Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1888-12-21

"; was s, sighed Mrs. Clapp, speaking already
IN the past tense.
An he's powerful good man."
There amt no better"
queer such good folks hadn't a family
Wen, they did have one child"
Do tell. l never heard of it before
Boy or glrl?" -'ie'
Boy, believe Law, Mis- Truo was
most ticlled to death about it. she was
as proud as an old hen with one chick i9 h h"t
II didn't last long. was sent for to nurse
her, and she was a dreadful sick woman
out OF her head, just raving about tina,
! Daoy-goln on about what she was menu
/ ing to do Tor it. She had it all planned
! OUT Tor lifetime how she was asoin to
rock him to sleep NIGHTS, and how. by
and by, he was agoin' to set to the table in
a high chair alongside of her, and, finally
how he was to take the farm and live WITH
them always. My! she was ra1nblin on
SO fast and smiling away 10 herself
While the rest Of us-me and the doctor
ana the deacon-was jest fighting for
that baby's life. And, at last, when she
come to herself, there warnt nothin' but
e dead baby to show her"
Dear, dear! did she take on much?" said
fldeila, dropping her knitting in her lap.
lake on? Well, not like some folks. She
''lunt screech nor cry, but she jest turned
awful white, and her eyes rot big and
bad lookin'. 1t was enough to ha'nt Won
to see 'em-jest moaned and caught ahold
OF the deacon's coat-sleeve as if she
needed something to comfort her. It did
seem g if her heart was broke sure. She
never had no more children"
| Il guess that's why they've been SO set
on each other" unused Fidelia.
We'll, as to that, there amt no tellin',
Some few folks are so-considerate and
feelin'-but mighty few. Most married
folk get tired of Twin together, .or, at any
rate, they appear so at home. The deacon
and Mis- True they's been like they was
a-courtin' all these years. He's done all
the chores for her that mortal man could
do, and she's been as sweet to him-well,
away out there on the barn"
"Hark! What's that?" said Fidelia,
holding up one hand warningly.
1t was only the sound of weak voice
above and a deeper voice trying to answer
soothingly.
While the two women had talked the
afternoon waned. The rain seemed like
fast-falling tears. The flowers, some of
them, were closing drowsily. The shad-
ows were deepening The light-green
foliage of birch tree near the house
looked gray i'll the twilight. Through the
open chamber window above sounded the
sleepy trill of a bird, safely snuggled in
his nest under the young leaves.
Cu.iously enough this tender note alone
had the power to rouse the dying woman
She had always been in close Sympathy
with all fair, helpless things, flowers,
young birds and infants. Now, in her
extremity, this pierced to her heart and
woke her.
where's the baby?" she whispered.
"Why don't they bring the baby to me?"
She was living over again her only sick
ness. She fancied herself young once
more, young and filled with q strange
great happiness.
The years between had vanished. They
were happy years, too, happier than most
people enjoy, for her desires had been
easily gratiied, her ambitions were of the
simplest kind. To live within their small
means; to lay aside little each year; to
keep the house immaculate and the flowers
thriving; to know peaceful nights and
in trouble; to sit in the village church
regularly on Sundays, and to be sure that
the grass grew green and the white violets
fourished over~a certain small mound in
the graveyard; these were the utmost
limits e her hopes. Her ono great grief
had been tender memory, and all the days
since had been prosperous and serene,
unclouded by one harsh look or word.
Now, suddenly, she was young again,
young wife i'll her new home, with all her
humble household treasures new about her
and this thrill of expectation i'll her breast.
where's the baby? Why don't they
bring the baby to me?" she repeated, eager
ly. Her husband leaned forward, press
ing her hand in both of his.
"The baby?" he said; what baby?"
For him the sad present had swallowed
up the past.
sour baby" she whispered with a look
of rapture in her faded eyes.
"Oh, Lois!"
He bent his head still lower. That
shadowy child of theirs seemed hardly
more than u dream to him. He had never
held it or played with it, or talked to it in
imagination, rs she had.
Ills name is Josiah, for you, continued
the dying woman, trying to tighten her
clasp of the hand holding hers, and look
ing up earnestly at him.
@He will be little 10. Perhaps his eyes
are like yours; and he will be good man
like you, I hope. We will teach him to be
good, won't we?"
"Yes, yes, Lois.
l DuU WHY uOA CACS OAi4S AAAA W AAO.
want so much to hold him, only once,
for little while. I want to feel his little
hand on my face and kiss his little cheek.
Please tell them to bring him."
"Hush, hush, Lois, dear"
Perhaps they don't know where his
clothes are. 1 laid them oil ready in the
top drawer of the bureau in the spare room,
his little blue socks, and his shirt, and the
white slip--they said he must wear slips
at first, not dresses. Everything's ready.
A boy, you said. Oh, do let me hold him
now"
"Ah, you have brought him to me at
last" she cried, with hands outstretched.
"Quick, give him to me here, close to my
heart. Oh, how dear, how beautiful he
is. 1 had not thought he would be half SO
beautiful"
She held her arms. as if they encircled a
little form, and bent her face over them in
tenderest mother fashion.
aMy baby! my baby!" she whispered;
then, with a sigh OF utter content, sank
back upon herspillows.
The women down. stairs listened for the
sound of voices to begin again, expecting
to be summoned, but no such summons
came.
Night and darkness fell in the garden
and closed about the house. Fidelia put
| , J,n,,, on+cilo the chamber door and shut