The Clio messenger., 1914-09-11
NO NAMES IN THIS
STORY OF A BABY
Child of Love Match Is Aban-
doned in Fear.
PARENTS MARRIED IN SECRET
siue-Eyed Mary Cannot Go Back 20
Arms Of Mother Who Yearns for
First Born-OId Feud
to Blame.

| DcCduSe Ol q Dlue-eyeu, uVe-yeaT-Olu
Mary, who should never know until
she Ia old enough to know and under
stand and possibly forgive.
Because of man and wife who
stumbled in the path, who suffered In
secret and who will continue to suffer
while life lasts-and they should be
permitted to retain their secret.
Because of man and woman to
whom God denied offspring and who
have taken into their hearts and home
the baby abandoned by boy and a
girl when expedisncy overruled love.
The moving finger" wrote that they
should hate each other with the cold.
deadly. never-dying malevolence Of a
Kentucky feud. They did. and they
do to this day, but no one knows the
reason why.
In early manhood they left the Blue
Grass state and fate, with the malig-
nant persistence with which she pur-
sues those ensnarled In her web,
brought their wandering footsteps to
halt In little town in Michigan.
There they settled.
Banker and Lawyer.
They grew with the community.
One became the leading banker and
the other its prominent lawyer. Sue
cess came, but the old-time rancor re-
mained. When the amenities of social
or business life lifted q commanding
| finger courtesy ruled. but that was all.
And they married. To the lawyer
was born son and unto the banker
daughter was given.
Fate, remorseless, threw boy and
girl together In school, in play and
in the youthful activities of a small
town. Pinafore and knickerbocker
friendship grew as the years rolled by,
and one day-before they were out Of
school-the chrysalis of friendship
burst and radiant love came forth.
For while boy and girl kept their
wonderful secret to themselves. 1t
would have been sacrilege to talk
about It. Then the brutal realities Of
life crept into the roseate picture.
Would papa? Would he-and he
forget that horrible mysterious some
thing that had embittered two lives?
Daughter crept to daddy's arms and
whispered the tale; son stood before
father and told the story.
Meet In Secret.
The old hatred blazed forth and
weeping girl and angry boy went forth
to meet in secret and wonder why
fate was so unkind.
One day they married. not In the
home town, but In another not far
away.
At first 1t was a secret, but soon
1t became apparent that 1t could not
be secret forever. So on some pre-
text or the other they left their re-
spective homes and met In "the Wis
consin woods" There for several
weeks they lived life of utter free
dom. But the greatest day In wom-
ans life was approaching and they
journeyed to Chicago. A baby-a
little girl-was born in Oak Park.
Today they are ashamed of what
they did. Five years Of anguish and
remorse have not balanced the scales.
She could not. would not go back
home with a baby; he-well, he ad-
mits It today-was a coward. They
decided to abandon the child.
Mr.. and Mrs. Chester T. Bradford
L. <NA a
baby, but 1t was upstairs in its crib
while the little buggy stood on the
veranda Of the Bedford residence.
Fate placed 1t there The young ia
ther had friend who lived In Evans7
ton, a well-to-do young man, who
necessarily must live in good neigh
borhood. And with the address as a
pivot in seeking house In which their
baby would receive at least chance
of decent upbrlnging. the young cow
ards started for Evanston. Half a
block before they reached their
friends house they saw the empty
buggy, and into It, they dumped their
baby-and flew.
There was another desolate home
in Chicago. It was different from the
little Oak Park cottage-but hardly
less desolate. There were spacious
grounds about the house, and from the
exterior it was beautiful. But to the
occupants, the home was dreary. as
the halls gave no echoes to pattering
feet Of children.
They wanted a baby, and appealed
to the Illinois Home and Aid society.
They we're shown several children
which had been placed in the care OF
the society, and one, little girl with
blue eyes, attracted them.
Legally Adopted.
So they took the little girl into
their home, and In short time It
had lost it's desolation. The halls
echoed with the laughter and prattle
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