Western liberal. (Lordsburg, N.M.) 1887-1919, 1889-11-29

a Hrntli1g influence ulOn MS ear. The
drOusy hum Of bees and the i~narticulate
voices Of the wOOd lulled him 70 sleep.
How long he lay there Mickey could not
tell lie WAS rudely awakened By a big
black ant. which had crtwied up his
trousers leg. and "a great yellow hairy
caterpillar crossing the bridge Of his
nose. As he sat up and brushed away
ciese insects n cat bird in a tree near by
beghn 70. jecr at him with what to
Mickcy's excited fancy were the words;
Playing hoOkeyl Playing hOokeyr
In SOne mysterious manner gladness
seemed To 90 out Of the day for little
Mike at this cruel taunt The odors Of
the flowers were just IN sweet as they
had becn before. the moss ut the foot Of
the pine tree was AS vivid n green. the
swallows dipped a. gracefully over the
field Of billowy wheat. but the charm Of
all this beauteous panorama was gone.
His toe began to hurt again. With
dropping head and limping gait. Mickey
plunged deeper into the wotHls. At the
foot ~ a big rock he found a spring.
Lying at full length upon the sward he
put his lips down to the water and drank
deep Of the champagne Of the woods
The reflection Of his face in the spring
grinned ~sirdonicnlly ut him. And from
the brown eyes shining from. the cool
depths came u reproachful glance which
seemed to say;
The leather strap Is waiting for you
in the Kitchen
All that afternoon he wandered
through the wood seeking happiness. but
finding none. He flew for refuge To the
birch tree. but the bark had lost all its
old time sweetness. The sassafras root
which often had tasted like honey in his
mouth now took on the flavor Of worm
wood. As he rptraced his steps to the
stone wall where he had hidden his bOOks
the awful consciousness came to him that
he would be oblNSed To tell Il lie in order
to escape a whipping. Like n thief in
the night he sneakrd down the steep hill
side up which he had climbed 80 cheerily
in the morning. and five minutes later
entered the shanty. Sb dUwncast was he
and SO furtive in manner that his moth
er's attention was attracted to him. Just
at this moment u big humble bee wearing
a black velvet vest with yellow stripes
Numbered into the room.
"Are We sick. Mickey said his mother,
sOlicitOusly.
mo; I'm not sick. mother" said little
Mike, but me toe is hurtin' me-"
well. what makeS We net so quarrel"
This was uttered in sucli u tone of so
licitude and with so kindly II look that
like Mikes eyes began to overflow as his
mother try to ''shoo" the humble bee
out of the room.
a.. LII .-.n.s-, .,,a - ..-t,l-aI ftt4lu
by. Mickey. like thin D%OOlans." con.
1 tinued Mrs. Finn. III ye were I'd bc
d thinkin' that humble bee 'ud be aftheF
Vi stingin' We. Shure that's fwhat humble
5 bees does be doin'-stingin' little b'ys
! fur their Sins!"
] Slap went the end of Mrs. Firms tassel
against the wall and away sailed the bee
II out of the window like an animated
81 Jewel of jet and amber.
s. Little Mike was oppressed with fears
$ Tn. haunting consciousness of wrong
~ doing weighed him down like the gull
II of "a murderer. He felt IA great load
j. taken off his conscience when the bunbl,
Is bee flew out Of the window. for he 10
~ lieved implicitly that the insect ha,
IN flown into the shanty for the purpose o
singing him because he had playet
al hockey lie busted himself about thu
a yard. milking the goat and %chOppinl
M wood He was so unusually jealous il
Is this work and.so quiet that his mother
Ia suspicious were awakened.
h' "Faix." said she. I'm afeerd me littl
b'ys been up TO mischief. hes actin tina
II" luare. Shure. he has berry tains on hi
ACE. an thare's no berries at school
.Al kF..I.. -. FIJI eI..I..s L.. .-.. H.
in hookeyT
81 Just then Mickey came into the shant,
with another armful Of wood. Iii
leI mother looked at him closely. unobserve
ed by the boy. and saw that his knees wer
IRE stained with grass juice and that to tn
,ht back of his jacket chung some tell-tal
to pine needles. but she kept her ow-
nj counsel and awaited developments. satii
he lied that Mckee would confess his gull
he Another armful Of wood had bee
nd thrown under the stove. and little Mix
les looked up to catch the expected approx
he Ing glance Of his mother. when Mr
his Finn cried in alarm;
a Lux out. Mickey, here comes ii
he humble bee fur yel"
,ed Again the fears of the boy were AVA
me ened. and turning quickly he struck
lid frantic blow at the bee. This evidentl
iii. angpred the insect. for it avoided ii
Of blow. flew over the boys head and stun
The him on the back of the neck. Havin
he punished the truant and satisfied i
Of vengeance the humble bee flew out
the dtOr. As Mrs. Finn bound Il handfl
iill Of mud upon the swelling wound lit
md Mike looked upin his mothers face, an'
se with a trembling voice full Of remor
md and pain. said in a hoarse whisper
"M-m-m-Other!'
ng. "Yis. Mickey" said Mrs Finn. know
re- ing that the time of confession la
He come. The boy continued with quive
he ing lips;
To II know why the bee s-a-tung me. b
ace kase hekase - mother-l-l-l wi
Ow playin' play playin -%hookey!'
of As he hid his face in HIS mothers Dire
Of she stopped over him and her lips tOucl
re ed tile bronzed, berry stained face in Il
: a fond kiss Of forgiveness. As her war
NO breath dried the brine upun his chez