Knoxville journal. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1874-1986, 1874-10-22
THE BLACK DOLL.


sounder sleep under four tiny mounds of
green turf. The parents were poor and
lived in one poor room lover
the water" that is, on the Sur
rev side of the Thames. The
die and her scissors and her iron to in
crease the means of subsistence earned
by her husband, who piled some mystic
rious vocation on the riverside, and,
when he was not engaged in that voca-
ton, performed odd jobs in all parts
of London. And some of them were
very odd jobs. He was one of those men
who are so very useful when you have
something to get rid of and are at your
wits end to know what to do; when, for
instance, your little dog has died, and
YOU don't know what to do with the
body; or when there is a contagious dis
ease abroad, and it seems advisable to
have certain things disinfected or de-
stroyed. On all such occasions Potten
was your man. He would do anything
for next to nothing, or at any rate for
mere trifie; anything, at least, that was
not dishonest, for more honest man
than Potten did not exist. Nor had the
repulsive nature of the work on which
he was frequently employed resulted in
any corresponding responsiveness in the
man himself. He had sallow, gaunt
face, il is true, for the lines had not
fallen unto him in pleasant places; but
he smiled, when he did smile, very
brightly, and his manner, especially
toward children, was gentle, and even
winning. No doubt his heart was under
the softening influence OF double mem
ory-of Dot and of the tiny graves. But
Potten had certainly one unpleasant
peculiarly: there were times when
he looked the very incarnation of skep-
ticism; disbelief stood confessed in
the twinkle of his eye, in the wrinkles
round his nose, in the lines about his
mouth, in the sound of his Singer.
Sternly admonish him, tearfully beg of
him, solemnly adjure him to be very
careful, and to take the greatest precau-
tions on his own account, and his wifes,
and his children's, if he had any; and he
would answer impatiently: "All right,
sir; to be sure | will, ma'am; don't you
90 for to be afraid; !" but all the while
his manner and his laugh were as much
as to say: "Tut, tut! It's all pack of
rubbish; no harm shall happen unto
me-" Thus does familiarity breed con-
tempt. Who is it that lights his pipe
over the powder-magazine Who is it
that burns q naked candle in the deadly
atmosphere of the mine? And yet Pot
ten was most scrupulously careful in all
that concerned his employers; he may
have laughed at them in his sleeve, but,
whether it were from a conscientious
sense of duty or from fear of conse-
auences in case of detected neglect, he
performed their orders, as regarded them
seIues, to the very letter.
Such was the man who sat contentedly
smoking his pipe in the room where Dot
lay sleeping, and hugging in her arms a
large black doll, with merry black eyes,
laughing mouth and grinning teeth, but
without arms-not a doll that most girls
would fancy, but Dot loved it and fon-
died it as if it had been a paragon of
beauty In Mr.. Potten's section of So
ciety no special smoking-room is pro-
vided, and infants sleep peacefully
amidst the fumes of tobacco. Perhaps
that may be a reason why fever, though
rampant enough, is not more rampant in
certain districts.
Well, Mr.. Potten sat smoking, Mrs
Potten sat sewing, and Dot lay sleeping.
Mr.. and Mrs. Potten had deal table be-
tween them, and on the table stood a
common sort of lamp, which gave very
good light by means-if smell can be de-
pended upon-of paraffine oil. Dot lay
sleeping; but anybody who supposes that
she occupied her own little cot, with its
snow-white coverlet and other accesso-
ries whicn make such pretty pictures OF
slrmbering childhood, would be very
much mistaken. Mr.. Potten's humble
establishment did not admit of so much
luxury and independence. Mr.. and Mrs.
Petten and Dot all shared the same bed,
which, though by no means large, took
up considerable portion of the apart
ment. The bed had coverlet of patch
work, old and faded. And yet it was
anything but an ugly spectacle that pre-
sented itself to the husband and wife
whenever they looked in Dots direction.
The bed.linen was clean, though coarse
and there, with her head between two
pillows, lay Dot. Her fair hair, very
long for her age, streamed out in all di.
rections; the long lashes OF her closed
eyes dropped on her cheeks; her smiling
mouth, half open, showed few white
teeth; her chubby little arms
were folded round the neck and body
and her little chin rested, as has been
said, upon the woolly head of the black
doll. And the black doll, with ring
through its nose, a necklace of beads
round its throat, and a flaring yellow
frock upon its body, was gorgeous to be-
hold,
Mr.. Pstten arose from his seat and
went softly up to the bed; and there was
moisture in his eyes when he returned
He resumed his seat and said, chuckling
"Lord love her! How happy she dc
lookm
"She never had doll afore, you
know, Potten," rejoined his wife, care
worn but cheerful, nice-looking woman,
"bar them little halfpenny ones"
"But she's bin a-cryin'," remarked
Potten. with look of inquiry. see
two little stains on her little nose"
Yes" assented Mrs. Potten, with a
light laugh. We had few words
about the doll; she'd had it playin' with
all the blessed day, and ! thought she'd
do better without it abed. But she
would have dear Blackie, as she calls it;
and wouldn't even have it undressed. 80
/ let her have her own way, and that
stopped her cryin' and made her happy
again"
Whats the harm?" growled Potten.
1. l.