The Saint Paul globe., 1902-06-03

Importantly out of the shadows? True,
1t was higher than ordinary and more
angular, but it had the length of the
familiar lounge, and it was certain that
they would have laid Freddy upon
nothing else. He took a step or two to-
wards it under a strong impulse of af-
fectionate longing, and then stopped
short, held up by a sensation that chilled
him to the marrow. The boy, who, what
ever otherwise had been his faults, had
always been reckoned courageous, sud
denly felt himself possessed throughout
his entire being by nameless, para
lying dread, an apparently baseless and
irrational horror similar TO that ex-
hibited by unreasoninS animals in the
presence of the dead.
An Impulse Of flight came over him. and
\ he would have turned tail and fled from
the room. but that his feet seemed rooted
to the floor. Beads of cold sweat came
out upon his fesh and the muscles of his
jaw became uncomfortable. and his teeth
chattered audibly. The child was numb
with fear, mad to escape, and yet unable
to stir foot. He remembered night
mares when he had Ionged in similar
fashion to evade the neighborhood of
some swelling monster, whose increasing
bulk threatened to crush and suffOcate
him, and could not. In those times. be-
fore he had fallen under the ban of his
mothers disaffection, his instinct had
been to cry aloud to her, and now, in his
necessity, the same natural source of
protection occurred. to him, and
Mother! The cry went up, and rang
and Swelled and Vibrated not onlv
throughout the little room, but through
out the house itself, startling the Sleep
ers and rousing one to whom the appeal
went home, though she hardly compre-
ended either its origin or the cause Of
its expression as she leaped from her bed
and sped, as if the trump of Gabriel had
summoned her from her chamber to the
locality where it seemed to have pro-
ceeded Only one thing she felt and
heeded-that creature born of her was
IN distress and had need of her
When she reached the parlcr a-tremble
but stung to the highest pitch of helpful
ness sight met her eyes that reused all
the motherhood within her. The moon
which had been playing a pueriIe game Of
mae -and-scek with the evening clouds hal
recovered her dignity and taken again
upon herself the fulflIment of her duties
as regent Of the night A long
smart of pale light fell through
the small-sized window, and visit
ed SlantWise the tabernacle set
up IN the middle Of the apartment.
Ihe small sheeted form this held gained
heartbreaking starkness from the il
Iumlnation; the youthful figure beside il
prohted from the chastened light tn tbe
uegree OF losing its wiIlfuI and stul h "a
aspect and taking on one of appeaI ana
IielpleSsness 1t was no longer a malefac-
tor that stood there in the moonlight. Wis
Sd1i Sl1 - uie noCher timid, frightened, suf-
fo= aid oie0 % her
Unless degenerate or congenitalIv a.
formed, the nature Of a child Of tender
years cannot be hopelessly perverted. Law
inns truth to yourselves, you mothers
VINO VINO orer excuses for the inefectiveness
u your own indolent effort in their he
@ .Ioli' an lhsurmountable refractoriness in
your oHspring. This Caroline Wfida
otherWlse an average mother had oor,1
70 consider this child of hers in the lipb+
VI mature reprobate, of a scandaIoIs
ana dlsgraceful connection, of an ire
cIaInlaple Scapegrace. But that cry had
sedrched the very springs Of her moth
eIHooo' mad made its shortcomings sud-
uehly visible, and had awakened q ms
aIon"ee Iemorse in her heart There were
dio-t,..o - CduSlCes which smote her sorelv
NI9PulHlg the conclusions she had al
ready formed in regard to tho 1ad 80
Eolclhg the child's sense Of pronertv il
HeI' "hlch, whatever might be his faI,I+s
lived. 81 Ao"S DIS she
o,ItIf1eue LIhe one who, seeing a treasure fallen
nv br.ql ti1Ln che burning, fears to lose
e. preaths S interval the seizure of If
5iIe pounded across the room and caef
neiseH upon the boy. Even as hey. q rms
tha ment aoout him and she felt, beneath
I4e COTTON shirt, the stout fhra -
sTong framework of the arrou-inoT ~ 1iLo
ile sLle thrilled to the core. realizi1g for
Tue Hrst time that in the person o2 +bis
disafa cejItt ~ emo 1or whose acts she had
;uIscIaiined responsibility, she had SENT
INTO INTO the world great force. either fnr
6oGq or evil. A new respect for him &C
Ea,i Men as novel compassion stirred within
i1l' ttei' 1 dId even as she clasped him to her
Sne Snrank little and sIackenad 60
mn9C the Hrst close pressure of her rms
4eelIhS that he possessed the right ~
io4Se; as WelI as summon her And the
Wy, leellng her embrace relax and M
IeVlng that she had already repan+o7
IIer impulse of affection toward him Or
lhdt she had been led to nroffar bi1o
tIn4 f6ntiGTt III under the mistaken assumption
6l; elnat ne was one Of the other children.
nhdlng his courage quite restored bv fbe
Here entrance into the room Of another
nVlnS creature, recovered his former sul-
len hablt, and drew resentfuI2y away
1hey stood moment or two opposite
one dnother IN the pale light quite at
oUGs3 the woman yearning, but shame
1aced; the poy consumed with a sense
OF exclusion and filled with a bitter vim
dIct1Veness against every living thing.
and especially against her whose affec-
ton was a most natural duty towards
however
express his feelings outwardly, nor in
deed to halt long in action because of
them. Almost Immediately upon per
celvlng that the clasp which had so re-
assured and comforted him was losing
the warmth of it's first impulse a new
consideration had flashed into his mind
and upon this he now acted. He had NOT
a doubt but that his mother having dis
covered who it was that had called to
ner. would Immediately go back to bed.
probably under cover Of some parting
obJufgation or reproach calculated to IN.
flame his heart later on Remember that
former unaccountable and unprecedented
terror that had aSsailed him alone here
in the ghostly moonlight, he was
prompted to fulfill the undertaking that
had brought him hither, at once before
his mothers departure should leave him
again a prey to lonely and indefnable
terrors. Having once lost control Of him.
self in such babyish fashion, he had be-
come distrustful Of his own courage and
although he in nowtse associated his late
fright with the idea OF death. which
still preserved its simplicity for him, yet
he preferred to accomplish his mission
in the presence of a third person.
He turned his back upon his mother
and approached the little bier, upon which
the moonlight fell softly. The woman
made a movement as if to restrain him,
but he failed to observe it and went de-