Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1878-07-24
THE LOST CHILD.
RY MARY KYLE DALLAS.

NIGHT 1t was dawn again, anu ne must
nHhome without without his little
sI;iS-his treasure-his most precious
.h;na ON earth. He must 60 home and
VII its mother that the boy was not
m smnd He would never be found now,
ibe man felt sure of that.
''S All his life he had dreadedthis-all the
little life of that baby boy. He had
h h,o Ikea man who wandered amongst
Moves with diamond in his possession
in, full sight of all eyes. 1t seemed to
n;m that some one must rob him of it.
Al Al the old stories of gipsies who stole
cb;Idren had troubled him sorely; and
Ii. heart had ached over the pitiful tale
1.-THE little chimney.sweeper who, more
,han hundred years ago, while plying
his trade, came down the chimney of
tbe nursery from which he had been
.tolen when timer fellow still, and
racopnizing it and his mother, was re-
.tored to love and home at last.
Often in the night had the thought so
overcome him that he had stolen from
his he'd in the darkness to feel the little
head of his sleeping boy on the pillow
If his crib. Even his wife, the child's
mother. 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 a little blue W. 1t was painful
every prick hurt him worse than it did
he boy. And the mother, coming
home, had been angry and grieved, and
then he told her:
If the child were stolen, we should
know him, though his face were altered
though he forgot his name and us.
That is why 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 foolish ~
Now it had come. The foolish fear
was realized. Lost or stolen the boy
was gone, and that tattoo mark was the
only thing that comforted him. Alive
or dead they should know him-now,
Or after long years, for those marks
were indehble, and no one else would
mark his foot with that tiny w and the
inner cross thai followed.
Alive Or dead Could the boy be
dead He cast up his hands in his
agony and uttered Cry that rang
through the sleeping street. People
turned IN their beds, and said to them
selves that there must be fight or that
some drunken man was making night
lldeous Some early rlsersended their
Seep then and there, for no one knew
why the man cried out, or who he was,
o, OF where he went, save the solitary po-
llcehian who gave him a grave salute
aS u ne passed. Neither asked the other,
have you found the child?" They
knew the question was useless.
But at home, where the lights had
burned all night, the mother, who paced
20 ana fro, asked it, though she knew
'ie answer would be "No."
You have not searched everywhere"
,ie SAID You have forgotten some
Pace-some ones house where he may
"'g sose. TO out again-go. will
t. "So' You told me you would bring
Inn oack, or l would not have been left
athome. Go p
Inc man turned on his very TIRES
| thought he might be here he
,' atH' and | wanted to tell you-the
", ~ mark, we shall be sure"
,r,i iueh he Tell forward on his face. For
ttSeH'iy-lour hours he had not tasted
'Joa, out only his faintness told him
'a AT he was hungry.
.A lhen the mother remembered that
wa, was also wife. The wretchel
wo,p ate and drank-stones and sea-
no @,Ji' Tor aught they knew; but they
fa leu ,"'! strength. For days they looked
riro .'elf enid in every direction. The
tb ne. was dragged, the hospitals, even
'"T rp Prisons, searched.
icy 1Hey spent their small means in ad-
oS .n ut, They posted notices of their
VI the walls. All in vain.
tl rIe[ others knew that they followed
qa I9,'oIh nope, they still pursued it as
-0n nIs'y as ever. And so the weeks
hIIou u oy' the months faded, the years
b loved, Theirs was hard case. IF
bas" 'u 81. iiao taken the boy it would have
D5t Ia inr easier to bear; but they did
bas otIieVe HIM dead, and where was
far 49, ~ whose hands? Had he mourned
Ir .teil and for home? Had he been
and G,,fEu-beaten? They knew nothing,
| I, T,a INC suspense wore their lives away.
Wa. aI, olu story to others very soon: it
ann. "l"ayS terribly new to them. At
|,bs Jil'oI'!eht 1t seemed to them that
enter 'oI lfn,lght open and their child
|tbe sto" anu The patter of little feet upon
|Tbis n'h set their hearts beating wildly.
AZ Wnen ten years had passed and
|child nn ol lour would have been a
|donb,iao longer, but youth taller,
Vo'ies>' than his mother.
W. Otnsr ah