The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1879-12-25

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round her cabin last night, when all Of
suddiDg heered voices inside. The
door was open leetle bit, and by
standin' where was I couldn't miss a
syllerbul. l will here explain" he con-
tinued, thrusting his red bandana
handkerchief INTO his breast, as was his
wont when speaking publicly, that /
was there for the purpose of fndin' out,
| if possible; whether the gal was Iii need
of ANYTHING that / cohld help her to-
Which accounts" observed a by
stander, for that chicken which was
hung up alongside the door when |
came by this mornin'."
az heerd her talkin' with the kid"
continued Judge Gashwilder, not MOTTO
ing the interruption, "and | couldn't
help lissennen. As near as | cotild
fnake out, the talk was like this:
"' When shall We see papa?'
"' Heaven knows, my baby. We
have sought him long, and when God
is ready He will restore him to u.s.
is Crismas comm soon, mammal
"' Yes, baby, darling. But there
won't be no present for my little one
this time. We are away ifnm home,
and poor. But wheu we ind papa we
will go where there are lots of pretty
things, and then baby shall have
plenty"
Here the Judge leaned forward and
whispered in mysterious voice, telling
his companions that he had heard the
mother repeat to her child the sad story
Of how her father had gone West four
years ago to seek his fortune; how for
two years his letters, containing money
for her support, had come like rays of
sunshine through the clouds how they
had suddenly stopped, and no answers
were received to her agonized appeals;
how for two more years, she had sup,
posed him dead, how, at last, the post
master In the little village where she
lived had, upon his dying bed, con-
fessed to having stolen the letters from
her husband, so as to get the money
they contained, and suppress ed her mis-
sives to him, for fear of discovery; and
how she had started out with her little
one to f d the lost husband, who had
been last heard from in Mud Flat.
All this the Judge told to the few
friends he could trust, speaking in a
| whisper, lest the precious secret should
be passed to Others In the room.
"Apd now," be add d, resuming his
RHETORICAL attitud and voice, 81 axes
you as gentlemen and representatives of
Mud Flat chisalfy, shall this gal and
her kid, being too poor to have Christ
mas of their own shall they go without
it or not7 Remember, gentlemen, that
kid is the first o"e as ever came into
this pace, and p'raps she's our luck.
Let us nhrtur her, my friends, and let
| US show her mother thet we amt so lost
TO virtoo al, principle as not to appre-
ciate it when We hev good woman and
an innercent kid among us. Let us
give 'em Christmas. will now per-
ceed to head the subscription"
81 saying, the gallant old man moved
the punch bowl to one side, and emptied
the contents of his breeches pocket
upon the table. Others followed suit,
and when the last man had placed his
contribution there the pile contained a
goodly sum.
Now, gentlemen, some one of us has
got TO take that money, ride to Denver,
and spend it for 'em. Who shall it bep
Let me be your AGENT responded
deep bass voice.
Turning, they saw tall stranger
standing near by, who had just entered
in time to hear the Judges call for con-
tributions. One or two in the room re-
cognizel him IS minef who had come
in from the diggings that afternoon,
having found it too cold to wor k longe
in the mountains.
They were inclined to resent the In
reference of an outsider, and probably
would not have needed his request had
he net spoken second time. Drawing
near the table he said:
Gentlemen, was once a married man
mycelf, but my wife, God bless her,
is dead. For the love I bear her
memory, for the affection have toward
the remembrance of my little one buried
with her, | ask you to let me aid in this
matter"
The sadness in his voice and face was
so sincere, and the utility of sending a
man who had been thar, and knowed
what women folks would like" pre-
sented itself SO favorably to the miners
that with but little hesitation they al
lowed him to do as he wished.
/ In an hour ne was gone, and the set
lement was lost in speculation as to
what he would bring back for the
strange lady and her child.
The morning of December 25 dawned
crisp and cold. The fresh, biting air Of
the mountains raced among the tree.
right merrily, whisking the snow int
little wreaths, aud frolicking among the
branches with real holiday gayety. Il
was nearly noon when the stranger rode
into camp loaded with bundles. At thu
Magnolia he met an eager crowd o.
miners, who, headed by Judge Cash
wilder, were soop on the road to the
strange lady's cabin. Arrived there
they felt sudden hesitation about en-
tering. 1t was like intruding upon somt
sacred ground, and they were almes
tempted to deposit their bundles upo1
the threshold and fly.
"You take the stuff" said the Judg,
to the stranger, "and go in fust
You've been familiar with wimmeu, anC
know how to handle 'em. Well wal
outside"
But the stranger felt the same hesita
ton. Perhaps his long absence from
feminine society made him bashful
Perhaps a thought of the memory h,
revered caused him to hold back.
Finally the Judge consented to tax,
the lead, and doffing his hat, knocked
softly. Ths door was opened by the
child, who bade him enter. Beside III
CRATE sat the mother, who rose to NEE
them. All passed in but the stranger
who stood outside.
"Marm," said the Judge, who some
. how had lost his usual ease of speecl
ana gesture, we-that is, the citizen
OF Mud Flat-has come to wish you
merry Christmas, and to offer you thes
few tokings of our respeck an esteem.
Having thus delivered himself, tn
old gentleman deposited the bundles OF
the table, and stood beamiDg serenel,
on all his companions. The strang,
lady, completely overcome by this un
expected kindness, could not find word
to reply for a moment. Then, in
broken voice, sha said:
"This is glad moment of nv sorrow
full life. You are good kind men and