The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1874-10-15
The Black Doll.

I A1LN DLAlOh OOA4o
Dot was g little girl, five years old,
the only child left to her parents,
whose other children ali lay sleeping
a still sounder sleep under four tiny
mounds of green turf. The parents
were poor, and lived 10 one poor room
''over the water" that is, on the Sur
rey side Of the Thames. The mother
did what she could with her needle
and her scissors and her iron to in
crease the means OF subsistence earn
ed by her husband, who piled some
mysterious vocation on the river side,
and, when he was not engaged in that
vocation. 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 te 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 disease
abroad, and it seems advisable to
have certain things disinfected or de-
stroged. On all such occasions Pot
ten was your man. He would do any
thing for next to nothing, or at any
rate for q mere trifle anything, at
least, that was not dishonest, for q
more honest man than Potten did not
exist. Nor had the repulsive nature
of the work on which be was frequent
ly employed resulted in any CORES
ponding responsiveness in the man
himself. He had a sallow, gaunt
face, it is true, for the lines had not
islIen unto him in pleasant places !;
but he smiled, when be did smile,
very brightly, and his manner, es-
pecially toward children, was gentle,
and even winning. No doubt his
heart was under the softening infin-
ence of double memory-of Dot and
of the tiny graves. But Potten had
certainly one unpleasant popularity
there were times when be looked the
very incarnation of scep;icism dis
belief 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 snigger. Sternly ad-
moDish him, tearfully beg of him.
solemnly adjure cautions on his own
account. and his wife's, and his child
ren's, if he had any, and he would an
swer impstieDtly: ''All right, sir
to be sure I will, ma'am don't you
go for to be afraid;n but all the while
his manner and his laugh was as
much as to say "Tut, tut It's all q
pack of rubbish no harm shall hap
pen unto nle.n Thus does familiarity
breed contempt. Who is it that
lights-h his pipe over the powder maga-
fe
candle in the deadly atmosphere of
the mine :? And yet Potten was most
scrupulously careful in all that con-
cerned his employers be may have
laughed at them in his sleeve, but
whether it were from conscientious
sense of duty. or from fear Of conse-
Quences in case of detected neglect, he
performed their orders, as regarded
themselves. to the very letter.
Such was the man who sat content
edly smoking his pipe in the room
where Dot lay sleeping, and hnggina
merry Black eyes, fsugnrng month
and grinning teeth, but without arms
not a doll that most girls would fan
ey, but Dot loved it and fondled it, as
If it had been a paragon of beauty. In
Mr.. Potten's section of society no spe-
cial smoking-room is provided, and
infants sleep peacefully amid the
fumes OF tobacco. Perhaps that may
be a reason why fever, though ram
pant enough, is not more rampant In
certain districts. u.
Well, Mr.. Potten sat smoking, Mrs.
Potten sat sewing, and Dot lay sleep
ing. Mr.. and Mrs. Potten had deal
taoIe between them and on the table
stood 8 common sort of q lamp, which
gave a very good light by means, if
smell can be depended upon, of par
affine oil. Dot lay sleeping but any
body who supposes that she occupied
her own little cot with its snow
white coverlet, and other accessories
which make such pretty pictures OF
slumhering childhood, would be very
much mistaken. Mr.. POtten's hum
bic establishment did not admit of SO
much luxury and independence. Mr..
and Mrs. Potten and Dot all shared
the same bed, which, though by no
means large, took up q considerable
portion Of the apartment. The bed
had a coverlet of patchwork, old and
faded. And yet it wa> anything but
an ugly spectacle that presented 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, streaned out in all
directions; the long lashes of her clos
ed eyes dropped on her cheeks her
smiling mouth, half open, showed a
/ 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
a ring through its nose, a necklace OF
beads round its throat, and a fiaring
yellow frock upon its body, was gor,
geOus to behold.
Mr.. Potten arose from his seat, and
went softly up to the bed; and there
was a moisture in his eyes when he
returned. He resumed his seat, and
said, chuekling: "Lord love her
How happy she do look =" % 1921
"She never had a doll afOre, you
know, Potten," rejoined his wife, n
care-Worn but cheerful, nice looking
woman, "bar them little halipenny
ones"
t.But she's bin s-crying," remarked
Potten, with a look of inquiry. "I
see two little stains On her little nose. -
,,Yes,D assented Mrs. Potten with a
| lfpht laugh. ave had q few words
about the doll; she'd had it playiD'
with it all the blessed day, and l
thought she'd do better without it
abed. But she would have dear
Blsckie, as she calls it; and wouldn't
even have it undressed. So let her
have her own way, and that stopped
her cryin', and made her happy
again.
"What's the harm ?n growled Pot
ton. "Bless her little heart"
SIT must have cost lot o. money,
that doll" said Mrs. Potten, "what
with the size on it, and the dress, and
the ornaments, and what not.n
"Ah J 1 daressy," observed POtten
with Indifference.
"You'd never have bin able to buy
one like it," continued Mrs. POtten
with much emphasis.
mot l." assented Potten with q
short laugh. "Ah it's an i'll wind as
blows nobody any good"
''But you never told me where you
got it from,n remarked Mrs. Potten.
"You only said it was given to you"
whats the odds?" said Potten,
yavning. "Here, Pm agoin' to bed.
Come, make haste"
And Mr.. and Mrs. Potten were soop
asleep, with Dot and the black doll
between them.
Let US change the time and scene.
It shall be the same day, but earlier
in the evening; and the place shall be
a comfortable house on the Middle
sex side of the river Thames, and on
the borders of Tyburnia. 1t is early
spring, about an hour after sunset,
and little girl, some seven years OF
age,is being put to bed. She is evident
ly an invalid. Her pretty little face is
thin and pale; her hands are almost