The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1881-07-15

~. 3.rted back. ssGraciousp' he
Aid. :. wouldn't have it for anything;
Z conldust 90 to school. I'd lose all
chance Of promotion.
= =. That'e my case exactly :. saids I0u1s-@'
bitterly. -
..Its too bad, Tom" called Joe. !.
keeping we'll out of breathing distance
- But I say. old fellow. you can STUDY
all the same. you Know You're = =
sturdy chap; It vont hinder ye@S - !
wonl3 knock me higher than kite.
cant afford to lose any flesh and blood.
I'm next door to skeleton. now.
Tom remembered that He was GLAD
then he had Aoisted the quarantine
~. Soe went on shouting .rh iesp
vo" nosted in the lessons, Tom. so you {
wont fall behind. I'll stick TO yO9
lie bees-wax. Eth, Tom, Ssthat en-
rightr'
The Quarter bell rang. Joe and Tom
parted Tor many day. Tom went 0es
70 his erandfather's farm with nlS
mother. and Joe went to school.
To an Indifferent observer II would
seem that there was no. comparlSo1 "
tween Tom luck and Joe's: 10 nave
a grandfather was good 9eai' IN me
first place; Joe hadn't any. he, hadn
even a ia, her. But to have grano-
father that owned farm! Here was
what YOU might call downright gooa
fortune. Tom did enjoy it. Hiswnoop.
inp-couoh was of light Variety ana
didn't disturb him much. But he was
all the while thinking OF the boys
fighting away at those eSam
pfes. and how much easier Il
was to puzzle them out in the c'ass-
room than out there in the haymo#.
There is so. much to distract fellow.
If the bows at school made as much fuss
over doing q sum as the hens did about
laying an cey they'd drive the teacher
mad. Then TIE swallows went clrctlng
around the top of the barn until u
| made a body's head swim, and THAT
Young rascal OF q colt gnawed the
manger and kicked and coaxed to 60
afieli with Tom, and if ever there dad
happen to- be lull in the racket. some
thing in that hay made'a q, fellow 50
sleepy-must have been some poPples
dried in that grass. And. worst OF all.
Joe Brown had turned traitor. BE had
been as GOOD as his word at first, and
had kept Tom posted right alongs bus
for more than a month he hadn't sent
him a line. It was so hard to plod
along almost In the dark. dis
father helped him when he came out
on SATURDAYS, and Tom didn give up.
He studied on out of spite; but it was
harder work for boy with heart like
Toms to strive for spite than love.
Tom felt that he might perhaps pass
with the rest OF the boys and Keep
abreast with Joe Brown alter ALL bat
there wasn't much comfort in it. .s
His father took him back to the city
the last week in June, and on the night
of his arrival Tom went out to the
wood-shed to have itsout with Joe. he
made up his mind to tell him wat he
thought of him. and never speak to him rim
again; but he felt very miserable over
it, very miserable indeed.
Bridget WAS out there splitting wo'ds
and called to Tom as lie began to climb:
"You needn't rache upt see the
bow bevant. He'll climb no more
He's lyin' in bed these three weeks, and
they say he's wastin' away. That n sty
, 'hoopin' cough whit bad wild the poor
.
little craythur."
"Whooping-coughr' cried Tom.
(" Did Joe get it?''
!, cav coorse he did, wild all the rest OF
, the gossoons; but it whit wrong wild
poor Joe's windpipe, bad luck to it,
, and ruined him intirely."
: Tom ran out in the street. He felt
{ so sorry, and 80 glad--sO sorry Joe
! was sick, and so glad he was true. His
, heart leaped up to tn nix he had found
his friend again, and then sank because
3 what Bridget said had given him
/; nameless fear. The very first boy Tom
) met told him the doctor said he didn' {
think Joe Brown would live to go to
8 school again. - : .
g Tom ran in to his father with so pale
: a face that it frightened Mr.. Jones; but
he was Toms confidant as well as his
1 father. and soothed and cOmforted him.
"Come," he said. taking Tom by
J. the hand. '.let's 90 around and see
e Joe"
They found him in bed, and as white
!. as the wall he was propped against.
e He held out his wasted hand to Tom.
1 .You We come back in time fOrthe ex.
animation" he said, with little bit.
IS terpess in his smile. You've got al
:; the odds now, Tom; 60 in and win.
d told you this thing. would cripple me-
I'll never tackle an example again"
,. Tom grew almost as pale as Joe, ane
8. looked imploringly at his father. Big
d tears rolled out of Mrs. Brown eyes.
le "He's all I have in the world.
IS WHISPERED the poor widow to Mr.. Jones
20 "Well, please God. madam" SAT-
TO Mr. Jones, "Joe will be all r ght yet
- With your permission we II get him GU
* in the country on Toms grandfather
X farm. What he wants is country al
I'd and rest. and to give up this wicke'
le struggle for supremacy. There's bet
K ter victory. my DO s. than that with
~ . mathematical problem : to do the hes
at you can. and bid godspeed to the ON
at that can honestly do better. There AZ
ed some things far better than class pro
IN motion. and you Il find them out Their
as on the farm; health, contentment-"
'ir "And the 'olliest colt you ever saw