The National tribune., 1883-03-22
TED and THE BABY.
A Very Remarkable Experiment in
Housekeeping.
by George Cary Eggleston.J

The baby always had been Ted's pet Ted
was about eight years older than the baby, and
so he made it his business from the first to do
all he could to make this little sister happy.
He would sit for hours amusing the baby or
rocking her cradle without sign of worry
and he would carry her about, too, even after
she grew heavy, to show her the pigs and
chickens, until his sturdy short legs could
stand the burden no longer. In short he was
the best brother that little baby girl ever
had, and by the time that she could walk and
talk little, Miss Baby had learned to think
he was her own private property. She wanted
Ted to lead her, Ted to talk to her, Ted to show
her whatever there was to see, Ted to sit by
her cradle until she went to sleep, Ted to do
everything for her. And Ted liked it all, be-
cause he loved the baby better than anybody
else in the world.
But this is not telling my story. The way
of it was this: Teds father, who lived in CEN
trail Indiana, used to go to Cincinnati every
year, driving a big drove of hogs to sell there,
and he took with him all the men and big boys
he could hire to help him drive the hogs, for
the trip was long one, and there were no rail-
roads in that part of the country in those days.
1t was at time like this that Ted's mother
was sent for to see her sister, who was very
sick. This sister lived a good many miles
away, and the weather was cold and stormy
could not take the baby with her in such
weather. aud there was nobody to leave with
her and little nine-year-old Ted
"I'll tell you, mother" said Ted: you just
go along, and I'll take care of the baby till you
come back"
"But it is a long way, Ted" said the mother,
"and may not be back till very late"
"Well, what of that =" asked the stout
hearted little fellow You don't s'pose I'm
afraid, do you? If you're gone till midnight 1
don't care. Just leave the baby with me and
go along. If you don't get back by bedtime,
I'll go to bed, and you can bang on the door to
wake me-"
The good mother hardly knew what to do.
She did not like to put such load of care upon
the little fellow, but the case was pressing, and
there seemed to be no other way. So, after
| looking to see that there was food enough
cooked for Ted's dinner and supper, she
mounted her horse and rode away.
Ted held the baby up to the window and
| made her kiss her hand to their mother as she
| looked back from the top of the hill. Then he
set to work to make day of it with Baby.
| He played horse and let the baby ride On his
| back; he showed her all the pictures in the
| big Bible; he made a house out of the chairs
| and tables, and did hundred other things to
| make the day pleasant for his little sister, and
she laughed at his funny pranks till she could
| laugh no longer. Then he gave her some bread
and milk and, taking her in hisarms, sat down
| in the rocking chair and sang her to sleep. Ted
| couldn't sing, as a matter of fact; he could only
| shout the words without getting within mile
of any tune, but Baby thought his singing the
very best she had ever heard, and so it answered
| every purpose.
| Before the baby walked it had begun to snow
| and so Ted had new thing to show her. The
| snow was beautiful to look at, as it fell very
| fast aud the little girl was full of the fun of
| watching it through the window. So the day
| passed and night came on. 1t was still snow
| ing hard, and fierce wind had begun to blow
| After Ted had put the baby to bed, and piled
| a lot of wood on the fire, he sat down in the
big rocking chair to wait for his mother, who
had not yet come. The wind was blowing like
| a hurricane and it made him restless and I'M
| easy. He was not afraid, for he was a very
| plucky little fellow, but as he listened to the
| wind bowling through the tree-tops and moan
| ing around the house. and heard the windows
| rattle, he thought of his mother, who must be
| somewhere out in that terrible storm, and he
| was uneasy about her. Still, he had no fear for
| her safety, as he knew that she was used to
getting over troubles, and SO at last he went to
| bed and to sleep.
| When Ted walked he was puzzled It was
| dark still, but somehow it did not seem to be
night. He could hear the wind blowing, but
| it sounded a long way Off. or as it might have
| up in blanket. There was no more of its
| moaning around the house.
| He jumped out of bed with a queer feeling
| as If something strange had happened. He
| stirred up the fire, and threw on some wood,
which made blaze. Then ne looked at the
| clock.
Half past eight ~ he said to himself. "Why,
| how is that? went to bed at ten, so it can't
be half past eight at night. But it isn't half
| past eight in the morning, for it's dark.
wonder if I've slept all night and all day."
With this he opened the back door to get
| some wood from the pile. But instead of going
| out, he started back in surprise. The doorway
| was blocked up with wall of snow. He ran
| quickly to the front door and opened it. The
wall of snow was there too, and all the win
| dows were blocked up in the same way. Ted
| understood now. 1t was half past eight in the
morning, but the house was completely buried
| in a snow-drift. He and the baby were showed
| in alone
| have said that Ted was plucky little fell
| low, and so he was; but this was terrible
| state of affairs, and for few minutes he was
scared. Showed in, with the baby to take care
| of, and without any chance of help coming to
| him, he might well feel alarmed. His mother
| had not got home, and he could not guess what
| had become of her. The very nearest neighbor
| lived five miles away, and there was no know
| ing how long it would be before anybody would
| find out what had happened.
| But Ted soon saw that getting scared would
| only make matters worse.
Ican't help mother" he said to himself
| wherever she may be and what I've got to
| do is to take care of Baby till the snow melts.
| Wonder how long that will be? Two or three
| weeks, l should think. And what are we to
| eat, wonder? Let's see."
| With that he lighted candle and went
| to the cellar. There was only q little milk
| left-about enough for Baby's breakfast, and
| Ted brought that up and set it to heat by the
| fire. The baby was awake now, and so he
| dressed her ana gave her her bread and milk
| Then he cut some bacon and fried it for him.
self, but he would not eat any bread, because
| he knew there was only part of a loaf left, and
| he must save that for Baby.
| After breakfast he began to lay his plans
| AT first he thought of digging out, but he gave
| could not carry the baby five miles in such a
| snow. He knew enough to be sure that the
| snow was not so deep everywhere as it was
| around the house. He remembered how the
| wind had blown, and knew that the house was
| buried in q drift; but he knew that there must
have been very deep snowfall to make such
| a drift and it would never do for him to try
to carry the baby through deep snow to q
| house five miles away. He must just stay
| where he was, and take care of the baby.
| The first thing to do was to see how much
! wood there was at the house. So he dug hole in
| the snow at the side of the door, and brought in
| all there was there, except one big back log,
| which was too heavy for him. As he looked
at the Oila ha saw that III would last till nipht