The Hope pioneer. [volume] (Hope, N.D.) 1882-1964, 1915-05-13
BABY BROUGHT PEACE
BY EUsTAcE LIVINGSTONE.

link TWICE, 66Cly.
II have thought till my brain is
weary and my heart is sore. l have
decided-it is the better way"
Every WE'LL" said John Randall, "go
the road you have chosen. l will take
mine. There need be no scandal
you are a. lady, I try to be a gentle
man. Remember, though, neither will
ever turn back to r%etraverse the mis-
taken path"
The woman put out her hand as II
moved by some pleading influence, but
the mar vas gone. Before nightfall
the home they had shared for eight
years was in the hands of carpenters,
masons and decorators. Before a
week had passed by a partition, roof.
high, divided the big double house into
two parts. On n side lived the wife,
OF the other the husband. Then PEG.
pie began to talk.
There's something under the sur
face" spoke Mrs. Judge Bascom to
her husband-"some dark drama"
Get it out of your mind, wife," was
the blunt retort. "There are no two
better people in the world than my
worldly friend Randall and his wife,"
"Then, why"
Pride. Neither will seek to remove
the barrier they have raised in their
own self-willed natures. Mrs. Randall
would die by slow tortures before she
would unbend from what she oonsid-
ers to be true womanly dignity. Hell
self-centered consciousness has re.
| PEELED Randall and has made him be-
lieve she no longer cares for him. One
good heart-to-heart talk would settle
everything-such as you and I en-
gage'in when we're not fighting our.
usual family .battles!" and the good
natured Judge laughed in his whimsi-
cal way. .
The old jurist was correct in his sur
misses, but he had not gone deep
enough into the proposition. When
John Randall married Betty Morse
they had been very much in love one
with the other. Then there had BEEN
a disappointment. No children had
blessed their family hearth. !
The judges wife was distressed at
the news that came to her. Once the
Randalls had been close friends of the
family. With a woman's ready wit
she delved deeper into affairs than her
happy-go-lucky husband. Within her
own mind she framed up q plan to
remedy the outlook. 1t nigh prove
an experiment. but she hoped for the
best.
One cold winters night John Rap
dali sat in his CHEEKY but lonely Nv
ing-room, gazing stolidly into the blaz-
ing crate fire. He knew that on the
other side of the partition his wife
was probably passing her time in the
same spell of gloomy reverie.
what is that?" suddenly exclaimed
Randall.
It was a hard, harsh sound, as Of
someone pounding with a club Or
stone on the front porch. Randall
arose and went to the door and opened
1t. first turning on the porch light. He.
fancied he saw a woman's figure sour
rying past the gate. He looked down
to note a basket containing a blanket
and counterpart covered with a flmy.
scarf, STOPPING, his heart beating
rapidly, he knew not why, as he drew
this aside.
"a baby!" he exclaimed-"aban-
doned!"
At that moment the next door
opened. Mrs. Randall, too, had
heard the noise on the porch. She
came into view, she caught a glimpse
OF the child in the basket. A great
cry of pity, yearning, love burst from
her lips. With hungry heart, jealous,
enwrapt in possession, quickly Ran
1all snatched up the basket.
II saw it f1rst!" he cried, almost
freely. 1T is mine!"
Then he went in with the child and
closed the door against the longing
woman. He stirred up the fire. he