The Aberdeen Democrat. (Aberdeen, South Dakota) 1???-1909, 1903-07-10

THAT won't do" answered tn,
mate, after a pause. Poor little
thing. We can't do that"
Something's got to be DONE" sale
the other.
The little Japanese. had followed
the expression of their faces, anc
with a timid assurance she whispered:
"You keep on ship. l be good.
know how to be good English fashion
l missionary girl"
There was no answer to her ap
peal, and with a cry of despair she
sat up. II good missionary girl" she
pleaded. 81 love God. L sing"
Softly and clearly she sang:
HI has taken my feet
From the mire and the clay
And set them on the Rock up Edgeways."
"That settles it," said Stallard,
huskily, when the plangent voice had
ceased. "She's mine. I'll adopt her.
Little one, you be a good girl, and I'll
look out for you"
1t was with much difidence that
the mate sought the captain. To him
he explained the situation bluntly and
without sentiment. "Simply a case
of have-to," he concluded. "Can't put
Il kid like that ashore in a strange
place. She's been ill-treated enough
and worse is ahead of her. I'm a
married man and I guess I can adopt
her."
you're crazy, Stallard," said the
skipper warmly. 'You get infatuated
with a little coal girl and want to
adopt her. What will your. wife
say?"
The mate flushed. "We haven't n
kid, sir, and I give you my word that
/ NEAR to do a fathers duty by that
little girl. She's out of a ditch, I
know, but she doesn't know what
sin is, and I think, sir, that maybe 1
can bring her up to be what a girl
should be-"
Nonsense" said the captain. "You
ought to be acquainted with her sort
better. They're no good"
sTrust me, SIR" said the mate
doggedly.
The captain ~pondered a great
while. Finally he rose and pulled
down the log-book. "We'n make it
ship-shape. You sign the log, saying
you adopt her and I'll certify to it.
Stallard, | don't like this business at
all. but it seems the best way out of
it,"
There is no need" the mate
suggested, "of telling the rest any
more than that I've taken her to edu-
cate?"
"We'n put the whole thing in the
log" said the captain. "You can
tell 'em what you like outside"
So the entry was made and signed
and the girl, now christened Moro
after her birthplace, was in
stalled in a vacant cabin. Few cared
inquire into the matter, beyond
the details which the mate saw fit
to divulge.
The very first night Mororan sta
toned herself unobtrusively behind
the mates seat at table and served
This was against his purpose,
threats and promises were of no
avail, and he had finally to accept it.
Within a week little Mororan wa
perfectly at home, and no smile wa
provoked when the mate referred to
my daughter" For at sea the UNI
usual is the inevitable.
When the Aztec had worked her
slow way down into warmer seas
the stalwart mate spent most of his
spare time on the after-deck with |
Mororan beside him. In his awkward
way he strove to tell her the things
he thought a good girl should know.
She listened, accepted and practiced
dutifully. 1t was not long before
Stallard found that he was the pupil
and she the teacher. She taught him
the fancies and longings and purities
of a.maiden's heart. There was but
n aspect of her mind that was al
ways dark to him. missionary girl"
she evidently was; she talked that
kind of English. Her creed was or
thodox SO far as he knew, but her
idea of the God she worshipped
seemed SO changeable, SO misty, vet
SO human that he failed to recognize
any of his own conceptions. He tried
to fathom her thought, but it always
ended in fixing her eyes upon him
and singing:
HE has taken my feet
From the mire and the clay
And set them on the Rock up Edgeways."
"Who has taken your feet from the
mire and clay?" he would ask.
Cod" she always answered, look
ing at him solemnly.
who is God?"
Then she would look at him with
eyes that he could not read, and the
.catechism was finished.
One day she varied the usual for
mula, and when he asked her .fWho
has taken your feet from the mire
andthe clay?' she answered himswith
a Sob.
Heshad never seen her cry before,
and with an uncomfortable impulse
he lifted her into his arms. She lay
there choking with emotion. Suddenly
She checked herself, and with closed
eyes kissed him gently. It was the
first caress she had given him and
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