Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1880-03-09
here when mere babe, jus. able to run

That was long before l came here
The site Of this city was then wilder
ness for the most part. The story goe
that the little one strayed off into tn
forest, that search was made for her man
days in vain, until her discovery, alive o
dead. was despaircd Of, and no vestige o
trace Of her was ever found"
Ibid you ever hear the first name o
this lost child mentioned - said the oil,
gentleman.
II may have heard it, but have for
gotten it if | ever did"
Here lady boarder at the same table
who had been an attentive listener to tn
whole conversation, cleared her throa
and interposed.
1.-The name of the lost child" said she
"was Ella. | have heard Mrs. Noble an,
the judge speak of her many times
"My DEAR" said the old gentleman t.
the young lady, I'm afraid shall have
to give you up at last" Then turning t.
Mr.. Rankin. he said:
"When this young lady was apparently
about three years of age, she was fount
with family of Indians in Central New
York, where | then resided. The In.
dians claimed to have found her in th'
woods. lost and nearly famished, man,
days journey, as they said. to the west
ward. They professed to be willing t.
give her up to any white person whC
would take her and take care OF her
They had plenty of children of their own
so they said, and no occasion to stea
other peoples. Having no children o.
our own, my wife and were glad &c
adopt the little stranger. When she was
about twelve years old my wife died
and since then she and / have got along
together as we'll as we could. Her cloth.
ing when she came to us was marked
ELLA N in several places. 1t wa:
badly worn and soiled, but my wife care
fully preserved it, thinking it might lead
to her identification. You have it with
you, have YOU not, Ella:
"Yes, SIR said the young lady, re-
treating to her room with evident emo
ton.
There were about u dozen people al
the table, most of them regular boarders
and residents Of the city. When the
strange young lady made her appearance
among them, they had all supposed that
she was Harry Rankin's bride, and were
on the qui pire to account for her ap-
pearance there and then with q strange
old gentleman. OF course they were
eager listeners TO the above conversation,
andof course the news Of the probable dis
covery of Judge Mobiles long lost daugh-
ter. and her marvellous likeness to her
supposed sister travelled fast. The lady
who had volunteered to give the frs,
name of the lost child was AT Judge No
ble's house at the earliest possible mo-
melt, and the Judge and his lady were at
the hotel in less than half an hour from
the time when Mr.. Rankin sat down to
breakfast. The young ladys history and
her marvellous likeness to their remaining
daughter, would have satisfied them that
she was their child, If the little garments
in which she had been found had not
been preserved. These, Mrs. Noble in-
stantly recognized as her own handiwork ;
and her husband and the old strange
gentleman smiled and exchanged glances
when they heard the mother apologizlng
to the daughter for the coarseness of heI
infant wardrobe.
"You see, my daughter" said the
good lady, 1.-THE country was new then,
and the ways OF the people very plain
and primitive. There was but one store
here, and that very small affair-no
dressmakers. no miliiners, no nothing.
Your father was not rich. We kept nc
servants. | was a young mother with
no experience, and with double portion
of work and care-,hat is, YOU under
stand, you and your sister were twins.
You and she could spoil more good
clothes than any woman could make and
keep in order. That's why you happened
to have on such coarse little things when
you were lost"
"This Western world has changed a
good deal since that time" said the old
gentleman. "Such loss and finding
would be simply impossible now. The
newspapers would herald the childs dis
appearance, in all its known particulars,
from one end of the land to the other.
Now about these little clothes. My wife
was greatly impressed with their Original
elegance, though they came in her hands
greatly soiled and tattered. She was es'
pecialiy struck with the fact that each
article was marked as it was.
1.-The little ones clothing was marked
with her first name in full at my sugges.
ton" explained the judge. "You see
sir. the two children were SO exactly
alike that nobody but their mother could
distinguish them-and it is my belief
that she was sometimes mistaken. Sc
we had everything belonging to then
marked with their first names in full, te
avoid confusion"
"May enquire" continued the judge
''the name of the gentleman to whom
we are so deeply indebted
81 am Jonas Cummings, the originator
of the railroad which brought your cit!
into notice, as l am vain enough to be-
lieve. You and l have been occasiona!
correspondents these many years, though
now we meet for the first time
"And father" said the young lady
now for the first time taking an animated
nart /, the conversation, and blushin(