Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1888-02-17


at last, awkwardly flor l am not a man OF
tact at any time), but to the point. ''Yo on
accepted the care of little Eva, as a commits.
sion from heaven when strange fate brought
her to your door, and why may l not accept
the care of both of you as my commission
until something better can be done!"
The effect of this speech was simply start
ling. Miss Adele flushed and turned pale by
turns but she said, looking straight at me,
with womanly courage flashing from her
large violet eyes: ''Sir, you have been SO
kind to my dear little Eva that will not
believe you intend less to me-"
Good knows that l do not" I replied,
feelingly. "Pardon me, but your little charge
has given me some idea of how you are still
ated; | would like to befriend you both while
you need friend"
Miss Adele searched my face long and
earnestly to discover if perchance there
lurked some sinister motive there before she
said, ''Sir, your offer is very extraordinary
one.n
''Not more so than your own course in
sacrificing yourself and all that you possessed
to this child's causen
s'But that was the will of heaven for me, -
Miss Adele said with deep seriousness, II
moment, ''we do indeed need a friend"
''Do you suppose | would trespass longer
upon your privacy were it not sol asked
earnestly; may, trust me and you shall have
no cause to regret it!'
Then Miss Adele spoke out like the large
souled woman that she was, 81 will trust you,
sir, for my little Evas sake"
Matters proved quite as bad as feared.
ThaU ot tha an6 of thair and
no immediate prospect for getting more
opened before them. Miss Adele, whose
musical gifts had been recognized as pre-
eminent in her native village, had thought it
would be easy enough to secure pupils in a
great city like New York; but alas! from
bitter experience she had learned that this
commercial Mecca toward which SO many
young aspirants for success turn their foot
steps held but disappointment for her.
The end of long discussion on the pros
and cons involved, resulted in Miss Adelle's
accepting assistance from me as a loan, and
I, in turn, promised her pupils from among
my friends, taking upon my shoulders the
doubtful task Of coercing all the fathers and
mothers of my acquaintance into giving
their children over to her training, begin
ming with my own married sister And it
was fortunate that made my beginning
there, else it is probable that l should have
miserably failed in my undertaking, for my
sister, Mrs. Merwin-informed me scorn
fully when I laid my plan before her, Il
cannot be thankful enough, Tom, that l am
the first one to whom you unfold your Quix-
otto scheme, for nothing could be more
ruinous to girls prospects, situated as Miss
Adele is, than to have bachelor like your
self going around advocating her cause.
Just take me to see the girl, and if she is not
a mere adventures you may count upon my
doing what can for her."
That my sister was wholly satisfied with
Miss Adele will go without the saying when
I tell you that she took her home within the
week as musical governess to her own chill
dren, and personally solicited patronage for
her among her ':dear 500 friends"
In less than three months from the day
that first discovered Eva Miss Adele found
herself with more work upon her hands than
she could easily attend to, and | found my
self-but no. I will tell you about that later,
for now comes the most remarkable part of
this narrative (and there is nothing so very
remarkable in the story of free man who is
often thrown into the society of good and
beautiful woman falling in love with herr,
and that which emphasizes the fact that
truth is stranger than fiction.
One day there drew up before my sisters
door the well known equipage of one of the
citys most successful bankers, and from it
aighted a gentleman who eagerly requested
to see Mss Adele. The result of that visit
was nothing short of the restoration of little
Eva to her parents and home, for she was
proven to be the long lost and sadly mourned
daughter of the banker, stolen by former
servant, the only object that could be dis
covered to eXtort money for her return In
order probably to render the scheme success
full, the child had been taken far away, where
it would be difficult to trace her. The mys-
FERROUS death of the woman had interfered
with the original plan, and left no clew by
which the agonized parents could possibly
discover their child, and long since she had
been given up for dead.
In the course of its progress from person
to person, the story of the young music
teacher and her little charge had reached the
banker and his wife, who FASTENED to con-
vince themselves that Eva was their long lost
darling the diamond crescent, which had
been stolen for that very purpose no doubt,
furnishing evidence, if more had been needed
than the child's great resemblance to her
mother.
1t is needless to say that the grateful
parents insisted upon adopting Adele into
their hearts and home as a daughter no less
than their legitimate offspring; and for me
they declared eternal friendship.
With this should have been quite satisfied
under ordinary circumstances, but
''Nonsense," roguishly says Adele, who is
looking over my shoulder as | write, 'what
a commonplace ending you will have there,
love and marriage, and all that sort of
thing"
''But will it not be true to the life?' de-
mand. And beautiful light warns up her
dear face, 'End the story as you please,
Tom," she says.-Wendell Seavey in Dress.