The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-09-07
THE PAPER DOLLS.
BY W. R. ROSE.

| The sky was cloudless and the sun | shone down in blazing splendor. The hills swan in golden haze. the streets | were white with dust. the air was op-
 pressively still. But the sheriff strode | on unmindful of personal discomfort. The l apple of his eye. his Rosalie, his moth- l eriess i-year-old, had strayed from the siow-witted nousekeeper knew naught of hef whereabouts. She had played about the yard until late in the morning and was only missed when the sherin came across from the gloomy county buildings | for his l o'clock luncheon.
 The stalwart sheriff trembled as he hastily despatched the housekeeper to the nearest neighbors. and himself .strode or in the. direction he fancied the child would most likely go. Later on, if nec-
 essary. he would raise general alarm: There was good reason for the sheriff to feel troubled over the thought that the child might be stolen. He was a terror for eviI-doers and more especially those suspected evil-doers, the tramps.
 He had declared open warfare against
 them, and for the most part they gave
 his bailiwick wide berth He had oeen
 threatened openly and anonymously. and
 what way to strike him harder than to steal his dearest treasure? The sherin
 brcathed hard and strode on. There was one 1mpudent vagalDond who had irri-
 tated him quite beyond endurance, and
 he had treated him with unusual harsh
 
 jail that very morning and roughly bade him be gone. He remembered the bitter look the tramp had flung as he shamblcd
 away.
 The sheriff was hurrying towards the
 gorge. that deep cleft. in the hills that
 opened up less than hundred rods rom
 the shsFs home s RGsSs 3eSn9 tSs had sesn coa
 depths. the tricltiing streams. the birds
 that darted and sang. It was natural that she should seek it alone. And the sheriff remembered that the tramp had gone that way. too.
 As he entered the great cleft and fol- lowed the narrow winding pathway ms keen eyes were busy searching for traces of the child. The current of air that | always stirred through this huge funnel l famed his heated face, but he did not | feel 1t. By the side of the almost dry
 bed of the stream he hurried on. Pres.
 entity he came to the pool. natural | basin where the stream as It fell down 1 the high rocky terrace just beyond, hau
 worn a deep hollow; The pool was tsrs dsaS srS
 an unsavory reputation The sherii
 paused by the margin and anxiously look
 ed across the still surface, Then some ae | thing at his feet attracted him, Ile scarlet ribbon, and his soul sickened as | he stared at it and film blinded his
 eyes when he turned and Peerea inio sh | he flung down his hat and drew on his | coat, and was just stopping to remove | his shoes. when something fiuttered to | his feet. ., | black rock before him-a grotesque white
 image cut from a fragment of newspa- | per, a paper doll. When he raised his | eyes it was to discover whence 1t came | linen, noting the direction of the cur. rent eff air, he hurried forward ana | clambered up the rocks where the slen- | der stream came tumbling down., As his | head and shoulders rose above the ievel l beyond he paused. The. scene was aI | amuhitheater where the rocks hao 1 shrunk away and left clear and level | space. The sky was blue above, the | grass was of moss-like softness, ana the trees hung thickly over thes clins oil
 % On the yielding turf on the sunniest
 spot sat a tramp. an unmistaka olt | tramp-unkempt, tattered. grimy .anc moi far away, with faint smile dim. ping her rosy face, lay the missing child 1 fast asleep. .,.- ,-,,- e...
 a mangled newspaper with a tiny pan of soissors that were attached to huge pocket knife, There were paper d@olIs @ | scattered and fluttering on the turf here and there, and little Rosalie held two Tn her chubby fingers. The tramp. with a doll just dropping from his scissors point. was gazing at the sleeping child
 a softened look upon his hardened face
 The sheriff stepped forward. The ,vag
 abond looked up and quickly raised his hand nointed to the sleeping child. The | sheriff involuntarily halted. but his looR
 was black and his f1rsts were clenched
 You scoundrel," he muttered. what does this mean?" He came a step near
 CT. The tramp, did not sti:.
 Might as we'll cut out the hard words
 Sunday, AFTER FORTY YEARS" by