The Brookhaven leader. [volume] (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1883-1891, 1883-05-24

into the darkness. "who's thereyr he cried
in louder tones as no answer came. Still
no one replied.
81 dun toll yer, Massa Rand" whispered
'Delnus; "tain't muffin dat kin speak wild
mouf and tung. Ole 'Demus ain't live al
desc years fur muffin. Come in, honey, out
de wet"
But Rand was not vet satisfied. He tool
q step forward, and his foot struck agains,
something. Looking down, he saw dari
object lying on the porch. Bending lower
he discovered it to be basket covered VIII
q thick shawl.
"Set itinside out of the rain, 'Demus, and
I'll call again for the owner. Some miser
able fellow who wants a nights lodging
suppose"
Demus obeyed, grumbling audibly, in M
wise pleased with the whole matter. Bu
| in a moment or two he had the satlsfactloI
Of seeing Rand come in from the porch
wet and blown, and close the door behind
| him.
"It's as dark as Egypt" he said, catch
/ ing his breath between the words. Lee
the basket stay there, 'Demus. Some one
will call for it by-and-by, perhaps" AnC
they returned TO the dining-room.
An hour OF more later, as Rand was com
| fortably seated in his big leather chair he
| fore a rather dim fire in the library, he wa'
| again startled by an unusual sound. Inns
/ time it was not a pealing bell nor any
| ghostly call, but the unmistakable cry OF
baby. And it did not come from any oil th'
| houses across the way, where bables grew
and multiplied, but from some place very
| near the amazed and mystified gentleman
For an instant he listened incredulous
then he sprung to his feet, irresolute; then
as the cries grew louder, and evidently
came from the hall, he went quickly
thither. There could be no doubt of it-a
baby was crying Justify in the old house
| where no baby had been for thirty-tve
long years, and Rand by instinct under
Hastily returning for a lamp, and looking
vaguely about the shadowy spaces, his eye
| fell upon the forgotten basket.
| A long, low whistle escaped him as he
gingerly lifted the noisy burden and de-
| posted il upon the floor before the library
! fire. Awkwardly throwing back the warn.
Gus wrappings which covered 1t, he came at
length face to face with his unlimited guest,
and it would be difficult to tell which OF the
two regarded the other with the greatest
curiosity and wonder. Quite treasured by
the evidence that measures were being
taken for her relief, Miss Baby had ceased
her cries and lay calmly looking up at her
new-found friend with the brightest OF blue
eyes. Presently there was dimpling of
the round checks, upon which the tears
were not yet dry, and the rosy lips curved
into confident smile as she stretched out
her arms with the mute invitation: take
me-"
But Rand was not yet prepared to extend
Inequalities so far as that. He had never,
to his recollection, held baby in his arms,
and knew about as much of their ways and
wants as he did of the habits of young
penguins.
Slowly the bright expression faded; this
time the lips curved sOrrOwfully, and the
blue ewes were overlooked again. And
finding that har npUlaptfnl at.
tendant was not to be moved by pathos,
the wee damsel brought temper to bear up
on the vexed question, and long and loud
were the screams, which at last aroused
Rand from his contemplation of infantile
beauty, and brought him to his feet.
Acting upon the principles of homeo-
pathy, in which he was a firm believer, he
seized the poker and tongs and beat a live
ly tattoo upon the coal-scuttle. This pro-
duced a temporary lull, but baby soon dis
covered that she was still upon her back,
and began again more vehemently than
ever.
Then a bright idea occurred to him.
THE basket is too small, he reasoned,
with an air of conviction. "No wonder the
child cries"
So he took hold of the basket and pro-
ceeded to roll Miss Baby out. 1t was not
until he succeeded and she lay, silent for
the moment with establishment at this new
III u QueeTly uedp upon
the floor, that he remembered how hard
and uncomfortable such a bed might be.
And the young lady herself seemed to
think of it at the same moment, judging
from the decided way in which she gave
vent to her feelings. His next move was
to pick her up very hesitatingly and at
arms length and set her up in his arm
chair. But that being covered with very
smooth leather, and baby having no
strength to speak of in her back, she i'm
mediately slipped down and would prob
ably have prevented the finishing of this
narrative by the breaking of her neck if
Rand had not caught her just in time.
For minute or two he held her by her
clothes and gazed at her helplessly over the
top of his gold bowed spectacles. Could it
be possible that this kicking, squirming,
screaming, scarlet bit of humanity was the
same innocent, lovely little creature who
had looked up at him so smilingly but a
| short time before:
And, still more startling question, could
it be that he, man in his prime, fairly
well endowed with good sense and ability,
was puzzled out of his wits to know what
| to do with a specimen of flesh and blood
that he could crush with his hand? Rand
was fond of philosophiZing in his own way
and the present problem seemed an inter
esting one, both from its novelty and its
! Importance, too. But he soon decided that
it were wiser to discuss it at some future
time. The query of the moment was
'HOw shall stop this Internal racketr
He dropped the baby, face downward, in
the basket, put his hands over his ears and
tried to think. Strange to say, it never &C.
CURED to him to rouse old Aunt Cleo. In
deed, nothing seemed to occur to him. He
sat in despair, half deafened by the still
continuing cries. Then he grew excited.
The perspiratiOn stood upon his forehead.
He pulled out his handkerchief to wipe
wipe away the drops.
| Eureka" he cried, as a crumpled paper
| fell to the floor, and he recognized 1t as an
advertisement a boy had handed him, which
he had read and mechanically placed in his
| pocket. 1t was notice of lecture to be
given in day or two for the benefit of q
new foundling's hospital about to be
erected, and upon it-happy chance-were
the names and addresses of some of the
prospective lady directors and physicians
He looked them over in eager haste. Here
at last was loophole of escape, and he
drew long breath of relief as his eyes fel
upon the following:
miss BERTHA ADAMS, las Upper Duk,
Street"
"Who would ever have believed sucl
! good fortune could come from one of thos,
miserable houses 2" he said aloud, throwing
down the paper and picking up "baby ant
cradle and ALL" To decide was to act il
THIS case, and he was soon SplaShlng hi
way across the street in the darkness an,
rain.
By the aid of a Pickering gaslight h
made out the right number, and gave
vigorous pull at the door-bell. The sum
mons was answered almost Immediately b,
gentleman in hat and ulster, followed b,
lady enveloped in rubber waterproof
with a veil tied closely over her hat. The,
were evidently upon the point of Leaving
| the house as Hand assembled the stems.