The advocate., 1894-01-17

all over New Mexico searching for my
family or for some trace Of them.
got not the slightest clue. 1t was
while on one of these piTgrimages thai
I stumbled by sheer luck upon a fine
which / afterwards sold for respect
able pile. Since then l have Travelled
all over the west and the northwest.
have studied directories, looked through
tons of country newspapers, used every
means could think Of, but in vain. ]
know absolutely nothing to-day Of the
wife and child l kissed farewell twenty
eight years ago. Of course, by baby
boy, if living, is now young man OF
thirty years, and very likely has a
family of his own. But he and his
mother both may have been in their
graves long years ago. l am in Kansas
now on my ceaselesS pilgrimage, hoping
still against hope. Now, you have the
old ex-cOnvict's story"
"And, oh, what sad one it isl" said
Kate. II wish l could know that you
will yet find your family"
"Wen, be that as fate wills, Kate.
But let us come back to my proposal. l
have respectable fortune. | am nota
millionaire, but l have more than / can
ever need. have nobody to share it
while / live, no one to leave it to when
l quit. What's the good of it?"
but you may find your family"
said Kate.
"True' but / have little reason to
hope for that any more; and l want
g0u to be my family" Kate started,
but he continued: 81 want you to be-
come my daughter and my heir" (Kate
breathed more freely.) II can trust
you. If you should ever come across
my wife or my boy, you would divide.
l wish to adopt you by legal proceed
ings, so you can be my heir, will or no
will. You can go right off to college,
dress well and live easy, and some day
you can make that speech dreamed
about"
"You are so kind it seems ungrateful
to refuse" said Kate, "but l could
never bear to give up my fathers name.
1t would seem like deserting him re-
nouncing him, as it WERE"
"You will some day marry, and then
you viii be guilty of precisely that
wickedness," said he. "You will give
up your fathers name and become
Mrs. somebody else. That is sure to
happen to such jewel Of girl, if the
race of young men has not become ex-
tinct."
"Of course said Kate "a girl
changes her name when she gets mar
ried, and it seems all right. But that's
different, you know"
"HOw different2 1t is going back on
your fathers name in one case as much
as in the other" said he.
Eyes, but if l should marry
eff you should marry?" interrupted
the old man.
"If 1 should marry" Kate smilingly
resumed, II would still be my own
fathers daughter. would not be re-
nounCing him-putting him out of my
life forever"
IL understand your feelings, Kate"
said he, land they are worthy of you. |
But let us see if we can't get around
the difficulty somehow. Let's cOmprO-
mise. You can be your fathers daugh-
ter and mine too. AS children say,
let's pretend like you are my daughter.
You needn't change your name at all,
nor do any such disagreeable and un-
heard of thing. You wish to go to col
lege. Let me send you there, and see
you through, just as if l s0ere your
father"
"That would be too much like ac-
cepting charity" said Kate. "It's
good of you to offer it, but l would feel
as if / were living on charity"
"Charityp What a commentary on
our latter day Christianity, that word
once descriptive of the chiefest
Christian virtue has come to express
only an act by which, in the name of
a al.