Ashtabula weekly telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1880-1886, 1880-06-11

her. He watched her from the car win
dow take off her old hat and stow away
her treasure in that, and then, clasping
1t close TO her breast, set off on q run
down toward the lower part Of the CITY.
When he reached his home and gave
the branch TO his wife her faded, peev-
ish face relaxed into a smile that was
almost sweet as she took them.
"Apple blossomsi" she said. "How
beautiful they are Do you remember,
DGniel, the apple blossoms that we
gathered thirty years agoP" and in an.
other minute he and she together were
recalling old times and associations, un-
til the years that lay between their APP
ple-blossom times and now had dropped
away, and the light and glory of past
days once more shed itself upon the
gray hairs of the husband and the faded
cheek of the wife.
The ragged little girl meanwhile ran
on for quite little way till she came to
one of those narrow, filthy courts crowd
ed with tenement houses and steaminp
with horrible odors in the warm Nav
sunshine. She entered one of these
tenement houses and ran lightly up the
steps to her especial domain, little
room where, besides herself, only Biddy
Mccarthy with her husband and baby
lived. Biddy was sitting near the win
dow rocking the baby in her arms when
the child entered.
Whisht, Megl The baby's awful
sickl"
"Don't he get any better, BiddyPn
asked Meg, creeping softly to her side.
"No, he don't. Oh, if l only had
him home in the green fields of ould
Ireland he'd be well entirely; but how
can he breathe in this shifting roomPn
"Look here, Biddy. See what I've
got" And Meg took off her hat and
showed the precious spray of apple
from the green fields ye spoke aboutP"
Biddy gazed at it in wonder and de-
light. "Oh, the purity things!" she ex-
claimed. "It's just the picture of those
I've seen many's the time growing in
the orchards in the ould country. Le'
me take it, Meg"
She held it close to her face and drank
in the fresh, sweet perfume eagerly.
Then she put it down to the baby, and
he feebly smiled.
"Seel" cried Biddy. "He knows
the swate thingsl He'll get better now.
Take it away and put it in water, Meg,
and set it where he can see it."
Meg ran off and soon returned with an
old blacking-bottle full of water, into
which she stuck the precious twig.
Then she sat down to look at it and
listen to Biddy's tales of the "ould
country" till night came, and she had
to go to bed, but she slept with one
hand on the bottle in which her treasure
was.
About midnight she was reused from
strange dreams of great forests of beau
tiful posies like hers by shrill cry of
terror and agony.
She started up calling "Biddy!
Biddy! what is it?'' and was answered
by the cry, "Oh, my baby, my baby!
My baby's dead!" and the low moan Of
anguish from the stricken mother. She
did the best she could to comfort her,
but what could child do for broken
heart?
The next day the body was ready for
the funeral. The mother sat ON the
floor beside the little pine coffin in stony
despair when Meg crept softly up and
laid her cherished branch, now reduced
to two faded blossoms and one Just
bursting pink bud, in the baby's hand.
Biddy looked up and burst into tears.
'' God bless you, Meg" she sobbed.
'' Shure, there's lots of blossoms where
he is now, the darlint, but it's / that's
glad to see these purity posies in his
little hand, Oh, my babyI my babyl"
Mr.. Edison, for his part, went down !
% his brothers Office and entered with
1 little hesitation. The brother, a man
)lder than Edison, with one of those
tern, self-repressed faces which say as
plainly as words could, "I've had a
lard life and l don't care a cent about
you. I'll have what l can get, whether
you suffer or not" started as Edison
,ame in. His eyes rested an instant
ongingly on the apple-blossoms; but
he next moment he drew back, asking,
oddly, "Did you wish to see meP"
" Yes, George" answered Edison, |
lingering the flowers awkwardly, 81
,ame to see about that matter-that-
hat property, you know. It's pity
We should quarrel about it and-andE
veil, l don't care. You're the oldest
md had the hardest row to hoe always,
md guess likely there was fully my
hare spent on me when l was in col
ege; and see here, old fellow, I'll do
whatever you say if you'll speak to
our lawyer and send him up to my
,ffice."
There was q moments silence, and
he younger Edison, looking down, saw
lis brother put his hand to his throat as
he were choking. The next moment
he elder spoke almost as awkwardly as
lis brother had done.
" 1t wasn't the money 1 cared for,
| wanted the old place. /
veil, had some associations with it,"
The younger brother started. Asso-
iationsp What associations of pleas
re could George have with the old
'laceP There were none, there could
'e none except those with Lucy Baird,
1ho had been for one short year his
wn wife, now laid away in Greenwood.
lie sprang forward, "George, did you
are for herp You could have won her
you had tried, and you knew it. She
ared for me first because | was your
rother. Dido you mean to say you
ave up the chance of winning her for
neP"
For a minute or two the Edsons
hight as well have been a couple OF
renchmen meeting after long sep
ration. The elder was the first to re.
over himself.
"There, there, John," he said, in ex-
city the same way he used to speak
hen they were boys together, "I've
cen hard, but you see l never had
ife to soften me, and intended to pay
gu for your share of the property at