The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1867-188?, 1879-01-09

pallet on the hOor, barely covered with
an old patchwork quilt, boy of about
fourteen, who, judging from his con-
slant cough, labored breathing and
emaciated limbs, was in the last stages
of consumption. Beside him on the
narrow bed lay a girl few years older
than her brother, fast asleep. She was
pale and thin and dirty; but there was
q rare beauty in the firm, soft curves of
the mouth and chin and in the low,
broad brow, up from which was swept
q thick, tangled mass of curly brown
hair. Tears glistened on the long
brown lashes, and the eyebrows were
knit together in a painful frown, which
suddenly relaxed as the sick boy
watched her with tired sunken eyes,
and q sudden, glowing smile lighted up
her face.
"She can allus dream and escape to
the beautiful world she tells me about, +"
he muttered, with a wistful, impatient
sigh; land can never even sleep"
Yes, she was dreaming, but not so
deeply but that the movement and sigh
of her brother woke her. "Whaten's s
the trouble, Harry dearP Be We worse
to-nightP''
30 no." he said. and sighed again.
81 was just a-wonderin' where We was,
ye smiled SO, and L longed to be there
too"
40 Harry, I was way off. out o.
sight O. houses an streets an such like,
all alone in the valley; an all the trees
an the flowers an the river spak 10 me
to give me comfort"
"Ah! the valley" said the sick boy;
"that's where want to 60, as 1 used
to, fore 1 was took bad. If I could
sleep p'raps could go too" Here he
was interrupted by terrible fit of
coughing, which only left him strength
to gasp feebly for " water"
A cracked cup without n handle stood
water. The girl rose to get it. but as
she was handing it to her brother the
door opened and their father staggered
in. For an instant he looked at his
children, and in drunken fit of sense
less passion struck the girl a savage
buffet, which made her reel, and shat
tered the cup into fragments in her
hand. i
The girls brow flushed crimson with
anger and pain, and her brown eyes
flashed fire. You miserable, drunken
bruter she said. r-.., .-
"None o. yer sarce, gal, or I'll kill
yerr' and he glared at her dangerous
ly, with arm uplifted to strike.
Father! faitherr' commanded
rather than implored the sick boy, sit
ting up with an effort, and holding out
a thin, pale hand between them, while
hectic red blazed in his cheeks and
vivid light shone in his sunken blue
eyes. "Don't yer strike her, or God
will strike yor' There was strange,
almost unearthly look in the boys
spiritualized, suffering face, that awed
the man into temporary soberness.
As he paused with arm uplifted, look
ing at his son, an expression of shame
and uncertainty crossed his features;
he hung his head, avoided the boys in
tense eyes, and his arm slowly dropped
by his side. ,.f
Father" said the boy, in a gentler
tone, "yo've hurt her-yo have, and
she's so good to yo."
The man shifted uneasily from one
foot to the other and looked up at his
daughter, who was standing defiant
and angry, with dull-Red mark on her
cheek and neck. When her brother
spoke her face softened and her lips
quivered; she knelt suddenly by the
bed and put her arms around him, say
ing in piteous voice as the big tears
fell on his yellow hail, Its no for me
1 mind! It's for yo. Whaten will We
do the night through withouten water?
There's no a drop more i the house
nor the street"
The boy said nothing as he stroked
his sisters brown head, but the wist-
full, longing look in his eyes, and the
half sigh he could not repress, showed
how much he needed the water. The
man looked at them for a minute, and
then the fumes of the gin he had taken
overpowered him again as he reeled to
the opposite corner of the room, where
he fell on to an old mattress, and in a
moment was fast in deep, drunken
sleep. The boy closed his eyes wearily
and turned his face to the wall. The
girl kissed him and settled him as CON-
fortably IS she could, then rose from
her knees and went to the window,
which she partly opened. The moon
was high and full, and the street with
out looked as bright as day. A sudden
idea seemed to strike her, for she
smiled brightly as she went softly to
the bed and stood gazing at the brother
she loved SO well and knew she should
be able to keep so short q time. "My
boyr', she said, with an intensity OF
pitiful love in her face, and stretching
her claSped hands out over him as
though she would keep him with her
in spite of everything. "My boyi he
is all have" she murmured. Dear
God, take care of him till I come
back" and with the love still in her
face she softly left the room. She went
out into the brilliant summer night and
walked swiftly down the street towards
the lovely valley beyond, looking up at
the quiet stars as she went, something
of whose peace and rest seemed to
be reflected into the depths of her usual
ly troubled eyes. After q while she left
the town behind her and walked rapid
ly through the fields and lanes and
woods till she came to the rivers brink.
How lovely it looked! The trees and
flowers and grasses seemed outlined in
purest, palest silver "a very fairy net
work! and the quietly flowing river
sparkled and shone with the glorious
radiance of the moon and the stars.
The girl sat down on the stone that
projected into the river and filled q jug
she had brought with the cold, spark
ling water which she had come to fetch
for her brother. She seemed SPELL
bound with the beauty of it all, and sat
there quite long time looking down at
the reflections deep in the water, and
now up to the sky far above her head.
"n only my boy could be here" she
thought, show happy he wud be!
Maybe he wud get well if he coined
here-he loves the dumb material things
So" Her tears fell into the clear rip
pling water. A little breeze sprang up,
II = n
up and up over the stone to her feet. 20
river, dear river" she said, leaning to-
wards it, "last night in my dreams 20
spak to me, pitied me and was sorry
for my boy. Can't yo spak agin nowp"
The Wayelets rose hi0her and mur-