside BBB her gaudy raiment and was on her BBBJ way to Join her dead baby. ! Miriam felt tho truth of her Btory; felt Hint she could not turn away a sou! so sorely distressed "I think you wore more sinned issBBsa against than sinning, nnd (lod has brought ou to me Will you stay with ma and help me caro for babyT I have great need of some oue who will put lovo Into this work, nnd per- BBB J haps, after a whtlo, my baby will BBB y comfort you as your own." B I "You will tako mo, you will keep BBB j me; you will let me tend your babyT BBB t Oh, it Is too much, too much!" BBB "I will do more, by giving jou love BBB , and a grent trust You can holp or BBB harm mu much, If you aro loyal and BBB I faithful to baby and me you will glvo BBB me a surer confidence In nil humanity, BBB but If you full me, I shall tifiver daro BBB to llBten to tho voice of my own soul BBB again. It Is n trial for us both!" BBB When tho woman lilted her bow ad BBBJ head tliuro was a new light In her BBB eyes; u rested look BBB "I thought thcro w us nothing for mo BBBJ to live Cor, no work fur me to do, but BBBJ 1 I will live slnco you think mo worthy BBBJ J of such u tntBt. I will prove to you BBBJ j that thuro Is something truo In me BBBJ I still. I will bo faithful" BBBJ Tho next spring In a fur away city BBBJ' over a llttlo mound In tho churchyard BBBBk a white stouo was plucod which boro BBBB the inscription "In Memory of n BBBJ i Baby," nnd tho tiny ginvn was bluo BBBJ 1 with myrtlo and violets. BBBB '1 The woman lived all her long years BBBJ I with Miriam and tho baby. She came BBBJ ' to bo like ouo of tho fr.mlly, respoctod, BBBJ trustod, loved, lookod up to. She H tended thorn in sickness nnd in BBBJ health; rejoiced In tliolr Joys, sorrow- BBBJ ed with tliolr sorrows, and tho next BBBJ generation never knew but what she BBBJ had always been ono of them, BBBJ BtU&ovor in all tho days of her life BBBJ did laUrlum breatho to any ono the B voman'u secret of her baby's grave. |