Audubon County journal. (Exira, Iowa) 1884-1993, 1904-04-14
CHARLES CLARK MUM
; y; . ; . -; y, ;; ,

waist, out GRABBED the DOX an ran Tor
the house, with Lissy after me. We
had fire in the stove, an I.issy
warmed q blanket an wrapped the
poor thing up an held it over the stove
an kissed it an took on just as vim
min will. When l see it was safe cut
for the pint, thinkin' to wave my hat
an show 'em we had saved the baby,
but squall O. snow had struck in an
when it let up the vessel was gone.
Thar was bits O. wreck cum ashore,
pieces o. spars, boat all stove in an
the like an a wooden shoe. In the box
the baby was in was two little blan-
kets, an tied in bit O. cloth two rings
an a locket with two picters in it, an
paper was pinned to the baby's
clothes with furrin writin' on it. 1t
said the baby's name was Etelka Pc
terson an, TO God l commend my
child an signed, A Despairing Moth
err From bits O the wreck we learned
the vessel was from Stockholm an
named Peterson
1.-The paper was sech heart techin'
appeal, an as we'd just buried our
only child. a six-year-old gal, we was
glad to adopt this 'un an bring her up.
In due course o. time l made a report
o. the wreck to the lighthouse board
an that we had saved one life, gal
baby, an give all the facts. Nothin'
ever came on It, though, an we was
glad thar didn't. We KEEP the little
gal. an she want long in CROWN into
our feelin's, an the older she growed
the more we thought O. her.
OF course the history of Uncle Ter
rvs protegee was known to every resi-
dent of the island, and as she grew in
to girlhood and attended school at the
Cape, as the little village a quarter
mile back of the point was called, until
she matured into a young lady every
one came to feel that in a way she be-
longed to the kindly lighthouse keeper
and his wife Melissa.
To them she was all that devoted
daughter could be, and when school
days were over she became Uncle Ter
rvs almost constant companion. On
pleasant days she went with him to
attend his traps and on his daily drive
to the head of the island. She was
| welcome in every house and we'll be-
loved by all those simple, kindly peo-
pie. who felt an unusual kindly inter-
est in her existence. OF tender heart
and timid nature, her appealing eyes
won the love of young and old. On
Sunday evenings she was always one
of the small congregation that gathered
| to hold simple, services in the little
church at the Cape, a square one story
building that never knew paint or shut
| tiers.
OF beau she hardly knew the mean
men who remained on the island after
reaching the age OF courtship were
| neither in garb nor manners such as
would attract girl like Telly.
| One special talent she was gifted
with. and that was the ability to draw
and paint We'll. Even as child at school
she would draw pictures on slate that
were surprising, and when older and
she obtained materials she worked UNI
til she became In way quite an artist
AS Uncle Terry put it, MAXIM picters
comes nat'rl to the gal"
She had never received even the first
lessons in that charming art, but for
all that every room in the house had
dozens of her efforts. large and small,
hanging on the walls and in the oldest
frames. Some were of strips of thin
board covered with little shells or dried
moss, and others of rustic handiwork
and mounted with fir cones.
| There was but one shadow in her life.
and that the fact that no one of the