Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1888-12-03
MISS PAPA.


Before sitting foot upou the platform Of
The car n descend the man toos ths child In
his arms and klsssd Der, and then replaced her
CD the ground. The attls one cried, Good
ty, TapAT
whsu he -as upon the car she gazed al
him With two little anxious eyes. and 70
peated, "6ood-by, papa"
When the signal for the Descent was gwen
she clasped her hands and kept repeating the
single word papa" until she vas sure that
PAPA could No longer hear her. Then she
vent on 10 the school hou.s close by, where
shs spent the day.
When evening came abe vas always the
frrt at ID. opening OF the shaft, and Michel
Plsrron was always the first uian who came
up A. at his departure, he lifted the child
In his arms and she threw her arms around
his neck, crying, "Papaf'
The miners had heard her repeat these two
syllables ~ often, and had been No struck by
tho strange passion which she put into them,
that they gave her the name Of Miss Papa
And certainly no name .ss ever more ap-
plicabis Her father was everything 70 her.
Her mother had teen dead a long time, she
had scnrcely known ser she had only him
All the memories of her childhood we're filed
with him To her his great rough hands had
been as gentle rs wDman'a For his hard.
grimy face had always worn tender smile.
For her this man had become n woman and
child at the same time
An how size loved her father, and how
terrified she was every morning when she
saw him descend into that great black hole,
Of which M one could see the bottom
One day miner held her over ths mouth
Of the shaft and she had gard down into
the dark depths Uttering cry Of terror,
she drew bnek
Papa goes down there she thought.
"Oh. II be- should never come upf'
And TINT day, when Michel took her in
his arms as usual aud kissed her, she chung
more tightly than ever TO his neck, and said
to him.
"You will come up, won't your
"Of course, my little one
"1s there any danger tell me, papar
why no, little coward
Docs any one-can any one-ds down
therer
"IIave no fear. replied Michel. laughing.
III will not die without letting you know"
"Ahi good-by. papa
All that her father said was gospel truth TO
her, and size went TO school completely ress-
sured
But the memory OF that black gulf into
which her eyes had plunged could not be ef-
faced and from that time she WAS afraid
every morning and tr.nbled every ev.ning.
she feared that her father would never re-
turn from those mysterious depths into
which she had seen him descend
Was It presentmentf Who knowsl
One day the report suddenly spread that an
explosion had occurred In the mine. Ina
moment. time A crowd had gathered Mt the
shaft From all directions people wild with
terror came focsing to the spot. or all
those buried far below Their. how many would
ever se the light againi
Aichel's daughter was Mt school She
knew nothing u II. and, besides. II any one
had spoken II it before her would she have
compr-hendedi
Could she know. poor little one, what an
explosion wnsf No. But At her age one
knows already what death is: one under
stands. at her age, when one sees tnanimste,
mutilated bodies extended upon the ground;
and tho approaches to the shaft were strewn
with them whcu she arrived that evening to
meet her father
She WAS stupcfled for moment and then
the truth suddenly flashed upon her. she had
seen those men go down living, those men
whom she knew we'll. who had kissed her
many a time, and now they were brought up
dead Would they bring up her father like
themi
This thought distracted her. She began to
run wildly among the debris. which they had
brought up from tho nine, crying: "Papai
papa papa"
There were. 1t is true. many others who
cried ami who called Papsr but not one in
such despairiug accents The others they
drove back, hut no one could be found to
push her away They let her run, poor child,
from one body Ia another, sometimes stopping
before a d,stgured face hesitating for mo-
meut as It -ne feared she might recognize her
father
No, he was not among tho dead, She grew
calmer, and sought among the living He
was not there She questioned every one,
but no one had seen him.
OF the sixty miners who went down in the
morning forty five had come up alive; four
teen were dead There remained but one to
be accounted FOR, that one was Michel
She had made them explain all that to her
Ipy ouS', y" ", ' IN ' az, 49,, u az y,