Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1916-07-28


"No."
II can give you one"
"You are very kind. but I can man
age without your help. think. The
baby
Yes. the baby. You will not let your
pride stand In the way Of your baby
Certainly you will carry her to my
home.''
"Of course"
He took the child from her arms and
: together they started for the house
On the way he gave her a brief expln-
nation Of the situation. He was an
artist and, like most artists who have
not made a name. very poor. Not being
able to keep up home, he and his wife
and their child started on q sketching
tour. camping here and there, the hus
| band painting landscapes. The wife
had died, and the husband. not having
| any other abode. stuck to his tent. It
| was q pathetic story. and Miss Bed
| ford'S horror for man-at any rate this
| particular man-melted before It
When they reached the house she said
|
1T is in your power to do me kind
ness. Sit down to the same breakfast
table with me and your child. shall
enjoy every mouthful you eat more
| than you can conceive
He gave in to this way Of putting It
Miss Bedford placed herself between
him and his child. and 1t Is question
| n xy,ht oh hA hn hn1r
ing. the man or the child. He had
managed to get the simple food re-
quired for his little girl. For her he
| would take what did not belong to him
or accept it from strangers, but not fol-
himself. He was very hungry and ate
great deal. his hostess pressing him
| to do so. After he had finished she
said to him:
You have done me one favor; now
I wish you to do me another. Leave
the child here with me while you make
your sketches. You are welcome to
come here to see her whenever you
like, and you may feel privileged to
take her away when you can provide
for her."
|
relief this offer brought him. "Since
have only tent for her." he said, II
have no right to deprive her Of the
comfort you can give her"
| "And you have no right to deprive
me Of the happiness shall have in
taking care Of her"
An hour later the artist kissed his
| Ohf1d orA fo<,H h(c doro Tho tont
disappeared. and nothing was seen Of
man or tent for several weeks. Then
he came to Miss Bedford's home with
a number Of sketches. One Of them. a
water vista. the original being on her
own ground, Miss Bedford very much
fancied. She offered the artist a good
| price for It. He declined It on the
ground that through charity she would
pay him more than It was worth. But
when she proposed that he should send
It to a dealer in New York to fix its
value he accepted the proposition. Miss
Bedford privately wrote the dealer to
| tx a price she named herself. and this
she paid the artist.
! Now and again he came In from his
sketching tours to see his child, and
every time he came he offered to re-
lieve Miss Bedford Of her charge. She
invariably declined to be relieved IN.
less be insisted on his right to take his
baby to himself. and the longer the re-
| moval was put OF the more difficult It
| would be for Miss Bedford to give up
the child But the father would not
accept Of the lady's hospitality. and
this made 1t awkward. II he would
have made his headquarters at the
house when not out painting It would
have been much pleasanter. for the
child was constantly fretting for him
| Finally when he began to get some
return for his pictures Miss Bedford
proposed that II he would make her
house his lodging place when not out
sketching she would permit him to pay
nominal board. After much bag
Cling as to the amount. the lady de-
claring what he proposed to pay moth
ing less than robbing him. compro-
mise was made. and for the rest Of the
summer a room in a wing Of the house
was at his disposal whenever he chose
to use 1t.
The truth IL nature was working In
Miss Bedford, the artist and the little
girl to make the three one. They were
becoming necessary to one another. and
a time arrived when the woman found
It out. One would suppose that her
antipathy to men in general would
have at least troubled her at finding
herself in a position to succumb. But
1t did not The child stepped in to
render that a thing Of the past One
day when Miss Bedford was on one
side Of the baby's crib and the father
on the other. he trying to unwind the
little ones arms from his neck that he
might 60 forth to sketch. Miss Bedford
said:
| There's no use in our making our
selves uncomfortable and troubling the
child any longer. You won't propose
to me. that I know. II the mountain
Will not go to Mohammed. Mohammed
must go to the mountain You can
marry me whenever you like"
After that when he went on sketch
ing tours he usually took his wife and
the child with him.
THREE CONDITIONS.