The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1895-02-16
THRIFT"
Story Of Jean Lawrence's Love
for an Adopted Boy.

His mother had insisted on calling
him Thrift. No one knew why she
had given him the quaint name. Then
when he was barely two years old, she
died. She left him with great wealth
of silent love, but that, like his name,
could not help him much-that is, not
as far as one can judge things. The
neighbors said it was a cough that had
settled" that carried her off. Prob
ably the cough had something to do
with it, but starved-out life of lack
of affection, end hard work, had a good
deal more.
The neighbors also thought that
Mrs. Watson never had much spirit. 1t
would seem as If they almost blamed
her for dying and leaving husband
with child barely two years old.
They had misgivings about the boy,
and there they were right. Thrift
was deaf and dumb. His mother had
1 struggled against the knowledge as
long as she could. When she realized
= 1t she kept the knowledge to herself
with fierce love. But the cough
came and settled all the problems of
her life for her.
Thrills father took her death as
alphabetically as he had taken her all
her life. Only Thrift seemed to realize
that fate was still against him. He
lay crying for hours alone in the little
cottage. strapped into his cot. 1t was
weird pathetic cry. The neighbors
were kind to him. They took him in
turn to their cottages, but the element
of teasing children and rough handling
was discordant to him. The women
meant well, but it was hard winter,
and money and tempers were short.
Besides, Thrills baby nature was hard
to understand.
Brightness came into his life one day.
1t came in the guise of q little dress
maker, Jean Lawrence. She brought
him a black frock She had been busy,
so she had put off the making till she
had time. No one else had thought of
the little mark of respect. 1t was a
tribute to custom, but it was the one
tribute of Mrs. Watson's life.
'Puir little lamb!' said Jean Law
renee as she came in. Her eyes filed
with quite unexpected tears as she saw
the lonely baby.
Thrift could not hear her, but some
thing sympathetic touched his under
standing, for he held out his hands.
"Puir little thing" said Jean Lawrence
again. and she caught him up and COW
cred him with kisses. Then she put
Thrift back in his cot, and united the
little black frock. She turned to go,
for she was in hurry.
Thrills mood changed. His blue
eyes grew dark in the intensity of his
passion. He kicked and screamed His
fluffy fair hair was ruffied; he looked
the picture of little demon.
i"Presairve u.s." said the little dress
maker. 1t was the first time any ex-
aggeration of feeling had come into
her life. She was half fascinated and
half terrified by this unexpected burst.
''Presairve us!' she repeated mere en-
phatically. She never could explain
afterwards what prompted her, but
she stepped to the cot, wrapped a
blanket round Thrift, and did not stop
to think till she had deposited him
safely in her own house. 1t was charac-
teristic of Jean Lawrence that she
never reasoned out why she had done
this action. Certainly she never re-
GREETED it. 1t was quite as easy mat
ter to settle the disposal of Thrift with
his father. He was only too glad to
be rid of the burden.
The first clashing of wills occurred
over the same little black frock. Thrift
ungratefully refused to have anything
to do with it. Miss Lawrence was per-
picked. 1t would never do to dress him
in colors on Sunday. She compro-
mized by making him a white frock,
with broad black sash. 1t set off the
child's fairness, but still more it salts
fed her sense of fitness.
Jean Lawrence always thought Of
that episode as an epoch in her life.
The next epoch was the sudden resolve
of Thrills father to go to America.
Jean Lawrence lived in a state of ten
sion till he had sailed. 1t seemed in
credible to her that he could wish to
leave his boy behind. She only saw
the extreme desirability of Thrift in
any manner and way. Thrills father
did not.
IL was soon after this that Jean
Lawrence's old lover returned to his
native village. This caused more
thought in the village than Jean her
self gave to it. 1t was ten years since
John Forbes and she had been going to
be married, and ten years is long
time in a woman's life! Since Thrift
had entered her life she was utterly
oblivious of anything except her work.