Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1899-05-10
THE CRIPPLE'S
SWEETHEART.
BY Florence G. Reilly.
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derson's store, warming his feet ut the
stove. The men sitting about on the
barrels eyed him expectantly. When
Garry walked the three miles from his
lonely, miserable cottage to the store,
there was sure to be fun for the crowd
there, and Garry's remarkable speech.
es We're quoted all about the town.
Now they waited, hoping that he would
give them something to laugh ut.
He was very tall, and so thin that
his elbows literally pierced the thread
bare material of his single coat, and
stuck out of his sleeves, all raw and
bleeding from the cold. He had a
heavy, sullen face, and slouching move
ments.
yWell, Garry" said Anderson. the
storekeeper, seeing that Won Ritter
seemed disinclined to break the silence,
"How's Elvina?'
"Loony," said Garry, sullenly. do
yer know, fellers. begin to know
made big mistake in mnrryin' that
girl. My old marin said as was mar
ryin' way beneath me, and b'gosh, l
think she was right for once"
A cripple lad, sitting in Il far corner
of the store shifted his seat uneasily
and look of pain came into his great,
soft eyes. The men laughed. Mrs.
Won Ritter thinking any one "beneath"
her good-for-nothing drunken son,
struck them as being rather good
joke.
yep" repeated Garry. "she was
right for once. Elvina is crazy sure
crazy as loon. Ter see her settin' in
that house of mine, with her big eyes
starin' out of her white face and payin'
no more attention to nothin' than a
rag doll is enough ter give Teller the
creeps. She don't appreciate anytbin'
that's done fer her. Sometimes think
she amt bit grateful ter me for mar
ryin' her."
The men laughed again.
Grateful! My Lord" muttered Abe
Hawkins, the cripple, as he clenched
his thin hands and ground his teeth.
He thought of little Elvina Allen as
she used to be years ago, when she
went to the district school. She was n
pretty, gentle, simple little thing, with
a frightened look about her delicate,
sad little face. He, Abe Hawkins,
then was strong and straight, like the
other boys. She lived not far from the
school, with n wretched. drunken
grandfather. Many time he had seen
her walking from the tavern, with the
old man leaning heavily ON her Shout
der, her face crimson with shame, the
tears quivering on her dropped eye
lashes. How his heart used to ache
with pity for her and hate for the old
man who made her life so unhappy for
her. 1t was to Allen, now dead, that
he owed his attlictlon. He had met the
grandfather and lllvina ON the bridge.
AS the little girl saw him, she stun
blcd, and the old mans hand had
slipped from her shoulder. almost fling
ing him on his fdce. He had turned to
strike the child, and Abe, springlng for
ward to save Elvina from the blow, re-
ceiycd it himself, and then Allen, in his
drunken fury had lifted the boy and
thrown him over the low bridge railing
into the brook below, injuring his back
and making him n cripple for life. He
thought of all this now, as Elvina's
husband stood there talking to a lot of
oilers of the girl whom Abe had loved
so devotedly when she was little,
helpless child and he q big-hearted boy,
who pitied and, when he could, pro-
tected her. He did not doubt Garry's
statement that she was CRAZY" Her
mind, never very strong, had doubtless
given way beneath the suffering and
privations she had undergone in the
cottage of her grandfather, and later
with her shiftless, brutal husband.
"Poor, gentle, little Elvina!' He was
awakened from his reveric by loud
laugh from the loungcrs.
'Tradc her fer Il stove!" exclaimed
Anderson. "This amt no Indian settle
ment, where man can swap his wife
fer n knife or keg of liquor or any
other old thing"
Don't care" said Garry, doggcdly.
"I'll trade Elvina for u stove, tell
yer. l don't want n crazy wife, and
do want Il stove. Italian Pete has got
two stoves, and since Marie hung her
self in Thompson's barn he amt had
no wife, an If lie wants Elvina, an
gives me the stove he kin have her,
whether this is an Indian, or Dutch
settlement. Give me pack of ter
hacker, Anderson. I've got ter be max
in tracks fer home.
yer amt got no more sense of NOR
ality than rail fence, Garry"
81 didn't ask yer anythin' about NOR
atty. Didn't say nothin' about it.
What did ask yer fer was n package
of terbaclier, SO shet yer head, John
Anderson, an give it ter me-" and seiz-
ing the package Anderson handed him,
he walked out of the store, followed
by Abe.
Garry" said Abe, touching Won
Ritter's arm, der you mean it? Will
you really trade yer wife fer stove?"
Sure l mean it, yer grasshopper,"
said Garry impatiently.
rs the stove new Pete will give
youY
New! Pete amt quite fool. Why
crazy woman? Certainly it amt new"
Garry" said Abe, with great deal
of suppressed cagerness, ~ tell yer
what I'll do. I'll give yer a bran new
stove. just out of the store, If yer will
let me take Elvina home to my mother.
A bran new stove, and a cord of wood,
and ton of coal"
Yer will?" said Garry. "Well, b'gosh
didn't think you was fool as we'll
as cripple, but If yer mean it, I'll
take the things and give her ter yer"
.When?"
"This afternoon, if yer bring the
stove up"
A little later Abe was sitting in the
Kitchen of the large Hawkins farm