but what did the boy do last night october � he called out to tom to get out of the way and not spoil the fun then tom turned on the crowd and i guess he gave it to them hot and heavy i m sure i hope he did i said fervently he said he thought they might be in better business than an old drunken woman like that and called them to their faces they got mad and wanted to know what business it was of his anyway then he blazed out again and said � i do not know whether the pause aunt made was designed to rouse me still further or whether she hesitated unconsciously but i was too excited to care what did he say i asked he told them she was his mother in law tom said that to that crowd cried i and i felt the tears spring into my eyes it was chiefly excitement of course but the pluck of it and the hurt to tom came over me in a flash what did they do they just muttered and got out of the way john said it was n t two minutes before tom was left alone with the old woman and then he took her home it s a pity she would n t drink herself to death i think it is aunt was my answer though i wished to add that the sentiment was rather a queer one to come from anybody who believes as she does i do not know what else aunt said indeed when she had told her tale she seemed in something of a hurry to leave and i suspect her of going on to repeat it somewhere else tom s sin has left a trail of consequences behind it which he could never have the of a saint dreamed of i cannot tell whether i pity him more for this or honor him for the courage with which he stood up poor tom october an odd thing has happened to the a man came in the storm last night and dropped insensible on the he might have lain there all night and very likely would have died before morning but george when he started for bed chanced to open the door to look at the weather he found the tramp wet and covered with and at first thought that he was either dead or drunk when he had got him in and out by the kitchen fire the man proved to be ill george sent for dr and had a bed made up in the shed chamber but when he told me this morning he said it seemed rather doubtful if the tramp could live what did mrs say i asked i do not know how i came to ask such a question and i meant nothing by it george however in a moment as if he suspected me of something unkind mrs did n t like my taking him into the house he said she thought i ought to have sent him off to the poor farm you could hardly do that last night i returned wondering how i could have offended him i am afraid the tramp s looks set her against him she has n t seen him she d gone to bed before i found him last night and this morning he is pretty sick dr says he can t be moved now he s in a high fever and keeps talking all the time it is so very seldom we hear of in october that it is strange to have one appear like this and it is odd he chose george s house to tumble down at as it is a little out of this road have a law of their own however and never do what one would expect of them i hope his illness will not be serious i offered to do what i could but george said they could take care of the man for the present then he hesitated and flushed a little as if confused i am sorry he said it should happen just now for ought not to be troubled when � when she is n t well it is a pity and i hope no harm will come of it but if mrs has not seen the tramp and has not been startled i do not see why any should october if i could be superstitious i think i should be now but of course the whole thing is nonsense people are talking � in forty eight hours i how gossip does spring and spread as if there were something peculiar about that tramp there is nothing definite to say except that he came to george s house which is a little off from the main street and that in his delirium he keeps calling for some person he says he knows is there and he wiu surely find no matter how she hides the idea of the sick in a delirium is always painful and the talk about this man makes it doubly so i am afraid the fact that mrs s servants do not like her has something to do with the whispers in the air dislike will create suspicion on the slightest excuse and there can be nothing to connect her with this dying tramp what could there be i wish aunt would not repeat such unpleasant things the of a saint october i have been with tom hanging the pictures in the new reading room and everything is ready for the opening when the magazines and the books come next wednesday is the first of the month and then we will have it opened tom has already a list of over twenty men and boys who have joined and lame peter is to be it is delightful to see how proud and pleased he is he can help 