The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1889-11-14

II looked % KIM an good, jes' Ike Il
uster, 'ceptin' It he'd whiskers, I
knowed it war Bill. Bill. whar ii other
worl' hev you been an how Is your
Come right down an tell me an Their
ole oman all bout it, When I sed
that, ar strange look come over his
face. He looked down ar minute an
wuz still. Then he raised his head,
an seq: Ike. Is Kildee up at her
houseP TRIED to get back sooner. but
1couldn't; but knew she would wait
until l came. Let's go up there first.
1t has been ten long years I've been
waiting to look in those eyes again.
Come let's find her. A great big lump
come in my throat an my eyes bergun
to water when he sed that. Poor
Teller! he's been workin' all these
years lookin' forward to oomin' back
an gittin' his leetle gal-an' now
she's gone, the Lord only know )
where. 'Bll,'l SEE tryin to swaller
the lump. 'Kildee's gone. She run
away with ar stranger long time ago,
an no one don't know .whar she is.
The ole man an his wife, an your dad.
too, are in them col graves In ther
field nigh Big b ar Cave.
''Sech ar look ez come over that
man face never seed! He turned an
afore I could say ar word he wuz gone,
gone! 49,. ..g4t.
Il lived on Their same ole mounting
life. Two chilun war given me, q gal
an ar boy. The gal we named Mary,
the boy answered ter Bill
'Now. ledge, bout Kildee. It war
ar mighty long time afore we ever
hearn of Their gal. never thought I'd
hear again. -
when Their TELLER run away he took
her to New York. He made her ar big
lady. She he'd ar fine house an horses
an every thing. She had plenty of
frien's, too, when she wuz ar lady.
want thar, but I knows that leetle
mounting gal wut Their puttiest woman
thar when she got on them thar fine
clothes. an them eyes a-shinin' an
that hair a-wavin'. An sometimes she'd
git In her fine carriage an 20 ter
church. Onct she went to hear thar big
gest preacher thar preach. Thar wuz
somethin'. she couldn't tell jes' what,
that made her like him SO much. An
his face wuz so kim lookin'.
"Late one night when Kildee wuz
sick in bed, her ole man come in; his
face was sorter excited like; he went
over ter whar Kildee was layin' an
tole her he had tor 20 of on some
business for ar few days. She didn't
think nothin' queer of that cause he
wuz ulster doing it. But thar mex
mawnin' when she picked up Their
newspaper. 10 and behold, thar wuz
her husbands picture right afore her
eyes. an ar great long piece about him!
He wuz ar thief! He had been Robin
Their bank he wuz in for years an
years, an Their bank folks had jes'
found it out! But he had gotten away.
How come me at home again.
she asked, lookin' round an
tindin' herself in plain. leetle room.
with a kin'-faced woman watchin' over
her. Mother, where is Bill and Ikep
Wen all go down to the cave. an-but
no, that's not mother. What does it
mean? Where is my husband and
childP This is not our house. What
does it mean, kind woman?' The
woman then told her about the bank
robbery and how her husband had got
ten away. And about her reading
about it in the paper aud faintiDg.
And that the house and every thing
had to be sold, and she and her little
boy be brought to the hospital.
Poor lettle gal, there she lay. No
friends now an no money. But ar
thought struck her. She'd send fer that
kin'-lookin' preacher.
''An' Their preacher come. He did
look so lovin' to her. He took her lit
tie thin. white ham in his. She begun
ter tell hin, her story. But, ledge, she
didn't! Forgittin' whar he wuz, Bill
threw his arms round her poor, weak,
leetle neck, an lookin' her straight in
Their eyes sed:
"'Kildee, Kildee, don't you know
Bill? Look at me-
$50. Bill, is it you! No. no. can't
look you in the eyesl Had but been
true to you, instead of runnin' away,
and being miserable all my days, and
then this end! But God has forgiven
me. won't you, Bill? Show me you
will by making me two promises. One
Is, have me carried back to the old
mountain home and buried near Big
Bear Cave; the other is. that you will
take and keep my child; he's named
for you, Bill
land then, as the sun was going
slowly down in the West, and every
thing was still an quiet like, she went
Home softly sayin', Forgiven, for
given. ''-Alfred II. Marsh, in the In
dependent.
THE BOTTLE TREE.