Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1878-09-20

ct see it."
"Well. Hiram took the baby there, and
Mrs. Colby was the same as mother to
it-a good woman, God bless her soul-the
widow Goldby." 4a
SIS she dead then ?"
"Aye, sir, six years agone. The baby l
was telling you Of, sir, talked foreign
lingo. and was dressed beautiful in rich
clothes, that must have cost a power of
money. But never would Hiram or the
widow sell them, putting them up careful
ly in case the child was ever looked for
She was that pretty, sir, and that dainty
that everybody called her Pearl, though
she was not like our girls, but afraid, al
ways deadly afraid of the sea. have seen
:! her clench her mite of hand and strike
at it, for she had bit of a temper in her,
though nothing to harm.
"When Hiram made his first voyage, for
they we're all seafaring men hereabouts'
aud there was nothing for lad to do but
ship, the Pearl was just little washed-out
lily, a fretting until he came home again.
! And it was so whenever he went, for they
were sweethearts from the first time he
nestled her baby face on his breast, when
he picked her up from the wreck. She was
sixteen when they were married, as near
as we could guess; Hiram was man of
twenty -four. She prayed him to stay at
home then, and he stayed year, but he
fretted for the sea, and he went again,
I thinking, 1 suppose, that his wife would
get used to it, as well al wives hereabouts
must do. But she never did-never. 1t
was just pitable to see her go about, white
as corpse, when Hiram went away, never
looking at the sea without a shudder like
a death chill. All through the war it was
| Just awful, for Hiram enlisted on board
man o. war, and Pearl was just shadow
when he came home the last t,me.''
'.After the war 20
Eyes, sir, but he made no money of any
account, and so went away again, after
staying at home d long spell. Well, he
never came back. Twas no manner OF
use telling Pearl he was lost; she'd just
shake her pretty head and say: He'll
come back Not mite of mourning
would she wear, even after his own mother
gave him up and went in black; for, sir, it
stands to reason he's dead years ago."
cit looks sou
"Of course it does; nobody else doubts
it but Mrs. Colby. Old Mrs. Goldby's
last words were -I'm going to meet Hi
RAM and they say the dying know. But
even then that didn't make Pearl think
so. She wore mourning for her who had
been the only mother she knowed of, but
not weeds. Weeds was for widows, she
said, and she wasn't a widow.''
''But the stone p
TWell, sir, I'm coming to that. A year
ago sir, a fine gentleman from France
came here hunting for child lost on this
coast. He'd heard of Pearl by happen
chance, if there is such. and came here
when he saw the clothes, he just tainted
like woman"
''She was related, then p
The strangers voice was husky, but the
sea air was growing chill.
''Her father, sir.''
''He took her away 20
ssHe tried to. He told her of a splendid
home he had in New York, for he'd fol-
lowed his wife and child, sir, to the city
they had never reached. He was rich and
lonely. He begged his child to go, but she
would not. ssHlram will come here for
me, and he must find me where he left me-"
she said.
"On what has she lived ?''
''Sewing, sir, mostly. The cottage was
old Mrs. Goldby's, and bless you, Pearl did
not eat much more than bird, and her
dresses cost next to nothing, But there is
no denying she was very poor-very, and
yet the grand home and big fortune never
tempted her. So her father came on and
on to see her until April. And he died,
and left our Pearl all his fortune and the
grand house in New York. But she'll not
go, sir, she'll die here, waiting for Hiram.
who'll never Gomez
The stranger lifted his face that had
been half hidden in his hand and said:
"There was shipwreck in the Pacific
ocean, Davy, years and years ago, and one
man only was saved-saved, Davy, by say
ages who made him slave, the worst of
slaves But one day this sailor saved the
life of the chiefs daughter, who was in
the coils of hugh snake, and the chief
released him. More than that, he gave
him choice spices and woods, and sent him
aboard the first passenger ship, So the
sailor landed in a great city, sold his pres
ents and put the gold in safe keeping
Then he travelled till he reached the sea-
port town where he was born, and coming |
there at sunset, heard the story of his life
from the lips of mai cutting his tomb
stone.''
Not word spoke Davy. Standing erect
he seized an immense sledge hammer, and
with powerful blows from strong, uplifted
arms, dashed the marble Unto fragments.
Then, painting with exertion, he held out
his brawny hand to the stranger "a stran- |
ger no longer. -a
ssI've done no bettar work in my life
than have done in the last five minutes
Hiram. Go home, man, and make Pearls !
heart glad. She don't need it, Hlram-she |
don't need it. You asked me about the |
stone. The neighbors drove her to order
ing it, INVITING her that now she was rich.
she grudged the stone to her husbands |
memory. So she told me to cut it, but
said, Don't put dead upon it, Davy-put
lost at see; for Hiram's lost, but he'll be
found and come back to me- She never
looked at it, Hiram, never, And there's
not an hour, nor hasn't been for ten years,