Smyrna times., 1904-06-08
The Midwinter
Knight Errant
By CLINTON DANGERFIELD
Copyright, 1904. by ]. B. Mitchell

"Yez will be after findin 'em split
into kindlin wood some day." said
Nora maliciOusly, regarding Ham
mish's treasured blocks with an evil
eye The position of general slavey in
a cheap tenement does not improve
ones temper. DO yez think yeZ can
be keepin mess of chips to play wild
when we all do be sufferin' croOl for
cOal?
Don't know muffin bout coal. Don't |
care" retorted Hammish sturdily |
Five years old and gentleman unafraid |
was he.
Presently he bethouSht him to visit |
his special friend. the little seamStress |
on his own floor. Concc&lng the pre-
cious blocks. he trOtted off to her room
and, getting no answer to his knock,
pushed open the door and went boldly
In.
Why had Mazda let her fire go out?
He snuffed the biting air doubtfully.
wondering where she was. Then he
discovered her in drawn heap on the
bed. The thin blankets were huddled
over her. On top were piled her thread
bare jacket and the wrapper she had
been making for firm.
Hammish went to the bedside.
''Is you sick. Maida?" he asked petu-
lantly. He did not like sick people.
The girl opened a pair of great violet
eyes and regarded him.
Not sick" she said slowly; "jest
cold. I'm freezin to death. It's taken
so long hope it's come at lastv
70
goin' to die?"
yes" The blue lips scarcely shaped
the word. but he caught it. 1t dis
tressed him greatly by virtue of knowl-
edge newly learned from the resource
full. Nora, who had been trying to
frighten the child with stories Of
deaths grim paraphernalia. He seized
her shoulder in his baby hands and
tried to shake her
Don't dier' he cried piercingly
''YOu said Jack was comm home to
marwy you! How can he marwy you
if you is dead? Do you fink he would
dig you up?"
"Oh. Hammish." said the girl very
family. please 20 away! 1t will be
long. 50 long. before he comes. l can
not live till then. And they told me
there was no more work after this.
When Jack comes tell him | wasn't
afraid of-the grave 1t must be warm
er down there"
Conscious that he was growing very
cold himself. Hammish. fired with a
sudden resolve, made for the battered
coal scuttle. He would make a fire
himself.
For if Jack came home and had to
dig Mazda up might he not hold him
(Hammish) responsible? How often
Mazda had told him proudly Of her big,
warm hearted sailor who was coming
across the great seas.
And ! was in no such place as this
when he knew me and courted me,
she would say more proudly still
NANNY and | had a little house O
our own" Then with a drOOp of he
tired lids: But when she died afte
being sick so long it was hard so hard
to make bread. You don't know hOv
hard, little Hammish, but it will b
your turn some day"
Don't care" Hammish was won
to reiterate scornfully. Twill take IN
turn all right. Shall be a man."
But now he felt vaguely that man
responsibility rested on him long er
he had looked for it, for the battere
scuttle was utterly empty. There wa
nothing in the pitifully bare room OF
of which the tiniest fire could be mad
In his search he lifted the faded Gu
tain which covered the box termed
pantry Not fragment of food wa
within. 1t dawned on Hammish thi
If there was no food as well as 1
coal Mazda might be hungry. Again
attacked her imperatively.
HAS you eat you dinner|
go away, Hammish," repeated Il
girl. How could eat? There-w;
nothing"
Now. indeed. the puzzled knight G
rant faced a complex situation.
mother. the deus ex machina who ;
ways remedied all wrongs, would n
return until sunset How long did
take people to die? Would Mai
really die before his mothers retu
just because she was cold? OF who
could he take counsel? He knew
one but his enemy. Nora.
He waylaid her in the corridor.
"Oh. waltz he cried. please wa
How long does it take people
. freezeT
mo time at ALL" said Nora scOrnf
ly, ''ye little fool. ye!'
5 "And then
''Then they dig u cellar of a hole
|. slap 'em into it"'
IS She whisked on down the corrid
md Hammish went wearily to his o
!. quarters and stood before the
?. thinking.
For he was now facing the gr
!. problem of self sacrifice which all
us meet sooner or later. Either
g must burn his beloved blocks or Ma
q. must freeze. Either he must wa
his milk for her by the block fire
g. Mazda must 20 hungry. If he did th