Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1891-03-17
PRICE ONE CENT
vwlcn snrsa.


fire, enjoying the lavish hospitality ,.f
one o. tte prominent men of the West.
writes a correspondent of the YOUTHS
Compdnfoa, when something tur.c,l
IN thous hts upon old times anl G as
providence. Believe in Gods care and
protectionr lac exclaimed. Well,
think | do But FOR His intervention
my daughter there Mould not be here
oday. am sure Of it Three times
over have seen it, aud i don't know
how many times l may have known
nothing about it, Let me show you
samethng. He left the room, and re-
turned moment later with soft,
brown curl fondled tenderly in his hand.
You know that wife and were pic
neers. lie began. when we settled
here, there was not house within 10
miles of us. When she was born he
moved his head toward his daughter,
but did not take his eyes from the curl
1--WE were all alone in little one room
log cabin.
-One by one other settlers were gath
ering, ut il was slow ut firsL SHE was
3 yeMs old. and as pretty little
thing as ever lived in wild country,
though YOU might not think it now.
He smiled as his eyes turned proudly
to his beautiful daughter, who ,ponded
with a merry laugh.
Il was cornering some logs one night
for an addition TO our house, for we
were beginning TO feel rich. IL was
lard wood, and lut all my strength
into the axe. while Mabel jumped l,r
the chips as they few Sometimes she
would catch them before they touched
the ground
she was all ready as Iswung the axe,
when her foot slipped and size fell
lie paused for a moment aud shudIered
with her little head right over the
notch. The axe was coming down with
fearful force. / could not stop it Ii
fell / heard IL strike, but could not
see anything. / staggered, aud fell
senseless To tile ground.
"Tiie next knew. Mabel was pulling
at my hand. | sprang up and caught
her ia my arms, looking for the place
where the blow fell. There was not u
sign. i turhed TO tie axe. IL was deeply
imbedded in tl,e log, and at the farther
friend, can l see anything but Gods
hand in that?
But let me tell you another In my
JOY and thankluluess 1 promised Mabel
that she siould have a real wax doll the
first time | went where one could be
found In about three weeks had an
errand to the nearest store, IL miles
away.
Il started long Lefore daylight, but II
was dark two hours before l reached
home again. To make matters worse,
one of The fiercest blzz rds that ever
blew in this country came tearing down
upon me. The night Was as niack as
Egypt. l let the horse go as he would,
while tried To keep rubOer blanket
over the saddlebags
"Some two miles from home / dis
tinctly heard cry. l Istopped and list
ened. just as / was starting once more
heard it again. There were plenty of
Indians about, and it occurred to me
that they might have seen me go away
in the morning. and be waiting to trap
me; but ! cal ed to see if any one WAS
really in trouble. IsureIy heard faint
reply. 1t sounded like child's voice.
Il thought of how Mabei's life had
been saved, and said to my self, If it is
Indians treachery / can not help ii; if
there is chance that child is lost in
this terrible storm, am going to save it
well, got off my horse, and lead
ing him, followed the cry till, sure
enough, | found child, almost dead,
lying on the ground. rolled the little
thing up in the rubber blanket, and
started on again. Tie child soLbed and
moaned for while, and then fell asleep.
The horse knew the way, and in time
came in sight of my own cabin. The
light in the window burned brightly.
There were voices inside. Something
had happened. Dsmounting as quickly
as possible, left the horse to do what
he would, aud hurried to the door
"As ] opened it, two neighbors we're
bending over my wife. She saw me,
and with cry sprang toward me, and
fell fainting on the floor Handing my
precious bundle to one of the neighbors,
lifted my wife in my arms, to learn
that Mabel had disappeared. She had
been waiting impatiently for her doll,
and they feared she had gone down the
road and
swell, / sprang for that rubber
blanket, and on unrolling it, sure
enough there was little Mabel, sound
asleep