Northern tribune. [volume] (Cheboygan, Mich.) 1875-1885, 1880-05-29

apples orr
"Yes."
ooh, myl wouldn't like to see 'em
Oncel Say, mister, would ye give me q
little one.
Eyes. Here, child" breaking off another
little branch and giving it to her. He
watched her from the car window take
off her old hat and stow away her treas.
ure in that, and then, clasping it close
to her breast, set off on a run down
toward the lower part of the city.
When he reached home and gave the
branch to his wife her faded, peevish
face relaxed into smile that was al.
most sweet and took them from his
hand.
Apple blOSSOmsp' she said. "HOW
beautiful they are! Do you remember
Daniel, the apple blossoms that we gath
cred thirty years agOT and in another
minute he and she together were recall
ing old times and associations. until the
years that lay between their apple bios
som times and now had dropped away
and the light and glory of past DAYS
were once more shed upon the gray hairs
of the husband and the faded cheeks of
the wife. - 49,
The ragged little girl meanwhile ran
on for quite little way until she came
to one OF those narrow, filthy courts
crowded with tenement houses and
steaming with horrible OdOrs in the warm
May sunshine. She entered one of these
tenement houses and ran lightly up the
steps to her especial dOmain-a little
room where, besides herself, only Biddy
Mccarthy with her husband and baby
lived. Biddy was sitting near the window
rocking the baby in her arms when the
child entered.
'Whisht, Meg! The baby's awful sickp'
Don't he get any better, Biddy?" asked
Meg, creeping softly to her side.
mo, he don't. Oh, if / only had him
home in the green fields of ould Ireland
he'd be well entirely; but how can he
breathe in this sitting room.
'LOok here, Biddy. See what I've got"
And Meg took off her hat and showed the
precious spray of apple blossoms. "DO
you think that came from the green
fields you spoke abOut?"
Biddy gazed at it in wonder and de-
light. ''Oh, the purity thingsp she ex-
claimed. Its just like the picture of
those have seen many's the time grow
ing in the orchards in the Ould country.
Lee 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.
'Seer cried Biddy. "He knows the
swate thingl He'll 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 backing bottle full of water, in
to which she stuck the precious tWig.
Then she sat down to look at it and lis
ten to Biddy's tales of the Gould coun-
try" until 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 CIV of
terror and agony.
She started up calling ''Biddyl Biddy!
what is it?" and was answered by the
cry: "0h, my baby, babyl My baby is
deadp and the low moan of anguish
from the stricken mother. She din 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 i'm 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 is now the
darlint, but it's that's glad to see those
purity pOsies in his little hand, Oh. INV
baby! my babyp
Mr.. Edison, for his part, went down to
his brothers office and entered with
little hesitation. The brother, a man
older than Edison, with one of those stern
elf.repressed faces, which say as plain
as words could, "Pye had hard life and
don't care cent about you. I'll have
what l can get, whether you suffer or
not" started as Edison came i'm. His
eyes rested an instant lOngingly on the
apple-blOssOm; but the next moment he
drew back, asking cOldly: did you wish
to see me?"
"Yes, George" answered Edison, finger
ing the flowers awkwardly, II came to
see about that matter-that-prO
you know. It's pity we should quar-
rel about it nd-and-well, / don't care.
You're the oldest and had the hardest
row to hoe always, and / guess likely
there was fully my share spent on me
when was i'll college; and see here, old
fellsw, I'll do whatever you say if you'll
speak to your lawyer and send him I'D
to my Office" af c a
There was a moments silence, and
the younger Edison, looking down, saw
his brother put his his hand to his throat
as if he were chOaking. The next mo-
ment the elder spoke almost as awk-
wardly as his brother had done.
1T wasn't the money I cared for, but
but wanted the old place. well,
1 had some associations with it,"
The younger brother started. AsSOcia-
lions! What associations of pleasure
could George have with the old place?
There were none, there could be none
except those With Lucy Baird, who had
been for one short year his wife, now
iald away In greenwood. He sprang
forward George. did you care for her?
You could have won her if you had tried
and you knew it. She cared for me be-
cause l was your brother. Dido you
mean to say you gave up the chance of
winning her for me?"
For a minute or two the EdsOns might
as well have been couple of French
men meeting after a long separation.
The elder was the first to recover him
self.
''There, there. John," he said, in ex-
actly the same way he used to speak
when they were boys together, "Pve been
hard, but see had wife to soften me,
and / intended to pay you for your share
of the property at first, but-well, it's no
use talking it over. OF course you didn't
know. but I kept thinking you might
have known if YOU wanted to. But there.