The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-04-27
Tell, JuuiOr.
BY ELIZABETH PHIPPs TRAIN. kCop,risht. 1902, by Daily Story Pub. Co.,

Hc WaS after all, but little 1eloW, only 10. albeit well-grown and somewhat mature for his years, and the fire-arm was big, clumsy, numbering foWlpiece, Belonging to his father. Eden was moment or two in recovering from the physical as well as the mental shock or che unanticipated concussion. Then he bethought him that Freddy. the little brother of C. had been posing with an upple on his head as the son of William Tell. Instead of continuing to stanu proudly erect in evidence of the patriots 0killful aim, young Tell had simuitane- Uusly with the report, tumbied inconti- nentiy to the ground. The rosy apple hao rolled of the small head, and fallen close to the youngsters breast, as Eden per- ceived. But, in the midst of his disap- pointment of the tableau. his heart swell cd with pride in his aim. for .peering forward, through the rising smoke with his blinking. near-sighted eyes. he dis- covered that the apple had lost its nat nral shape, and was no longer a sphere but a shapeless biotch of crimson against Ereddys gray homespun jacket.
 A vision of repetition of the perform ance. with Freddy more carefully coached ln his part was filling his imagination, and he was about to call out to the Ing cry from the woodshed and the swift speeding of woman's figure toward the spot where Freddy lay, seized upon his attention and laid clutching fingers Of formiess but horrible apprehension upon his heart. InstiHctively, his short-sighteu eyes followed the direction of his moth- CTS glance, which never wavered from the spot 1t had fastened upon. And then. For the first time, an. awful, an impos- eible idea occurred to him.
 Freddy had never moved. even ever so slightly since he fell-and that brilliant crimson patch which he mad taken to be the mashed skin of the rosy apple!-he leaned forward with his lips sprung apart md his young body shivering as if an ague had possession of It. staring with I>d ta Anr vision. at the carmine splash. Apple 5uice could not spread and soak like that s-and it could not stain! It could not stain,
 He stood there straining upon the pgos- oect until group had gathered about it. i The distraught cries and actions of his mother affected him only as they con- 1lrused his awful co lslusiop. They touch- Bereavement, but turned him cold with a realizing sense of the loss he had in nicted upon himself They shriiled in his poor little ears over and over again the Tact that the one creature who seemed 10 love him in the world was no longer of 1t; and because he had himself killed him. He turned away and sought cor per in the kitchen to which he was much addicted Then the gloom of complete Loneliness settled upon him, sullenly- When, a few moments later. two or three of the more curious of the village gos- sips sought him out to probe him and his
 
 the sting of a foregone conclusion, ne showed at first a still, and then stub born and even sulky front. So, the mon strous rumor. started by the mother and eagerly caught up by the sensation-mong- CTS that the fatality was intentional, be- came accredited. spread and grew.
 It was easy to believe it of him, for he was bad boy this Eden Wilde. ln- deed. his mother herself, openly bewailed the fact.
 Late into that night he lay upon his little bed in the loft. that he had shared with Freddy. resurrecting and reviewing his loss That sullenness of soul had wholly disappeared. giving place to child's natural sorrow for beloved play mate. intensified by remorse over fatal act of misconduct. In the darkness he sobbed aloud burying his head in the clothes for fear his demonstration should be audible to others. and whispering to the sheets, childishly. assurances that he would not have harmed the little boy for she world. It seemed to him such an un- heard of thing that any living creature could have conceived the thought that he had intended this act that he had con- mitted. The tragedy that had taken plEc7 }, the murder-his young body oozed drops { of cold sweat as he gave his deed the name his mother in her agony applied 10 it-could not fall so heavily upon any one in the world as upon himself. Even his mother herself could not suffer from tt as he should. for she had her other children and many friends, while he-he- fthe reflectlOn came Wltn a Rulp) naQ ndQ only Freddy.
 The somewhat lumpish lad. unprepos- sessing to the outward view. and appar- ently indifferent to affection and to the consideration of those about him. had been an outcast from society ever since he had scared old widow Harwood to death at the untimely age of ninety-one !. by ringing her doonbeli one dark night and exhibiting upon the threshold the articulated skeleton which he had surrep fitiously borrowed from Dr. Jefferson's surgery. He had been a dweller upor the outskirts of his own familys affec' ton ever since hls relatives had awakcne to the perception that his connection witt them was detrimental to their financia advancement in the community.
 But Freddy had been no censor of mor als. And Freddy had loved him with thu love of the younger for the elder brother --with that love which. because it look aip to and aspres, so insiduouslv flatter seif-esteem. And poor Eden's self-esteel would have gone starved but for tn nourishment with which the younger chil supplied 1t.
 Somewhere near Il o'clock that night when even the grieving mother had falle asleep sturdy little figure in cotto niehtshirt opened the door of the uppe chamber. and felt its way cautiousl down the stairs.
 As he became more accustomed to tn 6srkness of the parlor, vague outline began to suggest familiar objects to him so that he could distinguish the locato nf things ana thus escape further accl dent. He was seeking the sofa. for was upon this that his ina magination ha
 pictured his little brother 10 he lying. an standing still near the center of the room peering strenuousiy through the obscur ity, he presently believed that he Ina discovered 1t quite at hand. What els could that long. ill-defined object ht which. covered with drapery, loomcd E importantly out of the shadows? True it was higher than ordinary and nor angular but 1t had the length of tn familiar lounge. and it was certain tha they would have laid Freddy upon nott ing else. He took step or two toward it. under a strong impulse of affectionat longing and then stopped short. held u by sensation that chilled him, to tn marrow. The boy. who. whatever other wise had been his faults, had always bee reckoned courageous. suddenly felt hin
 self possessed throughout his entire beiI by a nameless. paralyZing dread. an al parently baseless and irrational horro similar to that exhibited by unreasonin animals in the presence of the dead.
 An impulse of flight came over hin and he would have turned tail and he from the room. but that his feet scene rooted to the floor Beads of cold swe; came out upon his flesh. the muscles his Jaw became uncomfortable. and h teeth chattered audibly. The child W; numb with fear. mad to escape. and VI unable to stir foot. He remembert
 nightmares when he had longed in simil fashion to evade the neighborhood
 some swelling monster. whose increasir bully threat an d to crush and suffoca him, and could not. In those times. h fore he had fallen under the ban of h