Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1884-1886, 1886-04-21

SyU1omAf1c TO Be Qu1te occ3oout0; 1t1U
mads no sign, and hoped thus to disarm my
psrsscutor-n persecutor thare were.
Ons Monday Ormsby and were togsthes
alone, shortly before school, and be came
toward me with an exercise Of mine from
which be had just been copying his own, for
we wsre in the same classes, despite the
difference in our ages, and be was in the
habit ofpronting thus BY my industry.
THANKS, Cameron" be said, with q sweet
ness which distrusted, for be was not, as q
rule, SO lavish in his gratitude @rve copied
out that exercise Of yours, but its written SC
beastly badly that you'd better do it again
With which he deliberately tore the page
he had been copying from to scraps, which
he threw in my face, and strolled out and
down to the playground.
was preparing submissively to do the
exercise over again as well as l could in the
short time that was left, when was startled
by q low cry Of indignation, and looking
round, saw Marjory standing IN the door
way, and knew by her face that she had
seen all
HAS Ornsby done that to you beforeg'
she inquired.
~Once or twice he has, said L
"And you let him." she cried. ooh, Cam
eron!"
II know what would do" she replied. Il
would slap his face, or pinch him / wouldn't
put up with it"
Boys don't slap one another" or PINCH /
said, not displeased to find a weak place in her
knowledge Of US
SWell, they do something" she said; u
real boy would But don't think you are a
real boy, Cameron"
Again Ormsby came to me with the re-
quest that l would execute q trifiing commits
sion for him in the adjoining village; be him.
self, he said, was confined to bounds, but he
had q shilling he wanted to lay out at q small
fancy shop we were allowed to patronize, and
he considered me tire bsst person to be in
trusted
took the shilling, slsssfore, with which l
bought some article-I forget what-and got
back to the school at dusk. The BOYS had
all gone down to tea except Ormsby, who
was waiting for me in the empty school
room.
How much was thats" he asked, contempt
uously, "twopence- halfpenny! Well, if you
choose to give shilling for it, I'm not going
to pay, that's all So just give me back my
shillingl'
Now, Is my weekly allowance consisted Of
threepence, which was confiscated for some
time in advance las think he knew to pro-
vide for my mysteriously stained dictionaries,
this was out Of the question, as / repre-
sented.
~Then 60 back TO the shop and change it, /"
said he; Il won't have that thingI"
Il went to oblige you Ormsby"
@No, you didn't, he said, you went be-
cause told you. And you'll go again"
mot unless you tell me what I'm to get" l
said
Il tell you what believe he said; .you
never spent the whole shilling at all ON that !;
you bought something for yourself with the
rest, you young swindler. No wonder you
won't 90 back to the shop"
This was, Of course, a mere taunt flung out
by his inventive fancy, but as he PERSISTED in
it, and threatened exposure and variety of
consequences, became alarmed, for had no
doubt that, innocent as was, l could be made
very uncomfortable by accusations which
would find willing hearers.
He stood there enjoying my perplexity and
idly twisting a piece of string round and
round his fingers. At length he said, "Well
!,
and change this for me even now, if you like
I'll give you three minutes to think it over,
and you can come down into the play ground
to do And you had better be sharp in COM
ing. too, or it will be the worse for you"
He took his cap, and presently heard him
going down the steps to the playground /
would have given worlds to go and join the
rest at tea, but did not dare, and remained
in the school-room, which was dim just then,
for the gas was lowered, and while stood
there by the fireplace, trembling in the cold
air which stole in through the door Ormsby
had left open, Marjory came in by the other
one.
Her first impulse seemed to be to take no
notice, but something in my face or attitude
made her alter her mind and come straight to
me, holding out her hand.
Cameron she said, You look SO miserable
What is iti Ormsby again!'
YES" said, and told her the story of the
"Oh, you stupid boy,' she cried, couldn't
you see he only wanted to pick QUARREL
And if you change it now, he'll make you
change it again, and tho next time, and the
next after that know be will"
Here Ormsby's voice shouted from below,
Now then, you, Cameron, times upI'
what is he doing down there!' asked
Marjory, and her indignation rose higher
when she heard.
Now, Cameron, be brave; go down and
tell him once for al he may just keep what
he has. and be thankful Whatever it is, it's
good enough for him, I'm sure"
But I still hung back. ats no use,
he'll tell every one cheated him
ts says he wi!l!r
THAT he shall notl- she cried, Il won't
rave it I'll go myself, and tell him what
think Of him, and make him stop treating
You like this"
Some faint glimn,sr Of manliness made me
ashamed to allow her to fight my battles.
"No, Marjory, not youl" said; Il will go;
I'll say what you want me to say"
But it was too late saw her her for just
second at the door, my impetuous, gener-
Gus little Mariory, at she flung back her
pretty hair IN a spirited way she had, and
nodded to Inc encouragingly.
And them can hardly think Of it calmly
even nowhere came sharp scream, and
the sound of a fall, and, after that, silence.
Sick with fear. l rushed to the head Of the
steps. and looked down into the brown
gloom
Keep where YOU are for minute!" heard
Ornlsby cry out; ',it's all right-she Is not
hurt; now YOU can come down.
l was down in another instant, at the foot
Of the stairs, where, in the patch OF faint
light that fell from the door above, lay Mar
jory. with 0rmsby bending over her insensi-
BILE form.
.She's dead.' cried in my terror, rs l saw
her white face
Il tell YOU she's all right said he impa-
tisntly; there's nothing to make fuss about.
She slipped coming down and cut her fore
head-that's all"
@Marjory, speak to NEEDN'T look like
that; tell me you're not hurt much I i'm
plore her; but she only moaned a little, and
her ewes remaine,; fast shut
Its no use worrying her now, You know
said Ormsby, more gently Just help me to
get her round to the kitchen door, and tell
somebody
We carried her between Us, and, amid q
scene Of terrible confusion and distress, Mar
jory, still insensible, was carried into the
library. and q man sent of in hot haste for
the surgeon.
A little later Ormsby and werc sent for
to the study, where DIR. Dering, whose face
was white and drawn as l had never seen it
before, Questioned US closely as to our knowl-
edge of the accident
Ormsby could only say that he was out In
the playground, when be saw somebody de-
scending the steps, and heard fall, after
which he ran up and found Marjory.
There was little work done at evening pre-
paration that night; the whole school Was
buzzing with curiosity and speculation, while