The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1885-10-01
Naming the Baby.
By REV. 7. I. MUNGER.


Of the hills turned to a delicate green
not the solid color of grass, but that more
| living and almost spiritual tint OF grow
ing grain as if ''the body that God gave"
! for food would clothe itself in a more Vi
tai form. For California has no grass,
but only self -sown grains that never fail
to keep their law Of resurrection Flow
ers spring up where the foot had tTodden
only dusty and seemingly seedless path.
Fresh leaves came out on the crooked
boughs of the oaks, smiling on their Year
old solnbor brothers, that one by one fell
to the ground. The ditch ran full, chang
ing its tone from day to day as the rats
| increased. The reservoir reached the
| tap of the dam and John opened the
| gates to lessen the pressure, VcXed that
the water should run to waste for lack of
a saw, whose journey seemed to partake
| of the deliberation with which Uncle
| Moses had selected it. He watched the
dam caFefully but he had not estimated
| the force and volume of the floods that
| sweep ioWn the vast sides of these noun
! tains, whose measure always deceiVes
the eye nor had he learned the porous
nature Of soil never consolidated by
| frost and unmlXed with clay; literally
"sumntr dust, and with as little c0he-
! sion.
One lay he appeared at the dinner ia
| bic, drenched, weary and anxious
1.-The dam is leaking. Margaret. Can
| Won let me have Nh Gee this afternoon r'
Il | ~ \, (,
| her baby The sky shut down solid.
black and close over the earth, and the
rain fell IN sheets. The brook no longer
sang. but roared angrily past the door.
casting DOW and then fringe Of yellow
foam across the Threshold Night drew
ON, auG john had not returned. Bccom-
ing anxious at his d.!ay She thought She
would step up to the dam and ascertain
the cause The ram had ceased to fall.
and in th- west vas one clear. dceu riff
in the solid tirmamrnt Of biackncss,
through which the sun shot great shafts
Of yellow light. She husLed her baby to
sleep, laced him in his cradie-no mod
| ern thing ii WoNen Ni5luW and hung ON
soft springs; but the traditional cradle of
| New England, lew. broad and substan-
tiaL She kissed the child on cheek and
| brow and eyrs-a mothers kiss never
Wakrns a baby and stepped out. The
water had fallen a little and left the path
free \ torebodng seized her. and She
went back to her child, kissed him again
and again, and sat moment by his side,
| half inclined not to leave him Ah prO-
phctic heart of woman. Man grasps
causes and thinks he can read conclu-
sons Int thou scest hy direct light
| not wholly, hut enough t. SHOW that Love
alone sees the eud from the beginning
and knows all things. Recovering her
self, She started up again, paused 4 mo-
ment at the door, and turned to take
another look at the child across whose
face played that peaceful smile which
! makes it not amiss to say that their angels
| Ito always behold the face of the Faith
e. \ stray beam Of the yellow light
stole through the window and played on
| his features and amongst his golden hair.
"Oh he is one of ChrlSt'S own little
ones. and he will take care of him. :"
In a moment she was climbing the path
! that led to the mill, where she tound her
husband and Ah Gee casting gravel into
the p0nC, hoping it might be sucked into
the suspicious leaks. John greeted her
with a word. but did not cease from his
work. Every few minutes he ran few
| PAGES down to see how the dam was act
| ing. Margaret was frightened at his 81
lence and the fearful energy with which
lie toled, yet hardly understood the rea-
son. Returning, at last, with bound,
he seized ner in his arms, shouted to Al
Gee to stand back, and bore her up the
bank Just in time to turn and see the
whole structure-dam and ill-move, at
first slowly, and then faster, and in a sec
ond more, with one swift leap down the
| gulch, IA hideous mass OF unpcnt waters
and timber and earth. In moment it
was ont Of sight, lost in the twilight
The baby - moaned Margaret
John had not thought of the danger to
his house. Down the slope he plunged
in great leaps, as if he would oyertake
the tioo0. But what was his swlftness to
such waters as these Margaret follow
ed with All Gee. They found John stand
ing where his house had been dazed and
peering into the darkness as if he had
lost his way.
''Oh, john bring me my baby :" cried
Margaret, and sank unconscious to the
ground. Not sign Of the house remain
ed. The waters had done their work
thoroughly The heavy timbers Of the
mill had struck the slight edtice and
borne it with them into the Stanislaus
| Just below. John carried his wife to Il
little hut near by, in which All Gee wash
ed and cooked, and rushed out into the
darkness. Finding his way as he best
could through the guich, now almost fill
ed by the stream, he soon reached the
| point where it entered the river. Moth
| ing was TO be seen but the white, tossing
waters OF the raging torrent not a beam
or board of mill or house. Too well he
knew that they were already far down
| the river, and that nothing was to be
| gained by following their course, even
were-it possible. The current ran swift
and deep between cliffs that rose abrupt
from the edge, leaving no place for the
about the rapids Of Niagara, and you
| have the Stanislaus and the Tuolumne
when. they are swollen by floods. He
paused and strained his ear if he might
catch the wall Of his infant. The clouds
| had withdrawn, and the moon came out
in full lustre, blazing almost like the sun
through the thin, purged atmosphere,
and lighting up the crests of the waves
thrown high by the immense submerged
rocks-a hell of rushing, seething waters
and the light reflected by them seemed
to John like CLEANS from Hell.
"a miracle could not save the child, y
he said to himself. He thought of Him
who stiiled the waves of Galee. "He
could not still these waves" he almost
said, "even to give me back my child"
He returned to the hut, his mind
steadied by his despair, where he found
All Gee calmly preparing tea and mum
bling in language he now seldom used,
and Margaret in deathlike swoon.
Slowly he brought her back to conscious
ness, and all night sat by her side and
soothed her head with his strong hands,
uttering words of hope he did not feel
and so the weary hours passed. All Gee
by some strange freak betook himself to
washing and ironing whatever garment
of the child he could find that would
admit of these processes. Whether from
some dull sense that when these little
vestments should again meet the eyes of
the mother they might seem to her like
the white linen of the saints, of which
she had read to him, or from some obsti-
nate feeling that the child would need
%lxn,,, 80, I l~,,k