The Andrew County Republican. [volume] (Savannah, Mo.) 1871-1876, 1874-10-30

was all gone. - was JUST ike Otnef
boys" he would say to Billy, trying to
straighten himself up, land oh, L was
SO happy. Not a person noticed me on
the street! think O. that, Billy, 'ceptin'
as those az wanted their boots BACKED
and oh, such a polish as I gave 'em
Such a polish !" And his little pale,
sad face would light up-"It seemed
as if / couldn't rub hard enough, l was
So happy. Now ana then, some them
great and good-natlred men nd say to
me as 1 was shinin' EN- up, why,
boy, what's the matter with yer? Have
We been shinin' yer face this mornin'?'
1 told one on 'em I'd snapped a heap
O misery for a pile O Joy and another
one, that I reckoned my aches was
passin' off in smiles, near as l could
guess; but nobody knowcd L was the
little hunch-back, and when | woke up
this moruin' | knowed it was all a
dream of course hut it rested me SO
much, Billy, I feel most as if l didn't
care" And then a little sigh escaped
him. Billy, rough boy though he was,
knew the sigu was the vapor escaping
from the ache Johnny bore in his heart
as well as on lis back, and that John
ny, patient Johnny, did care ever so
much.
"Never mind, never mind, Johnny"
Billy would say, drawing his hand
across his eyes at the same time, az
| love YOU more with that ar than eli you
war straighter nor / am. | shouldn't
know You, Johnny you'd be somebody
else to me /; but come, we'll lose our
mornin's trade. Hurry up, boy ; bust
ness is business :" and off they would
start, stopping first at the little bakery.
CHAPTER IL.
4 year has passed away, and in little
attic room, Johnny, ~huncEback Johnny,
lies dying. Not in the same crowded,
dirty place We visited a year ago, for
all is neat ard clean, though extreme
poverty is everywhere apparent. A
poor widow had given Billy and John
nv shelter and food in return for the
services which they rendered her. They
ran on many errands for her, chopped
her wood, built her fires, and shared
with her the money that they earned at
backing boots.
And now Johnny lies there on his bed,
sick INTO death. For weeks he has
been wasting away, and his little form
looks smaller than ever, all but the
hump, which has never lessened except
in his dreams. The little pale face
isn't even sad now, but wears n glori-
ous, bright expression. His large,
dark eyes speak volumes as you look
down INTO their DEPTHS they speak to
you of suffering IL moment but the
next they flash out triumphantly and
as we bend to catch the words his lips
~cndeayored to frame his little harsh
voice seems to have grown melodious,
as he whispers to himself, Simply to
Thy Cross | Cling"
Billy, grown taller and s~touter, sits
by him on the bed, looking down sor-
rowtully, tenderIy, into the little suf-
ferer's face.
Billy" said Johnny, stroking
Billy's coarse hand with his little frail
fingers; Billy" he repeated softly,
embarrassing the hand, "dear Billy" he
whispered, as he put 1t to his little pale
lips. "It's a way he has," Billy had
said one day to a lady who called. "He
seems to think so much o me, said
Billy, with emotion, m as never done
nothin' for him, poor little Johnny,
'cept a little turn now and then, when |
could sarve him, and 4 rubin o his
back when it would get TO achin' WIS
ser'n usual. I'd a gin him money if
I'd had it to give"-and then Johnny |
had interrupted him with-"O, Billy,
you cant buy love with money-not
the love you give me. You've loved me,
Billy, when no one else would ; You've
even loved the hump N my back, and
were al'ays kind o tender to NE, ul'ays
putin himself atween me and the
stones that the boys as never knowed
m would throw; why, ma'am," John
ny had said, turning over to look at the
lady, Elm 10 relation to him at all;
he picked nae up i'll the street IL day,
when some one in the crowd knocked