The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1872-06-27

Poor child ~ said Mrs. Turner. SO
90 not wonder she is nearly dead; bu
VINO can she be? Some terrible. acci
dent must have occurred at sea"
You had better examine her cloth
ing" said the doctor; "perhaps. yor
) may find some clue 70 her relations 3
Mrs. Turner lifted the gossamel
. white dress, and turned it over anc
over The square ard compass placed
there by Mr.. Durant flashed upon the
eyes OF all at once. The doctor and
Mr.. Turner looked at each other. but
neither spoke, and Mrs. Turner did
not notice the tear that glistened in
her husbands eyes.
The doctors fears that Eva would
not recover rapidly proved to be well
founded; days and weeks of fever sue
eeeded in awakening her to life, dur
ing which time she talked incOherent-
~ OF papa" and 'pOOr mamma, "and
Of the turning ship" and of ''hun-
ger" She finally awOke to conscious
ness, and asked many questions as to
where she was found and how she
came in the darkroom, and who were
those who attended her, but DIR. Hunt
forbade her being questioned until she
was stronger.
How interested were all in the little
convalescent, whom the elements had
cast into the little seabOard town ,
The ladies declared that never before
did child possess such lovely ewes or
such beautiful curls, while the gentle.
men seemed no less interested. and
brought her gifts of everything that
might please her childish fancy.
MY dear little girl" said DR.. Hunt
when Eva was at length able to ride
out y viii you tell me your name?D
Eva" said the child; 81 thought
you knew it."
Yes, L know your name is Eva. but
want to know the rest of your name
your fathers name"
papa"
"Yes, 1 want you to tell me all YOU
can remember about your father and
mother"
Eya's eyes filled with tears.
'Oh, sir, my mamma died and went
TO live with the angels, and 1 do not
know where papa Is. He said ifI
never saw him again L must know he
had gone to mamma"
Where were you when he told
you thisT'
'On the ship; and oh, the fire burnt
me so; and papa held me in his arms
until strange man took me and tied
something under my arms and threw
me into the water, and 1 have.not
seen papa since. Oh, sir, can you tell !
me where he is ?''
'NO, dear child; but perhaps we
may yet find him.D
And this was all that Eva's new
friend could discover.
1t was plain she had come from the |
ship which had been burned a few
weeks before; that she had been cast
upon the sea, and flOated to the shore: |
but where was her father? Had he |
been saved, and was he searching for
his child?
Every possible effort was now made |
to find him. The circumstances. of /
the case, with the statement of the /
child, was published fully in the
newspapers of the neighboring cities,
but the grief-stricken, believing his /
child to be lost, had sailed a week be-
fore for Europe, and it soon became
settled in the minds of Eva's protec-
tors that he had perished. But the
little one still prattled about her papa
and said he would come by-and-by;
those who believed differently would
not pain her by contradiction.
The square and compass that had
been found upon her clothing was re-
garded as a powerful appeal from a
Mason to his brethren to care for his
child.
So it came to pass that Eva became,
as it were, the special charge of Hi
ram Lodge No. SO. Mr.. Turner would
gladly have taken the entire care of
the little waif, and the wealthy Sena-
tor W requested to be allowed to
adopt her rs his daughter, but the
Brethren in Lodge assembled declared
by vote that Eva should be reared,
educated, and protected by the Lodge,
and that as Providence had placed her
in Brother Turner's house, that should
be her home. flH
And so years went by, and Eva be-
came healthy, joyous child, fitting
here and there, and everywhere meet
ing the Warmest Of welcomes. The
Masonic Hall was but few rods from
MIR. Turner's residence, and Eva often
went with him as far as the door, and |
then returned alone always bidding
the Tiler "take good care of Pa Turn
aT, and send him home early"