Democratic messenger., 1888-03-24

.yiake room for tired little fellow,
Kind God:" was tho last that he said.
Austin Doh az.
B0UM-BOUM.
The child lay on his little white bed, tlsathiy
pale, and looked with eyes made all the bigger
by fever straight before him, steadily, and
with the strange fxcdness Of the sick who
already perceive what thosc who arc well
cannot sec. Tho mother, at the foot Of the
bed, biting her fingers no as not To cry out
anxious and torncntcd with her suffering
watched tho progress Of tho disease over the
poor, thin face Of her little boy, and the
father, a fine fellow, though no was only q
workingmnn, held back in his eyes the tear
that burned on their lids. And the first light
Of the dawn, clcar, gentle, the light Of q fine
morning in juno, came into the narrow bed
room on tho Rue dcs Addresses, where lay
dying the little Francois, son Of Jacques
IRgrand and Of Madeleine Lcgrand, his wife,
lie was boy OF years. a blonde and rosy
little chap, who, not thrcc weeks before. had
been ms lively and ns chippcr as n sparrow.
But n fever had seized him, and they had
brought him home, one evening, from school,
with his heal 50 heavy and his hands 50 hot.
And ever since he had been there, OF his bed,
and romctimcs IN his dclirium would say,
lookin: ut the nicely polished Shoes that his
mother had carefully set In a corner: You
can throw them away now, little Francois
shoes Little Francois will not wear them
any morr. Little Francois will not so %
school again never, nevcr!'
Then tine father would cry out, "Will you
be auietf and the mother would go and
hide her facc In her pillow, so that the little
FraacoiS would not hear her weep Through
the night that had just passed the child had
had no tclrium. But for tvo days hc had
bothered the doctor by strange sort of de-
spontlcncy, which rcScmblc,l surrender Ia
death, as II. though but years old. the
sick boy had already experienced tho wcari-
ness OF life Hc was tired out, apparently,
silent, sad, idly tossing his weak head back.
ward and forward on tho pillow. unwilling
to take anything; havin: no LONGER n smile
on liis poor. thin lips, and with his la:;.:ar,l
eyes searching, seeing no one knew what,
far OH far away. There, above u.s. per-
haps," thought Madeleine. who shivcrcd at
the thou:h;. When they wanted him 10
take his medicine, some syrup may be, or a
little beef tea, he refused everything.
"Do you want anything, Fraincois."
mo, I want nothing"
'You must get him out Of this" said the
doctor. This torpor alarms me. You arc
his PARENTS, you should know your child.
Think Of something which mny animate this
little fellow, bring back Ia earth the mind
which is roaming among tho clouds" And
then he went away.
Think Of sonicthinsr' Oh, yes. beyond a
doubt, they knew him well. their Francois,
these good people. They knew how much
he was amused. the little fellow, when on
Sunday no would go and forage in tho
hedges, and would como back TO Paris on
his fathers shoulder. loaded with hawthorn.
jacques Lcgrand had bought for Francois all
sorts of images, and hc put thcm on the
childs bed. and made them dance before the
wandering eyes Of the little fellow, and, all
ready TO cry, tried to make him laugh.
"Now, do you Sec tits the Broken Bridge.
Tra.la-la. And here is general. You re-
member We saw general once in the Bois
dc Boulogno. II you will take your medi'
cinc will buy q real general for you, with
a cloth coat and gold epaulettes. Do you
want him--thc general! Tell me-"
"No,n replied tho child, in the dry voicc
which fever produces
do you want a pistoli some marblesi q
how and arrows!"
"No," answered tho little voicc, almost
cruel In its distinctness.
And 10 all that they said 20 him, TO all the
jumping jacks, to all the balloons that they
promised him, the little voice--the parents
all tho while looking ut each other in despair
answered, "No! no. nor
"Dut what do you want, then, my Fran.
cois." asked the mother. "com. now. therC
must be something that you would like u
have. What is IL. Tell IL TO mo. your
mammal" And shc laid her check down on
tho pillow Of tho sick boy, and She whispered
her request In his ear, as IL IL were a secret
between them Then the child. rising in his
bcd and stretching out toward something in.
visible an eager hand. replied suddenly, with
a strange accent and in an earnest tone. thA,
was at onco supplicating and imperative:
II want Eoum- Boum!'
/ Boum.Doum!
The poor Madeivnc throw a frightened
look at her sushnJ.d. What did the little
one say, Was IL tho dclirium, the terrible
dclirium come backi
Boum- Bouml
: She did not know what Il meant. and she
was frightened at these queer words, which
the child now repeated with tho willfulncss
Of n sick person, as IL, not having dared until
then TO formulate his dream, he would cling
to II now with an inyinciblc obstinacy.
"Ycs, Boum-Boum! Boum-Boum. want
I Doum-Boum!"
Tho mother had Seized IN her nervousness
Jacqucs's hand, and said in low voice. a
though she wcrc out OF her wits, "whai
does that mean, Jacqncsi Oil IL Is all over
with him."
But the father had on his rough face a
smile that was almost happy. And bcwil
+ ,lcrcd smile, also-the smile Of a condemned
man who detects q possible chance for lib
/ erty. Boum-Boumi Ho well remembered
the Faster morning when ho Ind taken
/ Francois To the circus. He had still In hi,
ears tho childs great bursts Of joy, his
hearty laugh-the laugh of an amused
youngster-whcn tho clown, the splendid
clown, all spotted with gold, with spark
I ling, many colorel dress. ON the back oi
! which was set n big brown butterfly, per
I formcl his antics In tho ring. played trick
on the riding master, or held himself motioa'
less on the ground, his head down and hil
feet In the air. or threw up 10 the chando
licr his soft felt hat and caught 10 adroitly on
his heal, ana WheFe the hich tofuicu u IyEW
mil; AMI at each trick, like the refrain Of q
song, lighting up his BIC, droll, bright face
tho clown uttered the same cry, repeated the
samc word, accompanied sometimes by n roll
OF drums Doum-loum!
Doum-Boumi and every t.mo that u cams
roun.l, BouIn- Doumi the whole circus burstel
out in bTnv0s, and the little ono laughed
I hcarticst. Douml- floumi Il was thl.
Z - Nlssn
+ man who entertained q good part Of the city,
/ that hc wantcd 10 scs-thc little Francois