Bradford opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1874-1881, 1876-04-22
THE RECOVERED TREASURE.

THE RECOVERED TREASURE
"Must you 60 out again, dearest 2"
Helen Tracy's wistful blue eyes wei
lifted to her husbands face as he cam
into the sitting.room with his overcos
on. He was tall, stately looking mai
with high forehead and clear brow
eyes, and the pleasantest of smilin
mouths but Helen's face had som,
what in its blonde, oval beauty that n
minded you of the hunted fawn or th
wild bird stricken down by the sports
mans shot. She was fair az lily, wit
hair Of bright, rippled gold and large
violet-dar eyes-such q one as yo
might fancy Saxon Rowena to have been
in short.
Yes, but I shall soon be home, Nell
so don't worry yourself about me
Harry is asleep, I see."
As he spoke he glanced towards
velvet-cushioned sofa, where beauti
full child of scarcely three summers la,
nesting in tho flushed, lovely sleep o
infancy. with his dark curls throw
back from tho dimpled cheeks and on,
hand underneath the head.
Yes he has been in the garden al
the afternoon, and fell asleep almost tn,
minute his nurse brought him in"
DIR. Tracy stood moment looking
down upon the child.
"How pretty he grows. All, Nelly
we have the most precious treasure
Heaven ever gave to his children in thi.
boy"
Mrs. Tracy's lips quivered-the dewy
shadow crept into her eyes.
"Oh, Henry, if I only had my little
Bertha, too
"Still brooding on your lost one,
Helen9 My dearest, I had hoped that
time was healing up that wound in your
breast. Is it wise, is it discreet, thus to
forget the bounties Heaven has given
you in the one gift He has withdrawn p
If could only be certain that she
was indeed lost, Henry" sobbed the
fair haired woman. elf I could have
planted daisies above her grave. and
counted her growing years in heaven
but / cannot. She may be in want-she
may be i'll or suffering, and l so power
less to aid her."
"Thoro can be no doubt that she is
dead, Helen," soothed the husband
" We're it othe rwise, your brother-in-la
would long since have communicated
with you.
eff I could only believe it-if could
only ease this aching at my heart" re-
iterated Helen. "Do not think me uu-
grateful, Henry, but indeed cannot
forget my little lost Bertha"
At this moment Harry sat up on the
sofa, loudly claiming his mothers atten-
tion; and DR.. Tracy went away with the
pleasant recollection that Helen was
smiling back to her boys smiles. All /
where was there ever magnetism like the
touch of child's hand to soothe the
ache OF heart or head9
The flaming crimson belt of the late
sunset glowed suddenly above the leaf
ess October woods; the tall trees that
;kiBted the lonely road on either side
'eemed to stand like gaunt sentinels.
Dr.. H., ~ buttoned his overcoat one or
;wo buttoLs higher as he drove along
tho solitary highway, and felt the raw,
piercing chill of the evening air; and ali
he time he WAS thinking of Helen's
words.
She was widow when he married
ler, this fair Saxon beauty-a widow
whom the death of her handsome for
ign swindler of a husband had set free
rom bondage almost worse than slav-
ry. francesca Petroni died; but Paolo
oetroni, his brother, lived, dark, de-
igning man. Bertha, their infant child,
lad been consigned, by Francesco's de-
ire, to his brothers care, during the
llness that proved fatal to him. All
he widows subsequent efforts to re-
ain possession of her little one were
utile.
"My dear sister-in- law" said the
Italian to her one day, when her appeals
nd entreaties had been most persistent,
there is one way, and but one way, for
ou to receive back Bertha"
"And that -
"To receive me also-as your hus-
and!"
Paolo Petroni never forgot nor for
ave the reooiling movement, the
'ok of horror with which the English
'ldow received his unwelcome pro-
osal.
"You will compel him to give my lit
10 one to me, Henry" the poor young
lother had said. on the day that made
or for the second time q wife. But
hen Henry Tracy, armed with all the
'rce of the law, went to Milan to de-
land possession of his little step-daugh-
II, lol Paolo Petroni had utterly dis
ppeared, and Bertha With him.
Search, inquiry, investigation, proved
lually vain; and from that day to this
"a period of full six years-neither DIR.
racy nor his wife had ever heard one
ord Of the little italian infant whose
nile had been the first CLEAN Cf light
lat had fallen across the troubled tile .
poor Helen Petroni's foreign life.
It was one of those strange, inexplic-
,le romances of real life that we
'metimes encounter amid the most
'osaic and commonplace surround.
gs, and supplied DR.. Tracy with am
@ materials for thought as he drove {
rough the wild and desolate part of I
70 country.
"Not a particularly pleasant spot :
us at twilight" soliloquized the doc
r, leaning forward to catch a glimpse
single ray of yellow light that +,
from the window of cottage .
few rods further on. They've light a
their candles, ! see, and it's high e
ne they did, too" c
He sprung from his phaeton and en-
red the cottage without knocking. ,
1t presented no very inviting scene. q
ruinous floor, treacherous and uncer- q
in to the unwary footstep; walls where 2
asses of plaster had fallen away, leav
9 the rough laths exposed; and fire. '
ace where few damp logs sputtered
d smoked, and did everything but =
,ze up cheerfully. A hard featured |.
crone, who was DOING on q stool :
the hearth. started up, and begun to r
rtsey as the doctor entered. il
swell, Mrs. Hopper, and how is the \
tientf"
g Quiet, sir--quite quiet" \
81 And the child 4" !,