The Brunswick daily news. [volume] (Brunswick, Ga.) 1903-1906, 1903-05-31

tear am
door of tha<
expression to-
By way of apologyS
undertone:
Poor fatheri He sum
has been disappointed and
him old Why did that ~
come here?''
She looked bitterly across the "a
line" Henry Egerton had just emergS4
from his shack and Stood with hana
shading his eyes. watching her. Nearby
she could see his gun leaning against
the side of the shack.
"He must be bad, or he would offer
TO compromise" Dorothy continued.
"He is young and able and father
is old and feeble. He might move on,
and"
She suddenly dropped her voice to
an indistinct murmur, for an apparition
appeared in the doorway of the shack
which made her excited. She shaded
her eyes and looked more keenly. 1t
was small, toddling child, scarcely
two summers old, holding uncertainty
to the side of the doorway, and cooling
at the big ball of fire slowly disap-
pearing below the horizon. The man
raised his hands and the child ran
to him and jumped into his arms.
"He is married, then, and has fam
ily," Dorothy breathed. maybe l
have misjudged him. Has the child a
mother, Or"
Again her sentence died out In an
indistinct murmur. but the sun had set
and twilight was rapidly spreading
over the landscape. Dorothy saw an
other form, bent of figure and white of
hair, walking across the field, and
after waving hand of welcome to him
she turned to her work inside.
There was seldom any mention of
their neighbours affairs between father
and daughter, and tonight Dorothy
merely told of the presence of the baby
on the opposite side of the dead line
and then subsidized. Jared Wellington
raised his shaggy eyebrows and
grunted:
"Then he's married? He'll bring his
wife next, suppose. Maybe he has
heard that the courts"
A horrible suspicion entered the
minds of both. Had the courts decided
respecting their claims and had Henry
Egerton heard that he was the sole and
legal possessor of the quarter section
Otherwise why had he brought his
family out to his lonely home when he
had lived without them for three
months?
Jared Wellington felt the heavy OPP
preston of disappointment. and his
white head dropped lower and lower as
the evening advanced. Dorothy tried
to cheer him, but in vain. Finally she
decided to present the matter clearly
to her aged parent and show him
that all would not be lost even if the
courts decided against them.
"What of it, father?" she said, cheer
fully. eve can go back East and live.
can work and support you. 1 will
enjoy life more than out here. CAN'T
stand this much longer. l mustso CO
companions and neighbors." cav II
"No, no, Dorothy, it can never besV Fl
murmured. 1 shall never live to see
the East again. If it is true that-that
he owns it''-pointing dramatically
toward his enemy's hack-''it will kill
me. 1 cannot survive it,"
The tears blinded the blue eyes of
the woman. and she turned away to
hide them. at may not be, father
she murmured in a thick voice.
But whether true or not, Jared Wei
lington took to his bed, and on the NOR
row he was unable to raise his head
from the pillow. Dorothy nursed him
with all the skill she possessed. but he
needed more than she could give.
Slumbering fitfully, the patient would
awaken occasionally. and murmur in
distinct sentences The fever of age
and anxiety had unsettled his mind,
and he raved like child of ten.
Dorothy turned away in despair.
Impending death in the dreary shack
made even her stout heart quail. 1t
was ten miles to the nearest physician
but it was necessary to go. Would the
feeble patient awaken, and finding
himself deserted, commit some wild
act?
She held the door half open, debat-
ing whether to go or stay, when sud
denly slight pressure from without
made her turn hastily. There, almost
at her feet was bundle of red cloth
ing. surmounted by shock of light
brown hair. The pair of innocent eyes
looking up at her suddenly cleaned
with a newborn happiness:
"Muzzer! Muzzer! Use found you
at last Where's you been so long
Baby's been cryin' an cryin' fur you.
Hug baby, an tell him you'll nebber,
nebber leave him again"
| A pair of warm arms were raised be-
seechingly upward. Dorothy picked
the little child up in her arms and
Rugged and kissed it. The longing in
her heart for some one to love and
| speak to was almost too much, and she
broke into violent sobbing. The child
cuddled close to her and said softly:
Don't cry, muzzer. fur l won't leave
you ag'in. Use goin' to stay forebber
| an ebber with you"
The hands, chubby and warm, stroked
the hair of the weeping woman. Dor
othy raised her eyes to look at the little
face pressed to hers, and then she