The Literary echo, and Pawcatuck advertiser. [volume] (Westerly, R.I.) 1851-1854, 1853-04-07
Grltftc0.
THE TWO ACTS (;
THEY HAVE THEIR REWARD"
BY HENRY G LEE.

| No, lndeeu L snail 90 no Sucl
thipk," said Mrs. Lionel to her husband
~ho had come home with the intclli
gence that cousin of his, widow, hat
died suddenly, and left little gill three
years old whom he proposes that hi.
wife should adopt and raise as her owl
they having no children. But she
gave a decided negative on the spot.
"She is a sweet, interesting child,'
urged Mr.. Lionel "You will soon gel
attached 10 her, and be more than re.
paid in the new affections awakened in
your heart, for all the care and trouble
she may occasion"
Its no use to talk to me, Mr. Lionel -
replied the lady in positive tone of
voice. 81 know about the care and
trouble, and am not willing to take it
upon myself. ASH have no children of
my own. am not disposed to take the
burden Of other peoples, So it is USE
less for you to press this subject; for !
will never consent to what you propose. I"
IF you feel that way, l shall GER
tainly not urge tn natter" said the
husband. Thou h, as far as I am
concerned, it would give me great pleas.
ure to adopt Aggy, who is charming
little creature. / wish you could see
her "
Il have no particular desire. All
children are alike to me. As TO the
beauty, that is a poor compensation for
the trouble. So l must beg to be ex-
cused."
Mr.. Lionel said no more on the sub
ject. He was exceedingly fond of child:
rem, and never ceased to regret that
he had none of his own. In two or
three instances before, he had endeav-
ored to prevail upon his wife to adopt
child, but she had, each time, firmly
declined. She had very little affection
for children herself, and was not willing
to take the care and trouble that she
saw would necessarily be involved in the
adoption of child The little girl who,
by the death of his cousin, had been
left homeless, and apparently tliendless,
was sweet young creature, whom to
look upon was to love. Mr. Lionel had
never seen her without warming of his
heart toward her, and a secret wish that
she were his own instead of another's
The moment he heard of his cousin S
death, he determined to adopt Agnes,
Or Aggy, as she was called, provided his
wife were willing. She was too selfish
to love anything out of herself A
thought of the child's good-of giving
home to the homeless never crossed
her mind. She only thought of the
rouble the little orphan would give
The insuperable difficulty in the ways &
u adopting Aggy as his own, did not
iestroy the interest which Mr.. Lionel
cit in her. He considered his duty to t
zee that she was provided with good a
'ome, and was willing to be at the cost /
# hel maintenance if necessary His
irst thought had been to adopt the n
hid, and until that was understood to I
'e out or the question, he had thought h
i nothing else in regard to her. How '
he was to be disposed of, now that his n
ute had definitely settled the matter "
gainst him, became new subject of D
election. After due deliberation, he n
onclued to see distant relative on the G
ubject, with whom, since his marriage. a.
G had held but little familiar inter i
curse, although he had always enter "
lined for her high respect The Il
'ason for this was the cold, proud, un- ia
'clal temper of his wife, who rather r
'oked down upon his relatives because m
'eir standing 10 society was not, as she W
'nsidered it, quite as high as hers had fe
zen and still was. Necessarily, such a d,
sposition in his wife, would prevent o.
uch social intercourse between Mr. Ifr
lionel and his relstives, notwithstand- Ira