Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1889-05-01
Thar" /"

| ACTUALLY getting a W inter crop OF nay
from his meadow, Near by stood his
old white mare blanketed and patient.
The fact was, a cold snap had come
much earlier than usual, and had /
frozen the meadow before the second /
crop OF grass was cut The water in
the swamp was lower than usual, and |
enough hay could be secured above /
the ice to ''bed down" a cow for all /
Winter
''Say. tel,ers," chuckIed Jim Sloan,
an ugly, cowardly boy from the VIII |
lage. lust shy a rock at that old |
mare, and she'll 60 down on the ice |
like load o. bricksl''
There was laugh at the idea, and /
two or three OF Jim's idle companions |
began digging in the frozen ground
with their heels for stones to throw.
''Oh, sayl" cried little fellow,
! who had heard the suggestion OF cruel
mischief, 'I wouldn't do thatl IL
might hurt the horse real bad"
Real ba-ad,' repeated Jim;
mockingly. Then, with a change of
tone, You hush up, Bob White, or
youW get the rock. instead OF the
= mare"
4 For answer, Bob Ssarted on 4 run
q toward the farmer, who was striding
on, making broad swath in the thin
: grass.
The crowd OF rude boys called after
: Bob angrily, and jim, catching up
$ stone which he had rejected As too
: large to throw at the mare. sent II
/, skimming over the Ice after the re-
: treating figure.
The stone reached its mark. 1t
e struck Bob on his right ankle, and
L brought him down like a nine-pin.
"Hi-vil' screamed the boys on shore
lderisivey- Then they turned and ran
|. with all their might. ''Jim's crowd"
- was not popular IN that quarter, and
they noticed one or two stout men
70 looking in their direction IN an un-
Il pleasantly personal manner In two
8 minutes they were out OF sight.
It BoO struck his head on the ice as lie
d went down, and lay still moment,
, haIf-stunned. Then lie staggered 10
his feet, remembering his errand-
10 "Mr. Murchisenl" he called; ''Mr-
L Murchisonp'
a "wal. what's up9 Why, ye're hurl
IN -ain't ye?"
;. Not much, sir. The boys were
A. going TO stone your horse On,
10 they're goner'
he What boysp"
to Bob set his lips together. He was
III no tale-bearer, ami now that the dan
ger was over, he had nothing to say
about it.
re II guess I'll be goin'," he remal ked.
20 ending up with an involuntary moan
- as twinge OF pain shot through his
ankle.
be ssYou come home with me-" said
IL the farmer, grImly, noticing red spot
a on the Ice near Bob's right foot. my
90 wife1l tie up your leg for me, SO Twill
a bs all right tomorrow"
IL On the way to Mr. Murchison IN
ne the rickety old wagon, Bob happened
MP to glance up suddenly, and to his dis
he may, surprised tear In his companion
ak eye,
= Mt. Nurchison wiped itaway hastily
an with a ragged sleeve It WAS very
rec cold, and he had no overcoat- Now,
Bob's mother was not rich, but III
never knew what it was to suffer iol
raI want of food OF clothing.
n, What's the matter. Mr.. Murchi
son?" he asked, simply.
Us .'Oh, nothin', nothin', boy. OIL!
led we're havin' putty tight squeeze
of lome TO get through the Winter
The Wife, she's poorly, and the two child
Or IN they're kind o. poorly too Like
rot it's because they can't keep WARN
sd his weather. I'm warm enougi
led Rowland he turned a shiyer into
ew sind OF desperate laugh Fact Is,
Ion ne went on, after a minute, I'm goin
tF1N
,he's sold alreadI, an the man
,omin' after her in the moTnln', a
let Jay down fifteen dollars for her. That
els AIRY US along quite a SPELL Ef W
In puly had some wood now! But, some
now. L cau't"-he interrupted himsei
with a hollow cough that told its ow
tory. ~ was Jest thinkIn'," he cor
rks ;Iuded, show unfort nit 'twould =
to- been if them boys had l4med the mar
FVTf hnl nj
-, liaot ten cests-in the house"
HaIf-an-hour later Bob White sat
VI tood-bye to his friends, and, with b
er's ,nkle nicely bandaged. and alread
T, feeling better, limped away toward Il
lay: village
a ~ Straight to a certain low coru'
grocery he went, and entered the clio:
ns atmosphere Of the place without quail
Is Ing There, as he had expected,
asst found Jim Sloan and his cronles-
to Their minds evidently were not eas.
- for they started nervously and stare
., In silence, when they saw who u
" newcomer was. Perhaps the sherl
itrS was at his heels TO arrest them Il
the ASSAULT
ties. But Bop's errand was quite dIffe
lose ent. LImping to whore Jim sat on q
ther dirty counter, his feet dangling owe
m. he looked up into the rough Fellow
- hardened face with bright smile, al
ih4i- confidently told his story, which !
cluded that OF Mr. Murchlson ana
mare.
& a ~ thought he hnlshed, tnat ps
ndia haps you-perhapS We cou,u noIp 'ne
Ger somehow; they're so awfully cold, y
alive AnoM. 5own IN Inns heart the
the was a bit OF InanliLess, or the Ut
the knighthood that sleeps or wakes
face every man and boy. Into this corn
,ron, Eob's sunny smile and touching sto
the penetrated
Is and Strengthened himself out.
ears "Come on fellersl'' said he brief
two And thew went into the forest, m
. al, awsy- where fallen limbs lay In
directions. and cumbered the groun
les'' Tbe land was owned by rich men II
ling. far.otf city, and anybody who
adeu strong enough could help himself
d for this refuse timber.
ened Astonishing sight-"Jim Gro"
20 ba carving wood to the Murchlson non
80 steadi Still more-every Idu ol 'ne
'.s eight in all, saving ana spii''ins q
arge, Refore dark a big pile loomed up
craft the Nurchison wood-shed, 10 that g
: hos tIsman,s speechlesS amazement- Aw
want the visitors, as silent as
Duh Nsxt they returned to the grocery
hlel, ..Haul out yer cashH' demanded
de- leader .sThat-s right-lemme see
stroy onarter-half-seven eventy-fve--eighty-l
no YOU don't, Bill! Gimme
whole or"
,eans Bill sheepishly handed over the G
he had kept back, and gave GO
narured laugh.