A SMALL BREAD-STEALER.

Ellesmere Guardian, Volume X, Issue 923, 1 July 1891, Page 4

A SMALL BREAD-STEALER.

(Continued.) i.. The rod had been all over him, and • so much about his head that he seeded to be half m another world already —a worldof dreams and shadows and strange ■' voices and shining lights. -He had a vague id e^i of lulp being found even for :-ancii. a mauled and beaten body as his vQptat.thc Clentral Police Office, and he vniariaged to craw) thither by slow stages, » md reached it jnst as a policeman was ' j;coraing ont. * M'Govan—-I want Mr he wearily whispered, and „ then ,the man gave him to understand v t^atjbt_e hour was late, and that I had L.g.one home long since. Then, as he .•till-repeated; Mb whispe*, the man diVrected him to my housa m Charles i4 Street, and be tamed away m that dirsction. He found Charles Street, '^ but had no idea where the houee wai 'fit jiad looked. far loma kind of big wide entrance, like that at the 'Central. Further pn he »»aw ah tinsoreened win'/dow, down a few 1 and inside a f mother putting a bey of his own age to, bed. (She warmed his feet, tucked him m lovingly, and made him clasp his hands and speak a little prayer after hei*, and then, crowned all by pressing a Warm kiss on his Hpr, And ( outside m the dark, was the small castaway seeing it all. Hisbruised body needed m ; his weary head needed the "* -Soft'pillow of a mother's bosom, and his quivering lips cried aloid for the tender touch of loving lips. His brain was m a mist, but through it all came one thought —thrilling, startling, aad electrical — •Ihafehavea mother tool I'll go ;^t»:Jber.' '„ ._, ';:"■-.. (} ■■ '■' Sd the weary feet trailed away through ' 'the siil-ant streets till they landed him at t j tb;e gate ;pf the Canongate buryingHis) thin frame easily got - through the bars, and then he was at home. Most children would have been * terrified to enter such a place, but next to the jail Freddy knew no place so attractive, Down m the weedy corner at the back he found rest for his body, and an eager and loving listener to his sorrows and sufferings. At first there were only the nsual responses of ' Keep up your heart, Freddy ; I'll take care of you,' but by and by the voice became more distinct, there was a strange pulsing under the snowy turf, and lo! from the earth there arose the filmy form of ,an ,nngel-mother —his mothelr 1 a mother'of loving ■ arms and sweet lips, who berit down and drew him softly into her bosom, and wound her arms about him as she whispered close into his ear,' I'll take care of you , now sleep and rest, for she shall never get near you again,' and a great balm of peacefulness filled his soul, and he clung close m the war . bosom and | slept. When the grave-diggers found Freddy m the morning, half frozen and nearly senseless, and took him into the toolhouse to give him share of their hot coffee, he cried bitterly to get back to his mother inside the grave. He had seen the earth parted, and felt her touch, and heard her speak, and he insisted .that she never told a lie, and her promise that they were never to be more parted must be true. He even suggested that if they would only make a silght incision with a spade m that fro zen tuff his mother would come forth and make it all right. He told them again and agatn of her loving-kindness the .night, before, but could not get them to apt on his suggestion. Indeed, one of them only noticed that Freddy, who * at 'first had been cold as ice, was now burning hot, singularly bright of eye, and hurried and incessant of speech, and that wben he tried to stand he only dropped helplessly on the floor. He therefore much against Freddy's will, lifted him iri his. arms; and carried him up to the Police JStation. Tbere the mist crept m on "Freddy,' arid all th. facfls were shut 'out m 'a ma_ic w iy, ..n i finding himself m bed, and seeing a clear path through the w-_.ll back to the burying-ground, he flitted eagerly thither, not even needing to use his feet. There a single word- made the frozen turf part as before ; but as the angel-' mother came forth he threw "his arms about her neck and entreated her never to leave him again. And the arms and eyes and lips responded as only a real mother's can, and he felt himself borne up from the hard frozen earth, high. . er and higher, till they, reached the pearly gates of a great and glorious poorhouse, where stepmothers could never come. : Mrs Ford easily convinced everyone s.thaJ. JCraddy .had* gone^ all < wrong with vice and crime, and brought about his r p.own.death, and she went about happy ' and content, and pleasedi w:th having . ildne her duty b^ him more than if he had been her own flesh and bloods For months she formed a noble specimen of the unchanged murderess, till she chanced one day to take so much drink that she did not know which end of her was uppermost, and lay down the stair instead of up, and sp choked herself; Bat!little Poll, the baby whom Freddy saved, still lives. Bhe is a serrant out at Blackford, a good, trustworthy woman, who will one day make a warm ' hearted, true mother. She has heard: pf Freddy, hit baa no recollection of j.im, bu. I feel sure that her big, briuht* f jrw villi «w mwt QijQWm w atyjw&t) -\ s.at*.-.'.... i ',■■.""* '' J