M'arthur Democrat. (McArthur, Vinton County, Ohio) 1853-1865, 1857-08-06

"Aha, you pay your board then9-
Well, little, Lauretta, will you sing
for me nowp
eyes, indeed" and the little one
stands up in the middle of the rug,
and opening her rosebud mouth she
sings Casta Diva!
"Bless my stars what a voicel |
know something about music myself
at least enough to know that such a
voice should be a fortune to the one
that possesses it. Little one, where
did you learn thatw
"Nurse taught me-"
"Nurse! Who is nurse!"
"Nmse is dead;" the dark eyes fill
with tears, and the ruby lips are quiv-
ering.
Mr.. Patron walks up and down the
room. Ills curiosity was excited as
well as his pity.
"Pleaso, sir, shall | have the bas-
ket9 Bridget will sCold me if | stay
SO long"
"No, little one, will carry the bas-
ket, am going home with you"
"It's up a flight Of stairs, sir,
and there is no light in the passage"
"All the more reasons | should 90
with you. Now | am ready. Come,
my little singer, you and | will be
better acquainted before long. Don't
fall down these steps; keep hold of my
hand; here we are in Broadway
Now where do we turn2 down Prince
street, hey? and now down Crosby
What! doyou live in this alley! Oh,
never fear little Ca8ta Diva, l shall
tread safely enough while this little
hand leads me. Ugh! how many
more flights are there! only two =
Well, can climb them if you cam
So, is this the door"
"Och, and is it You, sir, that would
be after coming to seea poor woman
at this hour! VIII you be seated,
sir" said Bridget, wiping q wooden
chair with her apron. "Your shirts
were not ironod to be suiting ye, may
be?"
"Shirts all right, Bridget. l came
to bring home your little girl, and to
ask you something about her. Will
you tell me where she came from9"
"Ye take great deal O. trouble for
a lone bit Of a child, indeed, sir; but
her story is not very long. She lived
with a fnrren woman, in the room be.
low, named Theresa. The woman
she was waiting maid in Lauretta's
family, in Italy somewhere, and while
she was out with the child, then only
two years old, for the sake of the air,
there came big row in the city, and
the child's father was in the middle Of
it, and got kilt; and when she reached
the house, all in fright, sure it was
on fire and the mother of it gone, and
niver was she able to find it. So she
come to America with it; for she
heard how the streets were paved with
gold, and when she came and found
nary gold nor food but the working,
she had to 60 to work as all we poor
creatures do; an she took in washing
in the one room down stairs but niv-
er a bit would she let the child do for
itself; but waited on it like a slave,
and only taught it to sing, as its
mother did before it, she said: and
last year Theresa died. This poor
creature took on so bad that | took
her myself, only I'll teach her to earn
bread at any rate, and so | send her
out every day to sing to the great
folks, and makes her help me to carry
around the clothes, and that is all,
sir. i"
"It was very good in you, Bridget,
to take the little orphan; you have
saved her from a sad fate; you will
be rewarded, you may depend"
Bridget raised her eyebrows and
dropped a courtesy, while little Casta
Diva, as Mr.. Patron then, and ever
since has called her, hid her face in
the bed and sobbed to hear her own
story related. The kind gentleman
looked at her tenderly, and then con-
,tinued:
- have plan for this poor child,
which will relieve you of your charge,
and repay you for your goodness of
heart. Good night, little one; I'll
come tomorrow. Dry your tears, for
/ will make you happy. uere, Brid-
ct, is some money for you, and be sure
you do not send her out to sing again.
| have something better for her to
do. ("
Bridget dropped another courtesy;
and her mouth opened wide for she
was all mystifed and bewildered.