Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1886-07-06
THE swlrcH.rENDEws CHILD.
A TREScH sroSY.

anon, the blo.somins spple.,rees. II n
early morning. aud all is hsh, aud fresh
ness. The door opens. man appears at
the threshold. . smile on bis face. aud an
e.pse,.n, look on hi. eyes. There u, a
mo,emen, behind the trunk OF an apple
tree. The man. smile grow. broader,
and. from the tree. like Dpsd. ru'he'
. charming little il.,en.hlircd girl, Who
,hros. herself. With = burst Of laughter,
into hi. arms. =,
"M.y take the little one, Celins ,
.,k. the father. At these words lovely
blonde. the mother of the child. made
her appearance. ,
"As.in :" she said with shade OF
annoyance. ,,
"oh, We share her fairly. said the
man. with the kinde.i and mos, pa,ernal
smile. III you knew" he resumed,
"ho~ quickly the hours pass when she u
down there with me. =,
"Doa', you think | kno~ when ! had
them 80 long 10 her absence ? Aimee
grow. more restless and troublesome
every day. l, !. dangerous TO let her 70
with you.
"wh., do you mean ," '.id the man.
,urnins pale.
81 mean ,h., | am afraid OF your rail-
road with IL. train. and locomotives.
"You are very foolish"
Leave her here. | can hardly breathe
while my little girl j, down there. 1t Is
fish,ful To think Of. bu, she might get
away and be killed"
"Doa, talk 50. Csllne."
"sb. nigh, run away While you are
a, the switch, and IL you lef, !, TO look
after her. you would fail IN your duty.
aud nigh, be the cause OF dreadful
disaster" go,
"oh, Celine. | beg Of you. don't
cried Laurence. who shuddered al the
idea. The young woman did not insist.
The .wi,eh.,endsr gradually recovered
himself Ny poor Aimee :" he cred.
embracing the child fran,ieAlly. "l' IL
TOO bad. Celine 1, IL shame TO irish'en
me .o." Celine smiled. and the oon'et-
..,ion ended =, usual with these words
from Laurence "You will come for her
=, noon"
Little by little their tenor. faded
away. Laurence reasoned with him.
self =.
"The child be said. els familiar
with the passage Of the trains. u Is true
bu, she /, old enough to comprehend the
danger" And ,hi, apprehension grad.
ullly vanished.
One evening. however. when be went
home he found he had been preceded by
the rumor Of an aeeiden, which had oe-
Cured a, = neighboring station. a
brakeman bad been crushed by an eA-
pres. usin. Celine questioned her hu..
! band while they were =, supper. l. II
true ,h., Simon |. killed. she asked.
NO." replied Laurence. "he was IN
sre., danger, ba, be escaped. thanks to
hi. wonderful eoolness.
"Then he Is no, dead. said Celine.
"No; and ye, the whole train wen,
over him. When Simon saw !, Was too
late TO save himself. he laid down In the
middle Of the track. and when the train
passed by he got up again safe and
sound. saS him and asked him how
|, made him feel. A, first. he said.
uben the engine wen, over him. be VAS
very warm. after that the time seemed
long. Ths, va. all. You know ,h.,
Simon /. no, easily frightened. lie Is
ready TO 20 to work assin,"sddsd Liu-
renee TRANQUILITY.
But Celine's snSie,iss were aroused
afre.h. Some time after ,ba, the hours
Of service were changed. and Laurence
took the night section. He could nc
longer think Of taking Aimee with him
One evening. however. . poor woman IN
the village Was taken very Ill. the doc,
tor who came wrote prescription, and
said 10 the neishbop he found there
: "These medicines can only be had Ia
the town, aud you mus, wai, for them.
L., one OF you 20 to the railroad station
where there is portable pharmacy. and
ask the s,a,ion.mas,er on my account
for a little laudanum. That will quie
; III. pain till you can have the prescrip
tons. Which Of you will go''
"Celine! Celine." said several voices
II was certain that the station. mas,sI
, would no, hesitate 10 give her the medi
cine.
The young woman thought ~ first o
leaving Aimee. but. As she had beef
, particularly restless all day. Celine con
. eluded to take her. They had to pas
. L.urence's pos, to 90 to the station
! He saw them coming. and as soon q
! they were within hearing. began 4
/ question them. =,
"Old Gertrude 10 very III, and ! ~
going TO the station for medicine"
"That's right. But let me hav
9 Aimee; / viii keep her until you com
] back"
Celine lifted the little girl over th
J fence to her father, who took the pre-
4 cious burden In his arms and reiurne
/ with her to his box. before which lam
2 was burning. All around dsrkne,
= covered the tracks, which crossed ese
= other In every direction. Il would nc