The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-04-06
Thu GREAT MILL STREET MYSTERY,
jacobs
FALSE PRETENCEs," ETC
[ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
PART /.
CHAPTER XIII.
Hess PAYMENTS.

JESS EAhENIS.
Granny's days were numbered She had
long been crippled with rheumatism, and
she had had two paralytic seizures; her
strength was evidently failing, and the doc
tor had given it as his opinion that shewould
not last much longer. She was still housed
in Stephen Eyre's rooms in Beaumont
buildings, but she was no longer nursed ex-
clusively by Alice Drew. Jess now did her
full share of household work, and Alice was
TO a great extent mistress of her own time
She worked hard in factory during the
day time, therefore, and devoted her even
ings to "doing good" as she expressed it,
amongst the poor. 1t was perhaps an ad-
ditional incentive to her in this work, that
Stephen was also engaged in it, and that he
had of late gone back to his old friends,
the Salvation Army people. But for his
ties to jess and her grandmother, he would
have given his whole life to work on Sal
vationist lines; but at present it beloved
him to provide for his household, and
amongst the members of his household
there was not only helpless old woman,
but an equally helpless baby. And it was
jess baby that had worked the greatest pos
sible revolution in the house.
To begin with, it was the baby's existence
which had at first caused Jess to submit un-
condltlonaIly to all Stephen Eyres restric-
tons and demands. The baby required
fresh air, for instance. jess must give 1t
fresh air, even at the cost OF a promise that
she won Id speak to nobody if she went out
side the door. Then the responsibilities OF
the baby's mental and spiritual develop
men5 began to weigh upon Jess mind.
Stephen said that she was not good how
could she bring up her baby properly if she
was herself bads She came very soon to
believe. humbly and meekly, that her faith
in George Eastwood had been a mistaken
one; and that she had committed some
vague, alarming sin in believing his protes-
tations. She was very easy to convince, to
deiude. Stephen had little real difficulty IL
couvicting her of utter wickedness, aud
then in leading her to find consolation in
his peculiar way. Thus he had at
last bought her to the point of helping
him to preach, and giving her personal ex-
periences to the world; and he hoped that
great results would follow from the public
confession that she was to make on the night
Of Eastwood's disastrous temperance. If
Eastwood had not reappeared, he felt
almost certain that he could have ultimately
persuaded jess to be his wife. She was on
the point of yielding, as she had yielded SO
many times before. But her glimpse of
George made everything different. Stephen
felt that his chance was now reduced to a
minimum.
He did not think that he was doing wrong
in asking her to marry him. He fully be-
lieyed, and he had led her to believe, that
she had never been welded wife. He
loved her with the whole force of her ma
ture, and he loved her child as well. 1t was
his affection for the baby that gave him
Influence with Jess She, wrapt UP in her
child, was apt to gauge the worth and vir-
tue of her acquaintance by their liking for
her little girl; and the babe seemed likely to
lie largely determining factor in the
scheme Of Jess future life. For the child s
sake she might perhaps have some day mar
ried Stephen, as, for the child's sake she had
adopted some of his religious views. But
with her glimpse of George, with the sound
of his passionate reproaches in her ears, all
that possibility came to an end. Not even
''for baby's sake" could she consent to be
the wife of Stephen Eyre.
Upon another member of the household
the child exerted a potent influence.
Strange to say, she developed a great fond
ness for Granny, and this fondness was re-
ciprocated by the old woman. Nothing
made the baby so happy as to be laid to
rest on Granny's bed; and old Mrs Flint
softened her tongue and twisted her care
worn features into wreathen smiles to
please the child. Indeed, the tiny delicate
child-Meenie, as she very early dubbed it.
self instead of the statelier Georgina--was
bond of union between all the strangely
assorted characters that met beneath
Stephens roof and even his brother Dick.
whose moral nature was In some respects as
distorted as his body, &C me under the small
princess sway. Meenie was remarkably
t.,knl ohi L.. fair tlzo h,.,.
mother, but with dash of brown rather
than red in her golden hair, eyes that re-
called George Eastwood'S eyes, and a brow
in which there was some odd and iuexpica-
bic likeness to Diana belmont 1t WIS she
who practically ruled the house. 1t was
Sue who had brought jess meekly 10
Stephens feet; and it was she who softened
the heart of old Sarah Flint toward the
girl whom she had brought up, but never
thought worthy of anything but abuse.
One night, shortly after jess first and
only experience as a speaker in public, Mrs.
Flint seemed unusually wakeful and rest
less Alice was away for the night, nursing
sick woman in another block OF the
model dwellings and jess was therefore
alone with her grandmother aud her child.
Can do anything for you, GrannyF
sne asked, when the old woman at last began
10 moan little as well as to move from side
to side.
Gimme the child" said Granny.
jess brought it with some misgiving. II
Neenle were to wake up, she would certainly
cry, aud the neighbors might be disturbed.
always seemed to poor Jess that she and
1eenie ought to keep themselves in the
background as much as possible. They had
no right to expect indulgence at the hand:
OF their fellow-creatures. And some of the
nelghbors had expressed themselves
strongly respecting that squalliug brat,
as they had dubbed the oft-times ailing
But on this occasion, although Mesnis
signed and moaned little in her sleep al
pelng disturbed, she did not wake, and jess
nept watchful eye upon her as the ole
Erahdmother patted the tiny nottled arm'
WIN her wrinkled hand.
We summat to tell you,n said the old
. W9nan at last, in an unusually gentle voice
1ou SIT here on the bed where l can SCI
YOU Now, tell me true, did Eastwood
marry you or not7n
jess hesitated for moment.
Thought he did," she said at last
very fneeklY, "but Steve saws 7 WINS mis-