The Red Cloud chief., 1882-09-29

household for his sake were made en-.
tircly without me. Sometimes. after
the most important things were decided.
nv consent wa then asked I'VE ar.
obliged to have q nnrsc. ] hired %
Anselm ~ nodded silenily-"We
must TT up . nursnry: that rom 10 too
warm for the child" nodded silent
~. but ! heard the sound OF workmen.
who were already busy in the hall
What could I do better? Was it not all
done for child7
Ny wife and I did not talk much about
the child. and when we did mention IL.
We used only the name "It" But this
1t could be heard through the house
n almost any time OF the day.
Hush! not 40 much noise! IL sleeps
IL must haze It's dinner. II should be
taken Put for q drive. IL has hurt IT,
se:fr' And 30 the whole house began
10 turn round our at" This nameless
ncuter yexed me.
1T must have its " namc,' said I,
one day.
"l entirely forgot TO ask the mother
! mean the woman-what its name
L." answered my wife. .'She intended
10 come again. But she does not come.
she is certainly sick. Now. I call it
Max. Max is a pretty. short name; ii
it note "Hem." returned /. tetween
two draughts Of my cigar. Fritz would
also be a quite pretty name" Zone can
not change the name now. on account Of
the domestics." answered she. shortly,
and then called out loudly: "Is Max
up alrcaiy9 Never mind, was il not
our child?
Once. though. ! played my justifiabIe
part toward our child. At Il Inner il was
always served nj a little table i'm an adj
joining room. At such times we could
hear, between the scantily dropping
phrases of our conversation. its merry
prattling. accompanied by the cla'ter-
Ing of its spoon. My wife hal no rest;
there was n continual going and CON-
ing between us and him; the o might
be too hot. aud perhaps he might eat too
much!
Wife," said /. very quietly but very
de :idedly. ''irom TO morrow II shall eat
with US at u table. Ii is old enough
now. with its two years"
From that time on .'lt' ate with us.
He sat there in his high chair like q
close 10 my wife; both opposite
me like declared enemies, n IL were.
The yeilowish paleness OF poverty had
yielded 10 fine aristocraiic pink in his
little cheeks. which. now becoming
quite chubby. sit comfortable on the
stiff folds Of the napkin. IL worked
powerfully at its soup; and now that il
had finished, set up the spoon like a
in its little round fist on the Ia
BILE. nv vie aud | had exchanged n
lew words, and o again We sat ST.
|enL Apparently on account of this 81
It's large eyes began to open wider
md wider. They stared on me. stared
nj my wife. with a surprised. almost
expression, n II they had a
presentimcnt that all was not RICH, be-
tween rs. | confess that these eyes
embarrassed me. and that | had n feel
OF relief when Frederick entered
with n dish. And | think that my wife
Ielt the same.
And the following days. there were
The same large. wondering eyes, Ike an
appealing question. staring into tho
OF our conversation. Ii sounds
ridiculous, but it Is nevertheless true;
70 were culprits before the child. we
,wo grown persons! And by degrees our
became more animated.
The occasional prattlings of the little
were noticed and spoken about;
indeed, sometimes there was mutual
aughtcr al his attempts TO speak. !
All! how light, how bcll-like pure her
aughter sounded? Had I never then
heard that before? and what was the
with me, that | sometimes bent
'ver my writing-desk listening as
hough | heard from n distance these
anne silvery tones?
With the first sunny spring days ''lt'
'egan to play in the garden, which 1
'ould overlook from my sea- in my Of
ice. She vas generally with him. |
'ould hear the sound of his little feet ON
he pebbles, and then her footsteps.
Vow she would playfully chase him,
nd n chorus of twittcring sparrows
would join their merry notes with tho
Merry laughter. Now she would catch
and Kiss his checks over and over.
)nce b opened nv window; a warm.
'alsamic air strcamcd around me, and
butterfly fluttcrcd in and lit on my
nkstand. Just then she came out of a
-rccn. vine-grown bower. she was
In n dazzling white ncgligcc.
with costly lace: all over her
trcamed the golden sunshine. except
her face was overshadowed by the
ink of her parasol.
How slim she appeared! how grace
al in her movements. Had l been
lind? Truly the aunt and cousins
,cre right; she was in reality beautiful.
i sweet smile transformed her features;
he was happy-certainiy in this mo-
lent she was-and her happiness came
rom her child. Then a voice made it.
elf heard in my breast. which said very
"You are a monster:?" l 60.
p and walked to the window. 1T is
beautiful day." called /. l know
ow cold and prosaic il must have
Dundcd TO her. Ii came like a heavy
over n sunny landscape.
he answered something that l did not
nderstand; but the brightness was
one from her little face. Then she
,ok up the child. who was stretching
ut his arms to her. and kissed aud
aressed him before nv ewes.
There it was when the first feeling Of
was aroused in me; n jealousy
but what = strange jealousy.
could not make clear to itself who
rs its object! II 1T said mamma"
, her there came a pain in the heart;
nd the caresses with which she over
'helmed him almost drove me wild. l
as jealous Of both, Ii panied me that
had no part in this weaving of love;
,at / was not = third in the union. l
myself to gain a Part of their
ne. l did it very clumsily. The child
crsevered In 3 certain shvness. and
II -had l not kept myself forcibly
way from her during these long. long
One day at the dinner table. after .
Of words. came = great still
ess between us. . stiffness more pain
il than it had ever been. 1 glanced
at the flowers on my plate Of
porcelain. my d~ispleasure show
in my face; but I felt plainly that
L. had its eyes fixed on me. and also
Or eyes! 1t was as If those four eyes
nrned on nv forehead. Then sounded
in the stiffness: "PapAr' and
rain hinder and mora couraCcous.