The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1905-05-21

+; ne could be COmfOrta bic She could
see him lying as he had so often lain,
with his face turned toward the back
( door, looking out with aching eyes on
/ the tall corn that filed the little clear
I ing In his feVerish wanderings he
/ complained that it was eTOwding up
I around the house trying to choke him.
] And there was little William, little
I nine-year-Old William. sitting on the
! floor beside him. attempting to flap
/ away the flies with a bunch of walnut
/ leaves There were long intervals
| sometimes when the heat OveTpOwered
/ the child with drOwsineSS- Then the
| walnut branch WaFered uncertainty or
/ stopped in mid-air. while he leaned
I against the table leg with closed eyes
! and open mouth. Sometimes Miranda
! slept on the doorstep. barefOOted. as
usual, with dirty bandage around her
! sprained ankle.
| It was the sound of her own sObbinE
/ that awakened her. and she sat up with
! a sudden start. realizing that she had
! been asleep She must have slept q long
| time. In that interval of unconscious
ness the tavern keeper from BuTnvine
( had erected a rival stand a few rods
away.
! She saw with dismay his attractive
| display Of store" goods Then her
face flushed DIS he began to set out
! whisky bottles and glasses. Her first
! impulse was to gather up her belong
; ings and get home as quickly as pos
sfbIe. In her perplexity she looked
+ around for little William Regarding
/ a circus with such contempt herself.
I il had never occurred to her that he
would care to see il.
He was a timid little fellow. who al
ways hid when company came to the
/ house. and he had never been away
! from home more than dozen times
! in his life. The crowds frightened him.
and he stayed as closely as a shadow
at his grandfatheT'S elbow until the
music began Then he forgot himself
It thrilled him indescribably. and he
watched with longing eyes as the peo-
pIe crowded into the tent. It seemed
to him that he must certainly go wild
If he could not follow but they had
sold nothing. Even II they had. he
would not have dared to ask for enough
money to pay his admission. it seemed
such an enormous sum As she began
to nod I'm her chair he began to edge
nearer the tent. He could catch nov
and then a word of the clowns jokes
and hear the TOaTs Of laughter that
followed.
Regardless of consequences he threw
himself on the grass and WTiEgIed
around until she succeeded in squeezing
himself under the canvas. There was
q moment Of dizzy bewiIdeTment as he
sat tu and looked around. Then some
cold. sqUirming thing touched the back
Of his neck. He gave = smothered cry
of terror; it was the elephants trunk.
He had come up directly under the
animal from t'other side Of the world.
that could eat a siX-foot cock of hay
at one meal
A. he sat there. shivering and blub-
berinC. afraid to move because he did
not know which end Of tie clumsy
monster was head and which. tail. ne
heard a lOUnd gUffaw. The pOck-
marked IriShman who had charge of
the nine banded armadiHo had seen the
little side show. and it doubled him up
with laughter. He rOared and slapped
his thigh and laughed again until ne
was out Of breath. Then he gTavely
wiped his eyes and drew the boy out
from under the great animal William
chung to him. sobbing- Then the warm
hearted fellow. seeing that he was real
Iy terrified. took him around and
showed him all the sights. In the de
light of that hour. home. grandmother
and the world outside were completely
forgotten.
Meanwhile Mrs. Radcliffe sat wonder
ing what had become of the boy PeO-
pie began to Stra ggle out Of the tent.
There was to be another performance
.
her customers among those who stayed
for that. The tavern keeper began
calling attention to his refreshments
I'm a facctious way that drew an
amused crowd around him. Her hopes
. sank as group after group passed her
without stopping Two young fellows
from the village who had been drink
ing pushed roughly against her table
Hi. Granny hiCCOughed one Of
them Purity fine doUghonUts ole
girl He gathered up a platefuI. and
tried 10 find his pocket with unsteady
fingers. She stood up with a sickening
feeling of heIuloSsue-S- and look ed
around appealiugly- Just then q heavy
hand struck the fellow I'm the mouth.
and ierked him back nv mis- cost col
! lar The pOrk-maTEeG ITIShma0. TO
whom the beWildered little William still
Clung- had undertaken to find the boy 8
grandmother for him. The Child'S art
/ less story had aroused his warmest
/ sympathies. and nothing could have
given him greater pleasure than this
+ opportunity To- fight for her
The TriShmaH looked embarrassed as
Mrs Radcliffe began To thank him with
tears i'm her eyes. and hurried back to
the tent The look Of distress deep
eued ON her face. Everybody passed
/ her table for the one made popular by
1 the ioud-yoIred man who knew 50 well
/ how to advertise his wares. With a
/ stified groan she looked around on the
great pile Of provisions she had bought
/. What quantities of good material ut
teTiy wasted, What would Miranda
say
As she looked around her i'm dismay
she saw the clown coming toward her.
still IN his cap and bells He had been
watching the scene from a distance.
tier distress was pltifUl. To be COM
PEELED to wait on this testing fool like
any common baTmaid would fill her
cup Of degradation TO overlooking.
What could she do if he accosted her
idmlilarly as he did every one eIse2
He leaned over and took off his gro
ieSgue cap Madam. he said I'm a
low respectful tone. 81 have no money
but If YOU VIII kindly give me a cake
and mug of cider. YOU shall soon
have plenty of customers.
Greatly surprised. she flied him q
cup wondering What ne would do
There was rush for that part of tho
grounds as the hero Of th" hour APP
pearcd. lie had been funny enough I'm
Inc ring. but now they found his jokes
irresistible His exaggerated praises of
all ne ate and drank were laughed at.
but every BODY followed his example.
More than one Eawky boy bought some
thing for the sake of being made the
subject OF his HatteriDs witticismS. The
I tavern keeper called and sang iu vain.
A. long as the clown told funny stories
and praised Mrs. RatcIiffe's ginger
bread all other allUTemeuts were
poweriess- He stayed with her until
the last cake had been bought and the
cider barrel was empty.
Tt was nearly shutdown when she
started home Jim came up to roll the