, 1877-01-14

9 llit1ent picture in his mind he would be aslet
6 beloIe .4t. she i, reached the place
n All, poor soul, it Is well for him. God is 9
. ways good to us, Miss. Where the harness gall
ths ilesll is callous: and it's fifty years since h
: aalfetion came to Hcber-''
FIFTY years!"
known it." "
.:Nevcr known it,! Why"
No. When be got up from the sickness h
| never asked what ailed him. Nobody said th
word to him. nobody called it SO then, that
i heard us. He sees there's something wrong,
something lie does. He leans on me, you set
as il he was the little child ! lost. and once i
a while it comes over him that isn't the way
should be. But he forgcts it in moment, an
and it never troubles hint
- But 1t must be sad trouble to you"
"Oh, dear child, no. Why should it troub1
me? What am here for, but just to care 10
him and pick the pebbles out from under hi
it is Heavens blessing Tint ie is spared K
| me.".
stYet it seems as though it must be very sad, :
said one Of us,-little Jobs comforters,- =" 10,
4 woman to be leaned on, instead OF having
some one to lean on herself. But then, to bt
sure, you have your son.''
" I have my son,' said Mrs. HuIdah, in tone
so inscrutable that we Immediately scrutinizcd
it, 1or We had vaguely heard of this sun as the
| usAtulM plouuct u scasluc placc,-a salIof
bound to foreign ports !" a sailor bound to
foreign ports. ~ said Mrs Huldah, shaking her
head; IA little curly-headed sailor ycprs old;''
| and the sob caught her breath in spite Of
her. ''Tll tell you about him, dears; most
every ones forgotten. I never forget it; there's
never all hour in the day don't long for my
little son. II was tafty years ago. His father
had the stroke. I was wild with trouble. l
| was va msh-tempered BODY ttcn, too: The lad,
| @ the htf5e fellow, troubled me, and ~ struck
| ~ never forget the look in his great brown
cyes-llke Hcber's eycs-as did It, That after
noon ne ran away 10 sea AZ least We suppose
nc az, Ior sup e. salleo before sunset, and
everybody SAD little curly-hcaded stowasay
must have been found fast asleep in her before
sue feasheu olue water-a little stowaway that
couldn't pronounce bis own name plainly"
Ana aldnt the captain bring him home
asant" We asked, as Mrs. Huldah paused.
he never came himself That ship was
oh. many's the night I've walked the floor, look
ing out Of the window at every turn for the boy
whose mother broke his heart. But he's passed
clear out OF Hebcr's mind.
,..a There M % came 5t1mor, after half dozen
Gaping from u South Sea island aud a raft of
mutineers. went hundred miles to see the
man,-an old fellow. He had gone to sen again.
Sometimes I think the dear lad went down with
the ship, sometimes that the mntincers spared
him and took him of: there NAV bayt. becn
good men among them,-who knows! Perhaps
they respected his innocence They NAV have
taught the child the litth they knew. Some
times in the night he comes to nv bedsitle.-
once in a while tic little curly-headed Ind With
the panied, wandering look, but oftcnest ia a tail.
broad, bearded man he seems, with great brown
ewes, like Heber's eyes. vi. WON'T talk of II
any inore.''
Is It's wicked shamc-ft's wicked shamc. ,,
we cried, ssfor Won to have so much troube.n
"Oh. no., said Mrs. Huldah. nrescnt,r.
'sson,ctimes it seems to me rs tnourh nv lnf
were too sunslliny to last, Other women 3aye
their great families, but they can't have more
love out of the whole of them than I have art
OF Hebcr-can't-can't have such trust and such
reliance, lie believes in me sc yon sce: he haa
such confidence that if the world was wronr I |
could nut it rirht. And it's surh honniness to
be doing for him! III did for hin, forever 7 |
could not nav him for hjs old ronf1uess tn mc |
when We were Young. co,1ldn,t nay him for the |
comfort he's been ever since his sfroEe-n,t;ont |
as saint. and SO rentlc! Yes it,s evervthnr
to have him to love, to sympathizc with. Won
sce- 10 tolk mi: noor fanfios witb imst as 4 ,vn
were one soul indeed. And. on ;},c was n eooi
husband to me when he was Young and veil.
That was ffty years aeo, and he's close on so
now: we've both nasscd the third nnarter Of a
century. nv dcars. hut he's 50 nscd to thr
SLOW change that he thinks I'm i.:st as fa;r nn1
;u1ootb. aid strafrht. as blnc-cycd md rosr' ~
1sef to bn- y said AIrs. Hnl,,al, will, - lau;5h
nI,m sure yon,re inst NJ swrct - + rrsI
am m dsere Tom ran,t ro,no,nhar p,+1 |