Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1900-12-10
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s A SYRIAN HEART, :
* By Sara Beaumont Kennedy *
By Sara Beaumont Kennedy.


Toni lifted his head painfully: mo
true, no true" he said in his broken
English; and then for sheer pain he
tainted again When he opened his eyes
a second time he was in a hospital bed,
and a nurse was ministering to him.
Yes" she said, answering the question
ir his big black eyes, =" you will get
we'll"
But soon he knew that his manhood
was nipped, his activity gone; never
again would he ply his trade, for one
might not push a cart over the streets
while one hand held a crutch. And
Comma? All, the shooting sorrow of
that t~hought-the autumn would come
and go and he could not send for her!
Only q Dago, the man had said, bend
ing over him on the icy street; but a
Dago's heart can beat and break with
loneliness and grief like any Americans;
and the tears that Toni shed during the
days that followed We're not for the pain
of his leg, but for the pain Of his heart.
One day when he was better a gentle
man. cold of manner came to see him.
MY niece. Miss Vernon. sent me
to inquire about you. She has been ill
from nervous shock since the day of the
accident.
'she will get well?" asked Toni. with
his curious accent.
ooh. yes: there was not a scratch on
her. We wish to reward you for you
efforts in her behalf" n the visitor
laid three crisp ten dollar notes on the
ccunterpane.
But with a fierce gesture Toni struck
them off. Their treasure was safe. not
SO much as a scratch on her delicate
skin: while he was MANNED in badly
and crushed in spirit, and all of his life
was ruined. And they thought that
thirty dollars could make up the differ
ence to him! 1t was not money he want
ed. but his strength and his straight
limbs and the power to work for Gem
ma. And the affronted visitor left him
raging and weeping like a mailman. A
week later the girl herself came, but
Toni would not talk with her: the sight
of her black eyes and red cheeks re-
minded him of what he had lost in Gem
ma. and he begged the nurse to take her
away. So two months went by, and
Toni hating the sound of his crutch as
if it had been a fiend's laughter, crept
back. to the shanty which could now
never be TRANSPORTED. by Commas
presence, into a palace of Owe. The man
who had shared his room, was still
there, and received him kindly, and for
" Sey' AS'A u" ~ IN o' otiA
went over the old dream and tired to
summon courage to write to Comma.
But he could not put the sorrowful news
into words, and the third afternoon
found him still with the blank page
before him and his face in his hands.
AS he sat thus there was a knock, and
he looked up to see Miss Vernon and
q gray-baarded man standing in the
door. The girl crossed the room
quickly and took his and in hers.
you must speak to me-you saved
my life, Here is my father who has
just returned from a long journey, he
wants to thank you"
ut is n debt beyond thanks" the old
man said, as he sat down at the table
and laid his arm tenderly over Toni's
shoulder.
It was this little action that broke
down Toni's reserve, and the next time
the Vernons came he told them his
story and his heartache; and the girl
cried with her cheek against his crutch.
Then one morning they caire in their
carriage and took Toni to a popular
fruit stand and cigar stand he saw his
own name in big gilt letters.In such a
location even a cripple might prosper.
There is a comfortable living room
| behind the stall.' said Mr.. Vernon. cit
is my daughters wedding gift to Gem
ma: you will not refuse it in her name.
Ny own gift to the bride was a check
for her steamer passage which I sent a
week ago. She will be here before very
long"
And with the first June roses she came,
and Father Nichols married them in the
little italian chapel; and the last trace of
| sadness vanished from Toni's face, for
although to the outside world he was
only a ''lame Dago," to the little woman
with the tender. helpful hands, he was
Toni, my beloved"