Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1892-02-06

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TC2GM with trouble, hi
brain maelstrom of anguish and no
anger against the man who would turl
him out of his home on the morrow an,
leave his children without roof to shell
ter them.
All, that was where it hurt. Hi
children. He was a strong man, equa
to meeting the Bullets of fortune anC
able to make his way up again, if he has
TO begin at the very lowest round of th'
ladder. He could endure privation ant
overwork. His wife was young ant
capable, cheerful and willing. But
the childrenl
He had been watching their play foi
the last hour-their happy, careless
play, so unconscious were they of com
ing ill-until he could endure the sigh
no longer and had rushed out into thu
gathering night. How little they guessed
that soon they were to leave their CON.
Portable home, the home he had toiled
so hard to make and striven so hard tC
save.
He had slipped into this strait So
easily. That was always the way. Hap.
piness and comfort were only to bt
wrested from fate by herculean effort
Poverty and misery waited on the beck
of finger. In the beginning he had
needed little money to provide the nee
essary implements to cultivate his place
To whom should he so naturally apply
as to his wealthy neighbor, Judge Var
Alsteyne, who made a business OF loan.
ing money, and who lived on the bluff
overlooking the sea- He had given {
mortgage on his place as security, and
how was he to know, what people limited
freely now, that the rich man had long
coveted his own little strip of land,
which adjoined the judges extensive
grounds2 Then had come the dreadful
siege of scarlet fever, which had attacked
his household, and little Annie, narrowly
saved from death, had been left a Grip.
pie. There was a costly surgical appli-
ance that he had heard would draw the
crippled limb back into shape, and it wa;
then that he had asked for the second
loan, secured by second mortgage, thai
he had taken the child down to the ia.
nous city surgeon. There was hope
nothing more than a hope-that some
time the poor, shrunken little liml
would be straight and strong again.
His heart softened Mt the thought oil
Lis crippled child, and 1t was this re
membrancc of her that stirred him to al
interest in the tiny footprints that wen
on before him. Almost unconsciousl,
and without purpose he began to follow
them, wandering aimlessly about, as they
wandered, idly noting the places where
they had turned aside and loitcred
marked by shining heaps of shells anc
mounds of sand.
They were not like his Annie's, these
even prints of light aud nimble feet. Hi,
heart ached anew as he remembered the
last time he had borne her in his arms tt
the beach and the strange trail the pool
little lame foot had made dragging in tho
sand. This child had narrow, shapely
foot, and in some of the prints there
was the distinct mark of tiny French
heel. Why was it that there wa
nowhere any sign Of a larger footprint
to guide the little, babyish feet9 Why
did the little footsteps go on and on
never in any place returning2 Who wa!
there in ali the town that would trust ,
little child 70 wander alone on the sands
with the tide at the turn and night com
ing On2 Who was there in the neigh
borhood with little child the size Of
his Anuie, who might have slipped awal
without the parents knowledge ant
strsyed to this lonely spot, drawn by tin
Music of the waves, the strange magi'
OF tile sea:
The answer brought throb of awfu
triumph. Who but the people living il
the great house on the bluff The Judge
little Annie-the petted darling of for
tune-upon whom he had so often lookct
with jealous eyes, comparing her position
with that of his unfortunate little one.
And ye. it seemed impossible that {
child so carefully guarded could escap,
the vigilance of those whose sole duty il
was to watch over her. What reason
had he to go on along the narrow striI
of sand hemmed in by the bluffs, riskina
his own life, it might be, in fruitless
search for chlld who had doubtles.
played there in the afternoon sunshine
and who had probably gone back alonl
tue border of the beach, which was nov
laved 10y the water2 II he should turl
back at this moment to the home wherr
sat his scrrowing wife with his naples
children, what blame could attach II
him if on the morrow the tidings o
Judge Van Alsteyne's terrible loss SHOULD
be brought to him. How did it concern
him If fate was about to deal to this man
who had so prosecuted him blow more
deadly than that that had been levele6
at himself?
He looked back toward the grea
house. There were lights in all the
rooms. Even at that distance he seemed
- oIV NJ uttS uoblug w anu ilO duU III
signs Of unusual agitation and excite
nent. The next instant he rued the los
of even that moment of waning daylight
and, bending low to make sure CT TIT
direction of the little footprints, raj
swiftly on.
He did not stop to reason with him
self that thus would he pray to be dealt
with by another should the lives of hi
children be imperiled. There are highe
principles Of action than that laid dow
by the golden rule. The instinct o
humanity in him was more powerful thar
elf interest, and he obeyed it blindly
obliyious of every other thought but tina
an innocent life was endangered, which
it might be his privilege TO save.
Once. twice, thrice he knelt In thu
gloom and searched for the dim impres
sions he was following, and the last time
he felt cautiously with his fingers on tn
cold, wet sand 20 verify the testimony o
MS eyes in the failing light.
At length he seemed TO hear a faia