San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1888-05-17
LITTLE ONE"

answered to any other. 1t seemed to be
part and parcel with himself, and it had
tenaciously chung to him from the hour he
had been thrown a friendless waif upon
our mercy until the present, when at 10
years of age he was no larger than are
most children of A and 8.
We were a childless couple-my hus-
band and /. Our luxurious home had
never resounded TO the pattering of baby
footsteps nor the music of baby voices,
and so when on that bitter winters night
we had found him lying in mute helpless
ness upon the threshold, we thanked God,
and at once adopted him into home and
heart. And in home and heart he had
reigned triumphant ever since!
Who he was-from whence extracted
we had never thought to question. 1t
mattered little if honor or shame was his
heritage He had come to us in time of
sorest need; he was helpless and innocent
and fair to look upon, and so we had
straightway enthroned the tiny stranger!
From the very first he was possessed of
touching, appealing sort of beauty, and
of most endearing baby ways; and as day
by day discovered some new charm in
mind or body, we grew to love him with
love that was akin to idOlatry. Oh how
we loved our Little Onel And now, when
l stand beside the mound that covers his
ashes, how the hot tears gush to my eyes!
and how throbs my heart in keenest an
guish, as ] recall the winsomeness that so
endeared him!
Had we been gifted with q prophets
vision we would have foreseen that the
Jewel had been lent us for season only,
and the blow had not then fallen so sud-
denly as to find US unprepared.
The many veined transparent temples
the large, melancholy blue eyes ever bent
upon the unseen, as it were-the gentle
tores-the spiritlike tread-told a story
all their own; but love had blinded us and
we could not read between the inesp'
For him the future was to be one I'M
ending dream of delight; for him we built
castles in Spain, and planned and boarded,
so that when manhood should come to
him he would take his place among the
proudest in the land. Could we but have
known that this frail life so dear to us,
was fast receding from our grasp-that
the tender feet were even now approach
ing the shores of the Mystic sea, think
We we would have so dreamed and
planned? True, there were moments,
even in our blindness, when vague fear
would send pang sharper than sword
thrust TO the heart, as we caught his rapt,
far away gaze, or marked an unusual
languor in his movements. But all such
fears were dismissed as quickly as they
came, and we would go on planning and
dreaming, as before.
Always a quiet child, he grew more and
more so as time sped on until now none
ever saw him engage in romp and play
like others of his age nor heard his voice
raised in boyish laugh or shout. This
was unnatural and should have caused
us timely alarm so that we might have
tried the efficacy of more vigorous meas
ures. But we were blind and could not
see what was best for the child. For
hours and hours he would amuse himself
in his own subdued fashion with his books
and toys while sat sewing near him.
And l, who loved him better than life,
was content to have it thus.
But when the twilight shadows filled
the room it was his habit to throw his
playthings aside, climb my knee, and nest
ling his golden head in my bosom, beg me
to tell him the dear old Bible stories, and
of the angels with their harps and crowns
stories to which he had listened from
infancy, but Of which he never wearied.
Then when bed time came and l had
robed him in his snowy nightdress, he
would kneel at my feet, reverently fold
his waxen hands and pray with an earnest
ness that was almost uncanny in so young
a child, after which he would coax to be
taken in my arms to be rocked and sung
to sleep. 1t was baby trick of his which
he had never outgrOwn, and one in which
l delighted to indulge him. 1t all comes
back to me-the tiny white robed form,
the grooming lullahies, the saint like
prayer, the confidi"G, golden head, the
touch of clinging arms around my neck
and great wave of agony breaks over
my soul at the retrospect.
We had made for our Little One q
downy nest; we had sheltered and hedged
him about with tenderest care; but alas!
no earthly love, however tender, could
screen him from the Destroyer! Scarlet
fever of a most virulent type broke out in
the village, and in spite of all human pre-
caution our lone eve lamb" was an early
victim How we battled with our fierce
despair as we lowered in breathless sus-
pense above his pillow. How alternately
elated we were by hope, or depressed by
foreboding, as we watched the crimson
cheek, or noted the fitful pulse, let those
tell only who have thus endured! One
by one loves tendrils were being wrenched
from their hold on the heart-one by one
our hopes were going out with the sands
of life, and we were forced to bow to
the inscrutable!
1t was a glorious evening in early
June. The sun had gone down in more
than usual pomp, leaving an afterglow Of
liquid radiance, which in turn had given
place to the solemn stars and full orbed
moon. Little One" had been lying for