The times., 1897-05-09

III 1A0 1N
.....s......-
The doctor STAYED her 1t was indeed
for this frer darling child had been born.
Would She hasten 1t? Why not let the
| mystery come to him as a friend and COM
forter-as The friend OF friends as a mes
senger from our dear Lord, the Prince OF
Peace and JOY?
And so the poor mother dried her eyes as
| best she could and took her place by the
| Little Masters bedside. The lad was
| cheerful and his eyes were as bright as a
| birds. Doctors do not know everything,
the mother thought, and. taking heart OF
| hope. smiled as Little Crotchett prattied
away.
Nothing would do but he must have q
| look at the toys that used to arnuse him
when he was a little bit of a boy; and, in
getting out theod toys, the mother found s
! shoe he had worn when he first began 10
walk little shoe out at the toe and worn
at the heel.
| This interested the lad more than all the
| toys. He held it in his hand and measured
| it with his thumb. And was il truly true
| that he had ever worn n shoe as small as
that? The shoe reminded him of something
| else he had been thinking Of He had
dreamed that when he got well he would
| need his crutches no more, and he wondered
how it would feel TO walk with his feet on
the gtound.
And there was the old popgun, too, still
smelling of china berries. If Aaron only
! hut knew it, that popgun had been Won
!, derfu gun Yes, stree, the bird that didn't
| want TO get hurt when the popgtm was in
! working order had to run mighty fast or
| fly mighty high But heigh-ho, he was too
oidand too large for popguns now and when
he got well, which would lie pretty soon,
| he would have u sure enough gun, and then
| he would get powder flask and q shot bag
| and mount the Gay Pony and shoot well,
| let's see what he would siloot: Not the gray
| squirrels they were too pretty; not the
| shy paTtridges, they might have nests or
| young ones somewhcre; not the rabbits
| they Were too funny with their pop eyes and
| big ears. We'll, he would shoot at 4 mark,
and that's just what he would do
! And when night fell, the Little Master
wanted TO hear the negroes sing And he
| wanted mother and father and sister to
| hear them, too-not the loud songs, but the
| soft and sweet ones But the negroes
:, wouldn't feel like singing at all ir every
1 body wasi n the room with them, and father
| and mother and sister could sitin the next
| room and pretend they were notlistening
| And so il was arranged.
When the negroes arrived and were usf1-
| cred into the room by Nanny Lucy, they
! were so embarrassed and felt so much
] out of place they hardly knew what 10 ito
/, or say or how to begin Aaron was carry
| ing the Little Master in his arms, walking
| up and down, up and down, and his long
strides and supple knees gave a swinging
| motion To his body that was infinitely
soothing and restful to the Little Master.
| Swinging back and forth, up and down, the
Son of Ben Ali paid no attention TO the
negroes. and they stood confused for a
moment Suddenly there came streaming
| into the room the strain OF a heartbreaking
melody, rising and falling, falling and ris-
| ing, as the leaves OF weeping willow are
blown by the wind: drifting away ard
! floating back. as the foam OF the wave is
swayed by the sea.
| Little Crotchett lay stillin Aaron arms
| for ever so long Was he listening? VINO
| knows? He was almost within hearing of
tie songs OF angels Suddenly he raised his
head in the pause OF the song.
| Tell them all goodnight. Tell moth
| Eff
Aaron stopped his swinging walk and
! placed the Little Master on the bed and
] stood beside il, his right hand raised a bove
| his head. 1t might have been n benedic-
| tion, ii might have been prayer The
| negroes interpreted it as a signal of dis
| missal One by one they went softly 10
the bedside and gazed on the Little Master
/ He might have been asleep, for he was
| smiling. Each negro looked inqulringiy
| at Aaron, and TO each he nodded. his right
| hand still lifted above his head. Big Sal
| had waited till the last, and she was the
| only one that said a word.
| .'IIe look des like he did when he ,lrapt
| asleep in deze arms" she cried, sobbing a $
though her heart would break, IAN thank
| my God fer dat much, But, oh man, what
| pity! What a ptyl"
And she went out of the house into :hc
vaid. and through the yard into the lot. and
trough the lot to the negroes cabins, crying
''oh what pity! What a rityt"
Not for the Little Master, for he was srnii-
| ing at the glorious vision of peace nd rest
| that he saw VIXEN he said good night. Not
| pity for the lad but for those he had left be-
| hind him, foI al who loved him; for all who
| had depended on his thoughtfuiuess; for all
| the weary and soTrowful ones on, what
| pity. over and over again, what a pity!
| Andthe wind flowing softly atorft the world
| took up the poor negro's wailing cry and
sent it over tf,2 hill and beyond, and the
| outlying me sseagers OF the Swamp took it
| up-What pity. And the Whistles
| piped low, and the mysteries, swaying and
! slipping through the canes and tall grass,
heard the whispered echo and sighed-Oh,
| what a pityl
| (The End)