Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1880-06-19
AN ORPHAN IN JAPAN.
BY MRS. KATHARINE B. FOOT.

BY MRS. KATHARINE b. FOOT.
Under the gray lowering sky of that afternoon
I'D February, the river, the black. relentless
liver rushed on, carrying with 1t thin. jagged
cakes OF Ice that floated swiftly On, crushing
against each other as they went, until with one
great crash and roar all went over the dam
tOgetner 10 cnurn and grind and crush to atoms
IN the rapids below, and then to grow quiet
!urtner down and TO go on, and on, and on, TO
me end, Just as other drops and other atoms
La gone since the world began.
The fall OF the water over the dam made the
taTth VlDraIe Tor long distance in every d.
fect1on, and 1t fairly shook the crazy old house
known as THE Crows Nest which stool on
the brink OF the river lust below the fail. It's
windows ratified in a dull continuous way. and
the wind mOaned and sighed about the cracks
ana erevlceS IKE the voice OF the banshee cry
ing, "Woe. Woe,'' In various rooms men and
women quarreled or sat In dull apathy child
reno, that those wretched. half-clothed half
starved little beings should be called chldren,-
Iougnt IN the narrow entryS or over the filthy
Iickety stairs.
outside was the chill, damp. fast darkening
day, with trampled mud and half-melted snow
all about the house, ON one side the river always
huTrying along. On the other, the road to the
mills that were already bright with light In
looked the water girl slept, stretched along
the floor In dirty deSOlatiOn. A piece of an Old
shawl and her arms folded under her head made
ner only pillow. She was blue with cold, aud
she Sh1vered now and then, and yet she slept
on-a heavy, stupid, drunken sleep. An over
tuIneu Iaole ana Two chairs, whisky bottle
that had rolled and rolled across the room.
ieavlng little stream OF poison as it went, until
IL had stayed Itself against leg of the ffreleS5
stove, the bed stripped OF all clothing, the
woman on the floor,-told the whole story, and
yet there was license law In Gropetown This
woman was young, barely 10, once pretty, now
pinched and pale, but bearing remnants of
beauty In the face that still showed what its
perfect oval had been. and in the long eyelaSneS
that lay on the thin cheeks, and the brown hair
mat ieL back In rough, heavy mass over the
AT last she reused. opened her eyes, looked
stupidity about, raised herself ON one elbow and
then sank back again to stare at the ceili1g-or
what was left of It with a sick look of blank
despair upon her face. Presently she reused
ana crept 70 the wall nearest her and sitting up
leaned against 1t, her hands folded In her lap
and her head bent dropping forward. An old
newspaper crumpled and torn lay near her The
death column happened TO be In comparative
iy smooth place and within range OF her eyes.
Sne looked at lt stupidly. and while thinking or
Tying 10 think, who was there last, what time
II was and what was the matter with her--and
al the while she saw,
DIED, December IL, JANE beloved wife,
anG that was all. She saw no more. she didn't
care for that, people died every day. So much
the better.
What noise the water made that night,
Was IL in the house. was 1t in her head that n
roared and rOared so? She turned and laid her
face on the pane how it ran along-so fast-so
fast-hoW far would she so, she wondered Il
she fell in; would she sink and go ont OF signt.
Or float on ana on, forever, or? And in her
head over and over rang the words, Jane be-
loved fe,-Jane-Jdne,"-tha was her name:
her Jenny, his little Jenny she remem-
bered just how he had looked when he said 1t
1rhere was he now? And yet IL wasn't so very
long since he went away,-only two years.
Two years. Not long? No not long for some
people, but oh. how long for her.
Beloved Wife, beloved wife would any
cody ever love he1' again? II they would it
would be so easy TO be good again.
The claDo OF the mill bells RANG ont harsh and
loud, yet they made her think,-and it was 50
long since she had thought-of the days long,
long ago when she was a little girl and went to
cnuTch on Sunday with her mother, who was
WIDOW, She saw herself again in clean Sunday
dress, With smoothly braided hair-She sat
again in church and counted the figures in the
carpet or watched the hornets that darted Ia
and out over the top sash OF the open window
from their nest way up under the edge or the
roOf.-and she saw the wife OF the agent 10 her
pretty Clothes, leading by the hand her little
daughter,-the little girl that JENNY was sure
must be the happiest little girl In all the world:
because she was so pretty with her big blue
eyes and her bright hair that tiOated softly over
her shoulders, aud her clothes were so pretty
and so fresh and her boots were always 50 black
ana shiny and so nicely buttOned. She used 20
look at Jenny and smile at her then-ir she
would now, how good Jenny would try to be-
Then she saw a less pleasant plcture-lhe
nome or her mothers second marriage: the
rough, coarse EngiishInan who was kind and
rough by turns as he was drunk or sober the
new troop OF little children always 10 be cared
Tor, her mothers worn face aud broken aspect
Then another. the day when she frst went to
the hill; that sweet Sunday when he first spoke
10 her as she sat On the rock On the side OF tn /.
NIL, lar above the dirty village, looking at the
sunset. -" Did she often 90 there?" he n nd asked
her; he had thought that no one In Gropetowa
she come next Sunday?"
How sweet his smile as he spoke how differ.
ent MS voice from any she had ever heard be-
lore, now white and soft his hand when she
touched a 10 al hv of tha
OF Mill street
All! those sweet Sundays on the hillside. with
tie village out or sight bahiad them. and be-
meath their feet the valley 50 green, so peace
Iul. so full or everlasting life and beauty. How
she had loved him as he held her close to his
shoulder with one arm around her. aud looked
down In her eyes as he told her OF the home
they would have when he should be something
more than the boOkkeeper.
How she wondered that he, gentleman, with
such rich people belonging to him. could love
her, how she told him over aud over that he was
rich enough for her, quite rich enough she had
never dreamed OF half so much,-and what did
ahythlng matter While ke loved her. And her
tleasure when he told her how pretty she Was.
No" ne knew she was no common mill girl ami
iow ne nad found OUT all about her, am that
MI laIasr had once held his own place and how
ssIpflStd ne was TO flad no much she had re nd
noW m1cn she knew, and only gained In the
nttle common school. How she tried when worn
out By long hours OF standing m read tha 49,
she fanced that he lked-thsn at LAST the stoian
meetings late at nigat, the stormy scene when
oyHnInU nd
called her lover "a damnel scamp the h5urs NJ
agony when she begged that he would m arrg
her and set heI right. his protestattons OF nm
adorable love and faith and that he only yratta1
for consent from home that he might take her
there where she would hold up her head win
the best OF them, for she was so much prettier
than any one there. She felt again the touch
or his hand on her hair as be told her this. hit
The comfort that had stolen into her heart with
that touch had long since passed away, even
from memory.
Then, the morning when he was found to be
g0ne-and no one knew. out every one suspected.
The looks. the Whispers at last the curses at
home, her mothers tears and means ana her
own fight at night, Hone, YEARLY Flooding ovel