The New Bloomfield, Pa. times. (New Bloomfield, Pa.) 1877-188?, 1881-10-18
NEW BLOOMFIELD, PA. TUESDAY, OCTOBER 1s, 1881

TUT IHTeHteueu every luUiueub NY buS
enraged waves, buffeted by the wind,
and scarcely able to see one another, the
men, women and children in the boat
passed hour after hour praying for day
light but when the morning, at length,
did break, 1t was the most terrible time
of all for poor Mrs. Forsythe for now
she saw that the baby she had been
weeping over and praying for all night,
while it had slept in her lap, under the
shelter of heavy wrappings, was not her
baby, but somebody's else.
"Oh Will, Will I" she cried, throw
ing back the rug, so that her husband
could see the child. Look There
has been a horrible mstakel 1t is not
our baby at all ~
Mr.. Forsythe looked at the child
dumbly moment. All young babies
had looked alike to him ustil now, when
he saw that there was n difference be-
tween this one and his own. Their
baby did not have black eyes and brown
skin nor was it as old as this child
seemed to be. But, yes, it was quite
possible that their child might be safe
in one of the other boats.
Wait! Don't give up, Grace'' he
said, huskily, as he saw her beginning
to swoon. "Ours is in some one of the
other boats and we shall find it.
know we shall"
"My baby my poor baby" Mrs.
E'orc IN ~ no N ad oouarirc har fa oa
both hands and sinking hopelessly in
his arms.
The old sailors, who were rowing the
boat with all their might toward ships
sail they had deserted in the distance,
leaned on their oars, and for awhile the
mutual anxiety for safety was forgotten.
The women passengers near Mrs. For
sythe took the unknown little child
from her lap and hushed its crying, and
tried to comfort her with their sympa-
thy but she did not hear them. Then
there began again after a few minutes,
the click of the rowlocks the boat went
on steadily in the direction of the white,
fiuttering object coming up on the hori-
zon and Mr.. Forsythe held his wife's
pale face against his shoulderan waited
Something must certainly happen to
put them in possession of their little
girl again, he thought. 1t was too dread
full to think about.
But there was no other boat in sight
anywhere on the ocean; only the sail
in the distance, which continued to
come nearer. This Mr.. Forsythe watch
ed intently, with the others, whispering
encouragement to his wife from time to
time. The ship had already, perhaps,
rescued some of the other boats, and
his mind was full of comforting sugges-
tions, which, an hour or two later, how
ever, deserted him when they all were
safe on the ships deck. No one had
seen any of the other boats. Nothing
whatever was known of the wreck of
and reality presented no disguise of
hope. They had lost their nurse and
child in mid ocean, and there was not
the ghost of probability that they would
ever see either again. They could only
sail away with the ship to its destina-
tination--the same as the steamers.
81 never shall see my baby again,
VIII Mrs. Forsythe said, strangely
calm and looking far back in the wake
of the ship. "Never, never again ~
He led her down into the cabin; and
she put out her arms for the other baby,
that had taken the place of her own.-
1t looked up from the woman's lap
where it was lying, laughed and stretch
ed its little arms toward her. From
that moment she adopted it to her heart
and kept it close to her.
Mr.. Forsythe used to say, years after
ward, that her heart would have been
broken had not the child won her affec-
ton by the strange preference it showed
for her; and, after they had arrived in
New York, and tried, by advertising in
the papers and every other means in
their power, to ascertain the fate of
their own child and to whom this one
belonged, it was thought best by him to
keep their misfortune secret between
them and carry the unknown baby
home with them as theirs. That was
how 1t came about the neighbors did
not know that their son was really not
their son until-until more than twenty
years afterward.
He was named Rupert and grew to be
fine, handsome boy {; but he did not
resemble either Mr.. or Mrs. Forsythe.-