Belding banner. (Belding, Mich.) 1889-1918, 1896-11-26

until the kitten gets used To the house.
have never had kitten before. l don't
know why have never thought of 1t. !"
'Dey's somefin wrong wifi Mis- Liza
beth, said Susan when she had gained
the sacred precincts of the kitchen and
Jane had assured her that she "sho'ly did
look pale Long as been stayin here, she
amt never ct In her room yit, an now sho
gwine ter eat dere on account oh a measly
little cat. f"
On the second day queer thing hap
pened The kitten had performed what IL
considered IA great feat, and Mrs Arnam
laughed The sound OF the laugh fright
ened her, and IL sent the kitten skurrying
under the bed. 1t came out presently and
growled at her as gentle intimation not
to try that any more, and that made her
laugh again. Jane, sweeping In the next
room, heard It, and left her work unflnish-
ed to tell Susan. but Susan scornfully
warned her not to come "tellin her no sech
trash" There were bounds beyond which
Susans credulity could not go
OF course Jane left the doors open again
before week was out. She declared that
she "shet cherry one oh EN-" But she must
have left them open, for how else did the
kitten get outS At any rate, before any one
knew 1t, the kitten was gone and was not
to be found anywhere about the house.
When mistress and servants had searched
everywhere in vain, Mrs Arnam shut her
self up in her room again and sat down
before the fire. The little creature that
had distracted her thoughts for few days
and had made her forget herself was gone,
and once more she was n lonely old wom-
an-more lonely and miserable than she
had been before. She sat there looking at
gloomy scenes in the glowing Goals until
she could endure IL no longer, and then she
arose and walked about the room and
finally threw up window To get rid of the
choking pain in her throat. And when she
leaned out into the cold air, what do you
think she saw? Just below her. seated on
the doorstep, was "a ragged little boy, with
her kitten In his arms.
In moment she was down stairs and
had the door open and had frightened the
child so that he could do nothing but stand
and stare at her.
"What are you doing with my kitten,
little boy?" she demanded grimly.
'Tain't your kitten It's minel' he
replied clasping 1t closer.
"How did 1t happen to be yours, L should
like to know" asked the angry old wom-
an.
''It was horned mine" was the simple
explanation, and then the woman's heart
sunk. She had never once thought that
the kitten might be somebody's property
before 1t came to her, and now. behold, she
had had no right to il from the first
She was about To go In and close the
door, but she paused to ask coldly:
"What were you doing on my door
stepS''
Wa in, - enid no
child, and this reminded him OF his own
discount, TT, so that he began to shiver and
to shrink together.
Truly it was "a bitter day. Even in that
sunny nook the cold was intense. The
child was blue with it. She had not no
ticed that before
Come in and warm at my flre-you
and the kitten, she said.
Now what had come over herr What
magic spell had been working on that hard
old hearty She sat in her armchair, watch
ing the child thaw and grow rosy red in
the grateful warmth, as he sat on the has
sock before the fire. There was no sound
in the room but the soft cracking of the
burning coal and the gentle purring of the
kitten, and after awhile the child began
to nod. Overcome with drowsiness, he
slipped down to the rug at last and stretch
ed himself out there and when the kitten
crept into his arms he murmured:
1T always sleeps wild me-to keep me
warm -
After awhile the old woman arose softly
and covered both the sleepers with blan-
kets and slipped pillow under the child's
head. Poor little toused curls How pretty
they would be If they were brushed The
withered hand touched them softly When
had that hand ever been laid on child's
head befOreY And then, as though ashamed
of such weakness, she sat down again and
resolutely looked into the fire. What was
this child more than any other? There
were hundreds of such children in the
streets-born thieves, every one Of them,
ready TO repay kindness by stealing any
thing they could lay their hands on.
But 1t was no use. She couldn't keep
from looking at the child, and somehow it
did seem pleasant To hear his soft breath
ing in that room, that had been silent so
long. And after she had watched and lis
tened awhile she went out into another
room and opened drawer that had been
shut ] don't know how many years and
took out-a child's cloak-a long, warm
cloak. that would surely cover that little
figure In the other room from head to foot
She looked at the cloak n long time, and
once she rolled 1t up and put 1t back again
but then she took 1t out in hurry and
went and sat down, with 1t on "A chair be-
side her All, surely, that was "a genial
fire. That Icy old heart of hers was thaw-
ing before it, as the snow thaws on the
southern slopes in spring.
And in a little while she made another
journey to the long shut drawers and
brought out piles and piles of clothes
good ones, too that might have been for
the child by the fire-and shoes, too, wrap
ped in oiled silk, as though they were made
of gold, and the jauntiest little hat you
ever saw. And then, awhile later, she
touched her bell and summoned Jane, and,
disregarding James amazed stare, said:
"Give this child warm bath, Jane and
put these clothes on him, and then bring
him here +"
The little fellow was pretty in his new
clothes despite the thin face that had been
blue with cold that morning And what
pretty curls those were, just as she had
thought they would bel The kitten took
him for perfect stranger and went under
. chair and growled at him. How he
laughed at that-a thin little laugh that
brought the tears to her eyes Oh, 1t was
wonderful how those eyes of hers were i'm