Drusilla with a Million — John Stuart Mill — John Shaqi
Drusilla with a Million
John Stuart Mill · en
Dr. Eaton lost no time in coming to Drusilla, and he found a very
excited little woman, with her hat and gloves on, waiting for him.
"Don't come in; I'll tell you on the way. I've got the car and my
bunnet's on, so we'll go along."
Drusilla did not stop to explain but stepped into the car, and gave
directions to the chauffeur.
Dr. Eaton laughed.
"Why all this hurry, Miss Doane? Is something afire?"
"Yes; I'm afire, and I'm mad! They put a officer of some kind at the
gate last night, and this morning he caught a woman leavin' a baby. An'
how do you suppose he caught her? The man was hid and couldn't catch
the woman when the baby was left, and he waited and pinched the baby
and made it cry, and then the poor little mother who was waitin'
somewhere to see her baby took in, come to see what was the matter, and
they took her. I can jest see it all--the poor little mother in hidin',
waitin' to see her baby took in the house, and, hearin' it cry, her
mother heart drew it back to comfort it, and she was caught. Mr.
Thornton tells me she was taken to court, and that's where we're
a-goin' this minute. I want to see that mother, and find out why she
left the baby."
When they arrived at the court, Dr. Eaton and Drusilla found a seat up
near the front. They were wedged in between wives with anxious faces
wondering if their husbands would be taken away from them, or watching
them pay in fines the dollars that were so badly needed in the home.
They were all there, those hangers-on of misery--the policemen, the
plain clothes men, the probation officers, the cheap lawyers, the
reporters. Here and there was an artist or a writer looking for "copy,"
or some woman from Fifth Avenue trying to get a new sensation from the
troubles of her less fortunate sisters. Over it all there was a silence
that was heavy and dead. A silence born of fear--the fear of the law.
Several cases were called before the case for which Drusilla waited,
and then a young girl not more than eighteen years old rose and stood
before the Judge with a baby in her arms. At first she was so
frightened that she could not answer the questions; but the Judge, a
kindly man, waited for her to become more calm, and then, in a quiet
voice, he began to question her.
"Now do not be frightened; we will not hurt you. Just tell me why you
left the baby."
The scared voice spoke so low that her words could scarcely be heard.
"I didn't know it was wrong."
"If you didn't know it was wrong, why did you hide?"
"I--I--wanted to see that nothin' happened to her. I kind of--kind
of--wanted to see her as long as I could. She's my baby--and--and--I
wouldn't see her again--and I just kind of waited round--" Here the
girl started to cry. "I didn't know it was wrong. There was nothing
else to do. I--I--"
"You were willing to give her away, yet you cared enough to go to her
when she cried. I don't understand it."