Aunt Jane's Nieces at Work
Rogers," said Beth. "We
have come to ask if you have heard anything of your daughter."
"Not a word as yet, Miss DeGraf, Will is out with the horse and buggy
doing his best to get information. But Lucy has been gone so long now
that I realize it will be difficult to find her, if, indeed, the poor
girl has not--is not--"
Her voice broke.
"Oh, you don't fear _that_, do you, Mrs. Rogers?" asked Beth, quickly.
"I fear anything--everything!" wailed the poor creature, the tears
streaming from between her closed lids. "My darling was frantic with
grief, and she couldn't bear the humiliation and disgrace of her
position. Will told you, didn't he?"
"Yes, of course. But it wasn't so bad, Mrs. Rogers; it wasn't a
desperate condition, by any means."
"With poor Tom in prison for years--and just for trying to help her."
"Tom isn't in prison, you know, any more," said Beth quietly. "He has
been released."
"Released! When?"
"Last evening. His fault has been forgiven, and he is now free."
The woman sat silent for a time. Then she asked:
"You have done this, Mr. Forbes?"
"Why, Miss DeGraf and I assisted, perhaps. The young man is not really
bad, and--"
"Tom's a fine boy!" she cried, with eagerness. "He's honest and true,
Mr. Forbes--he is, indeed!"
"I think so," said Kenneth.
"If he wasn't my Lucy would never have loved him. He had a bright future
before him, sir, and that's why my child went mad when he ruined his
life for her sake."
"Was she mad, do you think?" asked Beth, softly.
"She must have been," said the mother, sadly. "Lucy was a sensible girl,
and until this thing happened she was as bright and cheerful as the day
is long. But she is very sensitive--she inherited that from me, I
think--and Tom's action drove her distracted. At first she raved and
rambled incoherently, and Will and I feared brain fever would set in.
Then she disappeared in the night, without leaving a word or message for
us, which was unlike her--and we've never heard a word of her since.
The--the river has a strange fascination for people in that condition.
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In a village there lived two men who had the self-same name. Both were named Claus. But one of them owned four horses, and the other owned only one horse; so to distinguish between them people called the man who had four horses Big Claus, and the man who had only one horse Little Claus. Now I'll tell you what happened to these two, for this is a true story.
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