Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1888-06-21

thet's all. done bet away every cent OF
| ourn an the childern's circus money on
fool game D cyards-yandcr. o Lord
he ended with sroan. A single wild wall
| burst from Polly Maria and The boys. Then
they huddled against their mothers skirts
in mute agony.
| a faint flush passed over Mrs. Pinson'S
thin face, and the light faded from her dark
eyes.
faint no diffunce. Newt" she said.
| lightly. catching the baby from Becky 8
limp and neryeiess arms. ''Jes We hitcn up,
| quick ez We kin. an les get outn this here
! bigaty town. BE an the childern air plumb
! beat out VII these stucli-up townfolhS. any
| iowr'
| Newt stared al her in silence, and sloucned
away. Her gaze followed him to the rear OF
! the wagon; when he was beyond the reach
/ Of her voice she whirled around and blazed
in threatening alf-wnisper: ''Ef airy one
! o We says word TO yer paw bout this here
misfortIn O hisn. or 'hout hankerin' after
the SHOW; or ef airy one o. We amt thet
| gameSome an lively lax ez ef they want no
! sech thing CT a circus, ef clown. er q
! el'phunt in this here livin' workshops ye
bawn I'll shet the do IL Sam Leggett's face
an cowhide the balance o. We twel We can't
set down fer weck,'
| Becl1y's rudy cheeks grew pale. Eyes,
maw," she returned in subdued tone.
Yes, maw," echoed Polly Maria and the
| boys. stoiidly, not without squeezing back
some ungamesome tears. however, as they
stood in row against the Baptist church
and watched their father bring around
jimmy and old Badly.
Had they only known it. they might have
| seen, while they waited, the Lilliputian Lady
and the Fat Woman 90 BY in a shaky hack
with torn curtains, and descend before the
painted flaps of one of the side shows. But
they did not know.
The wagon was turned around; they
climbed over the wheels and settled them
selves under the dingy cover. As they
moved slowly across the silent square a
tremendous shout from the spectators
within the tent, and pompous fanfare from
the brass band, announced that the Grand
Entry had began.
Newt stalked along beside the tired team
downcast and miserable. 1--we even forgot
wher' lef' the childerns' ginSer-cale," he
muttered to himself, as his mind went over
and over the incidents of that fatal halfn
hour.
around the little campfire. Mrs. PinsOn,
usually silent almost to taciturnity, had be-
come all at once loquacioas. Sac painted to
the family-circle in glowing colors the pride
and wic5edness of town-folks; she pictured
the denunciatory wrath of Brother Skaggs
when he should learn that perfessin' mem
bers of Sloan Church he'd been inside OF =
circus tent; she related the experience of
sundry sinners who had been overtakea by
divine vengeance while in the very act OF
laughing at the antics OF the clown; she
even lifted up her yoiceandsang some paritc-
ula-ly fiame-and- birthstone promising hymn
tunes. Becky, mindfulOf Sam Leggett away
OF in Kansas, seconded herefforts to keep
the general cheerfulness up to proper pitch
II it showed signs of tagging, however, a
warning look, shot from beneath their
mothers dropping eyelids. acted Like a
charm On Polly Maria and the boys,
Newt, who sat mournfully hugging his
knees at first, and gazing into space.
presently caught the infection himself, and
when finally, ne unrolled patch-quilt and
threw himself thereon, closing his eyes in
peaceful slu,nber, it was almost with the
conviction that the five dollars had been
well lost in keeping = perfessin' family out
of the worldly and soul-destroying circus
tent.
hrs. Pinson, sitting alone by the smoul-
dering fire with the baby in her arms,
looked at his unconscious face upturred in
the dim moonlight: her gaze Travelled slowly
from one muf1ied, indistinct form huddled
under the shadow of the wagon to another:
she sighed heavily, and her face relapscd
into its usull som5er expression. II
wisht-" she muttered: then after long
pause, as she stretched herself on the quilt
beside her slumbcring spouse and wrapped
the babys feet in an old shawl, she conclu-
ded with little touch of triumph i'll her
whispered tones: Anyhow, l hev seen the
el'Dhunt's track!r-.N. Z. DdUis M HGrper's