AFTER MANY YEARS.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1099, 1 May 1883, Page 1

AFTER MANY YEARS.

Life says :—" Tho old adage ' Truth i stranger than fiction,' received a forcible illustration the other day. Many years ago there was an under doorkeeper in Vienna who gained a very scanty existence by his calling. He, his wife and daughter lived in a damp cellar in one of the shabbiest quarters of the town. Death relieved him of the miseries of housekeeping, and his wife and daughter were left, in such abject penury that the neighbors around clubbed to pay the funeral expenses. A charitable stranger camo forward to take charge ef the child. Mother and daughter were s'epara'ed; and in the whirligig of time lost sight of each other. The "latter attained high social position, and became one well known in the world of fashion ; but how she made her mark, whether by her beauty or success on the stage, deponent saith not, and in fact, knoweth not, And now for this little drama in real life. Those who passed through the R Strasse one afternoon not long ago might have noticed a splendid equipage, in which was seated a young and fashionable lad}', the wife of a. well known baron. By misadventure the driver came' into collision with a poor, old, decrepit, and miserably-clad woman. The horses knocked her dowu and the wheels passed over both her legs. The lady sprang from her carriage in great distress, and in wiping the blood from the face of tie sufferer, exclaimed, 'Poor, dear little mother (Mutterchen), I trust you are not seriously, hurt!'. The, unfortunate woman recognised her daughter's voice, while the baroness recognised the features of her mother. Bystanders were surprised to see the fashionably-dressed lady fall fainting by the piuper's side, aud compassionate passers-by conveyed both to a neighboring house, while the splendid equipage returned empty."