The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-05-28
A CHRONICLE OF THE SAW
 DUST.

UUSls
 Few people peeping within the quiet room where little --.rs. Cronin rocked her sick baby could have recognized her as the original of the flaming post CTS with which the town was literally plastered. These portrayed a highly colored female standing erect upon two ferocious lions with the Stars ana Stripes waving above her head. Yet they were meant for her. and like the renowned Dr. Jeckyil and Mir. Hyde, Mrs. Cronin lived two different lives as widely antipodal as theirs. Plain Marie Blee. before her marriage though known to the circus world as Mile. Terephine Bellefontaine, she hao been as proud as a queen to become Mrs. Cronin, for though all of her col leagues voted Jim a slow one and a very poor match foi the brilliant mad emoiselle, it was just that very stolidiy and tranquil affection which most en- deared him to his little wife.
 Jim was a keeper in Robinsons Gl- gantic Menagerie. and day after day he went patiently on with his work, cleaning the animals cages and doing out their rations, without one single yearning in his honest soul for any more dHUitiOuS poSitioh, Whiic iiS ~ it all so quietly that the savage brutes needed his presence no more than that of the flies buzzing through their cages.
 He and Marie were married in the spring and had been blissfully happy for a year on Jim's modest earnings which, though not munifcent, were amply sufficient for their simple needs, but when the blue-eyed baby came to complete their happiness Marie found in this new responsibility stimulus for further activity, and when the lit- tie boy was five months old she in- sisted in spite of Jim's protests on go- ing back to her work.
 Little Jimmy was a sturdy chap who never gave them a moments anxiety; they got good woman to take care of him, and with her mind thus re- lieved, Marie fell back naturally into her old lines, though Diabolo and Ger berus, her former charges, proved less tractable than of yore, having been used for year and half to the brutal ferocity of Signor Baratti, re- centlv dimissed for drunkenness; but she got on pretty we'll after time. the lions learned once more to obey her milder methods, and as she snatched little Jimmy to her breast each day after the performance every kiss upon his rosy cheeks encouraged her to work on for his dear sake.
 During her performances Jim was never very far away, for those were his off-duty moments, and though two big guards stood always at the gate of the lion cage, whose interference had never yet been necessary, It seemed to the honest fellow that his whole happiness hung by a single thread, and in his loving heart truly he died daily.
 And now the bab yhad fallen i'll and though his nurse assured them 1t was nothing serious and that spasms were quite common with teething children, Marie felt as she watched the little form lying quite still across her knees. or again twitching convulsively while her heart almost stopped beating. that she simply couldn't leave him.
 But. alas! When she presented her self before MT. McGrath. sole man. glance into his fishy little eyes con- vinced her in advance that any appeal to his sympathy would be useless. Leave ye off from the matinay. is it? Now. I'm awful sorry, Mrs. Cronin, but 1t ain't to be thought of. Biz is biz,' that's my motto. You and them lions Is my most drawin' card, and If twas to git about you wasn't goin' to perform. we might as well close the circus. for we shouldn't take in a fiver-" here he spat copiously and conclusively. ''Im real sorry the kid is sick. ne added, seeing her wh1ten and tremble before him. but I guess he'll pull through. and you ain't in the ring over a half hour any way"
 How could she explain to this man that her courage was all gone. that every nerve in her body seemed to culver and snap-he wouldn't under stand, and with a sickly faintness stealing over her, she dragged herself round to the dressing tent and strug- gled to get into her gaudy tights.
 Mother Meachin. who took charge of the wardrobes. eyed her pityingly. She'd had children herself long ago, and as she saw how Marie shook and trembled. and hearing the band. knew that in a few minutes more she would be called, she pressed flat. black bot tle upon her. saying. with real kind ness:
 Take a swallow, dearie: it'll heart en ye up bit; you are all shakin' like a leaf"
 But Marie. after only a sip, thrust it from her. saying, faintly: No, sank you. Mozzer Meachin: it make me but more seek" and then as the wellknown music struck up and she knew that her hour had come. the old woman heard her whisper to herself:
 "Oh! bon Dieu des Miserables. pro- tege-moi de ces betes feroces pour Ia mour de ton Fills unique." thus she prayed.
 As she bounded into the lion cage with feet that felt heavy as lead. she noticed that. for the first time, both guards were absent. and once more