The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1873-10-31

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covered. and Thomas handled his axe
with his former strength, while his wife
was ever mt his side. Want and care
were strangers in their home, and they
retained the love and respect OF all, and
appeared to love each other as formerly.
No word of complaint ever passed their
lips, and still this perpetual sorrow that
had banished every smile from the face
of this once joyous couple.
Could this be the result of the tragic
death of their child Naturally endowed
with n sound mind and body, "A DISPOSE
ton cheerful, and ready to see the
bright side of all troubles that had
heretofore overtaken hem, it was
scarcely probable that such natures
should give themselves up entirely to
this ceaseless grief. There must be some
secret cause.
l left no pains untried to ingratiate
myself in their favor and obtain their
confidence. Not only curiosity was ex-
cited, but had real psychological in
terest in the matter, and, l acknowl-
edge, Just the least suspicion of some
thing foul a criminal secret, possibly
an accident, that required but little
light to lead these people back to hap
piness.
1t is not necessary to explain hoW L
brought it about; suffice it to say that
one day, in presence of her husband,
frau Thomas unburdened her sadly
oppressed heart to me in this wise:
"After the birth of our child L was n
deal happier and loved Thomas better
than ever when he was at my side, but
1 could also enjoy his absence, and not
watch window and door constantly if he
CHANGED to remain away longer than
usual. used to tease him frequently,
and say, Somebody is welcome to
steal you, now I've got my baby He
would laugh at me then, saying, Well,
if you have no further use for me, all
right, and playfully leave the room as
if in dreadful anger, and bang the door.
But / knew he was only in fun, and
laughed, as if 1 did not care. Never
theless, my heart grew sad and was dis
turbed until his face again appeared at
the door, and he would laugh at me
with those great, white teeth and say,
Husband or child, which 2 Then l
quickly replied, Husband, oh the
husband
"But it was so queer, for just as soon
as he was with me again, my spirit for
teasing returned and / would say
"' think it is the child, after ALL.
"Then he would take the boy from
my breast and dance him ioyfully up
and down and say, You are right
"Then he would give me good kiss,
and thus our little innocent jars were
never quarrels, and ended i'll perfect
content"
She gazed for a moment silently be-
fore her, while Thomas sat nodding
his head sadly.
"You see, she continued, it is nee
essary to tell you all this If it does
seem foreign to the real subject, it be-
longs to it, for it became Il matter of
most heart-rending thoughts to us
afterward. This question asked in Joke
became frightful fact.
The woman was SO overcome she
could scarcely continue, and her eyes
turned a mute appeal for help toward
her husband, but he only shook his
head mournfully, making motion with
his hand as if to bid her speak on, look
ing into her eyes lovingly, as if to cheer
her.
"Well, the story we told at the time
of the accident was true in every par
ticular, up to our arrival at the railroad
track. There it was little different,
and we hesitated in giving the exact
manner of the horrid occurrence. We
have never fully understood ourselves
why. 1t would have been better, L
think, if we had not made secret of it;
much of this weary shadow that has
clouded out lives would have worn
away, had we talked it over with another
person. That is why we give you our
confidence now, hoping an intelligent,
right-minded man like yourself will adj
wise and Judge if have erred"
ct happened thus. AS my Anton
and led father toward the track | i'm
agined l heard the locomotive, but |
could see nothing, as heavy fog lay on
the ground and [ supposed the monster
was far, far away from us, and the mo-
ments were precious. My poor Thomas
was suffering terribly, saying his foot
was burning like caustic, and it was
only a step and we would be over, and
had Thomas not had the misfortune to
stumble, we would have crossed safely.
Iucy DoIu lay Ill Illc llluIilc Vi lHe
road, Anton to the right of me, Thomas
to the left, and in that instant their
startled cry and the shrieking roar of
the iron monster fell on my ear, and
through the dense fog L saw his burn
ing, greedy eye fastened on my dear
ones, while the fiery sparks were thickly
scattered about, as if hell itself had
opened to devour them.
"Oh if l live thousand years, the
horror of that moment will remain, as /
realized L could save one of them, only
one
"Ah sir, sir Human nature may
be subject to a million different dis
tressing heartaches and mental strug-
giles, but heap them all into lifetime,
it is as nothing compared to what / en-
dured in few seconds.
have often wondered since, how
it was possible the mind could compre-
bend so much while subject to such in
tolerable suffering and fright, as now,
thought after thought flashed through
my brain in so short time"
"My mother-heart yearned for my
child, and 1 seemed to grasp it, while
the hand of God Himself seemed to hold
mo toward Thomas I thoupht was he