Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1884-01-10


do7 Her little store of money was gone.
Two weeks board was due. The chilled
pavements Of early winter struck terror
to her aching frame. November was
gone; December had come, and with
December was to come that for which
she had hoped, for whom all those pretty
things were made.
She had to move. Where could she
go9 She was not ready to ask for
charity, and had she been she didn't
know how to go about it.
She sought cheap lodgings in Bleecker
street. A colored woman allowed her a
room in the attic, in which her own
family slept. On her charity Mary lived.
Back payl
Oh, mol Had her husband been q
major general, for whom big funeral
was the proper caper, and to get whose
back pay might have secured an adver
tisement Of some cute claim-agent, there
WOulu AdN0 UctA AO tAOuOlC. Dub AO
wasn't. He was simple sergeant, and
there wasn't enough pay due him to steal
even. So poor Mary had nothing in her
pocket, and nothing to promise as from
the future.
What thenY
Suffer. And that's what she did.
She pawned her baby clothes for bread,
and she pawned them for medicine, and
when the final moment came, she parted
with the last remnant, little woolen
socks included, to provide few dollars
with which to pay her doctor.
Oh, the bitterness of that Eourl
The baby was girl, bouncing, smil-
ing, sweet-faced baby girl, and the thin
faced, exhausted, heart-sick mother hug
ged it to her breast and cried over it as
if new life had come, forgetting for a
moment the cruel world in which she
was.
PART III.
DR.. Giles was not a hard man, but he
wasn't given to working for fun. He
wanted pay for what he did. And no
pay, no work. Nevertheless, swhen he
found that Mrs. Wilson had nothing
not even tag in which to wrap her new
born baby-he looked at the three-dol-
lars the poor thing had feebly handed
him He felt little mean, and finally
said; "See here, you know this won't do.
I'll let your landlady spend this money
for some clothes for the child and a
bottle, and I'll come in again
this evening" Mary broke down com
pletely at this. 1t was the first
sympathetic word she had heard,
and some people are sensitive, you
know. The next morning the doctor re-
appeared. After the usual pulse and
tongue business he said: s'Mrs. Wilson,
don't know as l have done right, but I
have done what may be for the best.
Here is an advertisement from yesterdays
Herald The family want baby, and,
strangely enough, they are my patients,
SO I know all about them. The hus-
band is to know nothing about the facts.
He has been married five years, is very
rich, and imagines he is about to be-
come a father. His wife is a charming
person, and descends to the deceit simply
that she may crafty her husbands long
ing for child can promise your baby
happy home and all the comforts of
life, but you will have to give her up alb
solutely.n
"oh, doctorp' cried the heavy-hearted
woman.
"I know it seems hard, my dear child;
but after all isn't it better for ber2-and
that's what we have to think Of
Well, to make a long story short, the
doctor finally persuaded Mary to con-
sent. She was cold and hungry and in
distress. Should she selfshly compel
her little one to share her lot when, with
a word, she could place her on plane
of comfort, and even luxury7 The
mother triumphed, and the doctor bus
tied off to please his wealthy patient
and earn another fee.
CONCLUSION.