The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1886-01-08

called myself a fool at least twenty
times, and fully expected to find the
child gone off with everything she
could lay herhands on. Butno, there
was the fire blazing, the hearth swept
up, the floor washed, and the ROOM,
even with it's scant furniture, so home
like and attractive, that my heart be-
gan to throb with human pulses again.
The girl had washed, made herself as
tidy as possible with her scant oppor-
tunities, and looked really beautifulin
the glow ofthe evening fire. That night
she sat beside me, dressed in the warm
and comfortable garments, and Iquite
forgot to look over my accounts. |
coulddo nothing but look at her.
One night l came home, and was
surprised at the appearance OF my
room. A handsome rug lay before the
fire, and four faded crimson chairs
and a rocker brought back the old
time sense of comfort. A little table
decked with q white cloth, held the
old-fashioned china ware which my
wife had priced. At first l looked
around, almost expecting to see her.
But no, there stood Ally, as she had
called herself, smiling and blushing,
yet half afraid at my hasty exclama-
ton.
"You won't be angry with me, will
you? But all the things were up
stairs, and they looked so sad and
lonesome, Just as / used to feel, that L
thought I'd bring some OF them down
stairs. Now, don't they make the
room look beautiful? And oh, l found
this but ! didn't dare to play whit"
AS she spoke she brought from anoth-
er part OF the room, q little broken
faded-faced doll.
That was too much for me; my lit
tie child with its brown tresses and
blue eyes came to me in the person OF
the waif who had brought order and
symmetry and love into my desolate
home. and from that moment I said,
"She shall be mine and / shall never
part from her, but will be to her q
father indeed"
Then | awoke from the lethargy
that had bound my soul SO long. I
became a new man, together we sang
and worked and prattled, like two
children, ! ceased to think that she
had ever been a stranger, and her
thoughtful, womanly little ways were
a constant delight so me. B ydegrees
my home frightened more and more.
The cobwebs disappeared from doors
and windows; in their stead came
fresh new paint, and house plants.
All the books We're brought down
from the garrett, with their old racks,
and nailed to the wall where my wife
herself had planned for them to be
placed. Every night after my work |
came home to a we'll ordered dinner,
for the child seemed to take nat
urally to all the mysteries of cook
ing, and after that ! spent two happy
hours in teaching her with books and
slate and pencil. vas myself again.
l had something to live for, something
to look forward to. The flesh came
again upon my bones, my old friends
recognized me, and the world took on
new beauty, for I saw it out OF fresh
young eyes, and felt it throb in a crate
ful heart.
Now, in place of the rusty lock, the
spent candle, and the greed for count
ing money in a den thick with dirt,
through whose windows the glaring
sun itself looks dim-in place Of the
discomfort and cold and niggard
meals, sit in my pleasant, eas-lighted
room, filled with the perfumes of flow.
ers. Am I weary? my Alice reads to
me. Am 1 sorrowfui2 she sits down
at the piano and plays the sweet mel
odies l love, the songs OF long ago.
The gray hairs are shining on my TEN.
pies, but thank God, the rust and the
canker have faded out OF my heart.