The Cheyenne daily leader. [volume] (Cheyenne, Wyo.) 1870-1884, 1878-05-19
SUSIE.

. You WIN care for my child You win n
Lot my little one suffer-" p
Ny old friend, John Harmon, said this, ,
he vrung my hand hard
repeated my promise that in my hon
uest, where there was . nursery full of lit
ones, Susie Harmon should hold q daughter
place.
We were standing upon the wharf, waltz
for the signal that it was time for my fncr
to step aboard q Californian steamer.
Ho had lost his wife within the year, an
coon after was beggared by a fire that total
destroyed the mills in which he had held tn
position of superintendent.
With his home desolste, his purse empty
he resolvedto seek his fortune in the moder
FL Dorado.
The only drawback to this scheme was tn
difficulty Of taking his three-year-old daugh
tsr.
talked with my wife, and found her co
ctriy willing 70 take chr. Of the little one.
The neat lnoraing, returned home TO I'm,
cH-e Almost; inconsoia6le, crying perpetual.
fcl Papa 10 come to Susie"
My wife was distracted at the failure Il
comfort this childish sorrow, and our owl
three children looked on wonderingly.
Fortunately, Susie was accustomed to re,
me, and she allowed me to comfort her.
In time this violent grief wore away, ani
the child became very happy in our care.
Ny business. being very prosperous, W,
did not feel the additional expense of tn,
ehild's support a burden and as tho year
wore by, she was as dear to US as our owl
Little ones.
But she understood always that she wa,
not our child, but had a dear father whs
loved her fondly, and was away from he,
only to make a fortune for her.
As soon as she was old enough, she Ind
her fathers letters read TO her, and her first
Efforts at penmanship were letters to Papa"
John wrote often for ten years, ~recountina
his varying success.
he was winning fortune slowly, not at the
mines, where his health broke down, but in thu
employ Of a merchant, md some specula.
tons. :
BE was not . rich man, he wrote, after Al
Absence of ten years, but prospecting, wher
he purposed paying us a visit.
Ho wrote hopefully Of seeing his child
perhaps of taking her home with him, set
ting NO definite time, but leading us to er
pect 500 TO see him.
Then his letters ceased, and he did moi
come.
After nearly two years more passed, we
sadly thought he must be dead.
II might have seemed to many unnatural
fr Susie to grieye so deeply as she did for
. father almost unknown to her In reality,
but abe was a girl of most sensitive feelings,
and We had always kept her fathers name be-
fore her, striving TO win him q place in her
fondest affection.
When we had really lost all hope, Il bo-
came Susie's great pleasure to sit beside mo
and ask me again and again for the stories I
remembered Of her fathers boyhood and
youth, our many excursions, and, above all,
q his marriage and the gentle wife and
mother SO carly called to heaven. ~
Time softened Susie's grief, and at eighteen
she was one Of the sweetest, most winning
girls ever saw.
She was well educated, had q fair musical
talent, and q sweet, well-cultivated voice.
She was tall and graceful, and when she
was introduced to society with Joanna, my
handsome brunette daughter, both became
popular.
Albert and William, my boys, were older
than the girls,
Albert was in business with me, and VIII
liam ct college, the winter when Joanna and
Susie made their debut.
It would take me too long to tell Of tho
pleasures of the young folks during this win
ter, but Joanna was won from us by q gen.
tleman, and Susie became, if possible dearer
than ever.
Spring had come when one evening ALDER,
came into my library, and said, abruptly
Father, you have often said SUSIE Is q,
dear to you as one Of your own children"
"wenf" / asked.
''wiD you make heryour daughter in fact
by giving her to me for a wife :"
To think / bad been so blind
Susie had in truth become SO much one o
Our children that I was as much astonishes
as IL Albert had fallen in love with Joanna.
But I soon found, when Susie's blushin,
face was hidden upon my breast, that she
too, had given away her heart, and ! wa.
only too well pleased that no stranger hat
won the precious gift.
They were married, my son and the child
of our adoption, and l gave them q hous,
EsKt our own for q home.
The new homo vas o gem Of neatness un
der susie's dainty fingers, and the spirit o.
perfect love kept it ever bright.
Having been brother and sister for @
many years, Albert and Susie thoroughly IN
d-rsiood eaeh others dispositions, and / hav
never known domestic happiness more pc,
fsct than theirs.
5usie's irst child, named after her father
John Harmon, was two years old, when on
morning brought me q Letter in sn unknow
haliS
Iopsnsd il, aud upoa n large sheet of pc
per found written, in q scrawling uneve
tani, three lines
"Dzlr FHzD.-Tll you cometo me at Al
aIiatcn street, without letting Susie know
'JoHs HARMON"
At arst l believed it a hoax.
John had written a bold hand clear q
print
This was a scrawl.
But the more l pondered over the matter
the more was inclined to obey the sum
none. sS11l T,r rs
So saying nothing Of the letter to any one,
I left homo
No. AZ, Minton street, 1 found TO be {
boarding house for the poorest classes, and
t q shabby room, half furnished, 1 fount
Anageds worn man, perfectly blind, who ros'
y greed me, sobbing.
.srrrd knew vou vould come -