Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1903-07-22

Keep IuG OOOhS dS HIS ClllCA OCSuPo-
l tion, a.d she made great deal conver-
sationally of the glory of those books.
5 Johnnie made very little of them eX-
cept to blot them freely. He seemed
all the while he sat over them to be
: struggling hard to do something re-
| quiring great expenditure of noisy
b cath, but the result failed to satisfy
| the grocer:
He took his dismissal st0lidly, if
; with a lingering shortness of breath.
, Don't want to stay, SIR" he biurted
: out at last; "but could you say-could
. you say as"
| "Ell say 1 thing you're a deal too
clever for this job, my boy" said the
) kindly grocer, "if thatll suit you?"
And he winked jovially.
Thank we, sir" said johnnie, SIM
} ply, and very slowly and solemnly re-
turned the wink with one prominent
!; blue eye. And that was the only clew
!; to the hidden depths of his character
the village ever received from clever
Johnnie.
For his mother did not try again to
find him a situation; he quietly put
himself beyond that possibility She
came down one morning to find him
gone, with little bundle of clothes,
and apparently half loaf and couple
of turnips.
"Dere Ma" Che had written-he never
| called her anything but Mother" but
Ma" proved easier in the spelllng)-
q ham gon to foind som work has
con Go Dere Ma i wull send you som
cash reglar when gets it dere Ma
Your lorin son ]. HAYES"
She never showed this letter to any
one, but she industriously spun about
the prosaic fight of Johnnie veil OF
romance all her own. and 1t so took
UP her time and thoughts that she grew
accustomed to being alone before she
began to mind it.
Meanwhile, with considerable direct
ness, Johnnie made him way onf foot to
large racing stable IN an adjoining
county that he had once been told
about He was lucky in this, that the
owner O. the stable was actually pres
| ent when he reached it, and lucky also
in being given the opportunity of MAX
ing his application for employment to
the Great Man himself Johnnie's
breath again gave him trouble, but
what he said was to the point
az haven't had much to do with 'em,
but do seem to know something about
'em, and I'm so mortal fond O. horses
that nothing would be too much trouble
to learn; and, if you'd try me, I'd work
my hardest"-Then his breath gave
out, and he stood painting and expect
ant, the stare of his blue eyes for
once fixed appropriately on the Great
Mans face.
And he was given the work he longed
for. The Great Man was mortal fond"
of horses, too; there may have been
times when he even envied his men
their method of earning their daily
bread about his stables. At any rate, he
realized that Johnnie was going to
live an ideal life-a life spent in doing
the thing of all others he would
rather do.
Johnnie's choice of occupation, in
deed, was such a wise one that he did
not long retain the humble position in
which he started. His jondness for
horses taught him more about them
than experience taught many of the
others; he could always lead them by
it, lust as a woman who loves children
can always make them love her, or a
man who loves men can always man
age them. And from the first, when his
wages amounted to only very few
shillings weekly and he was obliged to
go often very hungry to do it (for
Johnnie was still growing and his ap-
petite with him), he regularly sent a
monthly postal order to his widowed
mother, and as time went on he never
failed to make it larger to match every
rise. He did not often write, and, if
he did, he never gave her his address,
or any news beyond the state of his
health; thing that, having started
propitiously, did not vary. Nor did he
ever visit her, although it would have
been an easy enough journey to take,
likely thing to do But, in refrain
ing, Johnnie probably had his reasons;
he covered them over with wide re-
ticence, but it was known by now that
he generally had them-for other peo-
pie to talk about if they cared to.
And then at last Johnnie gained pro-
motion and a rise so substantial that it
seemed to change his views. For more
than year he had been walking OUT
with a young woman-only servant,
it is true, but sweet Of face and true
of heart, and as fond of Johnnie as he
was fond of horses He had started
their walks together by making it very
plain to her that marriage must be a
remote possibility, because the postal
orders taxed his resources and were not
on any account to be stopped.
$50 it mayn't be worth your while to
be waiting" he had said. Likely it
would be stiffish time.''
"Then you don't really love me?"
sighed the maid.
81 loves you right enough said
Johnnie. 4 wasn't speaking i'll of my
love-"
'rIf you love me, how can you doubt
me being willing to wait a bit for you?
You're williHt;, aren't ycu?" She
spoke with tears.
Mighty Wiling" said Johnnie. He
drew her head upon his shoulder, and
he patted it, resting there, as he might
the head of favorite horse. Shortness
of breath, as of old at an emergency,
overlook him, but he managed to re-
peat, STEADY, m beauty, steady" a
great many times.
And now his generous wages actual.