The Bellefontaine Republican. [volume] (Bellefontaine, Logan County, Ohio) 1855-1905, 1903-03-10

was soon conscious of the awkward
approach of the dwarf. who placed
large leaf filled with chinquapIns at
her side.
Tenkye. missus, fur bein' SO kline ter
a po' boy"
Alice smiled and motioned to him.
With backward pull or scrape of the
right foot and a sort of jerk Of his
front hair he obeyed.
nat Is your nameT
TONY. ma'am."
what is the matter with YOU? whv
do you live on nuts and say You have
no place to spend money? The city lis
very near. and you can walk in IL you
can come out"
The boy hesitated.
Il 'fraid fur tell you de trut', cause
you mout tell way / is"
Alice hastened to reassure him.
"Oh, missus, you ane know wat a
hard time po' nigger kin have. My
mudder love me, do l is got a hump
back, an she nebber lick me. l ane
ne5ber bin strong nuff ter wuk, an, do
1 use ter help her wat l could, tame
bin much l could do. After she dead
ane know no time l ane git kicks an
knocks from my daddy, cause e say
cen e way an 'e ane gwine feed a big
boy lax me. Sometimes / goes days
widout a crus' er bread, an one day e
beat me so an t'row me ag'in de wall
dat 1 nebber know nuttin'. Wen
wake up, il wuz mos mite. an / can
stan no mo-, SO l git up ter go. an
fine my aims an back so hut me
kin hardly walk. | was cumin' out de
place wen / see a hunk er bread an
piece er bacon cen de closet do, an, {,
| missus, l bin so hongry I tex um an
sneak off. l know / wuz wrong. but
wuz so weak an hongry couldn't help
it. Den 1 sneak an hide an sneak an
hide till l cum yeah, an / bin yeah so
long now dat I gittin' berry sick.
/ ane had all dis time ting ter eat 'cep'
de nuts an berries. / begs de good
Lord ebery mite ter tex me befo' my
| daddy cum, cause l can't let um kill
me. an 1 too little an too weak ter
help myself"
| The poor little fellow burst into
| tears. Alice was not ashamed to let
her own tears fall freely. and soon a
band OF sympathizers stood around the
| unfortunate child. A basket of food
intended for a lunch was quickly
opened, and Tony made a royal meal
Before leaving Alice said:
| TONY. do you know the city? Well,
I live on Rutledge avenue near Spring
street, and IL you will come to my
house think we may fnd job for
you"
"Oh, missus. I 'fraid ter go cen de
town less l know fur sure / ane
gwine meet my daddy"
alice" said one OF the larger boys
''let him stay here tonight, and tomor.
row / will come out with an officer
and bring Tony IN under his protec.
ton. lf that brute shows up. he will
be arrested"
prevail the picnickers soon after de
parted,
| After prayers of thanks to God fol-
his deliverance Tony lay down and
slept the sweet. untroubled sleep OF
childish faith In the eagerly expected
tomorrow" In the morning he almost
forgot in his joy his past enforced 81
lence and played happily In the wood:
for some time. The sun was hot, and
he soon became tired and hungry. Go
ing to the hollow tree which served a.
his storehouse, he and the squirrel wer,
soon enjoying the remnants of the goot
things OF the day before. Suddenly hs
paled. and his heart stopped in fear
He heard stealthy steps behind hin
and, looking round quickly, was Just IL
time to save himself from an upraiset
stick in the hands of his enraged ia
ther.
Flying up the first tree he saw, Ton!
failed to notice until too late that i
was not strong enough 10 bear hi
weight; so, holding ON as tightly as b,
could. he trembled for his safety eithe
way. A storm of wild abuse came from
the man. who was In a fury. He vic
lently shook the tree, which almost a
once dislodged his victim. No soone
had Tony touched the earth than b
was seized by the ruffian, who bella
bored him, accompanying each blow
with the vilest language and mos
frightful kicks Scream after scream
filed the air until, with one piercinl
shrek, the sufferer sank into blesse,
Inconsistencies Rapidly approaching
footsteps We're heard. and the wretch
hurling the little PROSTATE form agains
a tree. took TO his heels He was to
late. however. An officer and two youn
men seized him. and a wild fight 70
freedom followed. The coward wa
soon conquered and was with muc
trouble taken to the station hous,
while the unconscious boy was care
for by persons attracted by the noise.
AS soon as Tony was able to atten
court the wretch who caused his sui
ferings was tried and sentenced to
term cf years at hard labor in the pen
tentiary.
Tony soon after became stable boy 8
: the home OF Alice Brewster. The littl
fellow developed a spirit of true cou
! age and a rare degree of gratitude. A
IL a pail had been lifted from his lif
D be blossomed out under the care an
kindness he received I'm his new hom
His doglike devotion to Alice and b
watehfulness over her were indee
beautiful. If she wished TO ride. /
took the greatest care in grooming h'
pony.
Tony was about four and one-ha
feet i'm height and but for his humpt
back well formed boy. His skin W:
: of the clean black best liked by Il
white families Of the south. Now tn
he knew there was no danger of NEE
Ing his father. he took frequent trips
the woods TO gather nuts. berries al