The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1886-07-21
INTERESTING STORY.
THE ADOPTED CHILD,

She was very fair to look upon, this Alice
st. Avon, with Der deep, wine-dark eyes,
she roseate bloom on her dimpled check,
and the willowy grace of her tall, well-de-
veloped figure. She would not ill have
graced the purple and ermine of princess
OF the blood, yet she was nothing more than
agoverness, sitting there in the gray winter
twilight, with Charley worden's weary little
head resting in her lap.
Hush !" said the child, suddenly, with
uplift ed finger, hear them laughing down
stairs. Oh, Miss st. Avon, how happy they
must be !"
Why do not you go down stairs, Char
ley, and enjoy yourself with the other chill.
dren ?'
did, Miss st. Avon, and Aunt Lois
frowned at me, and told me to go out again
with my old faded clothes. l wish had
nice clothes, Miss ST. Avon"
" Have you asked your uncle to buy them
for your"
" Uncle says l am nuisance, and he
shall have me bound out to some trades
man,"
/" Charley, | thought you had some money
of your own"
" / thought SO too" said the little fellow,
with puzzled look. When first papa
brought me here, uncle and aunt were SO
glad, and kissed me, and said what beauti.
full child was, and that they should love
me like their own. Oh, Miss Avon do YOU
suppose papa will never come home again ?.
She smoothed his faxen-gold hair tender.
ly.
{" | do not know, Charley"
But Miss st. Avon, what do YOU think ?r
do not like to think about il at all
Charley"
If she had told him what were her real
thoughts, his little heart would have been
heavier than ever. For Alice knew, from
what she had heard from time to time. that
Mr.. Worden was supposed to have beer
lost, with all the other passengers, wher
the good ship Marie Antoinette went down.
off the coast of France.
" No need to tell the child" Mrs. Parker
Worden had said and they had calmly
gone on drawing the dividends that should
have been little Charley's.
Alice did not know how cruelty the lone
ly orphan was wronged and sighted, but
she felt all her tender womanly sympathies
aroused in his behalf, nevertheless.
" Does your head ache much, Charley ?n
" II aches most all the time, Miss st
Avon. Nurse says it's because l keep tai,
ing cold, sleeping in the garrett"
But why don't you sleep with Rupert
and Alfred 2'
" They won't let me. They say 1 moan
and cry, and disturb them in my Sleep"
My poor little man !" murmured Alice,
drawing her closer to her. " Hush there
is the dinner-bell run down now"
81 don't take my dinner with uncle and
aunt and my cousins. eat with the serv-
ants"
With the servants How is that, Char
ley ?"
Alice st. Avon had been away for month
the dying-bed of her aunt, the
only surviving relative that she had, and
these later regulations were quite new to
her. n
"Aunt Lois says there are children
enough at the table, and that l must not
come there any more. 1t seems" he added,
with little piteous sigh, that am in the
way everywhere"
Poor little Charley he was not very
far wrong in the supposition that had forced
tsef upon his childish consciousness.
Alice went up with him to the lonely gar
,et, which was his slesping place now, for
.he child seemed feverish and far from well
that night. 1t was dark, dismal and bit
Ierly cold hard straw mattress, with no
pillow and an insufficient supply of
blankets, lay in the corner.
"Merciful Heaven ~ calculated the young
governess, inyoluntarily, "what q place N
Charley crept closer to her.
wouldn't mind it so much, Miss st.
Avon,n he whispered, "but am SO afraid
Of the big black rats that come out at night
and look at Inc with their bright eyes,"
"You ought not to sleep here, Charley
you, a sick child !"
Aunt Lois says must, and am afraid Of
Aunt Lois"
g Afraid? Why
She beats mel" whispered the child,
hanging his head; C she strikes me on the
ear when I dare to complain"
81 will speak to her myself. Come Char.
ley" and Alice resolutely descended the
stairs holding her little charge by the hand.
Mrs. Parker Worden was in her bedroom
dressing for ball, her long black hair
hanging loosely above her shoulders. She
looked up in surprise when Miss st. Avon
entered, but heavy frown deepened upon
her bold black brows as she saw her tiny
May AK why you have intruded upon
me, Miss st. Avon!"
ITO plead the cause of this poor child,
madam"
And who constituted you his lnterces-
scr?
My own sense of right and justice. He
is weak and i'll /; the cold garnet is no place
for him to sleep in. come to ask you, as
d favor, that he may share my room with
me.n
Mrs. Worden's eyes flashed.
g / will have no such interference with
The domestic regulations of my household.
You are dismissed from my employment,
Miss st. Avon; consider the consequences
Of your ofRcious interference at your leis-
1re."
"Alice colored deeply, but still she stood
firm.