Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1880-02-19

y
by found her on the rocks. He was
boy Of twelve years, strong and tall, and
he carried the child in his arms to his
mother. You may sec the cottage, sir,
the second white one on the side of the
hill"
81 see it.
"Well, Hiram took the baby there,
and Mrs. Goldby was the same as n
mother to her-a good woman, God bless
her soul--the widow Colby"
:" lis she dead, then ?"
"Aye, sir, six years agone. The baby
j was telling you of, Sir, talked foreign
lingo, and was dressed in rich clothes,
that must have cost power of money.
But never would Hiram or the widow
sell them, putting them up carefully 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 always
deadly afraid Of the sea. | have seen
her clench her mite Of hand and strike
at it, for she had bit Of temper in her,
though nothing to harm.
When Hiram made his first voyage,
for they were all seafaring men here
abouts, and there was nothing for lad
to do but ship, the Pearl was just
little washed-out lily, fretting until he
came home again. And it was so when
ever he went, for they were swcethearts
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 twen-
ty-four. She prayed him stay home then,
and he staid year, but he fretted for the
sea, and he went again, thinking, /
s'pose, that his wife would get used to it,
IA all wives bereabouts must do. But
she never did--never. 1t vast just pitia-
BILE to see hergo about, white as corpse,
when Hiram went away, never looking
at the sea without q shldder like death
chill. All through the war it was Just
awful, for Hiram enlisted on board
man-o'-war, and Pearl was just a shadow
when he came home the last time"
"After the war
eyes, sir; but he made no money of
any account, and so he went again, after
staying at home a long spell Well, he
never came back. 'Twasn't no manner
of use a-telhrg Pearl he was lost; she'd
Just shake her pretty head and say;
Hell come back Not mite of mourn
ing would she wear, even after his own
mother gave him up and put on black;
for, sir, it stands to reason he's dead
years ago"
at looks So"
"Of course it does; nobody else
doubts it but Mrs. Goldby. Old Mrs.
Goldby's last words were: I'm going
to meet Hiram, and they say the dying
know. But even then that didn't make
Pearl think so. She wore mourning Tor
her who had been the only mother she
knowed OF, but no weeds. Weeds was
for widows, she said, and she wasn't
widow.
"But the stone ?"
"Well sir, I'm coming to that. A
year ago, sir, Il fine gentleman from
France came here hunting for n child
lost on this coast. He'd heard of Pearl
by happen-chances il 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
Ine SeA WE WIS StoNtIS Gun.
"Her father, sir.
He took her away =
"He tried to. He told her OF spleu-
did home he had in New York, for he'd
followed his wife and child, sir, to a city
they had never reached He was rich
and lonely. He begged his child TO go,
but she would not. Hiram will come
here for me, she said, and he will find
me where he left me.
"On what has she hyed?'
"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's no denying she was very
poor, very, andyet the grand house and
big fortune never tempted her. So her
father came ON and on TO see her, until
April. And he died, sir, and
left ou 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 come.
The stranger lifted his face that had
been half hidden in his hand and said
"rhere was shipwreck in the Pacific
ocean, Dayy. years and years ago, and
one man only was saS2d-sayed, Dayy,
by savages, who made him a slave, the
worst of slaves! But one day this sailor
saved the life of the chiefs daughter,
who was in the coils of hinge snake, and
the chief released him. More than that,
he gave him choice spices and woods,
and sent him aboard the first passing
ship. So the sailor landed in great
city, sold his presents and put the gold
in safe keeping. Then he travelled till
he reached the seaport town where he
WIS born, and coming there mt sunset,