The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1876-01-15
gown donued 50 handsomely by the bright

I miss, and I'll not deny tha' 'ney We o,cH -,
/. good company in their time; but 'hcy re MOI
: bit for "A lady now ,,,s
, chievous laugh She read the weakness VI
, her rescnrer, and treated 1t tcndcrly
r whatever lady has worn Is II! for iauy
=. to wearu she said, and forthwith wrapped
r herself. smiling, in the old grey shawl
And nj that moment Tom, with his reu
shirt cleaning in the setting sun, ana
string of fish on his shoulder, stood III Inc
: doorway. ,l
, He stopped when he saw the guest s'anu'
E ing upon The hearh.sone, a bright hFe .Uc-
: hind her, and the kettle boiling checrily, one
nodded TO him familiarity Tom thought ne
: must be dreaming
Tom and are acquainted" said she.
, ".lre you?" responded the astonishcd wid.
"Ycs," said the girl. I've watched Tom
many a time walking along the shore win
his red shirt ard once he took me and my
father out rowing. Tom, your mother saved
my life
in all his life had heard OF his mother DONG
anything before
Tom, stupd and staring, was hurried oil IN
search of the missing garments. And mean
while his mother belook herself to making
how a little warmth Of human feeling had
reused this woman to life and activity again
! When Tom returned with various articles
of apparel, the two were quietly slipping thtlT
tea together at the old round table.
/ lie did not return alone, however. FOLLOW
ing him came a tall, gray-headed gentleman.
Heres father" cried the girl, sprnging
forward. "Oh, father, this good lady has
saved my life
LADY, The widow Minton wanted 10 kiss
the beautiful rosy lips that pronounced The
words
"Well, my dear" said the old gentleman,
GOOD humoredy plnchng the plump cheek,
"she has done 1t very thoroughly. You Ger
tainly don't look very near death Just now
WIereat the story, with due enlargement
and variation, was told him with pretty
| pout
The father smiled, but also he fur,ively
wiped away tear
well, madam" said he coureously, "ac,
ccpt nv cordial thanks for looking after my
! little madcap Belle. She's my only child,
You see, and as full of pranks as any dozen:
Belle playfuly put her hand over his mouth
IL won't have my character traduced where
they've been so good to me" she cried. And
oh, father; isn't this beautiful placc-such
a view OF the water? | mean to come down
here every day and do my sketcning.'
I'm afraid said the sire, shaking his
head "that this good lady will have cause to (
wish she had thrown you overheard
"Oh, no, father; she likes me and ike her
And I've fallen in love with Tom long ago, !,
you know
Tom blushed painfully. Something strange
and new stirred in his mind. Compliments
did not sweeen his thoughts as they dld his
mothers for Tom had never seen better days,
and felt as if he were being made jest or
Il week passed, during which the young
girl s,roied almost daily 10 the CABIN. " hen
she was there Tom seldom entered the house.
He had grown shy and sulky; he sat on the
shore darkly brooding, or went OFT silently TO 4
his fishing
One morning Belle and her father departed.
Belle kissed the withercd cheek Of her friend,
and that was all. For when mention had been |
made of helping her substantially, the widow
had drawn herself sharply up, all The lady
shining in her eye.
II may have seen my best days" She said,
"but | haven't come 10 that yet. And II L
needed any reward, I've had it now, she al
ded, as she felt the soft blood mantling in the
cheek that Belle had kissed.
Long after the two had left, Tom went about
with cloud on his face, and in his ears were
ringing those hooking words: I'm III love
with Tom" A disgustior his fishing lie and
for himself and for all their miserable sur.
roundings OF poverty filled the lads heart
with an unwonted bitterness.
Mother" said he one day, as he sat darby
breeding over the hearth, you said you were
born lady; why didn't you make gentle !
man of me-
II hadn't any money left when you came
said the widow briefly.
Then III money that makes gentlemen and
ladies': 2"
II don't know" said the widow, puzzled /
they somehow mostly have ii. /.
One day Tom came and told her that he
was going to sea There had been man
down looking for hands, and hc had taken 4
Tom gladly, for Tom was handy fellow at
almost any kind of sea craft, and would soon
make y good seaman
"And you must Just bidc here patiently I'LL
come back, mother for If there better days
anywhere, I'll bring 'em with me, bc sure.
After that the sea looked Dluer and colder i
than ever, and the solitary woman lived sort
of hermit's life. No CHEEKY voice or gossip
ing neighbor ightcned the drcary cabin, no
children prattled about her. and only Belle,
the bright, bithe hearted lassie, seemed TO re.
member TO cheer ner with letter now anu
then. Belle WAS away now visiting some dis
tant friends, but in her kindly heart she kept
"a corner, il seemed, for the poor old woman Z
who had saved her lie.
Three ycars-tour-passcd away, ana daily
Of summer afternoon you might have seen
the widow sitting IN her doorway, eager and
hollow eyed, looking out for some possible .
ship that might be Toms. Tom was not
good correspondent, but occasionally up at
the little postot'icc wandering cpistlc waited
her trembling hand She was growing very
old and feeble now; but Tom was getting up
in the world. Tom was first mate Ot his ship.
Tom was a success, Tom was u gentleman,
ana Oh, above all things, Tom WAS coming
home,
Not everyone watches IN VAN, though We
may not always be- looking in tie right Ill
rectIon. II was 50 with the widow. As she
sat one day, with s,rainIng eye, gazing on the
f1r.oif SuulI, sails, ana seeing how some OF
them lowered nearer and nearer, and some,