The Houma courier. (Houma, La.) 1878-1939, 1900-11-10

au A8 AaA NO 4Ns
traction for tie village fork. ana not
more than thriee 6ae hyetonR day had
her plump little hands revealed TIE se4
cret q anyones future.
Nlary was touched by her loneliness
She drew William toward the place
Where she waited.
I'm sorry Tor you. poor wench, she
said In 3 low voice. Hoo seems To be
eoin' but little business wi that cone
eertina thing
When they had reached the cage che
erred out with pleasure las she saw the
Java sparrows:
Lord ha' mercyi Birds as green as
grassl' Then she spelled slowly the
legend attached to the wires. aYonr
aortune told for penny Dear heart,
T must have il donel Dost remember,
Will lad, bow you am me am thu ovid
woman toWd as we should marry
happyg
Ay, said William. q do that. AM
now one o. these little green birds shah
tell you again"
ne dropped q penny into Guiseppa'E
palms at her signal one Of the spar-
rows pertly lifted a folded scrap Of
paper and pushed it between the bars.
Mary donned her speetacles and un-
folded it and read ia silence. The
message affected her strangely; she
staggered a little and would have
fallen had not William caught her ID
time. One hand pressed the paper
against her bosom.
"It says good news comm fro
aeross the seas she whispered faint
Isl. .An' now Z know for sure Is ths
lad is safe"
Then she fumbied ia her sk~irt-poc-
ket and took out a little moleskin.
pouch, SO worn that the hair only
showed O. patches, She united the
string and shook out the contents
q sixpence, a threepenny piece, and
some half-pence-into Guiseppa's
hand.
'It's all I've gotten, wench," she
said, 'but you're kindly welcome to
it," Guiseppa's big black eyes had
filed with tears; one or two trickled
slowly down the smooth olive cheeks.
81 thank you, ma'am, she said, in a
broken English hard for these old
folk to understand. 'It will find me
room and food for night"
Some young men from the neighbor-
ing village of Observation-Disclosures
strolled up to the cage, and William
and Mary moved away.
Poor soul!" sighed the wife. ashe
Gamma be than IS, an she looks
nearly starved. It's cruel work-a
pretty lass like that-a black un,
maybe, but as comely as ever I did
see
oCome, ~loove," said William.
"Thou'rt always fndin" pity for
something, even though it be a lame
%duckling. Where be'est thou, for
nowth' Bowd Cloudesley or tn Bulls
Yead?"
Il be for home" she replied, II
dunna feel as if / could talk to any
body tonight. Ny hearts SO full O.
what's comm. Go you to where YOU
please. I'll be safe enow gettin'
back"
So they crossed the green and re-
turned without seeing Giuseppe again,
choosing a different way through the
Hollow Wood and along the Moor
Edge. For the rest of the evening
they sat and talked Of their lads
childhood-of his pranks and his ro-
queries, They made surmises con-
corning the changes in his appear
anc since he went to sea five years
agos they pictured him with a long
beard of rudy hue, like the nous
tache that had sprouted on his upper
lip. When they retired beuward they
did not toss uneasily as they had done
since the post had ceased to bring his
letters, but fell asleep at once and
did not waken till sunrise.
Mary was astir first; the new
strength made her resolved upon TAX
ing up all her old duties. Before VIII
liam had come downstairs she had
"redded up the house-place. AS she
heard his stockinged foot on the
landing she took a basket of corn and
opened the door, so that she might
feed the poulty. A sharp cry, how
ever, brought William to her side in a
moment. He found her on the TIRES
hold, gazing bewildered at the sleep
ing figure of Giuseppe, who reclined
in a corner of the porch. A broken
hurdy-gurdy and a cage crushed cut
side, and in a hollow Of her gaudily-
Of all shape lay on the flags at her
side, and in the hollow OF her gaudily-
aprone lap lay two poor stif java
sparows,
sits tn foreign weneh," said VIII
liam. Mercy on as, how came she
here, wi her music box all smashed.
an her little birds are dead as stonesi"
Mary lifted the girls head dress.
which had fallen forward. The dark
face was all stained with tears. The
old woman's touch, gentle as it was
wakened a plaintive little moan. Gui-
seppa's eyes opened, and she began to
sob SO bitterly that William stole away
on tiptoe
'You'd best manage her yourself,
Mary, love" he said. 81 cannot bear
to hear it,
Then he hurried away, with his hands
pressed to his ears, whilst Mary knelt
beside Giuseppe, and, putting her arm
around her waist, she drew her gently
tn fba housa