At last she arrived home, and after giving the baby its dinner, she put
it to it's afternoon sleep. When it woke up she took it out for another
walk, and on her way she met the doctor's page boy coming along with a
box under his arm. As she saw him approaching she left the pram without
a word and ran along to meet him. When she got up to him, the boy raised
his cap and said. "If you please, Miss, the doctor told me to bring you
this box and he hopes the contents will do."
"Oh, thank you, thank you," said Miss Junick, as she took the parcel,
and ran back to the pram with it.
She put the box in, and walked hastily home, for she wanted to open it.
Soon she got to the house, and to her great horror, as she was going
upstairs she met Mrs. Hose.
"Well, Miss Junick, have you been taking baby for a walk? she said, "and
what is that box you have under your arm."
"It is only something I have bought, nothing to do with you," she
muttered, as Mrs. Hose shut her bedroom door.
When she had undressed the baby, she set it up in it's high chair gave
it it's rattle, and hurried upstairs to open her precious box.
"I hope it's nice," she said, as she cut the string; she then opened the
lid of the box. Of course it was ugly, as most babies are when they are
first born.
But this would not do for Miss Junick, for she called it 'an ugly little
beast," and threatened to throw it away.
When the next day came she thought it was more ugly still, and that day
she really did throw it away, and I will tell you where she put it."
In fact she did more than this, for she murdered it first, and then
threw it into one of the dirty alleys. She was now quite satisfied that
she had got rid of it, but she was more angry still when she found the
bill inside the box, "Miss Junick Dr. to Doctor Paulin for one baby
delivered as per agreement L1." She took the L1 out of her purse and
walked straight down to the Doctors and gave it without a minutes delay
and begged to have a receipt at once. So it was given to her at once,
and he asked her in and cross questioned her about the baby. She paused
a little and then said--
"Oh its getting on very nicely thank you, good afternoon," and she shut
the outer door and hurried away home.
When she got home Mrs. Hose's baby was sleeping quietly in its cradle,
but it soon woke up and she gave it its tea. Pretty soon after tea it
went to bed, and she went up to her room, and I must tell you that her
front window looked out upon the churchyard. She was looking out of this
window as she was doing her hair, and she saw that the burial of a
little baby was going on, and two poor women were there. Miss Junick
pierced very hard out of the window and she recognised that it was the
same little baby that she had murdered and thrown away.
"Oh! so they are burying it are they?" she said to herself, "I wouldn't
take pity on such an ugly little thing if I were them.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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