Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1890-01-19
THE DEATH OF THE DOLL.

efore the door OF Mother 0erard, VINO
ow took care of vineyard, but in her
days had been nurse for little
hildren.
A young woman alighted from the car
iage, followed by maid and little girl,
Ielicate and feeble, but very pretty, never
heless.
Another Gerard" said the young wo-
nan to the peasant. 81 have brought my
little girl to you; she need the country air
md goats milk VIII you keep her for a
ew months~
The husband of Mother Gerard made |
IN impatient movement, but before he |
could speak the young woman said: 81
will pay you thousand francs"
"a thousand francs" said the man; "she
is very sick, and the doctor will have to
be paid"
doctor or no DOCTOR" said Mother Ger
ard, brusquely. 81 will take care of your
child, Mini; l will care for her as tenderly
as did for you, my nurseling"
al am sure of it."
"Kiss me, little one," continued the good
woman, taking the child in her arms.
The little girl did not wait TO be urged,
but kissed her affectionately.
"You will pay in advance" said the
man.
"Here are the thousand francs; give me
a receipt"
The young mother then brought from
the carriage the child's clothing, daintily
arranged in small trunk
The maid brought large paper box, in
l. I'll i I'LL 81, could
mamma" when one pressed spring.
The little girl had been perfectly silent
during this time, but the great tears were
rolling down her thin, white cheeks.
When her mother noticed that the child
was crying she made an impatient gesture,
which she quickly suppressed, but not
before Mother Gerard saw it. The little
girl also saw her mothers displeasure, and
stretched toward her the little emaciated
hands.
1t was a touching appeal, mute ca
ress, silent prayer, but irresistible in its
eloquence. The maid turned away her
head to conceal her tears. The mother was
greatly moved, and, taking the child in
her arms, kissed her again and again.
MY dear Mini, do not cry, do not cry
any more. l shall come back for you very
soon"
"Will you surely come ?' said the child
between her sobs, and covering her moth
er's face with kisses; "surely, surely" she
added, clasping her little hands as she did
when she said her prayers.
Mother Gerard looked sharply at her for
mer foster child, who turned away her head
with flushed face.
"Will you really come back for her,
Mini ~ she said in low tone.
Certainly"
"Do not be too long about it," Mother
Gerard said Significantly.
Truly, mamma, you will return"
Surely, yes, but do not be impatient.
Good-by; take good care of dolly Listen
how beautifully she says mamma P" and
the mother made the doll repeat many
times its one word, mamma. The child was
silent.
"She will be your little girl and you will
love her very much"
ooh yes" said the child with deep
sigh, almost sob, and she pressed the
doll to her heart. The doll murmured
mamma"
She really loved the little inanimate
thing that called her mamma ~ She
spent hours in looking at it, rocking it,
and talking to it in low tone, at the
same time crying for her own mamma.
"Do not fear, Nini"-she had named 1t
for herself. 81 will never leave you,
never! | am your very own mamma, do
you hear? Your real mammal and she
pressed the spring and the doll repeated
''mammap p
Then Mini took it in her arms and
Rugged it tightly, as if she feared that
some one would take it from her.
The consumption was slowly but surely
accomplishing its deadly work. Her eyes
became more and more brilliant, the bones
of her cheeks more and more prominent
A little dry cough constantly shook the
narrow and hollow chest, and her voice
became feebler day by day. They wrote
to her mother, but received no response.
There is nothing, 1 think, more pitiful
than TO witness the slow fading out of a
little life, which nothing can arrest,
neither science, nor love, nor prayers.
This martyrdom of infancy inAicts upon
those who must witness it the keenest
torture.
Mother Gerard had learned to love this
poor victim of filial affection, for Mini
was dying of grief-because she was sepa-
rated from her mediterranean more than
of disease, and Mother Gerard, knowing
this, nursed her with the utmost tender
ness. Mini came to her in May, and it
was now October.
The poor child, feeling that she was no
longer daughter, tried to console herself
by imagining that she was the mother of
her doll. She lavished upon it all the
love that she formerly had for her mother.
She was unwilling to be separated from it
even at night, and the poor little brain
had conceived singular idea-it was that
she was not sick, but it was the doll, her
dear Mini"
''She has coughed all night" she would
say to Mother Gerard when she had
passed a restless night herself. "You suf-
fer, my dear Mini, but l will cure you.
We will cure her nurse, will we not How
feeble her voice is~ she would add, in
listening to the weak sound which the doll
made, because the pressure upon the
spring grew weaker as the little hands
grew thinner.
Hour by hour she would tell her own
sufferings, but always attributing them to
the doll. At times she would yield to an
indefinite despair. She did not know
what death meant. but she would cry out
in Undesirable anguish: "No, do not
want you to die, even to go to heaven"
She never spoke of her mother 10 the
nurse; but sometimes, when she thought
herself alone, they would hear her muir
muir to her doll: "If mamma would come
back Mini would be WE'LL"
In the village the arrival of the talking
doll had produced a great sensation. All
the children wished to see it, and Sunday
most of the little girls came to admire the
marvellous toy.
To go to see the little girl from Paris
and hear her doll talk had become sort
of fete, and then, Mini was so sweet, so
caressing to all who showed friendship for
her. or who loved her doll, that she had
become the idol of the whole village.
The Vicar came to relate TO her beauti-
full stories of heaven, where there lived a
mamma marveIously beautiful and adora-
bly, good.
The good sister who had charge of the
village school brought her little images of
saints and angels.
One of Minis greatest pleasures was to
see all little friends come with their dolls
dolls of wood, of cardboard, or rags; but