The Red Cloud chief., 1883-11-02
JASPER AND TnE FtRE.

Jasp-r wished and wished and z,sAoi
| he haan'i done IL Hut You an, undo
things that way. YOU Know; the best
way to do /. not 10 do ih-m-
Perhaps that VA. about the say Jas
per himself thought. now that l; wss
too late. n. iirrd and anxious. rsgg~d
and grim,. b. sKulkei along in the
shadow toward home.
lie was not very big nor very old.
this boy Jasper. and IL WAS getting pr-i-
~ dark. and Jasper himself was grit
ting uncommonly hungry. But. some
way or other. he did not hurry ON n
fast - YOU might think he would. IN
der these circumstances
Blu, then be had a good rrason for
no, hurrying.
Ordinarily, he would have rushed
home and into the house pell-mcll. AMI
y~oci!eruusly announced la his mother
tina, he was hungry a. a bear. and
wanted somcth ng 10 eat But YOU
dom like ,o run in the cannon : mouth
to get the ball.
And when Jasper 60, home tonight.
he was pr-tty sure Of getting something
else br-ides something - eat The
truth is. he expected TO catch IL when
he got home.
Perhaps YOU don't know what catch
ing IL il. Jasper did. perfectly well.
He had had considerable expcricnc. In
catching it," but had never enjoyed H.
This was the reason why he Eel, 80
solemn this evening. aud why he walked
so slow, and why his feet felt ~ heavy
as he walked
But l must hurry and tell YOU what II
was that Jasper had done. and now
wished that he had not.
He had been 10 the fire. fa,ly dis
obeyed his mother. and scampered OF!
right before her very eyes.
i, was dreadful in Jasper; for. besides
the di,obc,iicnce of the thing. his mother
was n nervous woman. and he should
not have helped To max. her more so.
She had just been telling Mr.. Cole
man that il would drive her 10 the verge
81 distraction Ia ave hSr son running
around between iir.-eDgin-s. and under
| horses hoofs. and beneath blazing EN-.
bers the way those Warren boys did.
And Jasper had heard her tell Mrs.
Coleman this. too-or. a, least. he could
have heard il he had listened.
am not sure. though, tina, he did
listen, for, nj the time, Mrs. Coleman
and Jasper's mother and Jasper himself
where all standing on the sidew ak. try
ing ~ make out where the tire WAS.
The fire-bells were ringing and the
iirc-cngines were rushing by. and n
crowd of men and boys were tearing
along the road after the engine. SO Won
| csn see there was considerable tn take
Jasper's attention away from what his
mother was saying Ia Mrs. Coleman.
Another thing that NAV have attracted
Jasper was his overwhelming desire To
become n part Of that moving mass Of
men and boys.
Cant | go. mother ?" he demand
ed. vchemenilv. clutching n; his moth
cr's dress. I'm be sure and not get
killed"
"Nor" sad his mother. with cmpha-
sis. LET me catch you going, sir
But the excitement IL the scene he
fore him was too much for Jasper. II
was perfectly m~addening Ia have TO
stand there stock still, rs though he
hadn't any legs Ia run with. when eve
rybody cise-all the other boys. anyway
were running - fast rs their legs
would carry them.
just here. n squad Of little boys. about
Jaspcr's own age. came screeching and
yelling down the road In the rear Of a
tardy engine. and them really do MOI
think Jasper could have been personal
" responsible for what he did he took
To his heels. joined the crowd Of boys.
and Was lost to sight, all in just abou,
one second.
And his mother was screaming after
him:
Come back here, Oh. you'll catch
ar'
II il hadn't been that she had the baby
in her arms, l believe she would have
run along with the crowd herself in
pursuit Of this rebellious son Of hers.
But all this had happened several hour.
ago.
Jasper was not excited now, and his
personal responsibility had all come
back TO him. II weighed him down
| there was so much Of 10.
Aud the fire was all out. too. I, had
not been such 4 very great fire, nyway
There WAS so much smoke and so little
blaze. and the firemen had been In suoh
a hurry to put il ont
And then . little shor, fellow Ike
Jasper did not have half q chance 10
see anything. with so many grown men
in front Of him.
II had not been ut all Q satisfactory
Ere. and then Just think Of having TO
come home in the end and catching
it, Poor Jasper.
When he got into the yard he though,
he would just see how the land Law be-
fore he venfured into the house. So he
peeped into the dining-room window
and Il there were not the folks lust sit
ting down TO piping hot" supper.
They had Poached eggs and toast and
repentant Jasper. hanging on the win
dow-sill. thought:
How good poached eggs and ,oas,
do look when . fellows been aud run
away TO the FIRE. and don't dare 70 in
when he's just ~s-starvipgr'
And then he devouify wished aesin
that ne hadn't gone 20 TIA; FIRE
Jasper Was . great hoy for wishing.
you see; but II he had studied Mother
Goose ss thoroughly rs I have done.
he would know tha;
IF vtshes vere horpes
Began night 6e
And that ID only . poetical way Of
saying: There's no use in wishing.
Jasper looked on hungnly until he
bad EEL the las; eex disappear from
the platter. and then be felt NOR
hungry than ever. He noticed that ais
moeber kept looking q: tie clock. nd
20 b NV hsr Ups say:
woede. Why that boy eos's
Aea she 90 up and ven: TO the
br to look Tor him. and Jasper hastily
reated into the d~og-ksenel. ne
egglcd up against old Rover. cried 4
Y, and wis6ed again be hsdn't gone
that old fire: and then be stopped
shing. and went sound asleep.
But al this while Jasper'S mother
rs SUFFERING. - well = Jasper. Asd