The Afro-American., 1897-04-17

as well, I" she said, opening the
brown paper parcel, and revealing a
doll with very beautiful complexion,
large blue eyes, and hair of the purest
gold, diminutiye Noah's Ark, white
pig, woolly sheep, a case Of crayons,
penholler. broken bladed knife, a
small paint box, a picture book or
two, and what bore some faint resemb-
lance to a number OF water color
sketches. She seemed particularly
proud Of the last named.
II painted them all by myself" " she
explained
The Judge thought It not unlikely,
as he glanced with twinkling eyes at
the highly unconventional forms and
daring colors of these strikingly orig
inal works Of art.
"Well, ne said, sit is very kind Of
You to bring me all these pretty things,
but Why do you want to give them to
me?"
''I-I don't want to give them to
you" she faltered.
The Judge regarded her with very
friendly eyes. He was SO used to hear
ing romantic deviatlons from the truth
from the lips Of imaginative witnesses.
that frankness was at all times de-
lightful to him.
Come" said he, with quiet
laugh, that's honest at least. Well,
Why do you give them to me if you
don't want to?"
"I'll give them to you, and Tommy
too" the words were accompanied by
very wistful glance at the fat puppy
tiff you'll promise not to send
poor papa to prison.
A silence, such as precedes some aw-
full convulsion of nature, pervaded the
room for several seconds after this au-
dacious proposal. Even Tommy, as
though covering before the outraged
majesty CT the law, buried his head
between the judges coat and vest, and
lay motionless except for propitia
tory wag of his. tail
"What is your name, child?" asked
the Judge, grimly.
dorothy Maxwell" faltered the
little girl, timidiy, awed by the sud
den sllence and the perh APPS uncon-
sciously stern expression upon his
lordship's face.
dorothy Maxwell, said the Judge,
severely, as though the little figure
before him were standing in the pris-
oner's dock awaiting sentence, "you
have been convicted at the close Of
the nineteenth century Of the almost
unparalleled crime of attempting to
corrupt one of Her Maiesty's Judges,
to persuade him, by means Of bribery,
to defeat the ends Of Justice. I shall
not further enlarge upon the enormity
OF your crime. Have yon anything to
say why sentence should not be
No, no, don't cry. Poor little thing,
I didn't mean to fri8hten you. I'm not
the least bit angry with you u-realIy
and truly. Come ana sit on my knee,
and show me al these pretty things.
Get down, you little beast"
The last words were addressed to
Tommy, who fell with Rcp on the
floor, and was replaced on the Judges
knee by his lltt5y like condoning 4 Grim
mai offence" thought the Judge to
himself with grim smile, as he wiped
the tears from the poor little creatures
face, and tried to interest her in
the contents of the brown paper
parcel But the thoughts the tears
had aroused did not vanish with
them. Arthur Maxwell was no longer
kind of impersonal representative
of the criminal classes, to be dealt
with as severely as the law allowed in
the interests of society in general. He
was the father of this soft, plump,
rosy checked, blue eyed, golden
haired little maid, who would lneViFa-
bly, have to share, now or in the fu-
ture, her fathers humiliation and
Hdisgrace. For the first time, per
haps, the Judge felt a pang of
pity for the wretched man who
at that moment was probably pac-
ing his cell in agonizing apprehension
of the inevitable verdict. A vivid pic
ture started up before him Of the
prisoners white face, twitching lips
and tragic eyes. He remembered his
own emotion when be first sentenced
a fellow creature to penal servitude
Had he grown calIous since then? Did
he take sufficiently into account the
frailty Of human nature, the brew, 2
Of life, the ar-reaching consequences
that the fate of the most insigniicant
unit of b7-,-, -,Ipy must entail?
AZ 4l,ls moment the door opened,
md his wife, a slender, graceful wo-
man, considerably younger than him
self, with refined, delicate face,
came quietly IN.
"An, exclaimed the Judge, with a
sudden inspiration, 81 believe YOU
are the bottom Of all this, Agnes.
What is this child doing here?"
"You are not vexed, Matthew" she
asked, half,tlmidIy.
Hardly that, :" he answered, slowly
"but what good can it do? 1t is I'M
possible to explain the situation to
this poor little mite. 1t was cruel to
let her come on such an errand. How
did she get here?"
"Et was her own idea-entirely her
own idea; but her mother brought her
and asked to see me. The poor wo
man was distracted, nearly frantic