The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1878-02-10

| apparently forever moorcd ana imbcudrd IN
the sand beside his cabin. he ran TO 1t with u
sense OF Joy.
lis trailing roots were fcstooncd with clingng
sea weed and thc long. snaky. undulatng
stems VI the sea turnp; and fixed between two
crossing roots was bamboo orange crate al
most intact. As he walked toward il he heard n
strange cry-unlike anything the barren sands
had borne before. Thinking it might be some
strange sea bird caught in the moshes of tho
sea wood. he ran to the crate aud looked within.
| 1t was half filled with sea moss and feather,
algir. The cry was repeated lie brushed
aside the weeds with his hands. II was not n
wounded sea bird. but n living human child!
As he lifted 1t from its damp enwrappings he
saw tnnt 1t WINS an infant eight or nine months
old. How and when it had been brough, there
or what force had guided that cllsh cradle TO his
very door he could not determine. hut it must
have been left early. for II was quite warm and
its clothing almost dried bv the blazing morn
ing sun. To wrap his coat about II. 20 run
to his cabin with II. TO start out again with
| the appalling conviction that nothing could he
done for I, there. occupied some moments. His
nearcs, neghbor was Trinidad Joe, a" logger"
three miles up tho river. H. remembered to
| lave heard vaguely that he was man Of family
To half stranGlc the child with few drops
| from his whiskey flask. to extrcate his canoe
| from the marsh and strike out into the river
with his waif was Mt lens, to- do something. In
halt an hour he had reached the struggling
| cabin and sheds Of Trinidad Joe. and from
the few scnnty flowers that mingled with the
brush-wood fence. and II surplus # linen Nut
tsrng OH the line. he knew that his surmise ne
/ 70 Trinidad Jors domestic establishment was
correct.
The door at which he knocked opened upon n
! neat plainyfurnishctk room. and the figure IT
| huNom woman Of twenty five. With an awk-
wardness new to- him. North stammercd out
the circumstances of his finding the infant and
the object 81 his visit. Before he had finished
the woman had taken the child nv some femi-
nine trick out of his hands ere he know it
and when he paused. osi of breath. burst into u
fit Of laughter. North tried TO laugh, too. but
failed.
! When the woman had wiped the tears from
pair of very frank blue eyes. and hidden two
rows OF very strong white teeth again. she
said:
Look var, You're that looncy sort o. chap
that lives alone over on the spit yonder-aint
yer"
North hastonci 10 admit all iha, the siate-
meni might Imply
And 50 ye'v had baby left ye to keep you
company Lor,,yl' Horc sbu looked a. If
dangerously near relapse AMI then added. as
If in explanation ot her conduct
When SAW Sc pndilin' down hcrr,-vou thnt
81 shy a. elk in summcr-r scy. Hcs- sick. But
/ a haby-Oh Lorly."
For moment North almost ha,cd her. \
woman who. in this pathetic perhaps almost
| tragic. pictsre saw only a ludcrous Image.
| and that image himself. WIS ot another race
/ than that he Ind over mingled with. Pro-
founay Indifferent H. he had always BIN TO the
criteisn..i his equals in station. the mi-chicv-
ous Laughter NJ mi. tlltarnt. Woman ,nrrel
un,n him worse than his cousins sarcasm. II
was with n li,tle dignity that n. u,in,e1 on, ,ha
fnct that n, nrnsent tho child nr.dn1 nourish.
mont. ms very Young" he ndd.1. I'm
! n,r,fl &, ,v,r,. IT, natural r,uri.t,,.,,
"Vhor j. il togc, ~" nsso1 The woman
1,,,... x,r,h Lc-i,o,,i AMI l,,l,1 ,r,url
| Thore should hc a bohy so,no,vhor.. there
must he n bnbv somewhere, "r th,urbt tho,
Won " no stammerod conscious If nm awkward
| colorinr-" ISL" He stonned short
for she was already examining her nuron INFO
her mouth. too ate. however. h. .iop the lau.h
that overlooked IT, when she found hor breath
asnin she said:
Look var, don't wonder they snid YOU was
looncyl I'm Trinidad Joes unmarried darter.
and the only woman I'm thi. house ANY fool
could have told YOU TINT. Now. Of YOU can RIG
rs uu a baby out o them facts Id like to see il
| dome"
Iuwardly furious hut outwardly polite. James
North begged hcr pardon. deplorod Nj. irno-
rance. and. with courtly bow. mnde a move
mon, To- tnkc the child. Bu, the woman ~
oni,lly dreyy if away
Not mnch. she said. hastily. what, trust
that moor crl,ter t. voup n. sip, Thnr's NOR.
WAYS Of flooding n hahv. Young man. than Won
knows on. with all your nat'ral uouri.hmout'
But looks kinder lo.,v nj, ~ -tupid."