The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1902-11-27

LIS.
"Don't be alarmed. That's only q
boys passion. 1t won't amount to any
thing"
"He says such dreadful words"
"That's habit. He doesn't mean any
thing by it. But it's habit that should
be broken"
soon got her quieted, and she pratt
tied about her dolls, her playhouses,
some pet rabbits and nook in the gar
den where she kept them. How singu
lar that war, which absorbed all about
her, should have no place in her mind.
Amid all the turmoil, the rumhllng Of
cannon, the tramp Of men aud horses,
bushwhacking, skirmishing, battles,
this innocent little maid was strangely
out of place Her mother came in pres
emily and took her away fearing that
she would annoy me. l was loath to
part with her. No healing balm had
been applied to my wound so soothing,
so grateful, as was her prattle to my
fevered brain and chilled heart.
They had scarcely left me when
Buck stalked into the room, his boyish
face as free from passion as If he had
never been ruffled. He had made sew
eral attempts to visit me, notwithstand-
Ing that he had been forbidden the
room. Seeing the coast clear, he slip
ped In unannounced and began fire of
questions.
"Does 1t hurt ~
"My arm? Yes, it hurts some"
"I'm glad yo' plunked hlp."
"Why do you sympathiZe with me In
stead of the other? You have only seen
ne few times"
This was too much for him to ex-
plain. I could see that he had conceiv-
ed an admiration for me, but he could
not tell why.
what did he try to kill yo' fol-" he
asked
"Well, perhaps it was because my ex-
istence annoyed him."
"What did yo' want to Kill him fo'?'
~ found 1t inconvenient to have him
shooting at me-"
"Td like to shoot a man. l shot a
rabbit once, but that's purity small
game. Pop, he won't let me have a
gun yet. He says l may have one
when I'm To-
"Buckp' called voice from the hall.
The boy dropped behind sofa. An old
negro woman entered and looked
around.
"Yo, Buck! Yo' hidin somewhar!
Yo' maw'll spank yo' sho' eff she cotch
yo' hyar troublin the gemmlen. Come
out O dar! knows whar yo' air"
/ was about to interfere, but natu-
raj distaste at giving away fellow
creature caused me to desist.
Il thought hearn dat chile talkin."
The woman stood still Il moment, but,
hearing no sound, numbered out Of the
room. The boy popped up from his
hiding place as soon as she had gone.
II like yo'," We're the first words he
uttered. "Yo' wouldn't tell on teller,
would yo'?"
How could l when you are glad
'plunked' my enemy? Is that your
mammy?
''Yes; that's Lib"
"Nursed you from baby"
Eyes, an she reckons she's goin to
nurse me all my life"
as your name Buckingham
Buckingham! No; ! amt got any
such doggone name as that! My names
Buckeye"
"How did you happen to get that
name"
"Cause 1 was horned thar"
"Wherep u,
''In Buckeye" -z4sss
'In Ohio?" aer~E
"Reckon it's the same"
l contemplated Buck for awhile with
out hearing any of the questions he
continued to fire at me. Why not In
trust him with the message? There
was every reason why / should not do
so except that he was devoted to me
and | had no one else to send. While
l was celebrating Lib came In, sur
prised him, dragged him out Of the
room and shut the door.
/ heard footsteps on the veranda,
then In the hall, then ascending the
staircase, as of people carrying q bur-
den. The door had evidently been shut
to prevent my seeing what was being
done. For awhile there was a hurrying
to and fro, and knew that something
unusual had occurred. After all had
been quoted Buck, who had mean
while escaped from his dusky captor,
slipped back to forbidden ground
1t occurred to me that | could draw
from Buck the solution of the recent
commotion, but what passed under the
roof Of my friends was no concern of
Lime, and / scorned to get 1t from
mere boy. But | wished to test Bucks
power Of reticence. Ten to one he had
been instructed not to talk to me about
the mysterious occurrence.
Buck" / asked, who came to the
house awhile agor
Wasn't anybody came to the house
awhile ago"
"a sick man, wasn't it?"
mo, he wasn't sick"
81 thought you said no one Gamer
"No one did"