Thomas County cat., 1889-02-21
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"Cryin' :"
Then the one thought that was IL
ways uppermost in the child's delir-
tum asserted itself again.
"rappy." the little voice piped.
gaspingly. "tell me more about tho
ole elephant! never seed him !"
Tho prayer began again. more fer
vently. despairingly than before.
20 God!" the granger prayed.
"spare him! Let him live to see the
ole elephant!" As he went on the
prayer grew more rambling. "Let
him live! Think of the pore little fell
ler; never seed the ole elephant! Fer
days-ever since that bill was dropped
out thar-he's looked an longed fer
to-day. that he might see the ole
elephant An now" He broke
down for an instant, and the men
squatting outside stirred uneasily.
Never seed the ole elephant Z" the
prayer went on, half incoherently.
Pore little feller! An when his
NAV died l promised to be both father
an mother to him. An what have /
done? Nuth'n! nuth'n! No pleas
ures!" he went on. "But, what
could do, way out yere on claim,
with no money to buy nuth'n with?
An now, when I managed to scrape
spare money enough together SOS to
Wal, he's a-gittin' worse-an' oh,
he'll never see the ole elephant, I'm
afeard"
Very soon after the bright rays
shone full in the faces of the group of
cowboys, as the cayuses bounded
across the prairie towards the point
where the section-road wound into the
strip of timber that fringed Buzzard
creek. No one had suggested this
movement, but all had started as If
moved by common impulse, though,
to be exact, Scotty, the impatient, was
little ahead of his comrades. OF
running OUT the granger nothing
was said.
prayed fer him to live to see the
ole elephant!' muttered Scotty.
"Wal," said old Slade. earnestly,
''if he lives half an hour, an we have
luck, blamed if he don't see"
"That's whatr' broke in some one.
"Mebby we KANT" began another.
"Mebby we Kin" interrupted Slade.
firmly.
"But elephants is mighty"
mo difference! We're able fer him.
I reckon, an'-an' the sick boy never
seed a elephant!'
The advance of the circus towards
the cattle country had not all been at
tended by good fortune. but as the
armed cowboys dashed up, the mana
ger feared he was about to sustain his
crowning misfortune The tales he
had heard of their reckless disregard
for the persons and property OF
strangers were fully as Munchausen-
like as those the cowboys had heard Of
the elephant The weapons drawn. as
the manager felt sure, to slaughter
any opposers, were but as protective
measures against the anticipated
charge of the elephant. The mana
gers fears seemed realized as there
was a nervous rush upon the part OF
the cowboys which hurried the ele-
phant, driver and all out of the pro-
cession. Perhaps, if he had beheld the
bank-bill that found its way into the
ready hand of the elephant-driver, he
would not have wondered at the slight
resistance of the latter.
When he had recovered from the
astonishment into which he had been
thrown by the summary proceedings,
the few words spoken. and the bank
bills old Slade dropped as he hurried
past, the old elephant was numbering
rapidly away in the midst of the
frightened and flouncing cayuses-
The turtle-dove flew from the piece
of a fence as the elephant and his cap
tors hurried up to the shack. The
grass muffled the footballs of the ami
| mails.
The granger was still on his knees.
with his face buried in the quilt of the
poor bed, and the morning breeze
that famed the sick child's face and
iuttered the pictured bill on the wall
ruffled the unruly tufts Of his hair till
it felt like the touch of baby fingers.
The little face was less flushed now,
and the gasping feebler. The child's
dim thoughts wandered still more, and
his dim eyes could hardly see the fut-
tering bill "Pap2y," the weak voice
whispered, "will the ole elephant ever
Gomez"
A great bulk barred the sunlight
from the little window, and the long,
snaky trunk glided in, and the finger
like protuberance at the end very
softly clasped the sick child's hand.
"Oh, parpy!-pappy! The ole ele-
phant las comet!
The bowed head of the granger was
raised. The child had started half