The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1869-10-19 00:00:00

" It all canto along of Bridget going to an, be r sister
! who is very st.k. tilt used to be • barmaid at a public
ht use whtre this oa.l often alma with other a; and
set tag l'aidget h. the Illighbourhood, he inquiet tclaftax
r flt rel obt re l.c w:i lit big, ant. iI a f 0.7
stihini• would Iv u•eful to him for giving bow es-room
to R Vs. thnits now iii thu.Tl ey.rl easn't la rtienkr
to tut 'co nrety questim.s. And tLaths hula Oh c things
cam, here, sir."
This expLmation was iiven by the IMMO.. who bad
evidently teen eating in the matte. r aid .out her
husbauti's knowledge or consent.
" .ee," I answered • "but you are ay are, Mrs.
O'Callagan, that by tiden In these thiAts Ton are
renderit.s your husband liable to transport atton an •
foto-master, a abielder of thieves, and a receiver of
stohn goods?'
" Well, sir' to tell the truth, I know w • run some
risk ; hut I [Aro made no inquiry, and di not know
them to be stolen goods. But I'll get rid o f them cud
take in no more."
" The beet resolution you can oome to . Ilut how
about thiti barmaid You mid she was BE iget's 'Aster.
Do tr.:lll4OM she is your daughter?'
" Ter, sir ; but poor thing, she isn't li,o long, she'd
deep i eonrunwtion. She liven in Ash! ty Lone, and
seldom leaves Lir Lel"
I don't think you are are very him I and natural
in Laving your child to die in such • pl. le accursed ;
and I know you are not correct in the addrwe you
giro of her abode. She de. not Aehley
Lane. she lives in Charter-strout ; probth 7 you know
that r

--"-•-IY..ll—yrii-1 do know it sir," said the woman,
hanging her head ; " but Charter-street is the ti levy.'
yisrts rs. you know, air. But how moue you to know
her, sir ?'
blic spoke in a whisper, although hcr .husband had
gone up the vtep ladder into the loft &boa soon after
the conversation began. Flo bad turned au ay abluptly
when I asked how he came *cross the thiev ea lie had
been bewildered by the stings..e with the robber, and
h.ul not understood what followed.
" I have seen her often, and I Inca", if she ten bear
it, to take her out of those thieve.' querit.re, that she
may not have such shadows on her death-bed . You don't
seem to he ton interested in bat; I suypoi4 you have
Do objection?'
" oh, no, sir ; I .hall be very grateful for anything
that ean be done for her. But she and I are better
Sport.."
" Perhaps so," I answered, notes:in; to inquire if any
difference had estranged them. " Bat doss your
husband know that she Is 11l and dying ?"
" Lord, sir ! you see what he is. He wee • sharp
man once, but hi. wits are imost gone. He soomtimes
thinhe she Is dead. And it seems better he should
think so."
"At present I dare say It is so. But will you call
him down ? I want to speak to him before I go, and
try to make him feel the danger of taking these
things into his bone.. You don't seem quite alive
to it."

There wis no need to call him down, for, as I spoke.
the girl Bridget came to the door, carrying in her arms
• ihild about twelve months old. The child was cry-
ing. and at the first sound of the cry the shambling feet
sumo ibuffling down the ladder, and the man put his
shaky arms around the baby, and began tooling it up
and talking to it with an interest and animation strange
to see.

"Yon are fond of that child," I mid.
"Ay, ay." said he, talkiog to the child rather than
me. 'Catld of a neighbour, sir, that died, go they tell
Die; but it looks so like • deed girl of my own. that I
love to nurse it,"
" l'am glad of it. Now one word before Ilr. White
and I any good night. ho you know that man who
moue in here was • ilia, and the things ha brought
were stolen t"
"No—no. lie was no thief. He used to come after
my girl before she went away and died,"
"I know nothing about that. Depend upon it you
are falling into dangerous hands. You kad better let
that altar f yours go into decay than keep it up by
dint of dishooeAty. Better the Virgin should point
wa.ll a broken finger than it should be repaired with the
prim of crone."
The loan got suddenly excited, and tearing open the
bwx curtain, be rusts.' into the risen, and I thought
Le wog going to fling down the little altar and destioy
it. I went gently to him, and holding hie arm, I said
—though the child cried so loudly I could hardly hear
nlyerlf spe.kk.
You have alone no harm yet; you have not profaned
your altar if you only get rid of those things, and the
pecolo who hung them. Come ! dout't do anything
rod' or fooli.h. I hope often to see von again end

-,,--. --
Mr. Wl.ite le.:ep your altar up without the aid of
thieves. Good night."
"Good night. sir, and thank you • thosand times."
As I went out I irookosiod to the girl itridget
to wino eu-...ire. ue mother followed, as IS &lewd of
my .0. etionin: h.r. Yr. White, Lowell*. dorained
hot whdet I i.sid aloud—
" J 4.11 Li. 1.1 wear turnings are removed to-morrow morn.
ing." imintdag 10 the tour iroxse.
liott.er auddaughterjoimed in a rawly clone : " Yee,
air, w.l I Like cite."
" firidget," isaid esido to the girl, "will you come
d... 1, to coo your si.ter In Charter-street, to-morrow
night, at ight."
"I mitet go to her long before that, sir, in the 1.10111-
9. to take her ehdd to her."
iier child! Is that baby her child 1"
"Yes. Mr."
l'oor thing—poor thing I I'll most you there at
nine to-morrow morning."
"Very well, fur." said the girl, shutting the door as
White creme out ; for tior motile( war jealoor of our
conversation.
I looked beta just as the door we. closing, and the 1
last Mange I saw some. the souelid door wore toe
lighter's c:mdles on the altar. end COo poor petsicd me I
taming his little grandchild in bis arms before the I
Virgin Mary—From " SAady I'aatorufs" in Camara
Ma:pm se. Sty the lista Artkar Maroc?.

A FREI/IC.I4I:NT Willi A YOUNG LADY. I
Whatever in to Iv done now?
Wt•stevsr will become of nn—Flora and met
I engaged Vlore to come into the summerhouse at
the cud of Mrs. Squeeseby's g irden, that she might
rest herself for the rout dance; that she might gat
cooler there then in the hot hallroorn ; and, also, that
I might have • favourable opportunity for 4 riser dust.
Wo hadn't bon hire three minutes before the wind
banged the iloor to, and —ice can't get open 000 ii,
Tben.'l otuly one little window to ths sonimonhoosii,
it's no grol shouting, for all the servants that are not
entoged in the au:per-room anion the staircase peeping
at the dancing: it's nearly 2 so giant likely any
DWI or boy will be about for gardesinp purposes.
Wbatever is to be dune!
Flogs rays, "0. do try sad see if you met find a
handle somewhere r
I try *bout all over the door. and don't find • handle;
it's a very knobbly sort of door, and, going nervously
ovsr it In the darkness. I rasp my fingers moat an.
pleasantly.
" I'm afraid," I say, "it's no go—l moan it opens
from the outside."
'0 I" says Flora. "0 I 1 What will beeome of
us 1"
I hav'n't the alirhrest ides; to put it in the mildest
form, the • very 1 quirooal position. liere am I, at two
o'clock in the morning, locked up in an almost dark
Rammer-home with • young lady Its dreadful !...
Its awful!!
"0 1" says Flora again, "What will they say!"
That's just it—what the deuce will" they" say when
—goodness, it's really too awful I
'• 0!" Flora says. " What tvi/1 Papa say r
That's just it again. For certain rearm's, I didn't
want to go too far with bliss Dish; new I'm regularly
in for it; under the circumstances, she will tally expect
But I won't, hang mo if I will. Sm*th nays her
mother'a fortune wil/ come to her, hut then lim•th is ire
wrong sometimes. I won't trust in rim•th, I won't.

boAdle

"0 says Flora, "what miff Reainald say !!"
That's j ust it again—worse than ever—for " Reginald"
I, her particularly big brother.
It's the dickens and all of a predicament, and—
Cowling ! I hope etc iret gOing to cryl She's getting
out her pocket-handkerehOd—this will just tioish It—
thar.k goodness, no, it's for the other thing. "tihe be.
such a cold," ohe says. plaintively.
WLatev.r can I do? I can't offer her ray dress-coat,
that would he too deuced ridiculous—and yet one
evidently repeats me to offer her something.
N.ll. Offer her anything but myself.
Neut. Tin. isn't • bad joke to make, under the cir-
cumstances.
All this time I've been standing up against the door,
wider the pretence of trying for the confounded handle,
but I can't go on at it for ever ; Flora evidently
stecto ma to come and sit by her on the wooden sofa-
bench.
I shouldn't mind doing Mi. at all, if I way only
iriirc about the mother's tin. But I know perfectly
w,ll, that if I do ones sit down en that wooden sofa., it's
all over with me.
It really is a moot delicate position.
/lent. (In a happy moment) Turn it off as •good jolts.
I will. Rut perhaps Flora won't Pei it ,• howevet—
" Tlix is he, films push," I ay, confidently.
Mt, roach. dubiewily ; abe does not Pee it.
"ll'. very °old,' sle• an a. "and damp, I think, and
—Ol. I their.: po,no horrid thing crawling on me l—o.od
whet Lir "icy all ..,r
Ilo,v .he ,Les return to that ooe question. I wish to
poor•p she couldn't, it's so ninon like leading up to
•Om uue,ti n.
li I e.tf I but only depend on that fellow
Ye. poinehow, I don't feel half so !psis now
as I did In the ball-room; whops the said tar it out
of one.
Vie. Hope I shan't got ono of those confounded
rolaved us.tO tha,oati.
Flora here caught again; aLo ovideotly expects
sympathy. I diould like to ayinpethise with bar YR-
wen,. ly, but then— I'm afraid. I know if I MOO
lit down nom her on the woolen sofa and begin the
sympathy, I shan't get off without the other thing...
And yet It would lie awfully nice
Confound that fisn'tb tomes of knowing •
fellow one can't depend upon. Ric 11ect his telliug ins
ac A " positive feat," that Miss Flirtingtoo would have
• coulda of thou' permim—and she hadn't five hundred.
lio. I molly can't afford the sympathy. And yet what's
to he doho'.' .

Good l—a capital idea strikes me. Wave my pocket-
handkerchief out of the little window, like those fellows
do in pietuiwbooks, who get shipwrecked on little
deeert islands There isn't likley to be any " passing
asir in Mr.. liqtreeseby's hark garden. bat there may
bee pairing hoummaid, or something of that sort.
i wave it about through the little window.
rioni aims, "What are you doing
I reply, "In. making bipeds."
"She says? "To whom?'
I inlayer, 'To anybody.'
edie Yap. " But there isn't anybody."
reply, "Never mind •, wait and me."
No wyener have I said tliia than a figure appears at
the °toor end of the sardeo. I point it out to Flury—
abo, bee given up the wooden seta ides ea a bail jai., sad
a now standing near me.
•• Look !" I cselaim triumphantly.
Flom saes ; "but the mrsou doesn't look."
had no idea Flora was so sharp.
A umber figure now joins the first. They approach
tr says they're housemaid% ;one or shall
; , if. &or will
to,. • nas Itsaltutldul. it--
L. de.