Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1889-06-07
The Invisible Guest.

"I don't believe one of those boys |
knows what 1t is to have a pain or an /
ache, sighed a pale little fellow, whose !
only practical legs were a pair of |
wooden crutches leaning against the /
window-siI where he was lying.
1t was a warm day, and a party of |
happy schOOl-felIOws were on their way /
to the river for q row. There was Ned /
johnson, VIII Fairfax, and True Ste |
Yens; and SO full of nonsense and fun |
were they that none of them noticed /
the wistfuI gaze of poor little Perry |
Evans as he followed them with brown |
eyes only, while they went laughing |
down the lane.
Besides being lame, Perry was lonely; !
for he had no brothers and sisters, and !
his mother had to go TO work. So he |
found the summer days long and wear
isOme. Fortunately he had some talent |
for making little toys and trifes, which !
was an occupation, but often he was
not well enough to work; and to-day
he was mourning the loss of his only
tool of Importance, an old knife, which
had been so often sharpened that it
had at last snapped in two.
Perhaps this was why his eyes were
so quick to detect something shining in
the something that True Stevens
had pulled out of his pocket with his
handkerchief, as he went laughing
along in his careless fashion, and had
left it lying there, to be crunched by
the first cart-wheel that passed.
Perry reached for his cruches and,
hObbled out to where this shining
object lay; and his heart gave a bound
of delight as he picked up a brand
new knife with big and little blades.
What a beauty" he said to himself
as he turned it over and over, and forth
with drew from his pocket a piece of
wood, at which he had been nefectU-
ally hacking. The new knife cut the
pine wood as if it had been cheese, and
in less than no time Perry had the hulk
of a small schooner on the bench beside
him.
The morning was gone before he
/ knew it, and the bench was full of
chips, while fleet of little boats stood
/ in trim array on the windOw-sill by the
! time Perry remembered that his dinner
must be eaten.
He thought he was alone as he IN
covered the plate of cold meat and
! bread which his mother had left for
him, and so would any one else have
! thought had that person looked in the
/
bedroom and kitchen all in one; but,
all the same, he was not alone. I'm
/ known to Perry, a strange guest was
beside him, one who comes unbidden to
many feast where wine sparkles and
fruit and flowers blush and glow. Sin
/ gular that he should take poor little
cripple for his host when he can have
kings and emperOrs for the choosing.
But here he was, close beside Perry,
whispering in the child's ear; and this
was what he said:
That knife is yours. It is just what
you need. It might have been twisted
into useIessness or rusted and broken
before any one saw it, had YOU not been
at the window. 1t was just a chance
that made you aware who dropped it :;
and that careless boy can buy as many
as he wants, while you suffer for the
need of one. How foolish you are to
think for a moment of returning It!
Take my advice; keep it. Say nothing
to anybody about it, and no one VIII be
the wiser"
Perry pushed his plate away, saying
to himself, I'm not a bit hungry; ;
guess I've worked too hard
just then a small brown wren began
twittering on the maple tree, and
sweet scent of hOneysuckle was waited
In from the vine outside. Perry loved
birds and flowers more than most boys,
perhaps because he was so much alone
that he had observed them more close
"; but to-day the burden of the wren's
song seemed to be;
Don't, don't do it. You know why.
You know why"
The tired little fellow curled him
self up on his bed and went to sleep
The strange, invisible dinner guest
went away. The wren few to her nest
Late In the afternoon Ned and VIII
and True, who had not only rowed, but
swan and fshed for hours on the river,
were sauntering home In the tired, list
less ways that boys fall into when
their days sport is over, when they
heard some one hall0oing to them.
who's that? ?" said Ned, shifting the
oar he was carrying from one shoulder
to the other.
sOnIy one Of those little pests of
lIiekletoWn, answered VIII. Come
on. BOYS. Don't notice him Look out
for your fish, True, or before you know.
1t. the scamp viii cut your string
Just as he spoke, there, sure enough,
stood q little chap with knife In his