Year: 1873




be a mother-and denied her birth
right. There are such woman in
the world-women to whom chill
dren cling at first sight, who know
how to hold, sooth, caress: to
tighten every childish care, to IN
derstand childish sorrow, to share
childish plays women who love the
children of others more and bet
ter than those children were ever
loved by the mothers that bore
them and there are also women tC
whom a child is a nuisance and q
bore, who are exasperated at their
illness, scornfull at their sorrows,
careless Of their joys; women who
reap their harvests in aftertime,
even as they have sown.


So Mrs. Tucker took the baby,
and with deft hands bestowed it
across her lap, where it slept as if
it were cradled in its home. She
Strengthened ont the tumbled clothes
and resting its head upon her arm,
pulled the little hand gently from
under it, and folded the corner of
her shawl half over its head and
shoulders, and proceeded to talk
with the relieved mamma. Con-
versation in the cars is not private,
and could not help discovering
that my sallow neighbor had been
left at Hartford by the last train,
which was an accommodation train,
going no farther than Springfield,
and her trunk had gone on without
her.


~ was goin' on to Boston, you
see, md down to York, had the
luck to get on that train. | expect
l was too late for the express, and
the next one too, so thought I'd
get to Springfield, md so get sup
per there, and take this train right
along when it come. But | amt
very handy at travelling, and the
baby fretted considerable, and it
come round so | got off at Hartford
depot, and when l went to look for
my baggage, 10 and behold, the
cars, baggage and all, was off to
Springfield, so l talked a spell to
the folks in the depot, and the tick
ct master made it right with me
about the ticket, and he told me I'd
have to take this train and get of
when it stopped at Springfield five
minutes, and get my ticket to Bos-
ton, and get that trunk, or have it
seen about, cause I'd got the check
somewhere or nuther."


This seemed to remind her, and
she began a hunt for that check,
the contents of her pocket, various
and ridiculous as those Of a school
boys, were all turned out in her
lap, dropped on the floor, hunted
after with much disturbance of the
vicinity, found at last, busted and
replaced, but no check was there.
Then she sat down and scolded
hard to help herself remember, said
"Well, declare for t." three times
with much energy, and at last took
down the carpet-bag, and hauling
out all the contents of that institu-
ton, which were quite as miscella-
neous and more unpleasant than
those of her pocket; three big ap-
piles and a piece of cheese, beside
peppermints in a brown paper, and
bottle of camphor that leaked at
the cork, and was made with New
England rum instead of alcohol,
spreading their odors on the mid
night air. thought the female in
front of her would have had fit !;
her German cologne was brought
from the morocco satchel, and sat
urated handkerchief held to her
nose, the window was raised to its
full extent, she sent her husband to
open the car door, and at last light
ed pastille on the window-sill, and
set everybody within reach of its
incense coughing. The mixture of
scents was curious, to say the least,
as it greeted those of us in the
ncighborhood, the small boy beside
me woke up and looked very sea-
sick, l pulled out a shawl-pin at
once and he subsided. By this
time she had found the check in
the very bottom of that carpet-bag,
and just in time, for the shrill whis-
tie and bell as well as the brakeman
announced Springfield. f..an


"Would you just as lives hold her
whilst l get out! asked she of
good Mrs. Tucker.


"Why, mercy, yesl I wouldn't
stir the little creature for anything
she's sleepin' like lamb" So
the reassured sallow woman scuttl-
ed out of the car, carpet-bag in
hand, and intending to get that
sent with the trunk, and save her
self carrying it, she said. She
stumbled over one mans foot, and
caught hold of another mans shoul-
der to save herself in the way out.
l regret to say that they both swore,
one of them rubbing his foot with
an expression of anguish, and the
other picking his stove-pipe hat
from the floor with a deep dent in
its crown, and regarding it with a
look of rage. She pitched against
the door, Of course, bumped her
head, and half lost her bonnet, left
the door wide open, and plunged
down the steps, arriving on the
platform with an ominous thud, but
she picked herself up and founder