The pioneer press. (Miller, Hand County, S.D.) 1893-190?, 1902-03-13
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Copyright Isoa Daily Story Publishing Company.

"a most unnatural child-sullen,
sluggish, sneaking." the rector affirm
ed. punctuating the Indictment with
pauses in his effort to be exact. A
shadow OF protest fitted over his wifes
face. First, Billy was motherless,
Secondly, under cover of a garden
hedge one day she had watched Billy
take aim at crow and his eyes, eager,
sweet and blue as larkspur, had APP
pealed to her unforgettably. Decided
", Billy's eyes when they could be
seen, counted.
II was said OF the rector that he
knew every man. woman and child in
the county: and they, by reason OF his
sweet cordiality OF manner, knew and
loved him. The rector owed his popu-
larity more to a single grace than to
the whole big sum OF his virtues-a
grace of sympathy so rare so discrim-
mating, so replete with charity as to
make him quite unoffcially, of course,
but in very real sense, the confessor
of mis- people.
But with Billy the rector could
make no Roadway. Billy was his
thorn In the flesh. an ever-present ap-
peal to his sympathy, but lodging ey-
cry expression OF II with the elusive
ness of a phantom. His kindliest
oVertures glanced the armor OF the
child's reserve. One day the rector
took him perforce for a drive, hoping
n gtn al
He told his most thrilling stories; Billy
remained utterly aloof. The rector
was approaching a state of actual dis
comtlture when Billy himself snapped
the tension by dropping adroitly from
the phaeton. He disappeared in the
brush like scared rabbit. The rector
decided to bide his time.
II was in harvest time that Billy's
mother breathed her last, swiftly,
TRANQUILITY, meekly grateful for her re-
lease Billy's father had brllied her
into stingless grave. Billy's father.
burly, irascible farmer, had long
since tired OF his sickly wife; he was
doubtless glad of his release. But he
felt fresh displeasure against her;
she had died in his busiest season
without consulting his convenience.
Billy's conception of death was very
nebulous. He observed the funeral
preparations with a sort OF wonder,
though the unwonted stiffness and
darkness made his heart fiutter. II
was not until the rector led him to
the bier and tenderly told him to kiss
his mother goodbye, and the tall man
with black gloves screwed on the lid,
that Billy began to apprehend. The
chill of desolation came upon him and
he sobbed softly, unobtrusively lest his
father should hear. He had smarted
too often for the offense to take risks
At last the casket was lowered and
the rector's voice became more solemn
Billy sobbed audibly He drew as
near the rector as he dared and in
creased the distance from his father
Presently Billy heard a thud Ashes
TO ashes, dust to dust" and the rector
had thrown a clump OF dirt at his
mother! He moaned aloud in his an
guish. To Billy, who knew nothing OF
symbolism. the act savored only OF I'M
friendliness. He interpreted ii In the
light OF his own experience, and in
roadside warfare with his kind, Billy
had learned the value of pebbly sand
as ammunition.
Hence the rector's difficulty with his
young parishioner.
The farmer lost no time in bringing
home a buxom widow whose quarrel
some progeny soon crowded Billy out
A nostalgia for the woods seized him;
he became nomadic in his effort at self
placement, and his father, who hated
the sight OF his understood offspring
sinking around like a whipped dog"
was not sorry. No wonder Billy pass
ed as "sullen, sluggish. sneaking"
Billy exulted in woodcraft. He knew
the Doggy hollows where the violets
and blood-root grew: the songs of the
birds were the familiar voices OF his
friends, and he studied the habits OF
the birds and chipmunks with the
fervor of naturalist. Billy did not
miss his mothers kisses so poignantly
in the forest.
In the course of time a new interest
came into Billy's life. One day in