Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1890-05-10

c.
1t was not till evening that she realized
how very lonesome she was. Ernest had
been kept up an hour beyond his time,
and it was not till he pleaded to be sent
to bed that she allowed herself to carry
him upstairs. His prayers we're Of the
briefest, although she tried to prolong
the process of undressing, but he was too
sleepy and presently, as his head
touched the pillow, he was in the land of
dreams. Something prompted the woman
as she went out in the hall to open the
inside blinds and lift the curtain from
one of the windows that commanded a
view of her neighbor's house.
All between was one bed of snow
trees, shrubbery, fences, garden; and the
moon-beams fell gently over the wide,
white, uneven space, and bathed the op.
posite cottage in its silvery radiance.
She looked toward the house. On the
white surface of the window were shad.
ows fitting and coming, seemingly going
to and fro in great haste.
81 suppose they are putting the baby
to bed, " she said to herself, "or perhaps
she has company; it looks like it,
Carefully closing the blinds again, she
went softly down stairs. The parlor
looked very coy, with its rich red drap-
cry, made more intense in color by the
blazing coal fire, and yet the woman had
vague feeling of uneasiness. Opening
the door, she could distinguish voices in
the kitchen. John was talking with the
cook, and the sound treasured her some
what; but, oh, how she missed the genial
companionship of her husband Sud
denly there was peal of the door-bell,
so sharp and sudden that it set all her
nerves tingling.
I'm so glad John is in' was her in-
ward comment, as she heard his heavy
footsteps across the hall.
Presently the front door was omen.
The accents of womans voice, as if in
despair, came family to her ears. The
parlor door was opened, and John was
aging: "The madam is in here" when
here appeared, pale and drawn in its
agony, the face of her neighbor OF the
gray stone house. The room seemed to
| whirl round her as she looked-what
could it mean2
80 Anne-O Mrs. Maberly," cried the
woman in choking voice, her tightly
clasped hands unconseiously extended as
if in duplication, something sent me
here to you. My baby-my beautiful
baby is dyingl-dying before my eyes,
md am all alone. Come and help me,
if ever you loved me-come and help me.
You have studied medicine and will
| know what to do. / have sent for a
doctor, but he is ten miles off with pa
tient-and that horrible croupw Hsr
voice failed her. There was a noise in
in her throat like the coming of hysteria.
Mrs. Maberly had sprung forward and
caught her or she would have fallen.
Into her voice crept the old time tender
ness, into her hands the old caressing
movements.
"Don't worry" she said, 'wait til
get shawl-wait till get my medicine
box, and believe | can help you Don't
give up heart. You were too ill your
self to come out, you should have sent
for me-" All this time she was going
rapidly about the room, preparing herself
to go.
ayes, but / remembered-0, 1
thought if came myself in all my
misery, you would take pity on me
o, my baby! my baby My poor old
father is dying, too, and 1 can't be with
himl 1t seems as if l cannot bear ito
lose my father and my baby, too," and
she wept bitterly
"Don't give up heart or hope" said
Mrs. Maberly. There, l am all ready
i can help you, with Gods blessing, I
am sure l can. Hush, don't cry so-lean
on my arm, and so she tried to comfort
her till the two entered the gray cottage,
Mrs. Maberly wondering all the time
where her resentment had gone.
1t was a pitiful sight, the baby in the
arms of her nurse, struggling for breath.
Giving orders in a low voice, forcing her
self to be calm, with the beautiful, agon-
lied face looking up In her own, Mrs.
Maberly worked quietly and efficiently
with the remedies she had brought, and
which for long time seemed unavail-
ing. But, even as the agonized mother
| lid her face from what to her were the
death-struggles of the child, her neigh
Dor babe her take hope; and after nearly
two hours of steady battling with the
dread disease, and just as the doctors
carriage drove up to the door, the la
bored respiration gave way to easy
breathing, the flush of anguish was
| gone, and the little sufferer slept on Mrs.
Maberly's knee.
sits mighty lucky you had such a
neighbor, said the doctor, speaking to
Mrs. Warren, ''she knew Just what to
do. l couldn't have treated the case
better, myself"
For answer, Mrs. Warren vert on her
knees and kissed the hand under the head
of her baby-then bowling her own head
beside it, she sobbed and sobbed. Was
it thankfulness for the service rendered,
or mute avowal that she had wronged
her old frend2
Mrs. Maberly had news for her husband
when he returned that night.
$50 you really found that you had a
ueighbor," he said, when she had fin
ished
81 think it was she who found the
neighbor," she said, flushing. ''And
who would not help her worst enemy ia
such an emergency? Really, nothing
could have happened better, since it had
to happen, and she will always feel as if
l saved the baby
After that one might have seen f-e-
quent crossings-over to the cottages, al
ternately. Sometimes the pretty baby
carriage, with its beautiful occupant,
stood for hours in the front yard of tie
Maberlys-and Often the two mothers
sat on the porch, talking of old times,
and finding pleasure in the renewal OF
themes that had been so long forbidden
to them.
Under Mrs. Maberly's directions the
invalid gathered health and strength, and
the two families became, in deed and
word, the best of good neighbors. - The
HousenJe.
The Bottom Drops Out of a Lake.
In Sheffield, Ala, the new iron town,