The Morris County chronicle. [volume] (Morristown, N.J.) 1877-1915, 1902-12-12

forest. the occasional fretful cry of a
strange bird and the regular snores of
the fallen king, who slumbered in the
shade of the hut. Even the buzz of the
annoying flies assisted the general ef-
feet and brought drowsiness.
To remain still for few minutes
would have meant inevitably falling
asleep Effie felt this and remembered
the littde g"tiI nugget. If she slept
some thief might come and take it. And
so she put on her hat and. forsaking
the seductive cool and shade Of the hut,
went out into rhe brightness and heat
Archer's hut stood on the edge of the
valley, over against the foot of the
blue. heavily tinbered bills. About so
yards distant from 1t. hidden among
the trees. was high moss grown rock,
at the base of which Effie had discover
ed the smallest and sweetest Of natural
springs Thither the child ran-looking
back often to see that no one approach
ed the hut in her absence-to battle her
face. In few minutes she returned,
drying her face in her nnron and shak.
ing her wet hair in the sun. No one
had come, but King Billy was now
awake and was slouchlng lazily off to-
ward the bush. Effie laughed as she
saw him, his great head bent forward
and his thin. narrow shoulders bowed.
She laughed to think of his laziness
and that he should look so tired after
such very little wood chopping.
She was still laughing at King Billy
as she opened the old workbox to take
another peep at the yellow treasure
and to make quite sure that the heat
hadn't melted 1t away. And it was
quite slowly that the laugh died from
her pretty eyes and mouth quite slow.
" because 0e the moments 1t took to
realize and accept O misfortune SO ter
rible- when she lifted the coarse socks
and looked and saw no little gold mug
get, saw nothing Then horror and
great fear grew in the blue eyes. and
pale agony crept over the childish face
and made it old and the poor little
heart seemed to stop beating
Effie said nothing and made no cry.
but she closed her eyes tightly for a
ulOulGul uDI IOOhCQ Ill TIE UOA dSdIll
No, 1t was no illusion. The little mug
get was not there. The first gold her
father had found. which had been in
trusted to her care. which was to have
been taken 10 her motherit was gone.
She put down the box quite quietly
and walked out into the day. But the
sun was shining very strangely and
mistily now, and the blue sky had
grown black, and the trees seemed to
move weirdly. and the locusts had
ceased cumming from fear. but the
strange bird was somewhere near.
shriekng brokenly: What will father
say? What will father sayY
But as the child stood there despair
ing her sight grew clearer. and she
saw a black figure among the trees,
and she was conscious of a pair of
dusky eyes watching her through the
leaves. Then only she remembered,
and she knew who had done this cruel
thing. King Billy! And she had been
kind to him. Effie suddenly burst into
passionate sobbing, The black figure
still lowered among the trees, often
changing its position. and the dusky
eyes still peered through the leaves.
And the laughing jackasses few down
to the old tree again and laughed more
madly than hefore-laughed at Effie's
trust at Billy's gratitude!
1t was 10 o'clock, and darkness and
quiet reignPd in John Archers hut.
Over among the tents behind the wat
tie gums a few gamblers and heavy
drinkers were still awake. and their
voices. raised in anger or ribald mer-
riment might occasionally have been
family heard from the hut. But Arch
er, who had sown his wild oats. was
true worker and he had his little
daughter, for whose sake he had built
the hut away from the noisy camp
Archer had come home late and
weary as usual. had eaten his supper
and gone to rest without, TO Elfies in
tense relief speaking of the little gold
nugget. The child was afraid to speak
of the loss. and she was not without
vague hopes that beneticent Provi
dence would restore the nugget during
the darkness and save her from this
great trouble.
For this she prayed very earnestly
before she lay down to sleep, Or did
she sleep at all that night? She never
quite knew. But she thinks that II
was then that she first experienced
that terrible purgatoral condition
which Is neither wakefulness nor
sleep when the body and mind are
weary enough to bring the profound
sleep which they require, but which
the brain Is too overladen and too
cruelty active to allow, when dreams
seem realities and realities dreams
1t must have been a dream when she
saw something small and yellow float
through the tiny window on the ghost
~ silver moonbeams. And yet when
having closed her eyes, she opened
them again it was still there, lowering
about in the darkness, less bright now
ana with n pale yellow halo But 1t
faded quite away. 1t was cruel,
mocking dream.
Then was It a dream when the old
curtain which divided her corner of
the hut from her fathers moved near
the ground hulged slightly toward
her? 1t waal be curious to see and
she lay stil frotn Under lie curtain
seemed TO come a thin arm ana slow.
", cautiously after the arm head
with n great sbock of bair AMI ~.