Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1898-10-29
The Staru Teller.
AN OLD MAIDS LOVE.
Her Only Affair Of the Heart and
What 1t Won.
BY JAMES BUCKHAM.

Wnat COulQ IL medu hlSo noiSo'
Drew stopped, and set down the heavy
basket of lunch she was carrying te
the men in the bayfield,. 1t surely
was a child's cry, and baby's, too
How it stirred the cords of her lonely
longing heart Miss Abigail loved
children with a passionate, yearning
love; and yet it had been years since
she had even heard a baby cry. Liv
ing alone with her brother and his
occasional help, on that remote farm
all social relationships, all neighborly
amenities and delights were almost
entirely denied her. And, above all
things, she missed and longed for the
sunny presence of children. She fell
that, if she only had child to care
for, her barren, empty life would over
flow with joy and purpose. The days
now so sad and meaningless, would be
so rich and blessed then All there
is nothing like the infinite aching oi
the mother heart in a childless breast
Therefore, that child-cry, floating up
from the swamp, was heavenly music
to the heart of Miss Abigail Drew
She clasped her hands and listened
her whole being absorbed in the asso'
Citations connected with the sound
Suddenly her heart surged into her
throat, and she caught her breath with
the thought that rushed across her
mlnd-what if baby had been left in
the swamp deserted! And what il
she could be the one to find it and take
it home; and oh what if nobody
should ever come to claim it The
wistful face of the woman paled and
flushed, and flushed and paled, in swift
succession, as her heart brooded upon
this wonderful possibility. At length,
with little cry that was all prayer,
she sprang toward the swamp, leaving
the basket of lunch under the blaze of
the July sun.
When she emerged from the thick,
low woods at the bottom of the pas
ture, her dress was torn and her face
scratched and streaming with perspira.
ton; but the rapture and triumph
that shone in her eyes, as she looked
down upon a bundle strained to her
breast, showed that life, for her, had
suddenly been lifted above all ordinary
conditions and considerations, and that
she was only conscious of walking upon
such roseate air as that old painters
limnei beneath the feet of their exalt.
ed Madonnas. A little face peeped
out from the ragged shawl that wrap
ped Miss Abigail's precious burden ;
but the plaintive cry had ceased, and
the blue eyes of the little founding
were gazing up into those "two springs
of limpid love" that shone above them.
Nathan Drew and his two hired men
were waiting impatiently under the
shadow of the big elm tree, when their
breathless provider finally arrived with
the basket of lunch and that strange
bundle upon her left arm. 1t was long
past noon, and Nathan Drew was
frettiug and fuming at his sisters un'
accountable delay.
"What in 'tarnal kept you so long?"
he demanded, as the painting woman
dropped the basket under the shadow
of the elm. "And for goodness sake,
what We got in yer arms?'
GA baby, Nathan !" replied his sister,
in voice full of soft, reverential joy.
ga poor little baby that was left in the
swamp. heard it crying, and went
to find it, and that's what made me so
late"
"Hump! !" said Nathan Drew, taking
the covering from the basket and in
specting the contents. "What be we
going to do with it p
A cloud swept across the radiant
face Of the woman. There was some
thing distinctly forbidding in her broth
er's tone and manner. Evidently, the
only question that had entered his
mind was how to get rid of the un-
welcome encumbrance that had been
left upon his land. Their thoughts
were travelling in Numerically oppo-
site directions-the woman's toward
retaining the child the mans, towards
disposing Of it!
There was something of the protec-
tive cunning of love in Abigail's eva
sive answer to her brother. "Proba-
bly, somebody will come along and
claim it in little while," she said.
Nathan Drew laughed derisively.
Then he took a huge bite out Of one
of Abigail's delicious chicken sand
wiches, and washed it down with a
gulp of coffee from the warm can.
every likely" he replied at length ;
every likely!" Then he laughed
again. "Somebody dropped it acci-
dentally in the swamp, eh, boys
Somebody'll be comm back, most
crazy to find it, by n BY"
The hired men laughed servilely,
though it was plain that their minds
were chiefly absorbed by the lunch
basket which their employer held be-
tween his legs, and Was steadily plum
dering.
"Well, come on, boys. Hitch up
here aud have something to eat?" cried
the farmer. eve can't bother about
a baby all day. There's work to be
doue."
The tongues of the hired men were
loosed as their anxiety disappeared,