The Red Cloud chief., 1880-03-11
EEkIN HIS rORTuhI.



-
e - Dsysksa~ -
A hoy sat whis,ling on \ fence. He
was a lad Of ia wears. and worked as all
.ort. Of odd chores on the river farm.
vh;.,A .en, mos, of n. urostuce down To
S6e ciS on The hofge. shicA one sss@
tbe Hudson Rfyrr. headna by lift1e
steam tups. md which are euO-
moniv called s.tous." This b3,
Tgw Van Wyck, wss pr
bow. and worked hard; he did no, much
care for the beautiful hills which en-
.cumuzsse<f fhe Winding. xteaMtuT rivrr.
nor The fair and fertile fields beyopd,
ID he ~ smzadV0Auseusaan1 Afk
spirit, which lust nox Was working up
In the manner Of yeas when Il Il push
Ing in va through the mas. u uu-
Taxed bread. All SORTS Of bubbles were
boihering his brain, and foremost va.
the WIN 10 lea Va his eusufu hssne, ard
90 to the cress city Of whseA ne hsa
heard SO much. bu, about which he
knew little. Auk 1ariA, ho~ sure,
would Y saw "yes" to his project.
She looked uDeu The cny Is gxxa, den
of thieves, al ~ hi nnA van Tear "a
90 there; but he was tired Of being 4
farm hand, and thought it would be fine
10 stand behind a counter, to wear kid
gloves on a sunday, To be able to buy
good broadcloth and shining ~boots-in-
deed, with one bound 10 be a merchant
prince whose grandeur shpubi bsz the
town talk.
He had not very clear ideas as to how
all this WAS oube assAined, but Aknew
! he could work hard: he had read how
maay . ppur boy had struggled up n
fame, and he meant 10 try, anyhow.
Ard now, rs he sat on the fence
whistling. he was considering a plan Of
action. There was no use in being too
tender-hearted. He would have 70 leave
Aunt Maria without asking permission.
True. the little red house By the hill Wa
a snug little home, and his aunt toiled
hard " make il -; but would he mol
come home TO her w6h dlks And dIa-
mopds which should 30 otrtsihne her
test alpaca that II would only do Tor
common use? Often down at the dock
he had talked withthe men on the boats,
but he knew none of them other than a
Jack and Bill His proposed plan was
TO leave some night quietly, get on 3
barge, 90 to the city, and secure work
then write home To Aunt Maria, and
make his peace with her. Perhaps i
Aunt Maria had known all these
thoughts, she might have been les
harsh when Tom scolded about farm
work, and called II drudgery; but she
hadzs scornful way Of smiling ut hun
and his ideas, which maze Tom more
and more close and reserved. vi
this very day, when the momentou'
project was ripening, she had salt
he was lazy, that ga rolling tone gath
cred no moss" that the "boy wa
father To the man. and that II all n
could do was to whistle and white, III
had better so over to Squire Green
and help them shuck their corn.
"Shuck corn! In a week,s or
months time he'd show her what Ia,
could do"
II was a clear October night, calm an,
beautiful, and Tom rose softly, tied hi
best suit up in = bundle With a couple o
shirts, took off his shoes-he had no
undressed-slipped down stairs, I'M
fastened the door, which, however, wa
only Iatched, and crept Out into tn
moonlight. He paused to count the few
silver pieces in his little well-worn purse
took one long look at the red house
and especially at the window wher'
little James yellow head was often
est to be seen-for Aunt Ma
ria was mother as we'll a
aunt to these W motherless children
and away he went. If he had an,
qualms of conscience, they were 500
forgotten in the excitement of the mo
ment. The walk was not a long one :
the riverside, and he had made . rlgh
guess as To the time the night boa
would land. One by one a sleepy hea'
appeared from the sheds as the boa
neared the wharf, hut despite the moon
light, M one noticed him particularly a
he slipped stealthily on board, and t
his great relief the truck was soon ship
ped, the gang-plank drawn up, and tn
steamboat making its white furro'
through the sparkling water. He wa
too wide awake now TO think of sleeping
and after paying his fare, sat down :
watch the progress of the boat. By-and
by the o sank, and 1t was dark; ID
chilly dawn soon came, and then lon
rows of sparkling lights appeared |; til
tall spires of the town; the masts OF IN
!, shipping; the fitting f~erry-boats, q
with its green or scarlet blaze OF Ian
tern; rows OF house tops; docks
wharves; fiag-staffs; sheds. This, then
was the great city of his hopes.
Now there was a stirring and calling
a rush Of men to the work Of unloading
? a heaving of ropes, winding of cables
: shouts, curses, the rafting of carts o
the piers, the tnkleof bells onthe carr
! the roar Of escaping steam, the screar
q whales. and The fopf smells of gaI
bage and biige-water. He watched tn
, men ct Their work, he saw the passer
gerscome out, with sleepy eyes and 500
den faces, and taken their departure
, He too must go-buts where? he wal
- ~ 9, ,na1o Whpy