The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1897-04-18

sea came SwOOplng through the air and
flung itself in wet, salt spray right on
his benign old face. But he was binder
than a bat.
The reason of this? Why. the ele-
plant was of wood and plaster, and had
a skin of tin, painted mouse color. He
was summer hotel, this elephant was,
and as he cost his owner nothing for
his feed" you would suppose he was
an inexpensive animal.
Don't think il. He cost over $50, 900,
and was a bad speculation. People
could see him without paying anything,
and when you were inside of him there
was no knowing that he was an ele-
plant at all. So they just stood out
side and looked at the great, still thing,
and laughed and jingled their change
in their pockets. 1t didn't cost them a
cent to do this. But naturally the
owner of the elephant didn't take in
any money from this admiration of the
monster, who was fully rs feet high
and 100 feet long. As a result he let
the animal go for a nominal price for
a seaside hotel.
MRS. GARRITY.
The lady who scrubbed the floors in
the hotel and toiled in other humble
ways to keep it sweet and clean, took
up residence in the poor, deserted ele-
plant. She had two young children,
and Ely. Tommy was the elder. AL
though she had these two children to
bring up, and no husband to help her
do it, she adopted Sea Boy" and that
brings in the small boy who lived in an
elephant, mentioned in the beginning of
this story.
1t seems strange that a scrubbing
widow lady who had two small mouths
to feed should want to feed third one,
when it meant SO much more pain for
her tired back. But she had a heart.
One winter night there was a terrible
storm, and a small schooner was driven
on to the long, sandy point which ran
out into the sea for a great distance
under the water. The sailors were all
saved except one short, thick-set man,
who was washed ashore dead. An icy
cold. bright-faced boy about 10 years
old was washed in alive, but blue
enough to put in a wash boiler on Mon
day morning. The short man was the
boys father, and he had no other kin.
So they were going to send him to the
place were poor orphans go who have
nobody to care for them (what the
name of it was I don't know, but that
doesn't matter). when Mrs. Garrity's
heart spoke. She always listened to it
respectfully. 1t said this time: Take
him in. The ocean rolled him in to you.
Let him have a mothers love, and
home, even if the home is an elephant"
So Mrs Clarity did what her heart
told her TO, and the ocean waif became
as one of her own. He took to the
elephant as a duck does to water. He
was a keen-witted lad and as induStri-
Gus as an ant He BACKED shoes, sold
papers and picked up odd jobs. In a
little while Mrs. Clarity found that in
place of the sea boy being a burden
and an expense he helped to tighten
~. 10 alx-
paid for his own keep. but he helped
support the two small Garrity's, and
Mrs Garritys back was no more
strained than it had been before.
Somebody started calling this
adopted boy of hers the sea boy to
distinguish him from the others, and
finally everybody called him ''Seaboy,"
till it came to be his name.
''Seaboy'' got to love the dear old 4
elephant in whose right shoulder he
slept with little Tommy Clarity. There (
was big window in it. The elephant .
had windows on both of his sides and /
on his chest, as if he had broken out /
with them as children do with rash. In
the summer the sea air blew in to cool /
them, and they could hear the water
break with a soft booming on the |
shore, and then rattle over the pebbles
as it was sucked back again. At night /
the broad water would be covered with |
a violet PAIL with lights afar off which
looked like golden pins that held it in
place. Or else there would be a lustrouS
sheen on it. and great corduroy road
of silver braid led off to the horizon,
and went into the sky there. so the
children thought. And after the two
We're sound asleep the moon
would sometimes peep in through the
window and light up their small round
faces lying upturned on the pillow and
seem to say, BLESS EN-"
SEABOY'S RESPONSIBILITY
They were a happy group, the ele-
plant who had lost his owner. Mrs.
Clarity, who had lost Mr.. Clarity;
'Seaboy,' who had lost everything.
and the two small Garrity's. who had
never lost anything that they knew of.
But their turn came.
''Seaboy'' hadn't been with the Gar
rity's more than n year and a half
when Mrs. Clarity woke up one night
with a pain in her heart, gave a deep
groan and called: ''Seaboy,"
He woke up at once and hurried into
her small ROOM She was suffering so
she couldn't speak. She knew what it
meant and was trying her best TO tell
Seaboy' to look after the children.
But she couldn't get the words out and