The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1867-05-07

N1
sAclaiming almost anguly
Its uo uac. / cant gct along, no
matter hos hard ! tuye What shall
30 now oh, dearl / do wish
bas no baby
Ny yegy lugcrhps thrilled with ter
rog tho instant tie unvomanly wish
lad passed my lips. ard, clearing the
steps az tuo ~ three bounds, ] rushed
ID the corner where her crib stood, en-
Ger 10 clasp her Is nay bosom, and pour
out ms rgmorse Ia tears aud kisses ]
snatched aside the curtain The crib
was there s. was the snowy pillow bear.
lng the dark impress 81 her head bat
Litilo Pead was gone For moment
! stood dumb and almost scnseless. then
a qnick Thought came % my relief
Ned has stolen her ID irighten me,
/ cried and rushing ont searched
everywhere to end ham, but ~ vain
The mist was thiekening into rain. /
knew wen enough that he WAS too earc-
fnl 81 her 10 expose har in such d man
ner; yet clung to the belief that Ae
had stolen her as ! clung 10 my liie.
There were fresh foot prints IN the
black mud about tile door leading out
toward The wood lot where Ned aud
the men were az work ] followed
them, my head uncovered, unmiudful
Of the shril wind and driving rain,
plunging ankle deep into the yielding
sol at every ster. About half way !
saw something in the path before me.
II was a little crimson stocking! My
heart leaped for Joy Ned had stolen
her and she had kicked it from her foot
Jon the way; il was cruel in him TO
flghton me SO. l wondered if he bad
heard that silly wish Of nine,
/ Half a mile from the house | mot him
and the men coming home to dinner
He started forward the moment he
caught sight of me.
"Oh, Bell what is the matter? Is
Little Pearl sick
+ One glance at his white, startled face,
convinced me that my hope was vain;
yet ] cried ont angrily, lou We got the
child, Ned you know YOU have don't
torture me any longer
Bell, what do you mean z
She's gone Little Pearl. You stole
her Ned, 70 irighten ne
No, onmy soul, Bell! "
Then she's gone: God has granted
me my wish. Oh! my baby my baby
/ j was rushing past him, but lac caught
me and held me fast, commanding me
to tell him all--and did. And then
his afler-words thrilled my soul with
horror.
The Indians the Indians boyslg
he cried, they passed us, you know
/ They must have stolen her Come
They followed him without a word
and So did / Over the spongy prairie
mud, the chill wind and driving rain
beating in our faces, through dense
dripping woods, down to the shore O
the river But we were too late Tic
last canoe was moored On the opposite
shore. God had granted me my wish
/ bad no baby
Little Pearl could not be found, al
though our efforts were ccaseless. Hcl
J crib remained III its corner, with an i'm
press Of her hend on its pillow; but the
little laughing face thatlooked up at ms
from the depth Of the coverhds wa
gone forever bad ample time TO per
form all my household labors then NJ
) little, quiyering cry to detain me wheI
was busy; no clnging hands holdinl
mine, and keeping them idle My wisl
was granted me; / had no baby
The desolate, inconsoahle sorrow 0
the days that followed, no tongue cal
portray: the tcndcr longing, the sharp
: singing remorsc. But we lived an,
worked, for life and labor must 20 on
no matterhow sore and weary our heart
may be At the end Of five years, Nee
| locked around him on the ripe fruitioI
| of his most sangulne hopes. He ha,
built him not only a home, but a name
!, in this new country. We had pleasan
rooms and luxmiant furniture an,
) birds, and flowers, and all the attribute
/ that so 10 make upa happy home. All
& did ! say Not alive were ehildless
I Little Parlo had never come back Goo
S bad given no other child TO fill he
: place; but we desired no other, ou
: grief for her loss being dearer aud NOR
sacrcd than amy new love could eve
i have been.
: Poor Ned THAT uuforgolten sorrow
! together with his arduous dnties, mad
: him an old man before his time th
{ silyor threads were thick On bis temple
s and the burrows on bis forehead dcepl,
, cut; when we went back on a visit t,
our old house, the friends Of his you'll
/ did not recognize him His lifo had los
. lis impelIiug aim and motive
& One night, in the great city, we wer'
| returning from the opera when a yoic,
: startled a.
| Please sir, It said, apcnny to bu.
! loaf
!; Il was mid-winter; the pavement
were glazed with ice; and the counties
stars overhead gliuered III the cold blu'
! Shy like 20 many points of steel wa
: dreaming Of nay home in the far West
. and longing for the hour OF ny retufI
10 come. i strange feeling Of tender
! ness bound me 10 tie spot where | has
! lost my Little Pearl could not bea
: TO be away from it, because # foolisl
fear that she might come back and
! Fsrf ~ 4tFee ~, al 8fnt.ge hg-