Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1880-04-07
fcunalaasa from l,rs. p.s..l

tho lazy down 70 tyranny i-pot-
You'll hey 10 heller some
The boy went obedlsnlly down
stairs, and, slipping q piece OF money
into the womsn's hand, ! followed
him,
The way was fearfalIy dark and
iflghtlully dirty, but tho basement In
10 which was conducted was clean,
aud almost comfortable, Ia one
corner on a loS bed, clouehed u
strange, slrnaken old figure, ~ like a
mummy 40 anything alive could be-
| Al the one window al lldy'lookmg
gil, bnslly sowing,
i have come | said, addressing tho
gid, who looked up with u startled
face, 10 hnd oul something about this
boy
-, Granny remembers when he
came here. Don't you Granny =
she .hrieked H. the old creatures
ear, Its about fly" Tue woman
wanls 10 know, Old llerp' brought
him here, didn't he 7
'Yes, mullcred tie old woman, with
many mods, her bright eyes fixed Oh
my face. 'llaeps, lao did. Stole Gun,
he did. iplways kHowed IL, Who
Il SIR Ills mammyI'
] shook my head,
'lleeps ~ dead now, il9 "aH Il
wicked man, pursued tho wowa''
'and he stole that child, ! remember
no wasn't much more'n baby then,
aud there was an accident out on the
l., road-sn awful sn'ash'op' When
Keeps brought that bo. home he had
on pretty clothes, aud pretty lrinkels,
hey did he, aud # llccps hadn't had
us all under bis little finger, ,here'd
been trouble, there would lsut llecps
is dead now and lm glad 81 II, | am
hp did sight oi dirty work, did
Keeps.
Nv beuil beat high Providence
vas doubtless leading ma to right The
wrongs Of this helpless child.
4 suppose Keeps chrS'enrd him
Tip Toodlcs,' said
Yes, Miss, that's what lac alleys
called him. that's what hes been 20
nv ty ever senoc, Keeps learned
him 10 ,unlble, and III say for him,
that hc sol \ sight by the boy aud
when Keeps died, why the woman Sp
stairs took him, and he makes all the
money she gits She's good-hearted
critter, ~ Matte. barring she loves
the drink.
| learned what ! could from this old
woman (who assured me she was 9S),
about the accident, aud, telling Tip
to call at my house on the following
day, | returned home, full of specula-
ton. Suppose, and suppose, and sup.
posc--my dreams aud my waking
hours were fall OF surprising ! took
the boy home with me at last, dressed
him in neat new clothes, and sent him
to school.
For one year he had been with me,
proving himself promising and capable
10 more ways than one He was, of
course, backward in his studies, but
extremely intelligent. In fact, day
after day I found him developing a
beautiful character, and day after day
l grew to love him more. Old Mat
tie became my pensioner ; every Sat-
urday she called to see the boy, and
she never went away empty.handed.
One beautiful autumn day ehall /
ever forget the fragrance of that DAY
the wonderful tinting Of the elm
trees, the pale, golden splendor of the
October sun y handsome carriage
drove up to the door, and a servant in
livery handed in a card on which l
read,
Hon. James Corbet.'
The name was entirely new 10 me.
Nevertheless, gave my orders to the
servant, slipped off my working
apron, and, as soon as l could COM
pose my startled nerves, | entered the
parlor. Two persons rose as l came
in, a lady and a gentleman.
The former was tall and strikingly
beautiful the man, yet in the prime
OF life and handsome, gave me the
impression Of powerful character
1 was quite prepared tor what followed
Some months ago. said the gentle
man. Il understand you advertised for