Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1886-11-27

~ Wl-7 -D- q ---E mLlAa LLeN z44L
turned out Of North street, toward the
water, and presently all three came to a
standstil at the mouth Of a narrow Gov
cred alley or arch-Way.
''Yer'd better zhtOp out here" said
Marry Flnnegan, as a watt Of i'll OdOrs
drifted out Of this dark hole.
Mr.. BrOwnlOW looked at his wife irrssO-
lutely. 1t was plain he was only con
cerned for her. With characteristic
spirit she Immediately entered the pas
sage-way, and only paused for moment
to allow their guide to Precede her.
Stepping cautiously over damp and
decaying boards, separated by intervals
Of unpleasantly soft mud, which could
be felt but not seen, the foul air growing
deuser as they advanced, they reached
rough board partition which was evident
ly the end Of the walk. The girl CROPPED
in the darkness for a knob, turned il,
and led the way into a small, low proved
room, lighted by a feeble, half-choksd
fire which shOne through the bars Of the
stove.
The place was full Of tobacco smoke,
and was intensely not. Even in that
dim light Mrs. BrOwnlow observed with
/ a house-Wifely shudder a number OF
reaches wandering at VIII over the dis
/ cOIOred plastering and among a small
/ heap Of potato parlngs upon grimy
| table which stood against the wall. Be
! side the stove sat a man In his shirt
/ sleeves, holding a pale baby in his lap
1 and smoking stupidity. His red hair and
beard were tangled In a dense, bushy
mass. He hardly looked up as the VS.
itOrs came III, but continued stoIidly
gazing at the stove and the cracked tea
pot, (Which had evidently been suffered
to boil away, upon If. What did he
care for these strangers? There had
! been so many in and out that day, be-
ginning with the officers, that it was all
very confusing. Pity the baby is so IN
easyl If it could only smoke, now
The man gave one dull stare about him,
when his eye fell on the basket with its
brown paper parcels and yellow chicken
feet. As he turned his face to the new
corners with a sudden interest, they
could see his looks frightened and his
arm gave the baby such quick clutch
that it walled feebly, and waved one of
its tiny hands to and fro helplessly for a
moment.
This was too much for kind Mrs.
BrOWnlOW. Down went the bag, and up
came the little mother-torsazen creature
to her bosom. While she rocked back
and forth IN her arms, forgetting all
about its uuwashed clothes and the mis-
cry on every side-just as Mary may
have forgotten the cattle and the stable
while she bent over a wee baby eighteen
hundred years agO-while her whole
heart was going out to this little waif,
Mr.. RrOWnlOW was saying a few words
Of the man, and building upon the clean
est corner Of the table a moderate sized
pyramid of strange materials. AT the
very base lay the lOng-cOveted turkey.
] Then came potatoes and apples from the
market, tea, coffee and sugar from the
grocery, and a small bag of self-Eising
-four which / am compelled to admit
Mrs. BrownlOW had allO we'd herself as a
4 special extravaganza. Last of all, nuts
and raisins filing up the crevices and
shaping of the whole to a grand, deli
ciOus pile from top to bottom.
There was no milk for the baby, but
Mr.. BrOWnlOW was now fumbling in his
pocket, and presently brought up from
IFS extreme depthsa silver quarter-no
a twenty -cent piece; it had a smooth
edge-his last reserve fund. This he
, placed in the mans hands, quietly tell
ing him what it was for, and that he
trusted him to spend it for that only.
II viii indade, sir" said the father
starting to his feet and clasping Mr.
BrownlOw's hand in his own hard one,
which trembled like a leaf-it was
strange to see that course, rough beard
ed man trembie-''an' God bless you sir
for this. I'll have work. again ter-mor-
rer mOrnin', sir, if the shower kapes
on"
Two or three children, startled by the
3 noise, now clustered at the door OF al
! adjoining room, where a bed had some
{ how been squeezed IN. They gave {
2 hOarse, unchildhke cry at the sight O.
the good things on the table, and theI
t skunk back slowly, one by one, hk.
= frightened cats.
@ As our two friends walked briskly
along the Vghitened sidewalk few min
p. utes later, there burdens were mucl
t lighter than when they left tie market
q So much so, that they soon reached tn
}. Washington st. corner, made good us
Of their hOrse-car tickets, and in half al
l. hour they were at home, busily discus
sing the various adventures of the eve
r ming.
a Next morning the sun rose bright an
I clear. The air was cold, sparkling, de
licious, and the wind played hide-and
seek with snow drifts in the best c
n humor. Deep, deep blue over head, an
# dazzeling white below.
q "Just like a good, Old-fashione
n Thanksgiving day" said Mrs. BrOwnlO1
merrily, as she hustled about the hous
d after breakfast giving directions to tn
4 little maid Of all work, putting things t
q rights in the. best room, seeing to chickens
o and cOrned beef and vegetables, and SD
o perintending the children's toilets all q
=. once.
"a Notwithstanding the years Of city lif,
she had never neglected by so much a
4 a single plum in the pudding, the Me-
o England custom she had learned to as
o sociate with the day Of thanks. Nothing
i therefore, was forgotten to-day. A sma
IA pie for each Of the girls was baking
K the oven, a ginger bread wonder Of COZ
struction, which might be either a COOS
p or a COW, according to the way you look
!, ed at it, was cooling for Bob, the OldeE
boy.
1t was astonishing the display Of goo
,r cheer that was made from such a scan
n supply Of materials; I really doubt
a YOU could have mentioned a single dis
I that you used to have on your grand
\ fathers table when you were a boy, tina
~ was not represented here; in small guam
/, titles, to be sure, but genuine, what ther
: WAS Of If OF course the chicken had {