The Somerset reporter. [volume] (Skowhegan, Me.) 1868-1909, 1892-04-21
SELECTED.
Tho Wisdom of a Child.

the YER mayor who married u eight
Yeats before pronounced Us divorced, ia
the same room and before the same wit
nesses. My wife was accompanied by
her father, mother, aud two friends,
while my two old comrades, who had a..
sisted at the tying of my pretty love knot,
came, with saddened faces to witness The
seVering of the bond.
stil bow exchanged at the beginning
ami the end of the ceremony, was The
only farewell between two beings who
for years had never had a thought tina,
was not sharei. We sat on bench
where, five minutes before, had been a
smiling bridal pair, and felt within me
An agitation that was painful; there seem.
ed to be tension at my heart as If my
whole being were about to be racked with
torture. Was it possible that my com.
panion and confident, the woman who
consoled and encouraged Inc in all my
trials, the woman had loved so long and
so dearly, could witness wthouts thought
of the sweet past, the sundering OF the
bond that had united n-f
My glance wandered round the room,
from the ugly moulding of the ceiling to
the pictures on the wall, but suddenly it
rested on a graceful head, with its soft,
months, and, through the meshes of my
wife's veil, saw two sparkling teardrops
SHE, too, remembers and regrets" |
thought perhaps she could forgive"
Alas if We two could but have been
alone at that moment But close beside
her was the pale, stern face OF her father
and the determined one of her mother !;
those two had, from the very beginning
of no Ia atph t.i al,
had tried every means of having an inter
view with Helen, but my letters had been
Intercepted, my messengers turned away,
and our only meetings had been in the
presence OF magistrate, an utter strang-
err who with the best intentions, had by
his cold formslity made matters worse.
Since that day have not entered my
home But now, on leaving the mayors
iii e, | went u the house TO pack up my
clothes. knew that | could not live
thtre alone among the memories of my
vanished happiness, SO | resolved to trav-
el, and thus to fly from all that could re-
mind me of my wife and home A mutual
friend arranged the details of the matter
was to spend the night in the house,
and the next morning Babetfe, my only
child, would he allowed to come and
breakfast with me. AT three o'clock
was to leave at four, Helen would come
TO take away her belongings; and twenty
four hours later the house would be ITO
let" a party of workmen would come
and put it in order for the next tenant,
and then it would be left alone and desc
late, an image of my life.
stopped in the midst of my packing
to order a breakfast such as would please
Babette; | held a consultation with Lucas,
my old servant, and we chose those dishes
that the child was fond Of. | also put
aside for her two little trnkets, pretty
porte bonheau and a locket containing my
own likeness.
Poor little Babette! She was blessed
with the happy ignorance of child OF
seven, and yet she was precocious enough
to understand, in her own way, that there
was something serious the matter between
papa and mamma.
At ten O'Clock precisely she came, &C
companied by my mother in-law's msid
who said she would return for mademoi-
selle at two in the afternoon.
Who can say where and how little girls
acquire tacl2 They must be born With u
germ of it, and when developed, it either
makes them woman of the world, cspa
BILE of reading ones secret thoughts, or
else gentle, patient nurses for the sick
and wounded B,hette asked mo mo an,
lions but kissed me rather gravelv "a,
on nv knee before the fire as was her
custom, and when | gave her the locket,
dressed my likeness tn her Inns ,ben
hing II round her mech whisnarina
~ will kiss il avprv morning spd avar,
nipht y
eDo Won know mamma ia coming ber.
at fonr O'clock pn
"Yes NV dear arswered
Are Won not gning ,o wit ard ooy
good hive To her p she asked and After an
Instan1's hesitation | s,id.
IL cannot have tn le.va tho bopso NJ
three. the train will not wait for mo -
"Wby cant Won take smother train v
she nersisted
"Racapae-hecanse have nromised IN
20 nv that train. and must not bre,t
nv word YOU know
Then foraettinp her nresence addea
half aloud f; and vel. II conld SOP her
alanp '"
Bahette said nothing moro and while
continued nv nrenarations for going
away she wandered all over tho silent
house collecting her pl.ythines coming
hack o,c.aionaIlv with littla hox IF
treasures. sud looking unusu.lv sprious
Her behavior wounded INV aternal L We