News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1881-12-29
Parental Love.
A PATHETIC STORY OF IRELAND.

In our party, writes MIR, Locke, was
an American gentleman who was blessed
with an abundance of boys, but no girls,
and he and his wife had been contem-
plating the adoption of a girl. Here
was an opportunity to secure not only
a girl, but just the kind OF girl that
he would have given half his estate to
be father of and so he opened nego-
tiations.
An Irishman who knew him explained
to the father and mother that the gen.
tleman was a man of means that his
wife was an excellent, good woman,
and that the child would be regu-
ularly adopted under the laws OF the
State in which he lived, and would be
educated, and would rank equally with
his own children in the matter of inner
itance, and all that. In short, she was
made to understand that Norah would
be reared lady.
Then the American struck in. She,
the mother, might select 8. girl to ac-
company the child across the Atlantic,
and the girl selected should go into his
family as the child's nurse, and the
child should be reared in the religion of
its parents.
The father and mother consulted long
and anxiously. 1t was terrible strug-
gle. On the one hand was the child's
advantage, on the other parental and
maternal love.
Finally conclusion was arrived at.
"God help me-" said the mother.
"You shall have her. know you will
be good to her"
Then the arrangements were pushed
very brisklzs regular American
business-like Ice. The girl Sc
lected to act as nurse was the mothers
sister, comely girl of twenty. The
American took the child and rushed out
to haberdasher's and purchased an
outfit for her. He put shoes and stock
ings on her, which was novel expert
ence, and pretty little dress, and a
little hat with feather in it, and little
sash and all that sort of thing, and he
procured shoes and stockings for the
elder girl, tidy dress and hat and
shawl, and so forth. And then he
brought them back, inst1ucting the
mother that he should leave with them
for Cork the next morning, at eleven,
and that the girl and child should be
dressed and ready to depart.
The next day came, and the American
went for his child. She was dressed,
though very awkwardly. The mother
had never had any experience in dress
ing children, and it was wonder that
she did not get the dress on wrong side
up. But there she was. The mother
walled as one who was parting with
everything that was dear to her, the
father lay and moaned, looking from
Norah to the American. Time was up.
The mother took the baby in her arms
and gave it the final embrace and the
long, loving kiss, the father took her in
his arms and kissed her, and the other
children looked on astounded, while the
girl stood weeping.
"Good-by," said the American. 81
will take good care of the baby" and
taking her from the mothers arms he
started for the door.
There was shrek, the woman darted
to him Just as he was closing the door,
and snatched the baby from his arms.
"Drop the cEiId p said the father
"You can't haveher for all the money
there is in Amerikyl I"
"No, sor," circulated the mother,
half way between fainting and. Mysteries.
ST can't part widaer p
And she commenced undressing the
baby.
"Take back ypur beautiful clothes,
give me back the a.gs that was on her,
but we can't have fhe child"
And the girl commenced undressing
too, for she did rot want to obtain
clothes under false pretenses, but the
American stopped the disrobi1g.
"It's bad for the child" he said,
"but somehow can't blame you. You
are welcome to the clothes, though"
And he left as fast as he could, and I
noticed he was busy with his handker-
chief about his eyes for some minutes.