Evening journal., 1890-01-23
THE DEATH OF THE DOLL.

Twenty-three years ago Twas at the village
of Bocage in central France.
In one Of the little cottages Of that village.
into which hunger had accidentally driven
me-this story is not an invention, it actually
occurred as | relate it--a little girl of per-
haps years Of age was dying.
She was it seems the child Of a Partisan.
but Partisan who was born and grew to
young womanhood at Bocage.
One morning in May a carriage stopped be-
fore the door of Mother Gerard, who now
took care of vineyard, but in her younger
days had been a nurse for little children.
A young woman alighted from the car
riage, followed by maid and a little girl.
delicate and feeble, bat very pretty, never
theless.
mother Gerard, said the young woman
TO the peasant, II have brought my little girl
10 you; she needs the country air and goats
milk. viii you keep her for a few monthsf'
The husband OF Mother Gerard made an
impatient movement, but before he could
speak the young woman said II viii pay you
thousand francs
"A thousand francs, said theman: ,ishe Is
very sick, and the doctor villa have to be
paidn
doctor or no DOCTOR said Mother Gerard
brusquely ~ will take care Of your child,
Mini; will care for her as tenderly as | did
for you. my nurseling.n
II am sure Of it.n
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 advancegi said the man.
Here are the thousand francs; give me a
receipt
The young mother then brought from the
carriage the childs clothing daintily arranged
in a small trunk.
The maid brought a large paper box in
which lay a beautiful doll that could say
"MammaW when one pressed a spring.
The little girl had been perfectly silent dur
ing 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 a mute cares,
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. / shall come back for you very soon y
win you surely comeln said the child be-
tween her sobs, and covering her mothers
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.
"Wnl you really come back for her, Ninign
she said in a low tone.
Certainly"
'Do not be too long about it, Mother Co
rard said significantly
Truly, mamma, you win RETURN
"Surely, yes, but do not be impatient
Good-by; take good care of dolly. Listen
how beautifully she says mammal and the
mother made the doll repeat many times its
one word, mammal The child was silent.
'She win be your little girl and you viii
love her very muchln
"Ohi yes, said the child with deep sigh,
almost sob, and she pressed the don to her
heart The doll murmured mamma
She really loved the little inanimate thing
that called her 'mammaln She spent hours
in looking at il, in rocking it, and in talking
to it in a low tone, at the same time crying
| for her own mamma.
do not fear, Ninin-she had named it for
herself. Iwill never leave you, neyerl am
| your very own mamma, do you hearg Your
real mammal And she pressed the spring and
| the doll repeated ''mammaln
Then Mini took it in her arms and Rugged
| IL tightly, as il she feared that some one
would take it from her.
The consumption was slowly but surely ac-
comprising its deadly work Her eyes be-
came more and more brilliant, the bones Of
her cheeks more and more prominent. A
little dry cough constantly shook the narrow,
hollow chest, and her voice became feebler
day by day. They wrote to her mother, but
received no response.
There is nothing, l 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 inflicts 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 separated
from her mediterranean more than Of dis
ease, and Mother Gerard knowing this nursed
her with the utmost tenderness. 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 al
night, and the poor little brain had conceived
a singular idea-it was that she was not sick,
but that 1t was the doll, her ''dear MIMI
''She has coughed all night, she would say
to Mother Gerard when she had passed a
restless night herself 'You suffer, my dear
Mini, but will cure you. We will cure her,
nurse, will We notl How feeble her voice
isl" she would add, in listening to the weak
| sound which tho doll made, because the pres