Custer County Republican. (Broken Bow, Neb.) 1882-1921, 1903-05-14


the rabble, whose appearance fully equal.
ed my fathers description. l wished my
self away. Just then the band inside
struck up and giving my fears to the
wind, pressed forward, once involun-
tarily turning my head aside as / heard
u man near the door exclaim, deacon
Lees children as | live! Is the world
| coming to an endy
| Instantly my face flushed, for | felt
that injustice was done to my father. and
my first impulse was to exonerate him
| from all blame by explaining that we
had run away; but ere | could do so, Will
! pulled me along, and in q moment we
were in the close, heated atmosphere of
the vast arena, where were congregated
more than thousand people of oil nges
and conditions. l was COMPOUNDED, for it
seemed to me that each and every one
was pointing toward us the finger of
scorn. We had been but short time
seated when Will nudged my elbow, and
pointing toward group just entering,
| said, See, there's Squire Talbot, his wife
and daughter, DIR. Griffin and lots more
of Sunny Bank aristocracy. Now, amt
you glad you cameT'
| enjoyed it vastly, all except the rid
ing of the girl who, / fancied, had ON
her little sisters dress, and when she
came out l looked for n place where to
hide my head; but hearing the spectators
cheer louder than ever, | cast furtive
glances at those around me, discovering,
to my amazement, that they seemed more
delighted with her than with anything
else; while, to crown all, / heard Will
telling young man that 'she was a
splendid rider; that he never saw but one
who could beat her" Then turning to
Lizzie, he asked if she would not like to
| ride in that way? With an involuntary
shudder threw my arm round my sister,
as If to protect her from what | felt
would be worse than a thousand deaths.
| felt that not all the wealth of the In
dies could tempt me to fill the post that
that rider did. Mademoiselle Glaraine
was just finishing up her performance by
| riding around the circle without other
support than the posing of one foot ON a
mans shoulder, when who should appear
but our father!
He had missed Will and Charlie from
family prayers and had traced them as
far as the pavilion, where the fee receiver
demanded quarter ere he would allow
him to enter. 1t was in vain that father
tried to explain matters, saying "he never
attended circus in his life, and what
was more, never should; he'd only come
for two boys who had run away" The
door keeper was incorrigible. He'd seen
just as honest looking men," he said
who were the greatest cheats in the
world, and II father wanted to go in
he could do SO by paying the usual fee
If not, he must bulge"
Finding there was no alternative, faith
er yielded, and then made his way into
the tent, scanning with his keen gray
eyes the sea of faces until he singled out
Charlie, who was 80 absorbed in stamp
ing and hallooing at Mademoiselle Gla-
raine's leaping through hoop that he
never dreamed of fathers presence UNI
til rough hand was laid upon his shout
der, and stern voice demanded of him
why he was there? Perfectly thunder
struck. Charlie started to his feet, but
before he could make any explanation,
father discovered Lizzie and me- Twas
the first suspicion he. had of our being
there, and now, when he saw us, he turn
ed pale, and reeed as If smitten by a
heavy blow. Had he felled me to the
earth It would have hurt me less than
did the expression of his face and the
tones of his voice, as he said, you, too
Rosa never thought you would thus
deceive me-"
l began to cry aloud; so did Lizzie, and
in this way we made our exit from the
circus, followed by Charlie, John and
Will--the latter Of whom, the moment
we were in the open air, began to take
the blame all to himself, saying that we
never would have thought of going but
for him. and suggesting that he alon,
should be punished, as he was the enc
most in fault. thought this was yer,
magnanimous in Will, and l looked VI
in fathers face to see how it affected
him, but could discover nothing, though
the hand that held mine trembed violent
ly. / presume he thought that in THU
case corporal punishment would be of II,
avail, for we received none, but in vari
Gus ways were we made to feel that W,
had lost the confidence Of the family. Fo
four long weeks we were each nigh
locked in our rooms while for the sam
length of time we were kept from school
Lizzie and / reciting our lessons to GU
mother, while win, Charlie and John, t
use their own words, worked from morn
ing until night"
But the worst part of 1t all was tn
temporary disgrace which our act of dis
obedience brought upon father A hall
witted fellow, who saw him enter til
tent, and who knew that we were Their,
hurried away to the village with tn
startling intelligence that Deacon lie
and all his family were at the circus"
, The news spread like wildfre, until b
the time it reached us 1t was a curren
report that not only was father at tn
circus, but grandma, too! This was NOR
! than the old lady could bear. Sixty-nin
/ years had she lived without ever havin
/ had word breathed against her morals
S and now, just as her life's sun was Sc
: ting, to have such thing laid TO he
+ charge was too much, and she actual
e worried herself into fever which cor
fined her to the house for several week
: After this adventure it became a ser
: Gus question in fathers mind as to wh'
+ he should do with viii. who kept OF
9 heretofore quiet household in a state
}, perpetual excitement. Nothing SCENE
: to have the least effect upon him say
o the mention Of his mother, and that Il
Q the time being would subdue him; l.,
3 when temptation came he inyariabl