Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1888-05-25

awake now, for she always hears what say
to her."
He stopped, evidently expecting me to be-
/ gin what had to say to her, and then, find
ing that only stared at him and remained
silent, he gripped my arm with his small
fingers and said:
"Tell her about it now. You can tell it
better than me, for II always begin to
cry" and he began then and got so suddenly
| violent in his sobbings that he had to hold on
to my arm with both hands and lean his face
on my sleeve.
"It's not this mother want to speak to-
It's the new one," I gently observed as soon
as the fit had passed off, "I'm afraid it's no
use speaking to her," and nodded signif-
cantly at the weedy turf.
oh, yes, it is. I often speak to her, and
she hears me and answers me- That's how
l know she's awake again." he eagerly re-
turned
SPEAKS to you? What does she sayg"
She says, Keep up your heart, Freddy;
I'll take care of YOU"
SIS that all?'
"That's all, but she says it over and over
again. Sometimes she says she's sorry I'm
so hungry, but don't think she can get out
to give me anything"
''Why2"
81 don't know. It's against the rules. The
grave diggers don't like it, One of them told
me sou
He was quite convinced that if she could
have got out she would have come, she was
SO fond of him, and that she was conscious
and alive, and that she heard every word he
uttered close to the grave. He came in
nearly every day, unless the gate was shut,
and once he had got in through the iron rail
nor CHI J,,1t fol- I;
in beside her, as he thought it must be
warmer, and wanted to get quite close into
her arms But the only answer was the old
words, keep up your heart, Freddy; I'll
take care of you" He had heard of heaven
and had been told that she was there, but if
SO, he was sure that the hole he had seen in
the turf was the gate of it, and that she was
not far inside, or she could not have heard
and answered him.
led him out of the burying ground and
down by Lochend's Close his terror increas-
ing at every step, though I assured him that
his "other mother" would not dare to touch
him while was by,and that was going to
brighten her out of i'll using him in future.
Contrary to my expectation, found the
woman at home-a great 1usty Irishwoman,
with a fist like sledge hammer, voice like
dragon and a breath like an empty whisky
slip of boy she set down the child she held
on the floor and made wrench at him, say
ing in her harshest tones
$50 you've come back from jail, have YOU.
you young thief and vagabonds After being
away two days nearly, when I wanted YOU to
nurse the child. I'll just kill you for it."
The boy chung to me in desperate terror
"Oh, take me back to jail" he screamed;
"take me back where the policemen were so
kind to me, and gave me toys to play with
before big fire. I want to go back to Jail,
and l won't be frightened-oh I wont! I
won't! and I won't cry when they take me in
before all the people,"
"You hear the young vagabondl" cried the
woman as disengaged her clutch with no
gentle hand. "Who could make anything of
such little divil?"
"Now, look here,n said sternly. s'You've
starved that child till he grabbed at food on
the street like wild beast. If could have
got hold of you yesterday you would have
been in Jail now, am certain"
The woman held up her hands in affected
amaZement
"Well, now, that is like his lies. Starved
him9 and it's myself would give him the
very bite out of me mouth, and does it, in
deed, every day in the world It's not much
-
ness and attention than my own flesh and
blood"
''He does not seem to be greatly in love
with his home," I remarked as the boy chung
to me and continued to implore me to take
him back with me, "and one touch of your
great fist would drive him into the graven
''Them that does wrong is always afraid,n
she answered volubly; land isn't it right for
me to check him for stealing on the streetsa
as l must say haven't slept wink since
heard of it from the neighbors. Och, Freddy,
Freddy your own mother would be ashamed
of ye," and SO she went ON with an eloquent
sentence half a mile long.
At length I managed to make it plain to
her that the boy had been starved and cruelty
neglected, and fairly frightened her into SUBJ
mission by showing her the handouts and
threatening to take her away then and there.
She believed he had been hungry at times, as
she was herself, but she would promise that
it should not happen again; and as for
thrashing him, she had not the heart to lay
finger on a motherless child. She had never
done it and she never would.
made no comment on the fulsome prom
ises, but turned to my boy and said
CHOW, Freddy, you hear what your step
mother promises? She's not to thrash you
for this mistake, and she's to give you enough
to eat, so that you may never be tempted
again. You know the way back to the police
office?"
"Yes-oh, yes!" he eagerly responded.
swell, if you don't get enough to eat, or if
she i'll uses you, come up to the police office
and ask for me- You understands
He nodded feebly, but the tears slowly
crept into his eyes, for he had evidently ex-
pected that I was about to take him back to
the rare warm heaven in which he had spent
day and night. l held out my hand to
him, but he had not the sense to shake it.
But, as I turned away, he reused up suffi-
GENTLY to grip me by the coat sleeve and say,
in a low whisper, meant for my ear alone:
Couldn't you get them to let out my other
mother?"
shook my head, and laid a gentle hand on
his shoulder as I answered:
"No, Pm afraid the grave digger was right,
and it's against the rules But you keep on
thinking Of her words-you see?'
He nodded in the same spiritless, fearful
way, and so left him.
I do think that the woman was really terri
fed, and meant to keep her promise. She
seemed laundering, impulsive ignorant
creature, who might have been as easily
swayed to goodness as to cruelty. But when
was there a drunkard whose promise was
worth the breath it cost? She meant it when
it was uttered, as thousands have done before
hT. but the moment drink got into bar hnnd
it was all forgotten, and she was savage and
pitiless as any wild beast
Freddy, ALSO had fully intended to come
to me on the very first occasion, but with
deep cunning the woman made him premise
on his knees to remain silent, saying with
Mortified energy that she would murder him
on the spot if she saw him go near the police
office.
So the starving went on as before, and
Freddy would have sunk altogether but for
his visits to his real mother in the Canongate
burying ground If she could not come out
OF the ground and give him bread, she could
give him sympathy, and when he had that
he forgot all about hunger. Besides, although
the baby was only 'another sister," Freddy |
had got to like it, and could not bear the |
idea of being parted from it, as his stepmother
declared he would be if he went to me and
showed the bruises on his body.
That baby could not speak and had scarcely |
tooth in its head, yet Freddy and it held