The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1892-01-11
from the room by board par

one cries; must go, but sleep you Welt!
And taking up the lamp she passed.
into the closet, leaving La Bretonhe
crouched alone in the darkness.
Stretched upon her heather. after she
had eaten her supper, she strove to close
her eyes, but sleep would not come to
her Through the thin partition she
heard the mother still softly talking to
the child, whom the arrival of stranger
had Weakened, and who did not wish to
go to sleep again.
The mother soothed and fondled 1t
with words of endearment that some
how strangely disturbed La Bretonne.
That outburst of simple tenderness
seemed to waken confused maternal IN
stinct in the soul Of that girl condemned
in the past for having stified her new
born.
IF things had not gone so badly with
me- thought La Bretonne sorrowfully,
sit would have been the same age as
this little one here"
at that thought and at the sound OF
that childish voice q sicKening shudder
seemed to shake her very vitals, some
thing soft and tender to spring up In
that soured heart, and an increasing
need for the relief of tears.
"But come, come, my little one" the
mother cried, 'sto sleep you must gol
And If you are good and do as say, to-
morrow, maybe, I'll take you to the st.
GATHERINGS fair!
1.-THE fete of little children, mamma;
the fete of little children, you mean?'
"Yes, my angel, OF little children"
"And the day when the good st. Cath
crime brings playthings to the babies,
mammal
''Sometimes-yes.
'sThen why doesn't she bring play
things to our house. mammal"
eve live too far away, perhaps, and
then-we are too poor.
'ss,he brings them only to rich babies,
then, mamma? But why, mamma, why,
say? / should love to see playthings!'
'Eh, bien! some day you may, IT you
are very good-tonight, perhaps, II you
are wise and go to sleep soon."
81 will, then, mamma; will right
away, SO she can bring them tomor-
row."
The little voice ceased; there was a
long silence; then long breath, even
and light!
The child slept at last-ths mother
also.
La Bretonne only did not sleep! An
emotion at once poignant and tender
tore at her heart and she thought more
than ever of that little one whom they
said she had killed. This lasted till
dawn.
Mother and child still slept, but La Bre-
tonne was up and out, gliding hurriedly
and furtively in the direction of Au-
Derive and slackening her pace only
when the first houses of the village came
in sight.
Soon she had reached and was travers-
ing it's only street, walking slowly now
and scanning with all her eyes the signs
of the shops. One at last seemed to fix
her attention. She knocked at the shut
ter and presently it opened. A MERGERS
shop apparently, but also with some toys
and splaythings in the window-poor
pitiful trifes, pasteboard doll, a Noah's
ark, woolly, stiff legged little sheep.
To the astonishment Of the merchant,
La Bretonne purchased them al, paid
and went out. She had resumed the
road to the howell in the wood, when
suddenly a hand fell heavily upon her
shoulder, and she was face to face with
a brigadier of gendarmerie.
The unhappy one had forgotten that
it was forbidden to liberated prisoners
to loiter in the neighborhood of the
Maison Centrale.
"Instead of vagabondizing here, you
should already be at Langres," said the
brigadier gruffiy. "Come, march; be
off with you To the road, to the road,
say!"
She sought to explain. Pains lost.
AT once a passing cart was pressed into
service, La Bretonne bundled into it
and in charge of a gendarme once more
en- route for Langres.
The cart jolted lumberingly over the
frozen ruts. The poor La Bretonne
clutched with a heartbroken air her
bundle Of playthings in her freezing
fingers.
All at once, at turn of the road, she
recognized the cross path that led
through the wood. Her heart leaped
and she besought the gendarme to stop
only one moment She had a commits
sion for La Fleuriotte, the woman that
lived just there!
She supplicated with SO much fervor
that the gendarme, good man at heart,
/ allowed himself to be persuaded. They
stopped, tied the horse to tree and as
cended the pathway.
Before the door La Fleuriotte hewed
the gathered wood into the required
fagots. On seeing her visitress return,
accompanied by gendarme, she dwelt
open mouthed and with arms hanging.
"Hist!" said La Bretonne, "hist! the
little one-does it sleep still?"
eyes, but
"Then, here, these playthings; lay
| them on the bed and tell her st. Cath
crime brought them. returned to Au-
berive for them, but it seems had GO
right to do it, and they are taking me
| now to Langres.
ttTTu1- NEa4l.or 30 n,~;o1 he