Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1899-12-21


ness that she was not trying to impose
upon him.
To this end she and her sisters made
another search Of the house and neigh
borhood. They made inquiries Of all
the people who lived near, with the
result that ash barrels were over.
turned, scrap heaps scattered and ex-
cursions Of small boys encouraged be-
meath sto0ps. 1t all came TO nothing.
The note had disappeared, and the
girls themselves at last gave up hope
Of finding II.
About week had passed. The little
park opposite Marys home was ring
ing with the excited laughter of chill
dren. An employe Of the park depart
ment was at work there with bug
exterminator. 1t amused the children
immensely to see him use his big
squirt gun on infected foliage where
ever he found any. A good-natured
man, with children Of his own, he en-
tered alphabetically into their en-
joyment and made things as merry for
them as he could. He had light lad.
der that be carried from tree to tree.
Don't squirt on the birds nest, mis-
ter" called out q youngster in the
course Of the proceedings.
"Where? What nest?" returned the
employe.
"Just over your head to the right"
explained the child.
The workman glanced up carelessly,
said "huh!" in surprised tone, and
when mounted another rung of the
ladder to inspect the nest more close
".
swell, kids" said he, "the bird who
lives here is quite an aristocrat; and
more than that he wants us all to I'M
derstand it. Here's sign on his house
that says it's worth five hundred dol
lars"
"Go on! you're guying u.s." said the
biggest boy, and the others, taking
their cue from him, declared that they
didn't believe it.
"Then I'm blind" retorted the bug
man, land | never learned to read,
and l can't believe my eyes. One of
you can climb up here and see"
There was a wild scramble for the
ladder, but the biggest boy won. He
edged up beside the workman, and
saw that in making his nest the bird
had woven in piece of white paper,
and on the exposed surface, just as il
it were placard, were the figures,
$500" The boy certified the fact to
his companions, and they talked about
the matter with the keenest interest.
Returning from q trip to market,
Mary Thayer overheard youngster
declaring his willingness to bet that
there wasn't another bird in the city
whose house was worth $500. She had
striven to forget the lost note, but the
mention of this sum aroused her curl.
osity; not that she connected it with
the note, but that the amount exer-
cised a kind OF fascination for her,
knowing the children well, she asked
them what they were talking about,
and when they told her her heart
seemed to stand still. She went to the
workman and begged him to let her
look at the nest, request he granted
readily.
Mary climbed the short ladder, and
was satisfied with one glance that
here was the evidence Mr.. Bent de-
manded. Very carefully, so as not
to destroy the new nest, she pulled the
paper out 1t was crumpled and soiled,
and corner had been torn out by the
birds sharp beak, but all the writing
was intact.
The young manager had learned a
lesson from her previous call upon Mr..
Bent, and when she went to him with
the recovered note she took q friend
along. II Is not necessary to narrate
the conversation. Mr.. cent blandly
acknowledged the genuinencss of the
document, and, ignoring his former re-
fusal to remember having given such a
note, made payment in full on the
spot.
Its more like money from the sky
than before, Flora said Mary, on her
return home with her treasure, "for
the bird was keeping it for us up in
the air."-Buffalo Evening News.