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2 A DREADFUL TEMPTATION.
lapidated cot, bowing to the kind old soul who had taken —
the poor wayfarer in beneath the shelter of her lowly roof, |
shared- her simple crust with her, and tended her with —
kindly, Christian hands. OT ri
‘Tow is your patient to-day, my kind woman?” inquired
the young man. | | . : 7
- “Ah, gir, ah, sir, you may even see for yourself,” she
answered sadly, as she turned toward the bed. i:
Howard went forward with a quickened heart-beat, and
stood by her side looking down at the sufferer. _
Yes, there she lay—poor little Lora—with wide, unrecog- |
a
“nizing, black eyes, with cheeks crimson with fever and
- parted lips through which the breath came pantingly. A.
‘heavy sigh broke unconsciously from Howard’s lips, -
‘Good sir, do you know her?” asked the woman,. regard-'
ing himanxiously. ar So
“Veg I know her,” he answered; “she is a friend of
mine, and has wandered away from her home in the delir-
jum of fever. You shall be richly rewarded for your noble .
‘eare of her.”
‘Task no reward but the blessing of Heaven, sir, "said —
the good old woman, piously ; ‘‘ I have done the best I could.
and sleepless vigilance.
for her ever since she staggered into the door andasked me - _
for her lost baby.”
Asif.the word struck some sensitive chord in her con-
sciousness, Lora turned her wild, brighteyes upon Howard’s ©
face, and murmured ina pathetic whisper:
“Have you found my baby—Jack’s baby and mine?” 5
Alas for Xenie’s secret, guarded with such patient care
Howard looked down upon her with a mist of tears be-
fore his sight—she looked so fair, and young, and sorrowful, .
lying there calling for her lost littlechild,
‘“‘T have lost my baby, I have lost my baby!” she wailed
aloud, throwing herarms wildly over her head and tangling.
her fingers in the long, dark tresses floating over the pillow |
in their beautiful luxuriance. ‘‘Itis lost, lost, lost, my dar-
- ling little one! It will perish in the rain and the cold!” ~
“Involuntarily Howard reached out and took.one of the -
restless white hands in his, and held it in a firm and tender
clasp. oe _ or re
“Tora, Lora,” he said; in a gentle, persuasive voice,
-“Jisten tome. The baby is found. Xenie found it‘on the .
shore where you lost it out of your arms. It is safe—it is _
well, with Xenie.” —- rs co
Lora turned her hollow-glance upon his face, and though
-no gleam of recognition: shone in ‘her eyes, his impressive —
words penetrated her soul. She threw out herarms yearn-
ingly. mo
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