The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1883-06-23

at once. She was pale and timid, but
there was that in her face that made me
take off my hat while l talked to her.
l don't know how to express it; but it
was as if | stood in the presence of
death, and the natural reverence of that
great mystery commanded my respect.
"What can l do for you, madam?' l
asked.
She had been looking all around her,
as if seeking something.
"You sell the goods, do you notP"
she said, eagerly.
"Yes, madam"
"You would know the articles sent
here?"
Probably"
She looked about her again, and the
color came and went in her face nerv-
ously.
II have Just come from Clutchem &
Keep" she began, in hurried tones, as
if ashamed of admitting her knowledge
of these gentlemen. ''They-had-some
things-I was forced--to-partw with"
Here she paused for moment; then
looked up at me with a faint smile.
"You hear this said so often that | will
only weary you"
Somehow or other, it seemed to me
had only then understood the possibility
of a heart sorrow being attached to the
exchange of goods such as had that day
sold.
81 am anxious to help you, madam"
And | was! | believe was growing
superstitious, too; for it seemed to me
as if a ghostly pageant was crossing and
recrossing that dim mirror, and the old
screen shook as if signs or sobs were
coming from it.
THANK you am looking for a
cedar cabinet" said the lady, gently,
(which was among the articles | parted
with to Clutchem & Keep, and am told
it was sent here for sale. wish to re-
deem it any price"
She stopped suddenly as she saw my
face change.
A cedar cabinet!
remembered it at once. The hurt
on my hand recalled it, also that it had
been labeled for that days sale.
She grew frightened at my hesitation.
"Do not say that it is gone" she
cried, rising quickly and grasping my
arm. 20, God would not so afflict me!
Look, look everywhere for it, l beg, l
pray YOU
Her hands shook so on my arm that
could feel the quivering of her thin
fingers.
tried to think to whom l had sold q
cabinet that day; then it flashed upon
catalogue.
Had l made mistake and sent it
west with the bric-a-brac lot? If so, it
could be recovered. l felt glad for my
error, but the poor little woman mistook
my silence and broke down completely,
sobbing so pitifully that 1 knew then
that some great cause was hidden be-
meath her desire to reclaim the old cabi-
net.
g 1t is more to me than life or DEATH"
she cried out passionately, looking
straight before her. at means my
children's honor. Listen, and you will
be influenced by my great need to find
this cabinet for me. | believe it con-
tains the certificate of my marriage and
my children's baptism, without which [
cannot lay claim to my husbands estate
in France. 1t is not the money want"
she added, with proud spirit; II cannot
bear to touch that, but my children
shall not be robbed of the right to their
fathers name"
She paused to look at me. felt as
if severe tension upon her nerves had
given way at last, and, crushed by her
fear of the cabinet being lostto her, her
silence and reserve had broken down
and then she appealed to me uncon-
sciously in her need.
The shadowy pageant passed to and
fro across the mirror, and as she went
on passionately with her story it seemed
to me | saw the whole sad epis ode pass
in review on the dim surface
" Fifteen years ago my husband de-
serted me. Evil influence led him
astray, and while, for my chi!dren's
sake, [ would have pardoned him,
never saw him again or heard one word
of him until | learned through the pa
per that he was dead and had left an
estate to his wife and children.
I" l could not grieve except that he
had died in his sin, unforgiven by me.
l was poor, for he left me only the
household furniture, and have toiled all
these years to maintain my children.
So, for their sakes, applied to a law
yer to obtain possession of the estate.
so, the shame, the despair, of find
ing another claimant in France to my
children name and honor.
81 must prove our claim as wife and
children, said the careful French law
yer, by the production of the marriage
and baptismal certifcatesr
"And | knew not where they were!
'The minister was dead, and the wit
nesses gone, | know not where.
81 felt as if my carelessness had dis
honored my children, and for DAYS
could get no relief from my horrible
anxiety until, by flash, as if from
heaven, L remembered that I had
placed the certificate with some other
papers in the old cabinet that | had
parted with to Clutchem & Keep. I
went to them; they had sent it here for
sale, and now YOU"
She broke down with a moan of des-
pair. 1t was more than | could stand
That cry and pitiful story forced me in
to action at once.
''You shall have back the cabinet,
madam" | said, solemnly, as if devo-
ting my life to its search.
80, sir, you will do noble deed if
Won but find IT, for mo ~ Che, o,;od |