Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1878-10-27
TIE LOsTCHILD.

TIE LOSTCHILD.
/ He had looked for HIM all dav-al]
night. It was dam again, and he must
60 nome without him--without his little
cnlld-h1s trsasure-hls most precious
1hlng On earth. He must go home and
tell Its mother that the boy was no.
found. lie would never be found now.
the man felt sure of that.
Ali his life he had dreaded this-all
the little life Of the baby boy. He had
Deen IKE man who wandered amongst
| !hleves with diamond II his possession
IN 1uli sight of all eyes 1t seemed to
MN tnat some one must rob him of it.
All the old stories of eipsies who stole
children had troubled him sorely: and
ms heart had ached over the pitifnl tale
OF the little chimney. sweeper who, more
than hundred year ago, while playing his
trade, came down the chimney of the
nursery from which he had been stolen
when timer fellow still, and reoogniz-
Ing 1t and his mother, was restored to
love and bone at last.
Often In the night had the thought so
overcome him that he had stolen from
his bed in the darkness to feel the little
head OF his sleeping boy on the pillow of
his crib. Even his wife, the child's moth
er, who had loved him so. would have
laughed at his fancies. So he kept them
to himself Only once-once he was
forced to tell her. That was when he
tattooed the child's foot.
Right On the instep he had marked it
with little blue w. It was painful
every prick hurt him worse than it did
the boy. And the mother, coming home.
had been angry and gr1eved. and then he
told her:
II the child was stolen, he should know
him. though his face were altere Though
ne forgot his name and us. That is why
I did it.''
And she had said:
People have children enough of their
own. Children are only valuable to their
parents. You are so romantic so fool.
ish!"
Now it had come. The foolish fear was
realized. Lost or stolen the boy was
gone, and that tattooed mark was the
only thing that comtorted him. Alive or
dead, they should know him-now, or af-
ter long years, for those marks were indel-
IDLE, and no one else would mark his foot
with that tiny w and the timer cross that
followed.
Alive or dead could the boy be dead?
He cast up his hands in his agony and
uttered CRY that rang through the Sleep
ing street. People turned in their beds
and said to themselves that there must
be fight or that some drunken man was
making night hideous. Some early risers
ended their sleep then and there, for no
one knew why the man cried out, or who
he was, or where be went, save the soil
tary policeman, who gave him grave
ga ute as he passed. Neither asked the
other, shave you found the chill?" They
knew the question was useless.
But at home, whore the ]ights had
burned ali night, the mother, VINO paced
to and fro, asked it, though she knew the
answer would be mo"
"You have not searched everywhere"
she said. You have forgotten some place
some ones house where he may have
gone. Go out again-go. I will 90 also.
You told me you would bring HIM back,
or would not have been left at home.
The man turned on his very threshold.
II thought he might be here" he said:
'and wanted to tell you-the tattoo
mark, we shall be SURE
Then he fell forward on his face. For
'twenty-four hours be had not tasted food
but only his taintness told him that he
was hungry.
Then the mother remembered that she
was also wife. The wretched people
ate and drank-stones and sea-water.
for aueht they knew; but they needed
strength. For days they looked for their
child in every direction The river was
dragged, the hospitals, even the prisons
searched.
They spent their small means in adver-
Using. They posted notices of their loss
on the walls. All in vain.
After others knew that they followed
a forlorn hope, they still PURSUED it as
earnestly as ever. And so the weeks
rolled by, the months faded, the years
followed. Theirs was hard case. If
death mad taken the boy it would have
been tar easier to bear; but they did not
believe him dead, and where was he?
In whose hands2 Had he mourned for
them and for home2 fad he been ILL
used beaten2 They know nothing, and
the suspense wore thei1 lives away. 1t
was an old story to others very soon; it
was always terribly new to them. At
any moment it seemed to them that the
door might open and their child enter,
and the patter OF little feet upon the
stones set their hearts beating wildly.
Thus when ten years had passed, and the
child of four would have been child no
longer, but youth taller, doubtless,
than his mother.
No other children came to these peo-
pie, and thew were very miserable. The
man seemed crusnei-he had neither
ambition nor energy. The women went
| about her daily toll in dull. listless
manner. Their hair grew gray, and their
brows wrinkled very early. Friends were
pitlful; but grief does not invite-it
rather repels.
At last they seemed to stand alone in
the world ;old acquaintance and relatives
were gone, or had forgotten them. They
made no new ones. Poor, loaely, sad,
they chung to each other, and shared
each others sorrows and trials. There
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