Eagle River Democrat. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1893-1896, 1896-03-09


there, and obtain the coveted dainty
for her sick parent.
It happened (by the way, what a
heathenish sound that word has. the
old fashioned come to pass is, to
our thinking, much less Objectionable
that the policeman, with that rigid
red-tapeism. which is apt to run ram
pant 'trouncing" way, had brought
in his hand the Identical article which
poor Ida had been set on obtaining
and, in due course, he proffered it to
the observation Of the bench.
The magistrate beheld a simple roll,
such as furnished forth his breakfast
table in ordinary. He noticed how
the child's eyes followed the. coveted
morsel even now, as, with a small sigh
as if apologizing for the desire to
possess such a luxury-she SAID. "Be-
cause mother was SO poor"
[ don't like to suppose a great man
capable of weakness, yet tits certain
that the magistrate seemed to have
found sudden attraction in some
papers whichslay before him, and that
he used his handkerchief, and cleared
his throat vociferously, before he de-
manded, with much show of sternness,
"Has any one made inquiries as to
the truth of the statements?-th this
child's mother, is sh4 present."
There was a stir in the court-a
commotion. A policeman made a
passage through the crowd to the wit
ness box, but, ere the object OF their
attention reached 1t, there was loud
cry-an exclamation, and the child
was clasped in the arms OF woman,
clingingto her skirts, grasping her with
one hand, and sobbing out, with
a hundred tender explosives, the name
Of mother while the tears which
terror had withheld burst forth with
convulsive violence.
1t was a sad scandal to the gravity
of the court, but who was to protest
against it? The apoplectic usher roar
ed himself blue in the face; the police
men executed sundry evolutions APP
parently to no specific end; themagis-
trate emphatically protested in dumb
show; but all the majesty of the Law
and her myrmidons, rolled into one,
must have been poWerless before the
touch Of all-dominant Nature.
The women cried, the men cheered;
the boys and girls, who didn care two
pence, in fact, seized the opportunity
for making @ TOW and defying the
policemen; and when at length, the
magistrate-Who III one keen glance
had taken in the appearance OF the
new -comer-made a sign that the child
should be removed from the bar, he
drew down fresh demonstration Of
applause on his own account, and
final tribute to the unpopular baker,
who made his exit amid the groans of
an impulsive rabble, of which the
juvenile portion followed him to the
street, some begging for the roll he
still held ia his hand, others proffering
their services to fetch him a penn
orth O treacle' to eat with it.
Meanwhile the landlady had spoken
to the occupation and general habits
OF her dodgers; and then-still holding
her child to her skirts-Nelly was
placed in a position less ignomlnious
than that her darling had but lately
filled; and as help to the calculation
Of the child's tale, which had
connected itself with certain
suspicious in the minds of the
magistrate, she was reioined to
''speak the truth, the whole truth, !"
&C.
"Your name is -" the good mag
istrate observed. assisting, with cour-
tesy, the hesitation which was evident,
and easily accounted for, by the APP
pearance Of the woman. 'Your name
is Frankfort"
NO, sir, in low voice; my real
name is - : with an effort she
spoke itp,-s'is Meghorn.
A loud exclamation in the knot Of
people behind her, a blasphemous
ejaculation, in a hoarse voice, startled
her, and called forth the wrath Of the
magistrate.
ssClear the court instantly" he
cried; 1T is disgraceful! officer clear
the COURT
Her tale was the more clearly told,
that his order was obeyed, almost to
the letter. In virtue OF her oath, Mel
Iy was indeed scrupulous to q degree;
and, in pursuing the thread OF his in
vestigations, the worthy functionary,
doubtless, found his cursosity awak-
ened by the singular facts necessarily
ellCllGQ HOW .Gll6 ring CdlH0 1llUO IlGI
possession-how the stranger could
possibly be supposed to have a claim
on it-Why she had disguised her real
name, and had adopted that Of her
first husband, were certainly needful
to the establishing her innocence and
the consistency OF her story, which, Of
course, tailed in every respect with
that her child had previously told.
Perhaps the woman in her eagerness
to prove her child guiltless, went fur
ther into antecedents than was neces-
sary; or it might be that the element
of human curiosity still turks some
where, even in the magisterial breast.
Certain it is that the tale thus evolved
strange as it was, still bore SO IN
mistakably the stamp of truth
thereby the more strange, and
the more strange the less likely to be
fabricated in consistency-that the
magistrate, at it's close, not only en-
tirely absolved the child and mother
FROM n