The Bottineau pioneer. (Bottineau, N.D.) 1885-1895, 1894-02-03
WHAT CHANCE D1p.

l was heartily tired of the place witt
its hustle and noise, and longing to &c
back to my quiet country home among
the hills, ven though it was to acknow
ledge defeat.
1 lad come out on a fools errant
' hich I had lacked both the skill an(
the ability to conduct In any way tina,
might have amounted tt anything.
The slight clews that lured me on had
one by one vanished into air befo.'e my
eyes and the o l got home and had
the huEilia:lng confession over, the
ooper l would be able t. fall back into
my old, quiet, delusive dreams OF &C
complishing some wonderful thing only
to end as this mad done.
l told myself this two days before,
and yet 1 was still lingering in the
place l was 80 anxious to leave-held
| there by the merest trifle IN the world
a girls pretty ~face-seen but for a mo.
ment, but never to be forgotten again
as long as l should live.
I had come to the great human bee
| hive of New York in The endeavor to
| find the heiress to a large estate that
had somewhat unexpectedly ONE into
the hands of the firm Of lawyers OF
| whom l was yet only a clerk, but hop
| cd one day to become a junior partner,
and had looked forward to this trip as
the stepping-stone, perhaps to that
much desired result.
The child to whom this property
would fall if she could be found was
supposed to be living in New York
with her widowed mother, and various
little data had been secured, which, IN
the hands Of one more skillful and less
rashly confident Of his own abilities
than myself, might have developed III
the right direction; but here l was at
the end Of a five weeks stay. as far
from my quest as ever, and utterly In
the dark as to the whereabouts or even
the existence of those l had been so
confident Of tracing a few weeks be-
fore.
Having made up my mind to start
for home the next day, l was strolling
aimlessly along one Of the not very in.
viting streets Of the city, with a mere
idle curiosity to see a little OF the sub
stratum Of life, when, slipping un-
aWares on a piece of fruit flung from
the careless hand OF some street urchin,
l fell somewhat heavily to the pave
ment. Before l could recover suth-
GENTLY from the shock to attempt to
rise, a hand fell like a snowflake on my
shoulder, and the sweetest voice l ever
heard asked in pretty broken English:
rs monsieur hurt? 1t Is such a pity!'
and l looked up into the face that
matched the voice-a lovely face full OF
a warm, rich coloring, and lighted by
great lustrous eyes of golden brown.
Her patched and ill-fitting dress
could not altogether disguise the exqui-
site curves of the figure, while the short
sleeves exposed the beautifully turned
wrists, and hands which, although
Drowned by sun and toll, were beauti-
fully modelled.
l deliberately retained my undignihed
position, that I might keep her near
me; then as she herself drew back, with
a pretty air OF reserve that was charm
ing, l raised myself, and found l was
not injured.
Not hurt at all, I thank your l re-
piled, but at the moment l was check
ed by a sharp cry from the girl and the
sound Of scurrying feet.
In a moment ] knew what he matter
was, and why l had not seen the lovely
stranger when I was first walking
along. She had been seated quite out
Of sight behind an Impoverished flower
stand; and the lawless deniZens of that
ne%ighborhood had taken advantage OF
her attention being diverted to me to
rifle her stand Of its remaining contents
some half dozen bouquets in all-and
was already beyond pursuit.
l never saw a deeper look Of agony
stamped upon the face Of a human be-
ing than that depicted upon the poor
girls features.
OH she exclaimed, clasping her
srrall hands convulsively. '"rhey have
stolen them! and what shall l do-how
can l 60 homer"
why, certainly you a have no fear
Of being unkindly treated for such a
misfortuncw l exclaimed in my turn.
You cannot have such an unnatural
MOTHER
'She Is not my mother!" che inter-
rupted me, a flash almost fierce lighting
up her brown eyes. But she has rear
ed me since I was a little child, and,
oh! she is so cruel-so cruel, that many
times l would gladly lie down and die.
And yet l am afraid to run away into
the world, for it is all wickedness there.
But, oh! what will she do to me? She
knows just how many I took. What
can l do-what ian l do?'
Never had I seen Of imagined even q
more pitiful instance OF grinding tyran-
ny and abject fear than that poor girls
manner portrayed. Her delicate, high
strung organization had evidently been
played upon until it was trembling in
the balance of utter collapse. ~lnvolun-
tarily l took the cold, tiuttering hands
In mine and chafed them gently.
Don't tremble SOL" l besought her.
II will pay for the flowers those boys
stole for If you had not left your stand
to ask If l was hurt, they would not
have had the chance to steal them"
She took the money from me and
pressed my hands to her lips.
"Oh, monsieur, thank you-thank
yOu!" she exclaimed, her face all aglow
with grateful joy. 'To-morrow-to-
morrow l will bring you the bouquet
GU have paid for: But, oh, thank and
bless you!"
And turning abruptly from my side,
she caught up her basket and was gone,
leaving me to wonder whether it was
really a dream or actual scene that /
beheld and in which l had taken part.
l was sufficiently convinced OF its
II atty, however, to 60 to the place the
next night, and the next, but no sign
Of my tiower-girl greeted my sight.
Despite her unpropitious surroundings,
that she had played any trick on me,
or worked on my sympathies in order
to make good her losswas a thought that
I did not harbor for an instant; indeed,