Year: 1872

1t was the most absurdlv incredible
thing in the world that Dot should be the
owner of baby With her soft pink and
white prettiness, her crinkling, golden
hair, her smiles and her dimples, and her
happy innocent heart; what was Dot but
a baby herself? And yet, one day in the
rosy ripeness of summer, we had all
crowded the parlor in white Swiss frocks,
with garniture of the loveliest blossoms,
and quite premeditatedly, but all in tears,
and with yearning regrets and tender
foreboding and signing, looks backward to
the happy girl life which had been a
thing of beauty, but would be fair
dream forever more, had given her away
to tall, handsome fellow, Harry Ascot
| by name, of whom we knew nothing ex-
cept that Dot loved him and he loved Dot
1t was an awfully audacious thing to do,
plucking Fate by the sleeve, as it were,
and bidding her serve us nolenS Uolens,
anti when, after the cake and ice-tream
had been served, and everybody had kiss
ed Dot, and every one who dared had also
| kissed the blushing bridegroom, and our
| darling treasure had clung to us all one
dreadful moment, and cried In the most
heartrendering fashion, land said she never,
never could leave us, and she was a
wretch for thinking of it, and when some
body had announced the time for the train,
and Dot had slipped out of her white silk
| and into her gray linen In a twinkling, ,and
that cool young robber had quietly shut
her up in the carriage, and we had flung
an old slipper after them for luck, ard
| Harry, all smiles and inky mustache, and
| Dot, all bushes and sobs and futtcring
little rings of gold hair, had vanished in
mist Of tears, | went away by myself to
my chamber, now desolate foreyermore,
and Il private little weep of my own, and
and indulged in the dismal luxury of hor-
rid forbodings.


Harry might be brute He might
break her heart They might both be
killed on the railroad. Harry might lose
all his money, and Dot might have to come
back, an abandoned, miserable little wo-
man, to the family ingle. But this last
picture had a bright side. I dried nv
tears to look at it, and was presently in
condition to take myself in hand and ad-
minister good scolding. Harry did not
turn out q reprohate. [ was made quite
miserable by Dots happiness as reflected
in her letters. All, these girls How
confidently, with what utter hilarity, do
they fee from the dear old heartbstone,
lured away by the might of that strange,
potent necromancer, who holds such a
marvellous lieu upon all human hearts.
By-and-by [ had Il letter from Dot,
begging me to come to her, and lying
| perdu in the little rose-scented note was
the most exquisite secret In all the world,
went at once, and before had been
many weeks In Dots house all the world
our world knew our secret. There was
Il day and night Of awful suspense, and
/ the stars IN their course seemed to stand
still, and all the great round earth to
tremble and quiyer in mute, breathless
expectation. Then, in the hush of the
morning, new little life began, and VIC
laughed and cried over each other, and
praised Gods goodness, which we had
dared to doubt only half an hour earlier.
/ 1t was funny to see Harry. He had
been lifted iu u moment from the valley
despair to the sunlit heights Of hope, and
the poor fellow was dazed. He stood
leaning over her whore she lay like a
wilted lily, but with heaven Shining in her
eyes


ooh, Harry, look at him!"


That was just what Harry was doino
with all his might. Presently he touched
the baby's check with his finger. I think
he had had suspicion that it was by no
means real flesh and blood, but only a
waXen hoax


" Hes a little fellow" he said, con-


templatiyely,