The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1899-02-23

suffering! What a clear, white skin; what
blue, blue eyes; breadth what of forehead
and fullness of temple; what dainty little
hands; what soft, sweet neck for nest
| ling a mother lips!
For two days Abigail Drew lived in the
awful Joy of one who drains the nectar
from cup which, when emptied, must
be dashed to earth. She tried to put
away the thought that she and that little
baby girl must part. She tried to make
those two precious days heaven enough
| for all of life. She tried, with all the du-
tltulneSS and reverence of her nature, to
bow to her brothers will and be content.
But every hour the whisper in her heart
grew stronger and more insistent--
''Cleave to the child, Keep her, cherish
her. She is yours, gift of God, the
answer TO your lifelong prayer"
At last she went to her brother and
poured out her heart with an intensity of
passion he had never suspected in that
quiet, reserved, meekly subservient sister
Of his. But, although surprised and dis
turbed, Nathan Drew was not moved. His
heart remained obdurate. Never lover
OF children, always convinced in his own
heart that chldessness was the more
blessed state, how could he be expected
to look with favor upon an adopted baby,
d child concerning whose antecedents and
propensities one knew absolutely nothing?
No, he would not hear 10 it. To the
Founding Hospital at Mayteld the little
wall must 60.
Towards evening of the last day of her
probation, Abigail Drew began to gather
together certain little treasures of her
oWn-heillU1mS. Her mothers Bible
the aces left her by her Aunt Judith; an
old fashioned watch and chain; Sin silver
spoons worn thin as papel-these and a
few other things She wrapped in a bundle,
and then, taking baby and bundle III her
arms, She went out closing the kitchen
door reyerently and softly behind her.
Down the road, through the haze Of the
late afternoon, she walked, as one in a
dream, leaving behind her all that she al
even known and loved hitherto.
From the distant meadow came the
sound of milestone on scythe blade
what a CHEEKY, CHEEKY ring. How could
Nathan beat such music, with Punishment
tor the babe--for both OF them, did he but
know it! in his heart?
Beyond the bridge Abigail turned into
the woods and followed the stream west =
ward, for the road ran too near the mead
ow, where Nathan and his men were hay
ing. The child fell to crying, but she
nestled it and kept on. just before sun
set she came out of the woods upon an
other road and followed it southwark.
The summer dusk began to deepen, yet
she met no traveller and passed no house.
What lonely country it was, that New
Hampshire mountain valley. The great
hills looked down over the woods like
frio ha ,,f,l+ ,ir
ed of swamps and piney glens, and deep
buried solitudes. The voices were all
those of wild creatures, mysterious and
hidden. How the weary, heart sick
woman longed for the sight of a roof, a
chimney, an open door-especially for
the face of one of her own sex. Only the
heart of woman understands woman S
heart.
AT last, when the firetlies began to drift
across her path like sparks from the
crumbling embers of the sunset, Abigail,
| turning bend in the road, came sudden
ly upon the welcome glow of a farmhouse
window She FASTENED forward, and,
turning into the little path between the
lilac bushes, approached the open door.
A man sat upon the doorstep, smoking,
and as he saw the approaching figure he
rose and called his wife.
A buxom, sweet faced woman came
hustling to the door, skewer in hand.
The moment Abigairs eyes rested upon
her face, she cried:
Lucinda Jones!'
The skewer fell Gathering upon the
floor, and the two women rushed together,
like amicable battering- rams, the arms of
the larger embracing friend and child in
their expansive embrace.
"Abgail Drew. Be you still living in
these parts? | heard, away out in York
State, where we just moved from, that
you and your brother had gone West
twenty years ago. My. and you We been
and married and got a baby Come in
come in. Lorenzo, fetch the rocker out
of the settin' room. How glad l am to
see you again, Abigail. | thought you
ard me was parted forever.
How straight love had led her wander
ing feet! Abigail sank dow in the cush-
toned rocker and marveled at the cheer
full freight playing on the face of the
sleeping babe. Welcome-refuge-sy
pathy! All. she had not obeyed the in
ward voice in vain.
Six weeks was Nathan Drew a. searching
for the treasure he had lost. He drove
east, west, north and south, stopping at
every mountain farmhouse to seek news
of his sister. Nobody had seen her going
Or coming. The yawning earth could not
have swallowed her more completely.
| But at last he found her. She was sit
ting with her baby on low chair under
the lilac bushes, and he spied her before
he had reached the house. She saw him
at the same moment, and, springing up
like a hunted creature, made as if she
would have fed. But he stopped hel
with pleading gesture, and look on hi
face such as she had not seen since they
we're children together.
"You don't know how l. We missed you
Abigail" he said, simply, drawing rein il