River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1896-12-03

not tnrea Ten nlui. ana ne qGaked with
nameiess apprehensions.
Aren't you going to eat your sup
PERI" Mrs. Brush said. dryly. "You
aren't sick, are you?"
"Nope." said Ed'ard.
Generally he sat up for two hours after
supper, in drowsy, warm coDtentment
Icy the sl'ting-room stove; tonight he
/ fidgeted in chill uneasiness till seven
o'clock. and then he took his little lamp
from the shelf and abruptly left them.
Mr.. Brush looked for some time
dumbly at the door the boy shut behind
him. He was heavy-hearted. He
knew not what part Ed'ard had had in
the bad business of the calf, but ! fore
saw that he would go back to Gene
nuntoon.
IF the calf didn't die a natural
DEATH" he said at last, "and if I'd
| known it soon enough so could have
bled him, we could have made veal OF
him."
do you s'pose he poisoned him, pa ?"
said Mrs. Brush, in a half-whisper.
why, no." Mr.. Brush answered,
biankly. lie looked down the columns
OF the county paper without compre-
| hending a word of what they held.
lie shared his wife's unspoken, increas-
ing conviction that so long as Ed'ard
was under the roof their lives were not
entirely safe.
! Upstairs in his bedroom Ed'ard lay
broad awake. with wide-open eyes. The
white moonlight streamed ia at the
east window and brought out the gay
colors in the patchwork guilt, and
CLEANED on the water-pitcher and on
the picture of some far relatives of the
Brushes, in an oval black frame on the
| wall.
He could not sleep. His senses were
alert. He did not know how the time
passed. He seemed TO haya lain there
in his silent misery for houl 5, when he
heard Mrs. Brush's heavy, slow tread
on the stairs. She came in.
"Tve brought you some hot ginger
tea, Ld'ard," she said, land a hot fiat
iron for your feet. l didn't know but
you was going to be sick--you didn't
eat your supper. You drink it down.
now. There."
1t was duty perfunctorily per-
/ formed; but she tucked the iron
against his feet and waited until he
had swallowed the drink before she
left him.
! Ed'ard lay as she had left him. He
heard the peaceful. quiet country
sounds-the slow passing of wagon,
Inc barking of PARKWAY dog, the spas
modic, faint jingle of COW bell in the
barn. He knew not what strange
thoughts and feelings were stirring
within him. He had never felt such
before. He had never known any re-
pentance nor regret, nor any pang of
self-conviction, and now he was bewil-
dered.
He pulled the bedclothes close up to
MS chin; he was afraid. The moon
light shone in upon his small, cold,
rigid face and staring eyes.
| At last he moved. He crawied out of
bed. He shivered, and his teeth chat
tered. not with cold, but with dread of
what he was going 10 do. And yet an
irresistible something within him bore
him on.
lie went to the closet, fumbled with.
in il and brought forth, one by one, the
miserable garments in which he had
come to the Brushes. Mrs. Brush had
put them there, looking forward to a
possible cleansing and mending. He
put them on, and buttoned the ragged
coat and laced the broken shoes. Then
he felt his way down the stairs to the
sItting-room.
| Mr.. Brush sat with his shoes off, and
| his feet on the warm stove-hearth;
/ Mrs. Brush was winding the clock.
/ They turne and stared at the appar.
/ ition.
Ed'ard stood in the middle of the
room I'm a-going back" he said.
Hey, sonny?" Mr.. Brush gasped.
81 killed the calf" said Ed'ard. -
chased him round, and he tumbled
through the fence and fell downhill and
broke his neck and killed himself. |
was scarf. and L went and got the rope
and took him off TO the woods. knew
you'd go and look at him, and thought
mebbe you'd think his neck got broke
hauling him off with the rope. didn't
want you to know Id killed him.
thought you'd send me back to Gene
He stood stiff, his arms hanging at
his sides-a little, thin, forlorn speci.
men of humanity.
so I'm a-going," he ended. He
gulped, and winked hard; he would
not cry. I've killed the calf. l amt
taking the clothes you give me. I've
got on my old ones"
There followed deep and solemn
stiffness, except that the clock licked
with unnatural loudness.
"Where are you going?" said Mr..
| Brush. His voice was husky.
Back to Gene"
"You going now, tonight? It's past
nine o'clock"
Ed'ard nodded.
what put it into your head to tell
us You killed the calf?" said Mrs. Brush.
She looked down upon him. To the
child she doomed large and stern, and
nc raised his eyes 10 her in new terror.
But he spoke up, when he had searched
himself for the answer. and found it.
"'Cause you treated me SO good" he
said, TREMENDOUSLY. He moved toward
| the door.
Mrs. Brush got in front of him. She
swept him 10 her with one strong
hand, and sat down on the cushioned
settee. She held him close, so that his
little, pitifully working face was hid
den in her arm, and she rocked him
back and forth. Her tears dripped ON
| his head.
You amt going" she said. well
keep you, Ed'ard. You amt going,
everl"
Mr.. Brush was looking at them, but
he could not see them well, because
there was thick mist in his eyes. A
broad smile spread slowly over his
countenance, like sunrise across a
rugged field. He poked the fire long
and loudly, and recklessly threw in an
other stick. From this moment two
cid people and boy commenced new
relations to each other. The boy never
became a saint, but he proved that
there were hidden in that repressed and
untaught nature of his qualities of
mind and heart that made him a help
and comfort in many a weary day to
the old couple who had so Unexpectedly
befriended him. = Emma a. Opper, in
Youths Companion.
His Advice.
HE statements made by some nron1i-