Dodgeville chronicle. [volume] (Dodgeville, Wis.) 1862-current, 1872-09-20
DOTS BABY.

white prettiness, her crinkling, golden
hair. her smiles and her dimples, and her
happy; innocent heart, what was Dot but
baby herself
And vet, one day in the rosy ripeness
of summer, we had all crowded the par
lor in Swiss frocks, with garniturc of the
loveliest blossoms, and quite premeditat-
edly, but all in tears, and with yearning
regrets and tender foreDoding, and sigh
inc looks backward to the happy girl-life
which had been thing of beauty, but
would be fair dream forevermore, had
given her away to tall, handsome fellow,
Harry Ascot by name, of whom we knew
nothing except that Dot loved him and
he loved Dot. ~
Tt was an awfully audacious thing TO do,
plucking fate by the sleeve, as it were,
and bidding her serve US, 1lOte1as gOte71s ;
and when, after the cake and ice-cream
had been served, and everybody had
kissed Dot, and everybody who dared
had also kissed the blushing bridegroom,
and our darling treasure had chung to us
all one dreadful moment, and cried in the
most heartrending fashion, and said she
never, never could leave us, and she was
a wretch for thinking of it, and when
somebody had announced the time fer the
train, and Dot had slipped out of her
white silk and into her gray linen in a
twinkling, and that cool young robber
had quietly shut her up in the carriage,
and we had flung an old slipper after them
for luck, and Harry, all smiles and inky
mustache, and Dot, all bushes and sobs,
and fluttering little rings of gold hair, had
vanished in mist of tears, and | went
away by myself to my chamber, now
desolate forevermore, and had private
little weep of my own, and indulged in
the dismal luxury Of horrid forebodings.
Harry might be a brute. He might
break her heart They might both be
killed on the railway. Harry might lose
all his money, and Dot might have to
come back, an abandoned, miserable lit
tie woman, to the family ingle. But this
last picture had bright side. I dried my
tears to look at it., and was presently in
condition to take myself in hand and ad-
minister good scolding. e.s
Harry did not turn out reprobate. l
was made quite miserable by Dots happi-
ness, as reflected in her letters. All,
these girls How confidently, with what
utter hilarity do they flee from the dear
old heartlstone, lured away by the might
of that strange, potent necromancer, who
holds such marvellous lien upon all
human hearts!
By and by had letter from Dot, beg
ging me to come to her, and lying perdU
in the little rose-scented note was the most
exquisite secret in the world. l went at
once, and before I had been many weeks
in Dots home all the world-our world
knew our secret There was day and
a night of awful suspense, and the stars
in their courses seemed to stand still, and
all the great round earth to tremble and
oulver in mute, breathless expectation.
Then. in the hush of the morning, new
little life began, and we laughed and cried
over each other, and praised Gods good
ness, which we had dared to doubt only a
half hour earlier.
1t was funny to see Harry. He had
been lifted in moment from the valley OF
despair to the sunlit heights of hope, and
the poor fellow was dazed. He stood
leaning over her where she lay, like a
wilted lily, but with heaven shining in her
eyes.
ooh, Harry, look at himr'
That was just what Harry was doing
with all his might. Presently he touched
the .baby's cheek with his finger. think
he had had suspicion that it was by no
means flesh and blood, but only a waXen
hoax.
''Hes little fellow" he said, contem-
platively. %.@
All the mother awoke in Dot.
'tLittle! why, Harry, how can you? He
weighs eight poundsr'
Harry did not recoil under this mon
strous fact. He took it quite calmly.
"Does he? Well r' still doubtfully.
tT c11ppoca ha will GROW -
"Grow !" cried Dot, sobbing and laugh
ing. "I know he will. It's only ques
ton of time. Give him time enough
and he will be as big as you are. Oh,
you precious, conceited fellow. l didn't
know you thought you were born grown
upw
Dots baby did grow. 1t was in re-
fined, fashionable way, after my own
heart. I never could understand the
ecstacies people go into over your huge
baby, who only represents SC much adj
"Look at his armsw they cry. "Look
at his legs" p
Dear friends, do look at them, and I
don't like them. They remind me of
pork It's dreadful thought, | know,
but can't help it. I suppose it betrays
some horrible cannibal pedigree, but
never see one of those over -cOrpulent
babies without thinking how nice he
would be cooked. AS for soul. I should
despair of finding one in such mass OF
avoirdupois. ga q, ~.
You may think it is only nepotism
which makes me declare that Dots baby,
as baby, was absolutely perfect. His
exquisite limbs would have delighted a
sculptor Indeed, they were modelled
more than once, and we might have had
quite museum of casts, only Dot de-
clared she wouldn't have pieces of her
baby lying round all over the house.
The little fellow had name of his own
a very pretty name, stoo-but he was al
ways spoken of as Dots baby. When he
was three years old | went to spend the
winter with Dot.
cit is really time you were married,
Ruthy,n said Dot. 'sI have foreboding
that you will be an old maid. read the
other day that there were seventy thou
sand more women than men in Massachu-
sets. The paper didn't say that the most
of 'em live in the country towns, but /
know they do You shall stay here this
winter, Ruthy, and if you don't get a
lover by spring, Harry and will pay
your fare to Colorado. 'Onlyyou mustn't
make love to Harry, or seduce the baby
young affections" kN
This was the week before Christmas,
and our principal work just then was to
go shopping for presents One day we
had been unusually busy, and lunched
down town, and didn't start for home till
the short winter afternoon was just clos
ing in.
II am wild to see the baby" said Dot,
as we crowded into the car, already
crammed as cars are at the holidays. 81
always think when | am going home,
what if, anything had happened to
him q" - -Aif fst - ~ 81
s'What should happen to him ?"