Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1889-12-05
mazda little head uax. with the task.

ride to the river and safety. and all
but the boy looked with anxious eyes
at the line Of thunderlng fame, while
the farmer sighed as be thought of
the destruction that fringe of ragged
FIRE would do his place.
But there was no time for senti.
ment, so away they started, leaving
all but hope behind. For two miles
the horses kept almost side by side,
and then it began to look as If the
race was not goipg to be an easy one
for the heavy, we'll fed animals. Steadi-
ly the fire had gained until now, as
they were almost in sight of the river
a sweep of the wind seemed to hurl
the flames at them and their throats
became so parched they could hardly
breathe. Tony's horse, bearing the
lighter burden, sped ahead, but the
struggles OF the other animal were be-
coming so labored that he Stacked.
Wright beat with his fists at the tired
beast, who, faithful enough under his
double burden, tried hard to respond
by an increase of speed, but it was no
use, for with the effort he went down
on his knees, throwing the two heavi-
ly to the ground.
As the woman shrleked in her
downward flight the tramp heard, and
turning in his uncertain seat he looked
in time to see two motionless forms,
the struggling horse, and then, like a
thing of life bending to grasp its prey,
tae wave of death swept over them.
Everything seemed blur to the
tramp after that, for when he opened
his eyes an hour later he was lying on
the opposite side of the creek, with
Joey near by watching with wonder.
ing eyes the glare of the embers on
the blackened waste. He remembered
nothing but the going down to death
of the farmer and his wife, and rea-
lized the fact that he had a new bur-
den to bear in the care of the orphan
boy.
When strength came back to him
he picked Joey up in his arms with a
feeling of tenderness he had never
known before and made for the ranch
of the nearest neighbor, some miles
away, where he told the story and
found willing hands to help in the sad
ceremony of consigning the charred
remains to a decent grave.
AS for himself, Tony was for going
over into the Colorado digglngs, leav-
ing the boy with the new friends, but
Joey refused to be separated from his
protector, so with little purse donat
ed by the big hearted farmer and with
a resolve to devote himself to his
charge, the tramp took the orphan ur
into the mines and prospected with
the hundreds of others for natures
wealth.
The erection of new cabin an
nounced the fact that he had come tt
stay, and during the months whlcl
followed the boy grew strong anc
hearty under his foster fathers carr
and became the life of the camp. AS
miner, poor, inexperienced Tony wa
an Indifferent success, although HI
managed to keep sack of flour and (
rasher of bacon in the provision box
and occasionly made barter with
wandering Jew for little delicacies fo
Joey.
But even this poor luck was not des
, tined to last, and when one night tn
, boy cried because he was hungry. ant
the tramp knew there was nothing il
the little place to eat, he became des
perate and walked out in the COG
| night air of the mountains to thin
| what was to be done.
7 There had been days in his life whe
r he had little respect for the eight
commandment, and it wasIvery natur
al then, at this critical period, tina
} his uneducated mind should urge hlr
to take from others to supply himse1
} and the boy. He tried to reason ths
t it was right enough under the clrcum
stances, but his logic was not power
E full enough, and he put an end to tn
r whole matter by saying to himself as
7 sort of mental apology;
1 'Ef it wasn't for Joey it 'ud be di
3 t'rent, but he's got to be looked afte
a somehow
After that the provision box i
f rony's cabin was always full to ovel
! flowing, and the tramp grew so ez
Y travagant as to send to lar away cit
t for new suit for the boy, who, de
/ lighted at the new prosperity, W;
happier than ever and forgot the pang
1 of hunger which had racked his lit
n frame. One morning, however, tt
Y boy who was we'll on to years oil
l awoke and found himself alone. f
n lay long while waiting for Tony an
j. then dressed himself and went out.
e 1t was but natural when he saw
crowd around the Red Light saloc
that he should make for that poin
e and he did, calling all the while wit
! his shrill little voice for Uncle Tony
vt One of the men picked the boy |
and carried him back 20 the cabi
= while the rest were gathered about Il
PROSTATE figure of man which Ii
s nartlv nronned m bv a folded blank