The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1881-01-27
THE BEAR.MAN.


glish mother, save q dainty neatnes'
and skill in sewing and other maidenly
employments, such as little girls of tho
Savoyard class do not usually excel in
To be sure, in the mouths of her coun
trymen, the name cftenest grew to Nan
ME. Mamma or Nannette, but her faith
er. who seldom spoke word of English
besides. always brought out the plain
foreign name with distinct and pecui.
lar utterance. which was like stone
thrown amid soft ripping waters. in the
music of his own sweet tongue. 1t was
the tribute he paid with tender love to
the memory of his English wife, whom
he fondly cherished.
Barberi had come over to America
with his wife, his organ and his one lit.
tie girl some years ago. When Anns
was a tiny child, just able to trot
around. she had followed her father
daily, with a tambourine in her brown
baby hands, and the child's pretty curl.
ing locks and dark eyes never failed to
win rich harvest of pennies, but now
the English mother was dead, and her
father had put the old organ in the dark
closet where it came forth only on holi-
days, or holy-days, which meant the
same to the father and child, to make
music for their merry hearts.
And now Barberi kept large fruit
stand on the crowded street corner,
where he sold in summer time grapes
and peaches and great rudy, luscious
slices of watermelon to the thirsty
throated passers-by, and in winter
golden piles of oranges, crimson apples
and great rusty clusters of bananas al
ternated with piles of nuts of all varie-
ties: while beside the stand smoked the
scdldero, which served the double pur-
pose of warming the Italians frozen
fingers and roasting the nuts, which
seldom had time to cool their brown,
bursting skin before they were snapped
up by ready purchasers. At night Anna
liked to stand there, amid the piles of
fruit, and watch the faces that flashed
by, illuminated by the rude glare of the
torches, which were thrust among the
fruit, and her own and her fathers face
cleaned out OF the wooden stall with
eyes that glowed in the winter air like
jewels. forming q rich picture in a
quaint frame. But Anna was growing
from a little round-faced prattling child
to tall girl now, and her father thought
it no longer good for her to stand all
day idling behind the stall, or playing
with her knitting, while men and women
spoke carelessly and openly of her
beautiful eyes, her rich color and flash
ing teeth. So she was committed to the
care of the woman of the house, and
spent her days alone mostly in the little
sunny room in the crowded court where
they lived, only interrupted by visits
now and then from the wild children
around who loved Mamma dearly. The
court was crowded and crooked but not
dirty, and the room she dwelt in,
though it often smelled of garlic and
harbored all manner of pets, fine flow
ers and shrill voiced canaries, two little
white mice with pink eyes and ears. was
clean and orderly
Anna sewed for hours together and
knit bright worsted work, which sold
we'll in the stores, and she had one
great treasure concealed on shelf over
the old Organ-a worn, well-thumbed
fairy tale book, with her mothers En-
glish name written on the first page.
This the little girl brought out in play
time, and many long hours of happiness
she spent dreaming over the enchanted
princes. beautiful, hapless princesses
and fairy folk; until, there being no
one to tell her better, she grew to be-
lieve in all these wonders with child
ish faith that remained mistaken, even
now, that the dawn of maidenhood
stirred her heart with a new force.
There came rumOr in the court of q
new arrival, man with two perform
ing bears. Mamie heard of them. but
she was timid, and though they told her
the bears were very tame and played all
kinds of strange antics to the fiddler's
strains, she could not be induced to 90
and see them.
One warm summer evening Anna sat
near the open window. sewing q blue
flannel blouse for her father; the smell
of lindens came through the window,
and the warm breeze famed the hair
on Annals brow and brushed her ruddv
young cheek with \ soft touch that
woOed her to idleness, but she perse-
vered in her work, and her little. brown,
slim fingers were dyed blue as violets in
spring. and the red rose in her hair
trembled aud waved with the motion
she impaired to her body as she rocked
to and fro and sang softly.
Presently up the sunny court came q
strange noise and din, voices shouting
and laughing children screaming. and
over all rose the sharp. clear notes of a
fiddle. Anna listened, the din came
nearer. the noise and babble rose loud
er, with deafening clamor; she went
and stood by the window, laughing, yet
frightened at what she saw. A man,
dark and shriveled, played fiddle,
while on their hind legs danced two
shaggy brown bears. At every fresh
antic Of the animals the crowd cheered
and shrieked. and. the fiddler showed
his teeth in glee. Anna trembled lest
the beasts should come nearer, but they
stopped some distance from her win
dow, and spite Of her fear she laughed
and clapped her hands with amusement,
and presently moved by the feeling Of
fellowship all Bohemians have for one
another, she threw down from her
scanty hoard penny or two for the
fiddler; the pennies rolled along the
paved court and one lodged close bv
her window. What was Annals sur.
prise to see the merriest of bears come
toward the window and. pick up the
penny; this fresh trick was greeted
with applause from the crowd; but
Anna gave great shrek rs the huge
beast came near, and shrinking back
into the room. hastily shut the window.
The bear retreated, the crowd dis
persed, and evening shadows filed the
court. Anna was glad, after her fright,
when her father returned. She told
him about the bears. and then the
whole matter passed from her mind, as
.he busted herself in preparing hef
fathers supper.
The following Sunday, at twilight