The Kootenai herald. [volume] (Kootenai, Idaho) 1891-1904, 1891-08-22
MICKEY'S NEW SLED.


once adorned the corner of Diana's temple.
But it was as cold. Its presence on the Finn
shanty proved that the shanty stood in a cold
and exposed place, and that much fuel would
be necessary to keep the inmates warm. Dur
ing the days meridian, when the sun shone
warm upon the icicle, glstening beads OF
water ran down its sides and dropped from
Its slender point, making hole in the snow
beneath. But when the sun went down be-
hind Woolsey's commons and the trees in
Lindsleys woods We're beginning to cast
black, funereal shadows on the snow, the
water beads hardened as they stole down the
icy spear, until by those slow accretions the
icicle grew to be long and thick When the
twilight had faded and the moon came out
upon the night, attended by winking host
OF stars, the icicle glistened but refused to
melt as it had done when the sun kissed it,
While the icicle was glinting in the moon
light Mrs. Finn sat before the fire in the
shanty. Her face was buried in her hands
Her boy Mickey had gone to bed, with the
assurance from his mother that on the NOR
row he should have sled upon which to
slide down the southerly slope of Stumpy
field
Mrs. Finn arose from her chair and opened
the bedroom door to look at her boy He Law
with his arms thrown over his head. His
cheeks were flushed. He moved uneasily in
his sleep, and turned his freckled face to the
light The freckles were not blemishes in
the eyes of his mother. They were beauty
spots. Mrs. Finn was moved to compassion
as she stood there watching the parted lips
and the gently heaving bosom of her only
son. 'Shure, God is good t. the poor whin
he gives them b'ys like that" she muttered
60 herself
She had been cross to Mickey during the
day because he had traded off fourteen mar
vels for weeny little mud turkle no bigger
than a silver dollar,n and had said
Now fwhat use is that mud turkle, Mickev9
Ye can't kill him an make soup iv him like
ye can wild a snappin' turkle. Ye might ate
Oh mud turkle av ye were a little Chinee by.
4 do be hearin Mrs. Maloney sayin' that tn
haythin nd ate tn ears iv iackass if they
were fried in erase, SO I do glory be to God.
But Mickey, mind now, if any one tells me
ye were atm mud turkle mate, stewed or
billed or raw, be the holy poker III bate yer
head agin' tn WALL SO l will, an small fear
q me, jist fur divarshen."
Here hrs. Finn had devoutly crossed her.
self and Mickey slyly stole the wash basin
and placed it near the stove with some water
and the mud turtle in it. But Mrs Finn re-
pented of her harshness, and her anxiety was
now how to get the sled Mike her husband.
had no work and there was little money in
the house.
AT last she hit upon plan She would
pawn her shawl To be deprived of this gar
ment meant a great deal of self-denial to
Mrs. Finn. Without it she could not go To
mass in the morning. 1t was a Paisley shawl.
covered with figures which looked like gourds
The colors of the shawl were warm. and
seemed of themselves to add warmth to the
garment But the boy must not be disap-
pointed, and so she carefully folded the
precious shawl in piece of paper, and lock
ing the door behind her stepped out into the
moonlight. She shivered as she went along
the Old Point road, for her clothing was thin.
But even as the sbivers ran down her back
she smiled at the thought of her boys happi-
ness in the E,Orning.
Mickey's mud turtle, with a natural desire
for more freedom, crawled out of the basin
just after Mrs Finn had gone, and went
waddliLg over the kitchen floor on an ex-
petition of discovery. 1t made very little
noise in its passage, yet that little was
enough t. attract the attention of the crow
which sat on the mantle. The crow looked
at the little black object padding over the
floor. Then he few down with a soft cav
TO exalnine it. The turtle crawled and the
crow followed 1t up closely, putting his head
on one side and apparently wondering what
~ could be- Then the crow put his beak UNI
der the turtle and turned it over on its back.
The turtle pulled its head and legs into its
shell and lay quiet. The crow retired to a
little distance and stood watching the turtle
After about five minutes had elapsed the
turtle began to show signs of life again Its
legs, head and tail came slowly out Of the
shell and Logan to wave in the air in a vague.
uncertain way. The crow stepped gravely
forward, picked the turtle up by the tail and
New with it up on the mantle Again the
shutting up process was gone through with
The crow, however, began to nod before the
turtle decided to move again, and short
time afterwarJ the crow awoke with a start
as he heard the turtle drop Off the mantle
and into its basin, where it was content TO
remain for the rest of the night
1t happened that Jack Brown, a Young
man who had spent all his money in riotous
living, was III the pawnbroker's shop when
Mrs Finn arrived. He had just concluded a
little transaction by which he was relieved
of his diamond Pin and S25 had been placed
in his pocket. He was attracted by Mrs
Firms appearance and stopped TO hear her
story.
"How much would l be gettin fur thu
shawlP said she anxiously TO the pawn
broker behind the counter. sits only a lit
tie fwhile I'll be LAWN it wild ye anyways,
bekase Mike'l be havin' job on tn ice agin
Chuesday. Shure me little by does be havin'
his heart fixed far a sled, an wild no money
4 buy him wan Yez can be kind & yersel'
this tonne, an Civ me 81 fur tn shawl till
this da' two weeks
''Nein; gifes you feefty cent fo- &c shawl
Mebbe you no come back for it, den am
stuck. Seer