The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1884-08-29
Il ADOPTED CHILD.

The two tliatched cottages stood side
by side at the foot ofa hill, not very far
from o wellsknown bathing resort.
Lie two peasants worked very hard in
their unfertile fields to earn enough for
the support Of their children. There
were four to each household. Beforethe
two adjoining doors the little swarm of
children frolicked from morning till
evening. In both families the Oldest
Two were 6 years and the youngest Is
months old for in both houses the mar
rlages and births took place almost
simultaneously.
The two mothers could scarcely dis
tinguish their respective children in the
general mix-up; ond the two fathers al
ways made mistakes. The eight names
became entangled in their brains, al
ways got confounded with one another:
and when they wanted to call any par
ticular child, each father would call a
wrong name three times before getting
a right one.
The first Of the two dwellings-that
nearest to the railroad station at Role
port, where the baths were-was occu-
pied by the Tuvache family who ha d
three girls and one boy; the other build
ing sheltered the Vallin family, who had
three boys and one daughter.
The whole of them lived with diff
Guilty upon soup, potatoes and fresh air.
At 7o'clock in the morning, at noon,
and at 6 o,clocksin the evening, the
housewives assembled their little ones
to give them pap-just- as herders of
geese call their birds together. Accord
ing to age the children took their places,
in a row atthe wooden table, made
shiny by fifty years of usage. The
Youngest child of all could hardly get
its mouth to the level of the table. Be-
fore themzwere then placed deep plat
tiers full of bread stepped in the same
water that the potatoes, half a cabbage
and three onions had been boiled; and
the whole rank ate until fully satisfied.
The mother herself fed the little one
with a spoon. A little bit of,meat in
the pot ongSunday was a regular feast;
and on such occasion the father would
always stay later at the table, and ex-
claim I'D be mighty glad to have this
@ every day!" gyssaase
One August afternoon a light carriage
suddenly drew up before the two cot
tages, and the young woman, who held
the reins herself, said to the gentleman
seated beside her:
"Oh! Henry, just look at that lot Of
children! Isn't it pretty to see them
tumbling about in the road like that?"
The man answered nothing, being ac-
customed to these sudden bursts of adj
miration, which were q pain and almost
a reproach forrhim. - u
The young woman said again: 4
II Unjust really kiss them! Oh! how I
should love to have one of them; that
little n there, the little tiny one!"
And leaping lightly from her carriage,
she ran to the children, seized hold of
one of the youngest-Tuvache's baby
and, lifting him i'll her arms, she kissed
him passionately on his dirty face, on
his blonde, curly and d~ust-covered hair,
on his little fists, which he brandished
convulsively in the effort to free himself
from her tiresome caresses.
Then she got into her carriage again,
and drove off at full speed. But the
next week she returned, and sat right
down in the road herself. took the little
one in her arms, stuffed him with cakes,
gave sweetmeats to all tine other chill
dren, and played with them just as if
she were q child herself-while her hus-
band waited patiently for her all the
time in the elegant carriage.
She returned after that, got acquaint-
ed withsthe parents, visited them every
day, came always with her pocket full
of sweetmeats and small change.
She was q Madame Henri d'Hubi-
eres.
One morning she came; and her hus-
band also descended with her from the
carriage. This time, without stopping
tonotice the children, allof woom knew
her we'll now, she advanced into the
peasants dwelling.
They were both there, the parents,
+ busy cutting wood for cooking their
soup; they arose in surprise, offered
chairs, and waited to see what wa 60
ing to happen. Then the young wom-
an, in a broken and trembling voice,
began:
my good people, have come to
see you because-because I would like
Il wouldlike to take your-your lit
tie boy home with me-"
The two peasants, utterly Supplied
md unable to comprehend, answered
not a word.
She paused for breath, and went on:
"We have no children, we are all
alone-my husband and ]. We would
cake good care Of him. Are you will
ing?n" az,
The peasant woman began to under
stand. She asked:
"You want to take Chariot from us ?"
All ben non!-noi ndeed!"
Then NJ. d'Hubiers broke in:
1'My wife has not explained herself
well. We want to adopt him: but he
will come to see you. If he should turn
out we'll, as we have every reason to be-
lieve, he willlbe our heir. IF, by n
possible chance, we should have other
children he will share our property
equally with them. But if he should
not turn out according to expecta-
tions, then, upon, his coming of age, we
would settle on him a sum of 10000
francs, which would be at once placed
to his credit in notary's hands. And
as you have of course been taken into
consideration, you will receive regular
ly during your whole life an allowance
Of 100 francs o month. Now, do you
understands"
The farmers wife had already risen
to her feet in high fury:
"You want me to sell you Chariot?
All! I should say %notl-that is a nice
thing to ask ofe mother!--Ah! I should
say not! That would be an abomina-
ton 2"