Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1901-07-11

| known benefactor placed there and
then fed before she could get a
glimpse at him.
Say, Lucky" Charley said one day,
them hairin's all gone, an L liked 'em
awfully.'
1.-The herring? Oh, yes; well I'd a
brought you some more but I'm allus
afraid your mann will watch" Ard
watch she did, and one night, seeing
Jack las she believed) in the very act
of stealing a parcel h had been gen.
erously left for her, she caught up her
gun, and that she fired without aim
was perhaps the reason she brought
down her man with a bullet in the
breast. The sound of shooting brought
the men from the saloon and little
Charlie from his bed.
"This man was notwithstanding
things from my tent door," cried Mrs.
Brier, wringing her hands in an
| agony of excitement.
"Oh, NANNY, he wasn't! he wasn't.
Twas him that brought all the things
to us-the blankets an everything!"
Charlie was wild with grief, and
bigger licked the white face of the
man whose blood was crimsoning the
snow where he lay; but he turned his
head and whispered: "Oh. Charlie,
you promised not to tell"
Il didn't tell-not while you's
livin'," sobbed the child, but look at
the bleed-oh, Lucky. you'G dead
now, sure"
mo, no, he isn't dead. He mustn't
die! Men, carry him into my tent,
where l can take care of him. l
won't let him die"
And she was as good as her word.
Never had man n faithful and
devoted nurse. For the first time
since childhood the big, rough fell
low knew the soothing touch of a
woman's hand; and her patient sweet
ness and little schemes to amuse and
interest him, when in the days OF
| convalescence he began to chafe at
his inactivity, were a source of end
less wonder to him. And as he
watched the quick-moving little fig
ure and studied the brave, bright face
of his quondam foe, he realized that
though his lung had healed and was
as sound as ever, his heart had got
a wound from which it must ache
while he lived. So he steadfastly re-
fused Mrs. Briefs offer that he should
take half the claim, and insisted that
he would return to Tacoma.
But you are doing well here; why
do you 60 away?" the nurse asked
for the twentieth time.
Driven to the wall, he replied:
sSII-a11 nan11 nh hnnn IT I've
used up all my excuses-here's the
truth: 1 low you, Mollie. L just
long to work for you, to keep care
and trouble away from you. And l
could do it, if-darn Brier, anyway!
Oh. 1 don't mean that, but, MoIlie, ]
want to take you in my arms
''Then why don't you, Johnnie?"
she asked, demurely.
''Great ST. Benedict! What'd Bill
Brier say when he comes?" he gasped.
"He won't say anything, poor man."
she was laughing and crying bott
together-"'cause he'll never come.
He died when he came Jack after us;
but we's all packed up to come, an6
he said we could hold his claim; 50.
after he was buried we come on-an'
an I thought you'd be scared to
stay on the claim if you thought my
man was comm. Why-there-you
great, big silly man-don't! Charliem
see you"
And when Charlie did put in an APP
pearance Jack privately inquired:
"What'd you say your pap was dig.
gin for. y~oungster?"
"'Cause, If he were comm, as mann
my said, he had ter dig dirt, an a lot
o. it; l seed i'm. an is box is buried
under a nawful heap O. it,"
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS" then
tenderly, did you Know your mother
was goin' to have ME now?"
"Yep, I heerd you a fixin' it up
Radford Review.