The Penn's Grove record., 1888-08-18
THE LAKE-BABY.

THE LAKE-BABY.
The lake Of Karka Is large; a gray
sheet Of slow. scarcely ripping water,
bordered all around with seedy marshes:
and back of these waste lands, the
vivid green of the silver.boled birches,
and the sombre verdure of the aromatic
pines.
1t is a country of great space all
about the Lake Of karka, q lonely
livid land that looks as il it were silent
ly p~ulsating with the hope and expec-
tation of humanity to crowd, and till,
and sow, and reap Its meagre soil.
To be sure. there is the small village
of Oloi on the eastern shore of the
lake, a handful of pink and green
houses, surrounded by deep soft
meadows and rough rail fences; the Oat
Gelds sloping down to the sluggish
waters edge. and, wind blown, lying
over with fresh kisses for the little lap
ping waves. On a sandy hillock stands
the church, too, the Church of st.
Isaac with Its FIVE gilded, pear shaped
cupolas that sparkle in the sunshine,
and within its two splendid pillars Of
malachlte on either side the iconostasis
these, green and cleaning like dead
emeralds, are the gift Of Prince Okanin,
whose palace stands at the southern
end Of the Lake Of Karka.
What a grand, beautiful thing the
palace of Prince Okanin was. At least
80 thought all the peasants roundabout,
and especially all those who lived in tile
little village Of Oloi, because they saw
1t always.
It was made OF warm looking,
creamy terra Gotta bricks, and had a
long front full of wide windows and
three turrets, n at the east, one at
the west and the highest In the center.
1t always looked as though heaven
loved it, and as II the sun ever shone
upon it by day, and the moon and stars
by night. because of Its glowing yellow
ish tint.
l'rince Okanin did not live there,
however, beautiful as his place was,
he spent most Of his time, people said,
In Petersburg and Moscow. Last
he came home, and also the
princess, his wife. a frall, fair. sweet
lady. whom the peasants saw some
times standing on the balconies In a
charming white gown, holding her
daughter In her arms-a baby still in a
wooden long coat and furred sleeves,
and hardly able to speak.
swell, WELLS Marlanka, the wife of
Ivan Ivanovitch, the carpenter, said as
she famed her smoking fire. sit is
indeed the luck for some and the little
for others. There is the princess with
and palaces, and gems, and,
greatest of all, a babyl whilst I and
Ivan Ivanovitch. we have nothing. We
do nothing but fight the cold and the
hunger in winter, and the floods in
and the drought in summer.
And so it goes, SO 1t goesl"
flush, tush, Marlanka!' the good
priest answered her, as he stopped for
a draught of water, on his way, "'tis
a curse to him that muir.
murs; and il all 1 hear be true, the
Princess Okpnin is none Too happy q
lady, after ALL"
And at this Marianka and Ivan, her
husband, both pricked up their ears
and stopped their work, with nplifted
eyes.
"Yes, yes," murmured the priest.
"Stay, now. and tell us how that
can bep" they cried In a breath.
"Oh, never mind, never mind" and
the priest turned away.
swell, yes, but we do mind. Come,
tell us, you are wise. Now tell us how
1t is possible for a lady with a good
husband, and riches, aud a warm pal
ace here, and another there, and so on,
and large fires, and many furs, and
servants, and the child we saw last
summer-why, it must be good two
years or three years old now-how can
'uch a happy, God loved lady be un-
happy, sayl"
The priest turned back again into
little sodden yard where Ivan and
stood before the door of their
hut. He looked around fearfully for
An instant. and then, laying his finger
across his lips, he whispered quite low
and very swiftly:
"Prince Okanln, 1 have heard, Is a
Ivan Ivanovith and Marianka, his
wife, shrank back to their threshold,
pale and dismayed.
And" continued the priest. follow
ng them and knocking on the damp
with his cane, sit i'll BELTS a
of honest, loyal peasants like you
% be envylng an unfortunate lady
whose lord may before long be on his
weary way to Siberial"
Ivan and Marianka shuddered as
hey crouched back still further into
heir cabin.
sand the child" murmured Marian
"a, with a sigh.
"Yes, yes, the child; the miserable
me whose parents it may never see
Ifter its first year Of lifel'
"What u woe, what a woel" Ma
'lanka falls upon her knees before the
con in the corner, and murmurs a
hort prayer.
'"That is better-much better.n the
,ood priest says as he goes on his way.
For some days after Marianka prayed
or the princess and for her child, and
after all, she could not help, down
n her inmost soul, thinking how much
nore agreeable and full of wisdom it
would have been had the good Provi-
sent her q child and left the
Princess without one.
However, after a little MarIanka had
many other things TO think Of; to help
o thresh out the oats, to dry the seeds,
o make her own sacques and aprons,
o visit her neighbors and to gossip |
With them in low, mysterious whispers
bout the possible fate of Prince Okla.
in.
WHARF mas hep Well. no one knew. ]