Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1895-12-22
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and caught sigh, OF he whit. nj
gown and the teiI-tale bare rect, It,
US Great Jones discovered and hauieu
Cor the niaht into the dormitory one
more. His soul rebelled, but ne ven
with the matron, nevertheless, an,
rather sulkily, knelt down IKE 'no o'"0'
children 20 pray. - Ginning
soeos that presented by the dormitory.
Around the brightly-papered wals was was
sestooned ereenery galore. Rows a .,.a
roo.a ~ small cots, each white AS ."o
-. ON the roofs overhead nleu the
,ony loyv room. And In the open III
,ya1 snac4 knelt threescore OF prayins
chiidrcn That Is, all prayed out o"e'
Great Jones was not praSihs. .ia
He was a rebel The whole 49,,
seemed to have gone wrohs ~, hIs
xr,s Inns nouted, and he had 10 snu' nio
tino syes tight to keep back the soaidihs
,cors For. after all. he was 10 De enea'-
ed out OF his drum! o-. and
the comely matron led the prayers, a,,d
all the sweet. childish 'oiSe9
her in unison. -, ,,. bvmn
which we have all sung In the DAYS oi
hovhood--"Now / Lay Me Do"" "
Sleep - N ,,,. that
a Great
ond ewelied II with harmony "a UMPIRE
ne1i,ated as that Of so many song
birds in the hedgerow. Only Great Jones
was silent. and the matron, missing ms
sbriu treble. looked wonderngly al the
rebellious red-head ,o
Had she known II, mighty struggle
was going on In the heart OF DIea.
ZONES. AS the prayer ended II hao
suddenly flashed across his nina that vi
the very night of the Peter +. Mui,
cabv parade Betsey Ann had watched
him from the Window. and that she. too,
had EXPRESSED a wish to own drum
Then too. only few days before, Bet
sew Ann had divided with him her last
two e1lmdrops, the gift Of visitor. ana
here he was going TO take the drum
away from Betsey Ann
The HYMN began but Great Jones was
not singing. The pulses in his temples
were throbbing furiously-his poor NIUE
head seemed to spin round and round.
WHAT is WRONG?
Harry
The voice was that of the matron.
Officially, Great Jones was known as
Harry" In the House; but even the
familiar voice did not make him look
I'D. Then the matrou ceased the hymn
ana stepping rapidly down between the
"Why. Ha-Great jones'" she said,
.'what can be the matter with your
Then the h0odgates were open and
Great Jones burst into a passionate tor
rent Of tears With his head upon the
matron's shoulder he sobbed out his
awful confession.
IL STAYED I'D 10 c-catch Sanity Claus
an take the drum fr-from him. Yes
an Betsy Ann. she wants the drum.
OH O-ooor' And the voice swelled into
a wall.
The matron lulled the child into peace
dexterously as is her wont. while sus-
picious.y humorous look might have been
detected I'm her eyes. Then the dear
old hymn was finally sung, and the
children packed off TO bed. AS for the
penltent Great Jones. he simply wept
himself to sleep.
Morning came-Christmas morning-and
with its earliest peep awoke Great Jones.
At first he was afraid TO look on the
chair beside his cot. where he had hung
his stocking. Finally. however. he pop
ped his red head from between the blank
cts and peered forth.
There stood the matron. and in her
hand was-a drum. Yes. a drum. after
! all: a splendid affair. crimson painted
! and corded. with two fine .drumsticks TO
match
rs that-Betsy Ann's?" faltered Great
/ Jones
NO" smilingly answered the happy
matron, '1t's your own-your very own.
Great Jones. Santa Claus must have
heard you last night, for he brought two
drums-one for Betsey Ann and one for
you"
The Peter p. Mulcahy parade wa. quite
outdone during Christmas week when
Great Jones woke the echoes with the
resounding rataplans he beat on his
brand-new drum through the House Of
Industry corridors.
GERALD BRENNAN.