The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1883-04-12

Nd by the dusty roadside 1t was at one {
~ these parties that first came to know til
beautiful little girl, the pet of the house.
Not knowing how, OF rather not carin
to learn to dance their monotonous We
- graceful evolutions, l sat back against til
w. wall and looked on.
- "a By-and-by thisg girl came with her brother
- a few years older than herself, and stoo
> near where | sat looking at the dancers.
&c soon had them both between my knees
=, She was quiet and said but little, now an,
- then stealing glance at me from out O
] her great lustrous eyes.
T. She had one of her hands in a sling, ant
IF the boy proceeded to tell me that she hat
i fallen from y horse and broken her wrist
The girl said nothing, but only lifted he1
= sad eyes to mine and sighed and stole
- away.
! | asked the brother if he and his sister
: were fond of horses. He answered that
;, they were fond of riding, and that they had
: several ponies, besides two wonderful bio
' black dogs that were very fond of the
, water
. The boy soon disappeared also, and saw
= neither of them for some months. They
had left the neighborhood of Honolulu, and
were living in seclusion with their father.
who seemed to be man of some means
IN remote part of the island, when I by
: accident ran across him.
lie came to our camp where | was stop
ping with some American friends. But
he seemed to have forgotten his former
hospitality, and did not invite me to visit
him.
One day met my two little friends
riding down on the beach in the shadow
OF steep mountain. How beautiful the
little girl was now! l was certain L had
never seen anything so lovely before, and
threw out my hands to her with delight.
The same sweet, sad smile, the sigh. and
the far-aWay look. She slowly lifted her
hand that was half-hidden in the thick
name of the pony, and 1 saw that it was
bandaged; and knew my little friend was
doomed.
Her father and brother were hiding away
with her here, hoping to keep her little |
while yet to themselves, even at the risk of |
| their own lives.
1t had been whispered at Honolulu that |
this child was leper, and the authorities |
were soon made aware of the fact. A leper
cannot long remain concealed. The childs
Punishment was only a question of time,
and her heart-broken father comprehended
this very well.
After time, some fishermen putting in
at this remote part of the island, saw the
tugitlyes, and on returning home told
where the missing party could be found.
1t is complimentary to these honest peo-
pie, and to human nature, too, to chronicle
the fact that the health officers merely
dropped the father a note, and that he,
sadly though promptly, obeyed it, as if it |
had been summons from the king, and
returned to town with his fated and beau
tiful children.
next saw her at church. The little girl
was pale and thin, but, think. if posi-
BILE, more beautiful than ever Her father
and brother were still with her. They sat
close on either side of her. Her hands
were IN her lap underneath her apron.
am sure the Government officers seemed
10th to take this child. She was so resigned
SO pitiful, so strangely beautiful. 1t was,
perhaps, month after they returned to
Honolulu, before they finally came to take !
her away from all she loved on earth for
ever. t
had come to love her so and pity her so,
that | often went up to the house from !
town to talk with her through the picket !
fence that ran along the dusty road, under t
the trees before the door. She had never {
gone to church after her return but til S
once. And now she did not go out of the
door yard No friends visited the family +
now. And, in fact. | hardly saw any of the v
family any more, except the father and
brother. They, particularly the brother, /
were with her all the time. They seemed j
to take no interest in anything or any one Il
but her. The father seemed utterly I'M :
conscious, that he had any other child than
this one little girl.
She was cheerful enough always when | |
went up there But over all hung the dark S
shadow of something so much more dread t
full than death, that language stands ap- y
palled in any attempt to picture it. n
She told me she did not suffer any acute o
PAIN only numbness and dullness, death {
in life. 1t is something to know that the u
senses also seem to grow dulled and be-
numhed as the body becomes more and
more diseased. At last the time came for il
her to be taken away. Her father and heart =
broken brother could hold her back from n
that dreadful place no longer. g
Who would be there to receive her? What Il
ghostly paans would be lifted up as she
landed at the dreadful place, to see what
new victim had been sent to the shores of "
5he dead from the shores of the living?- n
What would they say to his darling to COM Fl
.ort her? What could they do to console N
The poor, tenderly-loved little girl, going
'ut alone to that colony of lepers y
The father carried her in his arms on the h.
ship and sat her down-in the chair, which NJ
he little brother carried on his shoulders -
IS he ran along at her side.
The officers gently tried to take her away ~ ~
rom him. He would not part with her for II
me moment till the plank was being drawn
Up from the shore. She said goodbye me-
financially. She seemed not to quite feel
II to wholly understand how dreadful it II
vas. She sat gazing out at sea as her father
md brother said farewell and tore them
elves away. Her eyes were quite dry. &C
Let us hope for her hearts sake that the "
,ood God had made it numb and incapable
# feeling all that her father and brother
elt And yet had a half suspicion, as she sa
eld her face still and steadily to the sea- TO
hat she was only assuming not to feel. in VI
rider that they might not suffer so much.
The ship turned around as it swung out a
o sea- and she was hidden from view for a ce
While as she sat in her little chair on deck.
Then we saw her once more and for the ~
ast time. Her little muffied hand came up FIJI
nd she turned her face down and in against OF
he back of the chair, and did not move
ny more. -,
ooh, if | could only have buried her in an
he ground Oh, if / could only have kept
er here till | died l will not, cannot
tay her. | will go and die with my little a.