Mower County transcript., 1907-06-19

v@o5 6rZ01Na1e 11a6k<ahsv0 (Gaas0axr
comfort her, feeling the sel1shness
strangely washed from his love, as the
sobs convulsed her. i
Come; come, child-tell your ia
ther what 1t is,' he had urged her,
and when she became little quiet
she had told him. \ @ 4" r# RI
"Oh, Daddy, dear-Tve just heard
such an awful thing, what they talk
of me in Amalon, and of you and my
mother shameful"
He knew then what was coming;
he had wondered, indeed, that this
talk should be SO long in reaching
her; but he waited silently, soothing
her. #z
"They say, whoever my mother was
you couldn't have married her-that
Christina is your first wife, and the
temple records show it. And, oh,
Daddy, they say it means that I am
a child of sin-and shame-and it
made me want to kill myself
Another passion of tears and sobs
had overwhelmed her, and all but
broken down the little little man.
Yet he controlled himself and soOthed
her again to quietness. -
1T is all wrong, child, all wrong,
You are not child of sin, but
child of love, as rightly born as any
in Amalon. Believe me, and pay no
heed to that talk"
"They have been saying it for years,
and I never knew
"They say what is not true"
"You were married to my mother,
then?"
He waited too long. She OWNED,
clear though hts answer was, that he
had evaded, or was quibbling in some
way.
"YoA are the daughter of a truly
married husband and wife, as truly
married as were any pair.
And though she knew he had turned
her question, she saw that he must
have done it for some great reason
of his own, and, even in her grief,
she would not pain him by asking
another. She could feel that he suf-
fered as she did, and he seemed,
moreover, to be pitifully and strange
ly frightened.
When Follett came riding back that
evening he saw tht Prudence had been
troubled. The candle-light showed
sadness in her dark eyes and in the
weighted corners of her mouth. He
was moved to take her in his arms
and soothe her as he had seen moth
ers do with some sorry little chill
Aren. But instead of this he ques-
toned her father sharply when their
corn-husk mattresses had been put
before either side of the fireplace for
the night The little man told him
frankly the cause of her grief. There
was something compelling in the
others way of asking questions. When
the thing had been made plain, Fol-
lett looked at him Indignantly.
"Do you mean to say that you let
her go on thinking that about her
SELF" -
II told her that her father and
mother had been rightly married"
Didn't she think you were fooling
her in some way?"
:.T-can't be sure" >. :
'She must have, or she wouldn't be
20 down in the mouth now. Why
didn't you tell her the TRUTH"
If only-if only she could go on
thinking 1 am her father-only httle
while
f Follett spoke with the ring Of =
sudden resolution in his voice. :. =:
:.'.fNow, ri tell you one thing, Mr..
Man, something has got to be: done
by some one. i can't do it because
I'm tied by a promise, and so I reckon
you ought toy
"Just a little time! Oh, If you only
knew how the knives cut me on every
side and the fires burn all through
| mel" Il 5* .
well, think of the knives cutting
that girl-making her believe she has
10 be ashamed of her mother. You
go to sleep now, and try to lie quiet;
there amt anything here to hurt you.
| But I'll tell you one thing-you've got
to toe the mark" =