The San Francisco call., 1896-07-05

distance away.
"Hi, Tober' called the boy. There's
rabbit down here in the brush pile. Come
on, quick, an let's run it out2"
And, for the time being. Tobe forgot all
about his disappointment, in the excite
ment of the chase.
Nanny, in the meanwhile, had ground
some of the freshly parched coffee, and,
after refreshing herself with cup of the
cheering beverage, her heart relented and
she reproached herself for not acceding to
her sons request.
"Spec' / had oughter glib dat chile some
pocket change fob de Fou'th OBJ July,
whut our ancisters done fit foh,' she re-
fiected. 'I hate dem snappin' pistils an
fi'-crackers wussen pizon, but hit amt
nuttin' mon right fob young folks to hab
dere fun. Reckon I'll hunt out er nickel
foh Tobe, an s'prise him when he comes
inn
And, with a benevolent smile on her
sable face, she reached for her pocket
book, which she kept in cigar-box on
the wooden mantel, beside the eight-day
clock.
But the smile quickly faded from her
countenance and gave place to look of
CONSERVATION.
Liam sakesl" she exclaimed. "Whar
dat money -pu's' at? Somebuddy done stole
hit, sho's yo' BON. Now, whut gwine
ter do fob fiou' an coffee, I'd like ter
known"
In the desperate hope that she might
have overlooked it, nanny took the box
on her lap and was fumbling among its
contents, when the door opened softly and
Tobe peered cautiously within.
Rolling his eyes in eager scrutiny for
moment, and seeming to be well satisfied
with the result of his observation. he crept
as silently as a shadow into the room, and
tiptoed across to his mother, who sat with
her back toward him.
"Hit suttinIy is gone" muttered
nanny, in a tone of despair, when
"Snapi bang" sounded suddenly in her
ear, and with q wild shrek of terror she
sprang from her chair, while the cigar-box
dropped unheeded to the floor.
Looking about to discover the cause of
] her fright, she at last espied Tobe, con-
| vulsed with laughter, in the very act of
putting ires'l cap on the toy pistol which
cleaned in his hand.
His laughter was not of long duration,
| however, for with a yell which would
have done credit to a Kickapoo Indian,
nanny swooped down on her offspring,
! seized him by the neckband of his cotton
shirt and gave him woful shaking.
''You young riporate," she cried, wrath
fully, "if dom lick you good hits Gaze I
done forgot howl"
"Oucb!' howled the cuiprit, femme
| gow But nanny only shook the harder.
"You owdacious young wiperp she
shrieked, giving him cuff which ELECTED
a whole gamut of howls, "whar's dat
money-pu's' at, whut you done stoled
from yo' po' ole mammy?"
"Boo-hoo, I neber stoled no money
pu's'l" walled Tobias. dodging an i'm
aginary blow which he fancied was aimed
at him. 'I neber teched yo' money-pu's s. p
But nanny was still skeptical.
"Whar you git dat pistil at, ef yo' neber
tuck dat pu's'? 2" she demanded, ,accusingiy.
aHit ain my pistiI," protested the vic
tim, ruefully. miss Pinkerton's boy he
done loaned hit ter me, ter show you, so
you'd gimme dat ar dime, an'-dere's yo'
money-pu's now, nanny, ober yander on
de winder-silll''
"What dat you say?" gasped nanny.
"On de winder-sill? !? So hit is, chile-so
hit is! 1 member, now, I done laid hit
down when dat ar chicken-hawk got after
de white pullet. Mammy's pow'ful sorry
she done shuck you, honey, an heah a
nickel foh dat, an anudder fob yo' hon.
esty."
"Hooray!" shouted Tobias, his injuries
forgotten. 1.-TWO nickelsl Is you done
glib 'em bofe ter me, nanny, sho' an
suttin?"
''Sho an suttin," repeated nanny,
emphatically.
And, with a beaming countenance,
Tobias rnshed off to confde his unex-
pected good fortune to his friend and
crony, miss Pinkerton's boy"
Nanny watched him with a smile,
though she felt twinge of compunction
as she thought of the "shucking" so re-
Gently administered.
She soothed her conscience, however, by
telling herself it had not been altogether
undeserved.
"Ef be didn't stole de money, he skeered
me half out'n my wits, a-poppin' dat pistil
in de back OBJ my haid, de young scaper-
| gracep' she reflected. "'Sides which,
many's de time he carved a lickin' an
neber got hit, SO dis 'un won no mon even
up"
And with this cheerful view of the mat
ter, nanny dismissed it from her mind
at once and forever