Iowa voter. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1867-1874, 1873-12-25

! Yes, L had Candy. 80 lust sVh cav
these; don't want them"
The mother chokcd with tears as she
penetrated this fiimsy artifioe, bat as he
held out sioutly. al his urgent rrqacs, she
ate little. Finally The little ones were
! put 10 bed, and after Nellie and Charlie
were asleep, Sammy rose up on his elbows
| and said " Mamma, do dogs and cats
| have soulsg'
as II wicked for them TO steal when
they are hungry"
mo, dear, / think not as they cannot
know any better
mamma. was wishing tonight that
was a dog or a cat, SO | could steal
| when / got chance when / was hungry.
Then, too, suppose | wouldn't feel so
had when you and Nellie and Charlie
| were hungry, because | wouldn't know
| enough. and Just wish / was one, so
there now" and he ended with doleful
cry.
Don't talk 30, Sammy"
FL doni care, mamma; cverybody's
dog Ia fed better than we are" and then
he sprang from the bed as she fell to the
floor, the warm, red blood rushing over
the pale lips.
All alone were the three children in
that house; no neighbors TO come in, or
no friendly hand 10 help the dying wo-
man or the frightened children, and
pi,eous walls Of childish fright rang out
on the night air. Sammy tried 30 calm
the little ones, while he listened TO the
last faint words Of his mother AT last
they fell asleep, and he sat by her side,
with his little hand clasped in hers, and
listened to her. and the loving, earnest
counsel thus given will ever remain in
his heart of hearts till the day of his
death. She talked necessarily all those
long, weary hours, her mind wandering
back 10 her childhood's home, now 10 her
early married life, and again to her girl
hoods sweet dream of love. Every little
incident OF her life came TO her lips in
those last holy hours, and then she slept.
When the dull, gray Christmas morn
ing began TO show in the East, and the
deathly chill that everyone who has
watched by sick bed feels as the morn
ing breaks, came 10 poor Sammy, he saw
the reason she had been silent so long, for
she was dead. With one wild scream of
anguish and terror, he flung himself upon
her lifeless breast and begged and called
piteously for her TO return.
Daylight soon entered the lonely dwell.
ing, and the other two awoke, cold and
hungry, and crying for something to eat
For awhile they were awe-struck by the
awful presence of death, but soon felt
the pangs of hunger more than G Hef for
their mother, for hunger they could I'M
derstand, but death they could not
Sammy was but eight years old, and he
did not know what TO do. There was
nothing to eat, no wood, and the babies
were crying with hunger. Then he re-
membered his mother had told him to
take them TO the police station, and so,
sitting his own grief, he set about dress
ing the little ones, and wrapped them the
best he could. Carrying the crying baby
and leading his little sister, he came into
the station, and the three made the sad
dest proce ssion ever inside those doors,
used to sad sights.
The poor, hungry babies were tenderly
cared for, and more than one listener felt
the tears rise in his eyes and huge lump
come in his throat at the tale told so sim
ply, yet with such plaintive sorrow, of
their struggles and suffeflngs, and the
death and restitution. Sammy could eat
nothing, and his silent, intense grief was
dreadful to see. He insisted so earnestly
on returning to his dead mother that they
could not refuse. When he reached the
desolate home he retired to corner, and,
throwing himself on the floor, sobbed and
wept till he fell asleep.
When he awoke 1t was late in the day,
and he did not at first remember what had
happened, until glance toward the bed
and a view Of that Awful Something,
clearly defined in outline, under snowy
sheet, struck him with new terror. That
sight has struck mortal terror and pain
into most of our lives some day or other.
With wild, despairing cry, that those
who heard it can never forget, he threw
himself down by it, sobbing, "Oh, my
mother! my motherm Strange, kindly
hands raised him, loving words were
chokingly spoken, and mans strong
arms held him closely and tonderly, as a
heartfelt prayer for forgiveness and a SOL
emn VOW went up together.
Adam White had gone to his bachelors
bed Christmas Eve, In the serene con-
seriousness of duty we'll done, aud in peace
and goodwill to all men. He bounced
into the middle of the bed, and sank down
almost out of sight in the feathers under
the bed-clothes. How warm and coy it
was all the warmer and cosier because
outside, the shrill, keen wind whistled
through the shrieking branches of the
trees, and the full, round moon peeped
into the room through the fairy lattice.
work and frosted arabesques on the win
dow-panes.
christmas Eve" thought Adam White,
as he nestled in his warm bed, and
strange recollections of long forgotten
childhood, little glimpses and reminis-
cences of Kris Kringle--of the little red
stocking hung by the wide old fire.
| place--of the Christ child in the manger,
of watching shepherds and the cleaning
angels, of the sweet song of the angel
choir long ago one midnight--all
mingled, and floated and jostled through
his brain In that delicious, halfconscious
state which precedes sleep, until he
walked with a start at the unwonted pic
| ture his mind was involuntarily draw
ing-woke curious new sensation, with
| a feeling that there was something more
in life than the store on the corner and
the account at the bank, and then re-
membering himself again, turned over
with the consoling thought he had done
well by the poor.
Turning this thought over and over