The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1895-09-06
RETURNED AT LAST.

sky the deep blue waves seemed al
most black, and near the land they
crawlcd green with crcsts of cruel
white A narrow stiiD of beach alone
remained uncovered.
Along the white shell sand little
child strayed-a baby yirl all alone.
Slowly and weaiily the little feet
paced the beach. Slowly, but with
awful surcness, the cruel waves crept
nearer.
She came to where, shut In by Jagged
hcadlands. II small creek danced to its
meeting with the ocean. There boat
lay moorCd to n point of rock, and
presently some sailors came down It's
banks. bearing water casks that they
had filed at the springs above.
They saw and questioned the child,
who looked in their rough faces with
out fear. but could only answer that
she "was called Madeleine and wanted
her mamma Their ship, which lay
in the oiing, was signalling their re-
turn. The child could not be left to
perish. they said, and the Captain
would set her ashore when the storm
was over. So they placed her in a
boat, and soon she WIS hOistcd upon
the ships deck
That night she slept in the spare
berth of the Captains cabin.
The little cot at home by the moth
er's bedside was empty. Beside 1t the
mother knclt and prayed and wept
through all the watches of that fearful
right. willie abroad. unbccding rain,
hurricane and deuge, the father and
his ncighbors searched far and wide
along the stormy shore And so, for
homo hAnutpa
sunir. PRAYING. wccplng and searching,
they sought the child. Then the par
euts made n tomb for their darling Ia
their hearts, for they dared not hope
that she was yet alive.
The little garments were placed
away, toys and worn playthlngs, the
small chair, the cradle and the crib
in one dim, silent room they were all
placed. and that room was the shrine
to which the mother went daily to
weep and where the father stood with
still awe and mans undemonstrative
grief.
And so passed days and months and
years. Other children came to light
up the gloom of the house of mourn
ing dearly loved and tenderly nur-
turcd, beautiful as the lost Madeleine,
but never quite filling that dreadful
void in the parents hearts.
Meanwhile little Madeleine, nurtured
by the wife Of the Captain of the ship
(the Resolute) on board which the in
fant had been taken, had grown TO
womanhood. The vessel had been
driven too far by the storm that night
to return: hence the adoption OF the
child by Capt. Strangewny's wife. She
and her faithful nurse had made many
VOYAGES In the Resolute, and Madeleine
had become Il great favorite with the
old sailors who had stuck to the ship
from the time she first set her tiny foot
on its deck At last she married JAS
per Stnngcway, II nephew OF the old
Captain. who was soon after promoted
TO the command of Il new Resolute, on
board which many Of the old crew
shipped
After her marriage, Madeleine some
times made voyages on board the snip
and sometimes stayed at home and
nursed the little Jasper beside the
Captains firesidc, while he and his gal
liant mate breasted the oceans storms
The Youngest child of Madcleine's
parents We alG be i. sailor boy. From
his infancy he had loved the sea, and
often his mother had watched with IN
agony OF memories his feet as they
trod the shore where Madeleine had
strayed and been lost
know not how, nor does II matter
he became one of the crew of the Reso
lue-a pet and favolite. Perhaps II
was that something In the brown
laughing face which was like Made
leine's fair features.
The boy led Il happy life on board
the Resolutc. happier still when Made
leine and her two-year-old Jasper cam,
to make the voyage on board the ole
bark.
This time they sailed to the por
nearest the boys home, the home OF
Madeleuc's infancy and those beref
parents. These the boy visited, OF
course, and he so prattled OF the lady
and the beautiful child, the gallan
mate. the white-haired Captain and hi'
dear old wife, that there presently
came an invitation from his parents t'
the whole party to visit the seaside
cottage an invitation gratefully accept
cd by all.
And so Madeleine returned 10 heI
homo.
They learned her story ere she hat
been many hours beneath their roof
and knew that she was their own los
M0uelPllp TeIuTHeu 10 ticli' AZ III y
they were overwhelmed by the on'
thought of Joy. Then calmness return
ed, and they We're quietly happy unit
Madeleine was forced to depart witt
those friends, now nearer to her b!
the force of circumstances and wifcl!
maternal love than the parents, wh'
nurtured her infancy.
Then was observed II new phenomo
non. Madeleine. their baby Madeleine
was not. All different was this splen
did woman. But the little child, 81
like what she had been when her tin.
feet trod the white shell sand of TIN
beach, entered the long vacant place
in those hearts that forgot their be
reavemcnt in his childish caresses
They drew him there with fervent love
and hencefol'th Madeleine became, ~
before, II dream, n memory OF the past
ana her little child the link betweeI
the present joy and the past that ha'
swallowed up their great sorrow.-NeV
York News