Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1883-08-04

/ yOuI Suil - SC1oSOlS, 1udAAlAAo.
Eyes, dear, you may have them. And
Twill go and tell Sam to cut those roots
in the road before they do any serious
damage"
As her mother left the room Hope
took the scissors from the work-baskct,
and the paper she had found in the old
pocket-book from her bag, and skipped
upstairs to her little play-room in the
garnet.
The rain was pattering over the roof
and dashing against the window-panes
as Hope seated herself upon the floor
and began her work. The paper she
had found was of a light blue color,
with a narrow dark blue line close to
the edge. Hope spread these strips of
paper out upon her knee and counted
! them over. There were twelve in all,
and just twice as long as they We're
y broad; and as a pin-wheel must be
\ square, Hope cut them in two, and had
, soon made twenty-four pale blue pin
wheels. The few words written on
each side. did not mar the beauty at all,
| for Hope had hidden these so carefully
that no one, unless by looking very
closely, would have discovered that the
paper was not perfectly clean.
When they were finished and pinned
to their handles Hope stacked them in
one corner of the room, and looked
proudly at her handiwork.
''There!" said she. aloud. tsAmycan
write a letter, but she can't make pin
wheels like those. I'll leave them up
here until next Saturday, so that they
will not be spoiled. This is Tuesday,
and Wednesday, Thursday and Friday
are three MORE" said Hope, counting
on her fingers. sThat's a long time.n
Then she closed the door and went down
stairs.
The next day as Hope came home
from school she saw a large crowd col
lected around William Barns house.
and heard loud voices within. She hur-
ried home with the news to her mother.
81 am afraid they are going to arrest
William Barns for stealing" said her
mamma, sadly.
"What has William Barns stolen?"
cried Hope, in astonishment.
'Old Mr.. Grubby u him of
stealing a great many hundred dollars"
ooh, mamma! l don't believe he
ever stole anything, he has such a nice
brown face and always smiles at me-"
81 am afraid that is 10 proof of his
innocence" said her mother. patting
her on the head. .'But | am very sorry
for poor Mrs. Barns"
Hope thought frequently of William
Barns during the week. and missed his
kind face in the village. 1t made her
feel quite sorrowful to see the door Of
his house closed, and the shades drawn
down W the windows. But when the
day for Amy's return came, Hope forgot
everything else in the delightful X
pectation of seeing her cousin and pre-
senting her the wonderful pin-wheels.
1t wa no easy task to carry twenty
four paper pin-wheels safely through
the village streets, So Hope thought,
as she moved slowly along, with her
eyes fixed upon them in anxiety for
their safety. She was so intent upon
this that she ran plump against a boy
standing in the road. Hope looked up
to see who it was, and warn him not to
break her pin-wheels, when she found
that she was close by the Courthouse,
and that there were five or six people
standing around the door talking e
citedly.
The boy Hope stumbled against was
one OF her school-mates, so she said:
"What's the matter in the Court
house, Tom?"
civilian. Barns stole old Grubby's
pocket-book crammed full of money!
answered Tom, ''and they're trying him
now"
"Did Mr.. Grubby see him do it?'
cried Hope, wonderingly.
"No, he didn't see him steal it, bu,
it's all the same. He saw the pocket
book in his hand, and so did 1 and 3
heap of other fellows, too. We were
all on the dock fishing, when ole
Grubby comes along grumbling, ant
stands behind us. just then a big fish
pulled off my hook. and l asked Will
Barns for another. He took an old leather
thing out of his pocket and began
fumbling in it for one. Then 1 heart
Grubby scream something. and
looked. He vas standing close b,
Will with his hands hooked Just like tn,
claws of a bird and his teeth all show
ing. The nextmoment he made a spring
at Will and screeched,
"'You thief! you rogue! you high
Wayman! give me my money!
Your money! said Will. You mus
be crazy, Mr. Grubby. Ihaye no money
of yours Then he shook Grubby off
and putting the pocket-book back in hi.
pocket, walked off as cool as you please
Next day Grubby had him arrested, anc
they found the pocket-book with a lo
of fish-hooks in it on a shelf in Will
bedroom. But he says he found the
greasy old thing empty near the roots O
that big oak-tree by your house."
$50 he did," cried Hope, who hac
been listening with her mouth and eyes
open to this long story-''he did for ]
saw him, and there was not one cent O.
money init whenI picked it upmyself-
nothing but little pieces Of paper. and
took them out and threw the old thing
away. And Ill Just go and tell MI
Grubby so,n and Hope made a move
ment toward the door.
II wouldn't" said Tom; ''thev'n al
laugh at you. Who ever saw q gir
walking through a courtroom with al
armful of pin-wheels?"
II don't are if they do laugh at me-,
answered Hope, .angrily. II shall no
let MI. Grubby say that William Barn.
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