The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1911-04-17
Copyright, 1910
By George H. Doran Company


SO love to see the twins!"
She put her hands together in en-
treaty, and the woman's jaded, i'll
mouth quivered.
eff you're so set upon it." she an
swered ungraciously, "but I'm alone
in the house and got the tea to get
and all this muddle to see To-"
She stood aside and let Vernon
enter.
do let me help, won't you?" the
strange young lady urged; II should
like to pay for a woman to do your
work until the poor mother is we'll
again. May I do that Do say 1
may"
The woman looked fixedly at her.
In her experience. things like this did
not happen. She took her visitor for
a lunatic, and thought her keepers
would be arriving before long to
claim her.
"What time were they born?" ask
ed Vernon in a gentle whisper.
Between five and six this morn
ing" replied her hostess.
The girl shuddered. Had the pain,
the struggle, the anguish, gone on
during all those hours? "Oh,' she
said, chow brave she must be-the
poor mother Is she your daughter ?"
Eyes, I'm ashamed to say she is. -
said the woman in tones whose hard
ness was edged with modification,
deep and intense. "She hadn't no
right to the one, and two makes it
worse. Ohn' she burst out, with a
flash of terrible passion, may you
never know what it is, miss, to have
your own daughter that you loved
best of all the lot-your youngest
come home with a burden of shame
She turned away choking, and in
strange visitor upon her bowed,
shapeless shoulders, tenderly, conso!-
ing
"Oh, it's dreadful, dreadful said
Vernon, "but think what it is for her.
poor child, and what she went
through last night! And now she has
her babies to comfort her"
Comfort her!-To point the finger
of scorn at her when they're old
enough to understand why other folks
shun them. All, the blackguard!" she
n Io ,L,,,
turned away, eff 1 knew who twas,
If I knew who twas! I'd have the
law of him.
You don't know who th--the
father is ?'' tinaidly asked Vernon.
"She won't say. I've tried, Miss
Morrison's tried-Parson's tried-but
not a word can we get out Of her.
The dirty scoundrel! He's got some
influence upon her, and she won't
speak! I'm mortal feared that it's
O. gentleman, miss-somebody that
she knows could never right her!"
ooh dear!' said Vernon in such a
depth of passionate sympathy that the
poor mother felt a sense of comfort
and companionship which she could
not explain.
"Sit down a minute she said, WHIP
ing her eyes with her apron and pro-
ceeding to dust chair with the same
handy article 'T'H go and see how
she seems-whether she would like
you to step up"
In a minute she came stumbling
halfway down the crazy stairs which
wound upwards in the corner of the
room.
Come up" she said: and the girl
found herself incredibly, wonderfully,
in a storm Of excitement, going to
look for the first time, upon new
born human beings
The small room was clean, the bed
smooth. The girl who lay upon it
was q pretty girl, but white as wax,
her curly hair lying in moist rings
upon her pale forehead. In the bed
beside her, on pillow, We're two
little bundles, with two little scarlet
puck cred faces and two downy polls
of dark hair, barely discernible be-
meath the head-fiannel which turned
them to miniature Carmelite friars.
All thought of their reprehensible
origin left the mind of the excited
Miss Wilmot. There they were, real
live babies, only born that very morn
ing: and there lay the victim mother
for whom the greatest of human
blisses had been poisoned, whose joy
that a man was born into the world
was tinged with a bitterness so vast
80 deep as to be incurabie. The
tragedy in her face was more than
pitiful 1t was awful. From the
level of silly village girl, she had
assembled to that of Mater Do1o-
rosa.
Under the spell Of that face, the
terrible hopelessness Of the cavernous
eyes, she forgot her rapture over the
babies for a moment. She could do
nothing but stoop and take the i'm
passive hand. saying timidly, hardly
able to keep from weeping-"do you
feel little better, dear?''
There was no reply: but the eyes
rested with an awakened interest up
on the pleasing vision at the bed