The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1877-05-04

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cough betokened the presence of fell
disease.
Edna was busy with the chamber
work at the time, and Sue was left in
charge of the diEing-room.
Atfirst Sue did not recognize the new
comers; but ever since her babe had
been wrested from her embrace she had
peered eagerly into the face of every
stranger she met in the hope that she
might see some person she might rec
ognize who could give her tidings of her
long-lost child. Children she had not
seen at all, except Edna's, and now the
unexpected appearance of this forsaken
little one awakened all her motherly So
licitude. Taking the child in her arms,
she retreated to chamber, where she
proceeded at once to bathe the attenu-
ated body, which was literally covered
with a eutaneous eruption, the result of
neglect that had well-nigh disfgured
it utterly.
80, my God !" she exclaimed, as, dis
robing the child, she began a thorough
cleansing process with deft and careful
hands, what if my poor baby were to
come to this ~
After long and gentle application of
much needed soap and water, and a
careful. and successful effort to rid the
matted hair of tangles and virmin, the
little girl revealed so much of her natu-
raj semblance to human being that a
sudden wild, ardent and yet shuddering
hope seized the bereaved and childless
mother, and she hugged the waif in an
ecstacy of mingled expectation and
dread.
"Where is your mamma, little dar-
ling ?" she said, passionately.
81 amt dot any," was the artless an
swer.
as your mamma dead ?" and Sue
Randolph trembled in every nerve.
"She's 8toLedE' replied the child.
"She's stoled by bad man, and my
papa COED away and never coined back. :"
"What was your papa's name, dar-
ling?"
Sue could hardly wait for a reply.
"My mamma called him Hal, and he
called me Blossom" was the artless an
swer.
"Would you know your mamma if
you should see her, Blossom?"
az dess so. Her had boo eyes and her
didn't whip me, but Jim does"
"Who's Jim ?"
"The man 1 coined with"
"Where's your papa?"
"Stoled too, and poor little Blossoms
all alone"
Again and again did the poor woman
caress the little hideous-looking waif,
while tears of mingled joy and sorrow
streamed down her pain-furrowed face
and a tumult of contending emotions
well-nigh Overpowered her.
Meanwhile the hungry applicant for
dinner was impatiently awaiting her
tardy movements, and expressing his
impatience by oft-repeated thumps upon
the table.
Edna, hearing the commotiOn, has.
tened to the rescue and served the Gus.
toner without demanding the usual fee
in advance.
"rll give him one meal and let him
+ CO." she soliloquized, "for 1 know be
has no money"
"You seem to be prospering, Mrs
Smith. Where's John ?" he asked
helping himself to the late dinner o
warmed-over meats and vegetables lik,
one to the manner born.
81 am not advised as to the presen
whereabouts of Mr.. Smith, but I thinl
you will find him at the Eureka" wa
the dignified reply.
, "You don't seem to know me-" con
tinued the guest.
81 have not the honor" was the freez
= ing rejoinder.
"Well, madam, Pm what's left @
I Jim Young, Sues old flame, you know
John and 1 spent last winter in Lewis
ton together, and when our luck turne
we had deuced hard times getting hash
q lost my way in coming back an
, found myself at last away over yonde
f at the foot of Alturas, where there ar
lots of new diggings. 1 should hav
gone to work there and been contenteC
= only Hal LaSelle took notion to die.
"What ?"
a Edna was fearfully pale.
d "Hal took a notion to die, and ther
e was nobody but me to care for the XII
IS ten, and thought, as I'd caused the ol
It boy a good deal of trouble, it was notl
O ing more than fair that 1 should do hiI
= good turn, so took charge of th
!, young one and brought it over to Sue.
/ "And where's the child?"
"Off somewhere with it's mother.
"a don't think she knows the kit. It's Ina
|, an awful hard time of it,"
Edna fairly flew to join her friend U
= stairs, and the two held long consulti
s. ton over their future plans, viii
y laughing and crying by turns over IL
le recovery of the little storm-tossed wa
Of they had so long mourned as dead.
il "From his home in the skies POI
J. Hal will be able to see things as the
are, 1 hope, and then he will reali
y, how deeply be has wronged me and o1
TX darling" sobbed the half-distract'