Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1885-09-03

bis Ianmiy, the members of whom would
pity him although they might not be
able to have much respect for one who
| was man, yet could not protect them
from poverty and suffering and hunger
In his overweight state of mind it
seemed to him that his home was al
ready gone, and he would not have
| been surprised, could he have been sud-
denly transported to his cottage, to have
| found it mass of ruins, with the rose
yard. and orchard, and fields covered
with a mass of debris from the mines.
| He paid his bill at the boarding house
without seeing the party to whom he
| paid it, watered his horses and hitched
them to the blackboard mechanically.
and turned their heads homeward with
| look of such absolute hopelessness
| that even Johnny was silent, his young
! spirits overcome by the weight of his
| fathers woe.
| Several times during the first half of
the homeward journey the boy tried to
arouse his father by pointing to some
| bird, or flower. by the roadside, but if
he heard at all John Parsons replied to
the lad only in monosyllables. or at
random, and again relapsed into the
/ silence which was so depressing to the
| child
When a little more than half way
| home, as they were winding around a
hill upon the edge of deep gorge, two
deer which had been sleeping in a
| bunch of tall grass by the roadside sud-
denly sprang up and bounded across.
almost under the noses of the horses.
Sounexpected were their presence and
| their movement that the horses them
selves, half asleep and jogging along
under n loose rein and with ears
dropped forward. took fright and jumped
! quickly sideways, overturning the
J blackboard and throwing its occupants
/ out with considerable force.
| Clinging 10 the lines. as he instinct
lively did, prevented John Parsons from
going over the bluff, and after being
| dragged few rods he brought the
horses to stop and arose to his feet
unframed, excepting few scratches
| md bruises about the face and limbs.
But Johnny. having nothing to cling to
| except the back of the seat, which was
! wrenched from his grasp in the fall,
was thrown violently over the bluff,
and rolled halfway down its steep
| side, being caught at last by a huge
! bowlder which had itself fallen down
| from above at some previous period.
| Mr.. Parsons first thought when he
arose was of Johnny, and he looked
around. hoping TO see him unhurt and
| scrambling up the bank.
| But. no; he was nowhere in sight
| His father called once; then again
then he hastily tied the now perfectly
| quiet animals to a stunted manzenita
! tree by the roadside and ran back to
| look for the boy.
Not seeing him from the point on the
road where the blackboard was over
turned, he rushed over the bluff. nearly
pitching headlong in his haste. and
scrambled down its side, coming upon
| the body of the boy where it lay, with
| eyes closed and one arm bent under in
a way in which it could only be if
broken, and with blood issuing from
nose and ears.
| For moment John Parsons stood
with a look of awful horror on his face,
and then his strength left him and he
staggered and leaned upon the rock
against which the body lay.
| The next instant his strength re-
/ turned, and with great beads of per-
spiration standing out upon his face, he
knelt down and placed his hand over
the lads heart
There was a faint fiuttering there.
! and raising the body in his arms he
worked his way up to the road, coming
out of the gorge several rods in advance
of where the horses stood hitched to the
manzenita bush.
Still holding the body in his arms he
attempted to unsnap the halter strap
with which they were tied. intending to
leave it hanging to the bush; but the
horses were frightened at sight of the
| limp body and the scent of blood, and
drew back.
| He might have united the strap from
| the tree without difficulty, but if this
We're done it must be allowed to drag
on the ground and might cause the
horses to stumble and again throw him
from the blackboard, which had righted
itself after having thrown its occupants
out He laid his burden carefully on
the ground, united the strap and Sc
cured it in its place. again lifted his
child in his arms, got upon the buck
board and drove with as much speed as
he safely could down the hill, and then
turned off to the left into a by-road
which he knew led to settlers shanty
By the time he reached it, johnny
was showing signs of returning life.
! and hope that he might not be SO
badly injured as at first appeared was
beginning to find Judgment in his
fathers breast
As it CHANGED, the only occupant OF
the shanty at the moment was a
| woman, her husband being in the field.
and the children at neighbours on an
errand.
Through the open door she saw a
stranger approaching with the limp
body of child in his arms. and under
stood at once that an accident had hap
pened. Catching the dinner-horn from
the nail where it hung, she ran to the
back door and blew several loud and
sharp blasts, then rushed back, and
without stopping to ask any questions.
or even for him to reach the door, called
to Mr.. Parsons to ''come right in a,
the same time arranging the bed to re.
ceive the body.
John Parsons looked his thanks and
laid his burden down upon the place
prepared for it, the woman assisting
him, and placing the poor broken arm
in as natural a position as possible. AS
she did SO, the sufferers eyes opened
and closed. then opened again. Then
his lips parted and low moan escaped
them.
John Parsons sank down by the bed
side and looked at his boy with agony
depicted in every lineament of his face
more terrible than that of his child 5,
and when another moan came and the
eyes of his boy were turned to him as il