Forgotten; or, an Answered Prayer

Mrs. Earle dies at the birth of her child. Max, her husband, is so overcome with grief that he cannot bear to look at the child, foolishly attributing his wife's death to the innocent little one. He determines to get away from the scene of his sorrow and leaves his little daughter Helen in charge of his sister, Mrs. Strong, who has two children of her own. Mr. Earle goes to Paris and throws himself into the gaiety of the French capital. During his absence, his little daughter, now six years old, learns about her father; his photograph, which stands on her aunt's table, is the shrine at which she pours forth her childish prayers that her father will come back to her again. She seems to be like an odd sheep with her little cousins, who have the attention and kind caresses of loving parents, while she is without either. She feels alone and forgotten, and longs for parental sympathetic love. She has overheard her aunt speak about her father, and her little heart aches and pines the more for him to come home to his lonely little Helen. Mrs. Strong gives a party for the children. They all seem happy but Helen, who is possessed with that self-consciousness and shyness which is born of the thought inspired by her father's evident neglect. She goes into another room alone, meditative and sad, and is soon forgotten by everybody. When the prizes from the umbrella are chosen, Helen is not remembered. After the little guests have gone home, bidding a fond good-night to all but little Helen, and Mrs. Strong has put her two children to bed. Mr. Earle, who has received Helen's letter, comes back, is ushered into his sister's presence, and asks her where Helen is. Mrs. Strong cannot tell him and has to admit that she has entirely forgotten her. Helen is soon found and brought to her father, who clasps his child to his bosom again and again, and promises that he will never leave her any more, and judging from the many gifts he brings her and the kindnesses which he showers upon her, we are convinced that she is now his one thought and his greatest joy in life.