The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1904-03-27

had set his heart upon 1T with
Ee41429 all the passion of the small boy
midway between marbles and the
ruder sports of the campus His father had
looked upon this with a tolerant eye but
his mother. an imaginative little woman
with a distinct genius for making her
worries real. at least TO herself, held up
to him the horror. the pathos. of a leg
less Billy or a Billy minus his fingers
or his sight: so that IL was not until the
birthday that marked his entrance into
the teens that saw the fulhllment of ms
desire
Upon the day in question sleet fell from
daylight to dusk. intermixed sparingly with
powder of snow and a flicker of sun
light Just TO be in spirit with the month.
A sullen-faced boy Billy was that day. but
the day following happened to be Saturday
and the knowledge of it was like rainbow
in his heart.
AS he slid from bed the morning of
the second day Billy had been owner OF
his gun twenty -four hours. and had thought
about Ii fourteen hours and dreamed about
IL ten hours during the nigth Two OF
the other boys. Cubby Billings and Ken
meth White. had frankly invited them
selves 10 go along on his first hunt. Cuooy
and Kenneth were the exact opposites or
each other in every characteristic, fact
which cemented their friendship with pc
cuIiar strength. Cubby's freckles onset
Kenneth's girlish ties. and Kenneths deli
cate health made Cubbys strenuosity a
thing for perpetual admiration. Both of
them were however. boys who admired
guns. but whose parents did not; therefore
Billy was crowned among boys when his
parents were chosen.
The two boys came over generously the
evening of Billy's birthday and helped him
blow holes through every inanimate thing
about the place till Mrs. Tomiskye was
verging on nervous collapse; she ended fin
ally by sending the neighbor boys home
gently but firmly and setting Billy to
anuse his little sister with game of very
sided dominoes.
Saturday to be mis- own. however. and
he fiung on the various babiliments that
go to the making of the outside of the
small boy with a speed that caused Nora
to open her Irish blue eyes at the short
space of time that elapsed between the
time she rang the getting-up bell and the
time pair of stout shoes came slithering
down the banisters, Billy coming after
them, obviously unwashed and uncombed,
but with the precious gun already safe
under his arm.
BY the time the mullins were on the table
Billy was ready for them, and impatient
to be off. which made him stuff his mouth
with bites that threatened to choke him
and called out gentle reproof from across
the table.
ing machine out of yourself. You have the
whole day before you. And William" his
mothers troubled eyes were resting on the
gun beside his chair. do promise me to
be careful with that gun. 1 shall worry
every moment you are gone. You know
how careless you are, William. 1 tried to
make your father see the wisdom of wait
ing year or so. but he only laughed at the
idea wanted. William. TO give you those
red squirrels instead
Squirrels. motheri'
The insinuation was not complimentary,
and her sons lip curled openly. However.
he would very gladly have taken the squir-
rels-and the gun. Cubby Billings had red
squirrels and rabbit dog; Kenneth White
was permitted pigeons and bantams by a
doting mamma As for the Tomiskyes
they owned a family cat; this. together
with Tom. the horse, was the extent of
Billy's ready-made pets. He liked pigeons
and he liked red squirrels. but he made
pets out of tree toads and moles, and one
old Dorlxing rooster (that Billy had owned
and taken pains with since the day he
came out of his shelD. would ''sck EN-
as pugnaciously as a rat-terrier. But tree
toads not much. and moles are not
much. nor even Dorking ROSTERS. compared
with lively. rioting. bright-eyed red squir-
rels.
His mother looked at him with reproach
ut would have been much safer, my son.
You know IL would have been much safer -
The mullins being by this time component
Of boy. Billy tossed the gun to his shout
der, put on his cap at an angle that sug-
gested postage-stamp proclivities, and
smiled brightly at her as he turned at the
door.
Don't you go to worrying. mother /
guess know which end of it's loaded.
even if 1 don't hit anything I'm going to
be just as careful as a miner with a stick
or dynamite. so don't you worry a min
ute"
Ten seconds later he was stamping i'm
patiently from one foot to the other in the
SldTcH Wlnd AT the street corner. The
lamp post there was the rendezvous for all
the boys in the ward. The air told of a
lamb-like tendency of the mercury, and
though the street was still as hard as
granite with a week of straight freezing
little brown ridges of thaw were beginning
to show in the middle. Overhead the cloud
was evenly spread, and gaining in density
visibly. shading into a deepening damp
foreboding. yellow gray The sun that had
risen in mild yellow glow was longer
even suggested, and Billy looked up al
the place where IL should have been and
scowled- He wasn't looking forward with
q great deal OF pleasure to spring drizzle
to hunt In.
He looked up the street keenly for any
was as bare of boy forms as the Desert
of Sahara is of pawpaws. He sent flute
like bird call In the direction of the neares
boys house: then he thrust his hands deer
into his trousers pockets and kicked at tn,
sleety bricks beneath his feet
His eye strayed down the straight CLEAN
Ing highlight of his gunbarre. and hi.
to do il. but II the other boys were COINS
to miss the fun of the first shoot by beinl
late it truthfully was their business
He cut a pigeon-wfng on his heel anC
turned his face toward the woods. TIL,
open fields lay only a short distance out
the even lawns and prosperous little SUI
burban dwellings dwindling RAPIDLY til
among stretches of vacant lots At tn,
fence of the first field he left the turnpike
remembering conScientiousy the parenta
instruction about hauling a gun through {
fence by the barrel. The gun was not load
ed. but he kept careful track of the down
ward slope of the barrel just the same.
He made his way over the frozen uneyer
f11rrpWS Of the field throuOh the ,,alo<