Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1880-11-21
. do, and it won't hurt her to take care

LIEU WIS u ltucIlHld. he COlllu no
bear to see the child suffer, nor for {
few minutes did he think money coul6
hire him to take it over to the widow
But he was in hurry to go back to the
scene OF the wreck, so he did as he was
advised, asking her to take it in charge
until he could find some one who want
ed it, and whom he would pay literally
for caring for it.
Mrs. Bronson assured him she would
be delighted to take it. She had thought
sometime of adopting a child, and he1
only fear was, in this case, that after
she became greatly attached to it some
one would claim it.
Mr.. Bronson was quite pleased to find
so good harbor for the little stranger,
still he did not like the idea of giving il
up entirely. He was conscious that he
had conceived something of a liking for
it in the few moments its little arms had
chung so lovingly about his neck; so he
said, with blush and the faintest at
tempt at laugh, 81 do not know, Mrs.
Bronson as l can quite renounce my
claim"
"Well, You have really the best right
to it OF any one," said Mrs. Bronson,
"and you may claim just as large a
share as you choose" Whereupon the
child reached out it's little arms to him,
with look which seemed to say, "And
it shall not be very small share either. -
Chow old child should you call it ?'
he asked.
"About 6 months, I judge, and now,
come to think, she must very soon want
some sustenance; and pray, Mr.. Jacob,
| INV VIII II 20 fA,.
bottle for her. cannot go with her in
my arms, and Jane, my girl, has gone
home for the day."
"Ah 1 am going down street, and
I-ahem-can get one, suppose"
Then the thought of bachelor of his
standing asking for such an article
caused him to blush quite to his ears,
but duty again forbade that he should
do otherwise, so he fastened to the near
est store, purchased one, and immedi-
ately returned with it. By this time
the babe was screaming with hunger,
and he stayed to witness the first feed
ing, which was done amid a great deal
of struggling and squirming. Through
the whole of it, the new mother mani
tested so much patience and good nat
ure, Jacob was lost in admiration, and
almost forgot his hurry to return to the
wreck, and, by the time he did, most of
the dead had been removed to the
morgue, and the wounded cared for.
| When evening came he could hardl., re-
Train from going to see his little protege,
but finally waited till the ensuing day,
and then asked Mrs. Bronson what
name she proposed to give it. She said
she had found the word Mabel engraved
on the blanket-pin, and thought that
might be the name its parents had Civ
en- it.
! "! think very likely" he replied,
"and doubtless that was the mothers
name, too, for [ saw her at the morgue
to-day, poor thing, and across her fore
head, which was badly cut, was bound
handkerchief on which was written
Mabel Harmon. Oh she was dread
fully mangled, and the father, too, and
how the child escaped injury is the most
wonderful thing imaginable"
"Well, If no one claims the bodies I
hope. we may have the handkerchief
and every other relic to keep for little
Mabel"
81 will see to that, Mrs. Bronson, and
there's a trunk among the baggage
marked FL. L. Harmon; that, too, IN
less there is some other claimant, we
must have" Here Jacob paused; chow
dron it SEEMS he thought, "to be
speaking in the possessive case; hereto
Ioro have only fnnnd use for the pro-
noun L. But, as droll as it SEEMED, he
could think it none the less pleasant. So
he got to speaking in this way great
deal, as his visits to see the child were
frequent, and In course of time quite
lengthy. So much so that Mrs. Bassett,
his housekeeper, became alarmed lest
she should be supplanted by the widow.
81 did not think when I sent him over
there with that young un, % thought she,
'that havetospendh alfhis time there.
Perhaps he thinks he can bring them both
here, and I'll stay and wait on them, but
1 have been my own mistress too long to
do that. She is a little upstart of thing
anyhow, and believe she has been ang-
ling for him some time there's them IN
the neighborhood that's seen her walk
up the street with him as lovingly as
could be under his umberel."
Then the neighbors began to remark
upon the frequency of his visits to the
widows house, and most of them were
glad to see him go, and hoped something
serious would come of it, for the match
would be such an eligible one. But the
two principally concerned kept their own
counsel, and it was long time before
any one found out anything definite in
the matter concerning them.
AS no one claimed the bodies of little
Mabel's parents, they were buried at
Jacobs expense, and the trunk above
alluded to was taken charge of by Mrs.
Bronson, and was evidently, with it's
owners, quite recently from London,
England. So little Mabel was an En-
glish girl, and not OF poor parentage
either, Judging from the contents of the
trunk, for therein was found money.
valuable jewels, the finest of laces, and
costly wearing apparel for both mother
and child.
The parents were quite youngcouple,
and must have had friends somewhere
so thought the two now in possession of
the child, and they were daily in ex-
pectation of hearing from them. But
six months passed without hearing any
thing from any one, and Jacob then
said, "Now, let's call the child year
old about next Thursday, and celebrate
its birthday by getting married"