Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1888-03-15
MICKEY'S NEW SLED.

} the Finn shanty was neither so long nor S
symmetrical as the icicle which legend say
once adorned the corner of Dianas temple
, But it was as cold. Its presence on the Fin,
shanty proved that the shanty stood in q coll
and exposed place, and that much fuel woul
be necessary to Keep the inmates warm. Dur
ing the days meridian, when the sun shon
warm upon the icicle, glistening beads O
water ran down its sides and dropped from
its slender point, making q hole in the snov
beneath But when the sun went down be
hlnd Woolseys commons and the trees Iii
Llndsley's woods were beginning to cas-
black, funereal shadows on the snow, tn
water beads hardened as they stole down th
icy spear, until by those slow accretions tn,
iclcle grew to be long and thick. When tn
twilight had faded and the moon came GU
upon the night, attended by q winking hos
OF stars, the icicle glstened but refused K
melt as it had done when toe sun kissed it.
While the icicle was glinting in the moon
light Mrs. Finn sat before the fire in til.
shanty. Her face was buried in her hands
Her boy Mickey had gone to bed, with the
assurance from his mother that on the NOR
row he should have u sled upon which t
slide down the southerly slope of Stumpy
field
Mrs. Finn arose from her chair and opened
the bedroom door to look at her boy. He lay
with his arms thrown over his head. His
cheeks were flushed He moved uneasily in
his sleep, and turned his freckled face to the
light. The freckles were not blemishes in
the eyes Of his mother. They were beauty
! spots Mrs. Finn was moved to compassion
as she stood there watching tho parted lips
and the gently heaving bosom of her only
son. "Shure, God is good & the poor whin
he gives them b'ys like that she muttered
/ to herself.
/ She had been cross to Mickey during the
day because he had traded off fourteen mar
vels for weeny little mud turkle no bigger
than silver dollar and had said:
| Now fwhat use is that mud turkle, Mickey
/ Ye can't kill him an make soup iv him like
/ We can wild snappin' turkle Ye might ate
tn mud turkle av We We're little Chinee by.
do be hearin' Mrs. Maloney sayin' that til
haythin nd ate tn ears iv a jackass if they
We're fried in erase, SO l do, glory be to God
But Mickey, mind now, if any one tells me
we were atm mud turkle mate, stewed or
billed or raw, be the holy poker III bate yer
head agin' tn wall, so will, an small feal,
t me, jist fur divarshen"
self and Mickey sIyly stole the wash basin
and placed it near the stove with some water
and the mud turtle in it. But Mrs. Finn re-
pented Of her harshness, and her anxiety was
now how to get the sled Mike, her husband
had no work and there was little money in
the house.
At last she hit upon plan. She would
pawn her shawl. To be deprived of this gar.
mar o1Y H.
Mrs Finn. Without it she could not 20 to
mass IN the morning. 1t was Paisley shawl.
covered with figures which looked like courds.
The colors of the shawl were warm, and
seemed Of themselves to add warmth to the
garment. But the boy must not be disaD-
pointed, and so she carefully folded the
precious shawl in piece of paper, and lock
ing the door behind her stepped out into the
moonlight. She shiverel as she went along
the Old Point road, for her clothing was thin.
But even as the sbivers ran down her back
she smiled at the thought of her boys happi-
ress in the morning.
Mickey'S mud turtle, with a natural desire
for more freedom, crawled out of the basin
just after Mrs. Finn had gone, and went
waddliLg over the kitchen floor on an ex
petition OF discovery. 1t made very littIz
noise IN Its passage, yet that little woy
enough to attract the attention of the crow
which sat on the mantle The crow looked
at the Little black object padding over the
floor. Then he few down with a soft cav
TO exalniue it. The turtle crawled and the
crow followed it up closely, putting his head
on one side and apparently wondering what
1t could be. 1hen the crow put his beak un-
der the turtle and turned it over on its back.
The turtle pulled its head and legs into its
Shell and lay quiet. The crow retired to
little ditance and stood watching the turtle.
After about five minutes had elapsed the
turtle began to show signs of life again Its
legs, head and tail cane slowly out of the
Shell and began to wavo in the air in a vague.
uncertain way. The crow stepped gravelv
forward, picked the turtle up by the tail ana
hew with 1t up on the mantle Again the
shutting up process was gone through with
Inc crow, however, began to nod before the
turtle deciIed to move again, and a short
time afterwarl the crow awoke with a start
as he heard the turtle drop off the mantle
and into its basin, where it was content to
remain for the rest of the night
1t happened that Jack Brown, q Young
man who had spent ali his money in riotous
living. was IL the pawnbrokerS shop when
Mrs. Finn arrived. He had just concluded a
little transaction by which be was relieved
of his diamond lin and SIS had been placed
in his pocket. BE was attracted by Mrs.
Firms appearance and stopped to hear her
story.
How much would 1 be gettin' fur tn
shawlF' said she anxiously TO the pawn
broker behind the counter. "It's only lit
tie fwhile III be lawn 1t wild ye ANYWAYS,
bekase Mike'll be havin' job on tn ice agin
Chuesday Shure me little by does be havin'
his heart fixed fur sled, an wild no money
t buy him wan. Yez can be kind { yersel'
this tonne, an Civ me g fur tn shawl till
this da' two weeks"
''Nein; gifeS you feefty cent for de shawl.
Mebbe you no come ba TX for it, den | am
stuck. Seer
Bad luck t We fur squazer. Ny Mike
ped swim dollars fur that shawl this four
year ago Its as good today as twas whin
Michael brought it home tine. But We ould
if ye won't Civ ME any more, Civ
me tn fifty cents. Shur it's Settin' late, so
it is, an tn Shores il De shut up intoirely.
Bad whit We me laddy buck, the-e'u be a
tonne afore We die whin tn hunger'u gaaw
ye an tn cold'll pinch ye, so twill Good /
night { We, an bad scran { We fur O
Jack Brown followed Mrs. Finn out upon |
the sidewalk. He admired the spirit CT self |
sacrifice which animated her ard he decided |
10 see what she would do with the money. |
Mrs. Finn stopped in front OF a toy store |
She looked in the window and saw many me- !
novelties the possession Of which 1
would have made her boys hear. leap with .
joy. She knew, however, that the money /
which she held tightly ciaspei in her left |
hand would not buy even one OF these fas-
,inating articles. Shs went into tre stora