The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1894-05-10

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years. but that was only natural since the
younger man was so much smarter and
brighter than himself; but this baby, thi:
baby would be different. This baby was
girl, and he would teach her to love and
depend upon him. He would care for her
work for her, live for her. He would even
| keep straight for her; for how could he ex-
pect her to love him if he gave her cause to
be ashamed of him?
| Very gently, almost reverently, he touched
the little creatures forehead with his bearded
lips, feeling very thankful that there vas NO
taint of liquor on his breath, and laid her
back beside her mother.
She shall be her Uncle Ezra's baby, too "
he said, smiling at Julia as he had never
done before, and then the nurse drove the
two men out of the room, and they sought
the solace of a social smoke On the moon-lit
| side of the wood-pile until bedtime came
and after one more glimpse of the precious
| treasure which had come into his life, Ezra
crept softly up to his chamber full of such
hopes and happiness as his heart had never
known since he was a boy.
| From that night great change came TO
Ezra Daniels. He had an object in life after
| that, and that object was baby Alice, whom
they had named after the brothers. mother,
making the sweet name seem doubIy dear
| now that it belonged TO the woman whom
| they had both loved so well, and also to
the sweet baby who had come to brighten
all their lives
For that baby Ezra worked and prayed.
For that baby's sake he fought battle with
his lower nature and-because he fonght
with all his soul-he conquered.
From the time of little Alice's birth not
one drop of liquor, of any kind, passed her
uncle's lips God alone knew what it cost
him of mental and physical an ,uish to kill
the appetite which had dominated him for
years, but he reused up all his manhood for
the battle, and came out of it victor. When
as often happened at irst-he felt the old
thirst come upon him, he hid himself
among the black shadows Of the redwoods
and stayed therein silence and solitude
until he could trust himself among men
once more, and, by degrees, these seasons of
temptation and suffering grew less and less
frequent, and Ezra was-as he confided to
his baby Alice, to whom he told the secrets of
his heart long before she could understand
one word of his confessions-"his own man
again."
And all this was for the sake of baby
Alice-for her sweet sake he kept himself
clean and tidy; he stood up straighter, he
swOre less. Every Saturday night found
him at home, clean shaven, lest his 'bristles
might scratch the baby's face; content to
split wood, pack water, dig garden-do any
thing, in fact, to earn the precious privilege
of playing with and caring for Alice for a
time.
AS she grew older his happiness increased
She grew to know him-to look for his
coming-to futter her pretty hands when
she saw him, and at iast-one never-tO-be-
forgotten day-she learned to speak his
name!
1t was strange what difference this tiny
child made in the household. They were all so
different in their behavior TO each other after
she came, for the baby drew them close to
herself, by the golden chains of love, and
thus they were brought closer to each other.
They all loved the baby, and how could
they be cold, or harsh, or fault-fnding
among themselves, when the dear baby loved
them all so much that it would grieve
her to see them unfriendIy? The prim, over
orderly house grew to be home-like and
cosy. David, when at home, learned to put
his business worries and plans aside and
forget them all in the wild romps in which
Alice delighted. Julia forgot to find fault
about trifes in way that was almost un-
believable, and grew eompanionable and
sisterly in very truth-and the cause of all
these wonderful changes-sweet baby Alice
ruled over them all supreme.
When she began to "take notice when
she learned to put out her andsp-when
she cut her first tooth-when she began to
"say words when she began to balance
herself unsteadily on her tiny feet-all these
were epochs in the family history-oceasions
for much wonderment and rejoicing, aud for
small family celebrations. As for Ezra-for
two years he lived in an earthly Paradise |
and all his thoughts and hopes were centered |
on the faxen-haired darling who knew and |
loved him so well.
She was q "cuddling," clinging, affection
ate little thing always, but, someway, even |
her father, who almost idolized her, never
seemed quite so near to her baby heart as
" Uncle Ezzie." Perhaps something told
her that his nature-starved as it had been
for so many years-needed her more than
the others did. Perhaps his utter unselfish-
ness-his entire eself-abnegation-as regarded
herself impressed itself upon her in some
unknown way-whatever the reason was,
certain it was that she loved him dearly.
She ruled him absolutely, but love was her
if-just to try her" Uncle
Ezzie" would complain, ever so slightly,
during their games, of being tired" the
sunny, laughing face would instantly be-
come tenderly sOlicitous, and the d1mpled
hands would softly caress his wrinkled
cheeks, while "Allie so sorry!" would be
cooed into his delighted ears, over and over
again.
For two years Ezra Daniels was as nearly
perfectly happy as man can be in this
world; then, one dreadful day, black
shadow fell on the household. Alice
always heretofore, an extraordinarily
healthy, though delicate, child-fell i'll. 1t
had been bad Summer for children, but
Alice had been SO jealously watched and
guarded that it seemed as though she must
be quite safe in the home-nest, but sad-eyed
Azrael looked in upon her as he passed, and
she dropped suddenly, like a broken flower
under the noon-day sun. They could not
realize it at first-that there was any danger
Of their loved ones being taken from them.
1t was all so sudden, so unexpected, so
dreadful, that it was not untii-with the
soft fingers of one little hand clasped tightly
around one of Uncle Ezzie's n-she went
put from their midst, never to return, that
they could believe such thing possible.
David and Julia gave way to their grief
1tterly-such grief as only parents whose
,nly one is taken from them can know
Ezra made no sign. He sat dry-eyed, stern
md silent as though carved out of stone, be-
'ides the motionless little figure until il
vas carried to its last resting-place. He
lifted the tiny coffin, with his own hands,
nto the white hearse that bore it and its