The Sedalia weekly bazoo. [volume] (Sedalia, Mo.) 187?-1904, 1878-08-13


lmong themselves only they all had
! vague impression that some time
Mildred he'd passed through . great
,orrow. and it Was that which had
brought her among them again. Sd
changed from the proud, glorious
Mildred. whom the older oaes re-
in her girlhood.
All that night Mildred Legion
by the bedside Of the little
and in the stiffness If her
vigil she registered vow which was
performed. rs ali duties
we're to be throughout her whole life.
Then her thoughts went away from
the child 10 the memories which had
been called up by Maurice Hadon's
visit.
She was glad to recollect that in
the darkest hours of her humiliation
and her misery she had not hated
hIm-glad TO recollect that even in
the full tide Of her agony. she had
t'een able to see clearly enough to
how he had been driven 10
the browning sin Of his youth by the
reckless impulse Of his nature, very
unlike the deliberate way in which
cold-blOOded men commit wrong.
All those things lay years hack.
Mildred was safe in her home. loved
and cherished by the father who had
shared her trouble from The first,
watching her latest youth fade with a
feeling Of relief As its restlessness and
pain drifted slowly away.
She was glad of the impulse which
lad made her send for him after all
that lapse of time. and she was con-
fident that the words she spoke had
produced lasting effect.
More than ten years since thew had
stood face to face until tina. night
never more TO meet. unless some
exigencv Of existence should draw
them to each other for a brief season.
Mildred knew very well what his
life had been during these ten years.
that dissipation and bad habits had
worn out the last promise OF his ILL.,
directed youth; and now he had re-
turned from his foreign wand-ringS.
and the report which had preceded
him Of the difficulties between him
and his wife had grown 10 he the
common theae Of conversation among
their friends.
Now they were going To part :
Mildred had learned this, and it Wa
her season for sending ID Maurice
Hrlon. Standing befnre her. re-
morsefel and Inundated. looking
back on his wasted life. marveling
always at her goalness. and feeling
tn. passionate love Of the clden time
burn more hotlv, he had given the
promise she asked. He WAS going
back to his wife Ia effect q recohcilia-
ton, and 80 mold fast To the one hone
of rest left to either rebelious spirit.
Of all these things Mildred thought
during that long nights watch. and
before she lay down for u few hours
repo-e. she bent her lips To the fore
head of the helpless orphan she had
rescued. AMI the purpose Of her life
grew more strong.
All that the child Elsie could tell
about herself she related to Mildred
the next iav. As far hack a. she
could remember she lived in the
with some people who were
kind to her; then the person.
she was a relative she could
not tell. was very sick. woman came
from a distance. her sister and took
care Of her. and WI. good tn Elsie !;
when the sister died. brough, her
with her to the city-;hat was auntv
After that, there was a break in the
child's memories. probably she was i'll
for a long time; hut when she took
up the cham she was living with
aunty Queen. aud well cared for.
The woman must have teen in ILL.,
health and have met with misfortunes
She grew poorer and Toorer-two
years before she died in the
depths Of misery.
Two terrible years hal followed.
Elsie had lived in wrctched street
with dreadful woman who sent her
Dut Ia beg, and who beat her upon
every possible occasion-ihe record
varied little up to that New Years
Eve.
That she was ten years old was
firmly impressed on the child's mind.
how she could NOT tell. but she was
very positive. Her last name she
to have no idea Of.
Il never had any," was her in.
answer.
She had not forgotten how To read
and write, lessons taught her during
aunty Green's life. and for the rest,
warmed. and fed. she Was
fair, sweet-looking child with earnest
eyes too earnest and deep for her
,ge, with the hard experiences Of the
past.
1t became known in the family that
Mildred had adopted the little
stranger, that hencefcrth she would
Dear the name of Leyton, AMI he
treated in all respects as one Of the
'amily.
Nobody wondered much. They
we're accustomed to her e,centriciIies,
Is acts of goodness are usually called,
,esides that, they were . loving
race, and readily accept
d the child with affection and tender
less.
But it was long before they or the
.irl we'll understood the deep love and
levotion with which Mildred regarded
Ter charge, which deepened with
very year, and made her young life
lappy as the birds in the summer
arden.
Even among themselves the matter
.as little discussed but always they