Cast Adrift. T. S. Arthur

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СКАЧАТЬ assistance in her attempt—Mr. Paulding persuades her that it is best

       not to see the child, and promises that he himself will look after

       it—Returns home—Her father remonstrates with her, finally promises to

       help her

       CHAPTER XIV. Mr. Dinneford sets out for the mission-house—An incident

       on the way—Encounters Mr. Paulding—Mr. Paulding makes his report—“The

       vicious mark their offspring with unmistakable signs of moral depravity;

       this baby has signs of a better origin”—A profitable conversation—“I

       think you had better act promptly”

       CHAPTER XV. Mr. Dinneford with a policeman goes in quest of the

       baby—The baby is gone—Inquiries—Mr. Dinneford resolves to

       persevere—Cause of the baby's disappearance—Pinky Swett's

       curiosity—Change of baby's nurse—Baby's improved condition—Baby's

       first experience of motherly tenderness—Baby's first smile—“Such

       beautiful eyes”—Pinky Swett visits the St. John mission-school—Edith

       is not there

       CHAPTER XVI. Mr. Dinneford's return, and Edith's disappointment—“It

       is somebody's baby, and it may be mine”—An unsuspected listener—Mrs.

       Dinneford acts promptly—Conference between Mrs. Dinneford and Mrs.

       Hoyt, alias Bray—The child must be got out of the way—“If it will not starve, it must drown”—Mrs. Dinneford sees an acquaintance as she leaves Mrs. Hoyt's, and endeavors to escape his observation—A new danger and disgrace awaiting her CHAPTER XVII. Mental conditions of mother and daughter—Mr. Dinneford aroused to a sense of his moral responsibilities—The heathen in our midst—The united evil of policy-lotteries and whisky-shops—The education of the policy-shops CHAPTER XVIII. News item: “A child drowned”—Another news item: Pinky Swett sentenced to prison for robbery—Baby's improved condition—Mrs. Burke's efforts to retain the baby after Pinky Swett's imprisonment—Baby Andy's rough life in the street—Mrs. Burke's death—Cast upon the world—Andy's adventures—He finds a home and a friend CHAPTER XIX. Mr. Dinneford visits the mission-school—A comparison of the present with the past—The first mission-school—Reminiscences of the school in its early days—The zealous scholar—Good effects of the mission—“Get the burning brands apart, or interpose incombustible things between them”—An illustration—“Let in light, and the darkness flees” CHAPTER XX. “The man awoke and felt the child against his bosom, soft and warm”—Led by a little child—“God being my helper, I will be a man again”—A new life—Meeting of an old friend—A friend in need—Food, clothes, work—A new home—God's strength our only safety CHAPTER XXI. Intimate relations of physical and moral purity—Blind Jake—The harvest of the thieves and beggars—Inconsiderate charity—Beggary a vice—“The deserving poor are never common beggars”—“To help the evil is to hurt the good” The malignant ulcer in the body politic of our city—The breeding-places of epidemics and malignant diseases—Little Italian street musicians—The existence of slavery in our midst—Facts in regard to it CHAPTER XXII. Edith's continued interest in the children of the poor—Christmas dinner at the mission-house—Edith perceives Andy, and feels a strange attraction toward him—Andy's disappearance after dinner—Pinky Swett has been seen dragging him away—Lost sight of CHAPTER XXIII. Christmas dinner at Mr. Dinneford's—The dropped letter—It is missed—A scene of wild excitement—Mrs. Dinneford's sudden death—Edith reads the letter—A revelation—“Innocent!”—Edith is called to her mother—“Dead, and better so!”—Granger's innocence established—An agony of affection—No longer Granger's wife CHAPTER XXIV. Edith's sickness—Meeting of Mrs. Bray and Pinky Swett—A trial of sharpness, in which neither gains the advantage—Mr. Dinneford receives a call from a lady—The lady, who is Mrs. Bray, offers information—Mr. Dinneford surprises her into admitting an important fact—Mrs. Bray offers to produce the child for a price—Mr. Dinneford consents to pay the price on certain stipulations—Mrs. Bray departs, promising to come again CHAPTER XXV. Granger's pardon procured—How he receives his pardon—Mrs. Bray tries to trace Pinky home—Loses sight of her in the street—Mrs. Bray interviews a shop-woman—Pinky's destination—The child is gone CHAPTER XXVI. Mrs. Bray does not call on Mr. Dinneford, as she promised—Peril to Andrew Hall through loss of the child—Help—Edith longs to see or write to Granger, but does not—Edith encounters Mrs. Bray in the street—“Where is my baby?”—Disappointment—How to identify the child if found CHAPTER XXVII. No trace of Andy—Account of Andy's abduction—Andy's prison—An outlook from prison—A loose nail—The escape—The sprained ankle—The accident CHAPTER XXVIII. Edith's visit to the children's hospital—“Oh, my baby! thank God! my baby!”—The identification CHAPTER XXIX. Meeting of Mr. Dinneford and George Granger—“We want you to help us find your child”—“Edith's heart is calling out for you”—The meeting—The marriage benediction

CAST ADRIFT.

       Table of Contents

CHAPTER I.

       Table of Contents

      A BABY had come, but he was not welcome. Could anything be sadder?

      The young mother lay with her white face to the wall, still as death. A woman opened the chamber door noiselessly and came in, the faint rustle of her garments disturbing the quiet air.

      A quick, eager turning of the head, a look half anxious, half fearful, and then the almost breathless question,

      “Where is my baby?”

      “Never mind about the baby,” was answered, almost coldly; “he's well enough. I'm more concerned about you.”

      “Have you sent word to George?”

      “George can't see you. I've said that before.”

      “Oh, mother! I must see my husband.”

      “Husband!” The tone of bitter contempt with which the word was uttered struck the daughter like a blow. She had partly risen in her excitement, but now fell back with a low moan, shutting her eyes and turning her face away. Even as she did so, a young man stepped back from the door of the elegant house in which she lay with a baffled, disappointed air. He looked pale and wretched.

      “Edith!” Two hours afterward the doctor stood over the young mother, and called her name. She did not move nor reply. He laid his hand on her cheek, and almost started, then bent down and looked at her intently for a moment or two. She had fever. A serious expression came into his face, and there was cause.

      The sweet rest and heavenly joy of maternity had been denied to his young patient. The new-born babe had not been suffered to lie even for one blissful moment on her bosom. Hard-hearted СКАЧАТЬ