Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1906-05-04
LITTLE JOHNNY.

II
on have always been a fool" said
the young man Eotly.
Then he bit sharply on his lips. and
felt that he would like to drag that i'm
pulsive, troublesome tongue of his ont
by the roots.
1t was the first time he had spoken so
GROSSLY to his pretty, troubled grl-wife;
but he was sadly irritated and annoyed.
Yes, L suppose I have" said the wom-
an duly. But you know. dear, that
when'-her lips trembled- "when johnny
died L declared that were | ever so poor
would never deny anyone who came to
me in want"
My dearest" he said, huskily, every
Vestlge OF temper gone from his face II
am sorry-really and truly sorry that I
spoke harshly to you. Kiss, and make
up"
"Of course" she said quietly. "But
you know, Horace it was so cold and
miserable outside; and he looked so
wretched and old, [ hadn't the heart to
turn him away. And really, J. didn't
want what L gave him.
but. ny generous little woman, yol
know the doctor said you must have
good, nourishing things, and as matters
stand with us II really am not able to
buy them twice over
You must not think of doing So she
said quietly. Il would really much
rather go without. I suppose the doctor
is right, but when think of the way our
little Johnnie must have suffered, | feel
that his mother ought to suffer too"
She stopped in flood of tears
Don't be morbid, precious" he wills
pered. Johnny wouldn't like that, you
know"
And he kissed away her tears, and in
comforting her forgot for the time that,
so far as he was concerned. the outlook
was very black indeed For truly the
fates were terribly unkind to Horace
Wethersby Just then. Johnny had been a
tr;t gedy in himself. A few months before
the sunny little lad had wandered away
from careless nurse girl, and for a week
his distracted parents could find no trace
of him. When he was discovered, he was
a pitiful little emaciated wreck, and it
was plain from his childish babbling that
he had begged for food during his alb
sence, that it had been denied him, and
that the drunken fiend who had thought
to make use of him for begging purposes
had thrashed him for that he had asked.
From the time he was found there was
no hope of the rescued little one, al
though the fact was carefully kept from
his mother Naturally delicate, and al
WAYS petted and INDUCED on that ac-
count. the weeks torture he had expert
enced had had the most serious effects
on his constitution, and although he
fingered on a bed of pain for some time,
kind heaven at last released him.
Sunny haired Johnny died-foully muir
dered bv villain who, too lazy to work,
wished to excite public sympathy and ex-
tort aims by dragging about starving
beaten child.
That awful time marked transforma-
ton in the erstwhile CHEEKY Horace
Wethersby. He grew mOrose, careless
and insolent. with the result that his en-
plovers-a limited company, who MADE
no allowances for broken hearts and
agonized parents-had dispensed with ms
services. And so it came about that they
1Iare reduced to their last few shillings.
His last hope-an appeal to an eccen-
tr;c hut well-off uncle-had met with
frioid silence: and so, perhaps, 1t was
nafuraI that he should be irritated by the
discovery that his wife had given away
the nourishine food of which The doctor
Ibod said she stood in need to Il beg9ar
at the door.
Rut these two loved each other, so far
az husband and wife were concerned, the
shadow soon passed away, and, III splte
of the dreary present, they were soon
talking hopefully of the future. IL was
as though the little one in heaven had
smiled down on them.
And he may have smiled upon the &C.
centric and well-off uncle, too Tor next
morning a letter came for Horace from
which a f5 note futtered to the ground
as he opened it. And the letter WHICH
accompanied it read as follows:
dear Nephew: Tell Mrs. NethersDy
that beef tea was excellent, and that a
Lind heart is far above rubies. l shall
,1;si+ Won tomorrow. with particulars OF
an annointmant. which, think, will SUI;
Int ROT in the clothes | wore to-
3And bulIed the little woman! NUT
+orod Horace. crushing the letter IN ms
hand ",Jove. what cad L was!
Tho neculiar manner in which his uncle
b.d chosen TO make his welcome contrlpu-
4 l.co 70 his sadly depleted funds did not
s-,,.,,.;sa Horace. The old fellow was a
LII .l,,vn eccentric. and it was not the
ct occas sion on which he had been
known to play the part of more or less
om;able modern Harom al Raschlo. -.
s.Fmmeline." he shouted to ms VIE
upstairs, you entertained an angel t nnf
alyare last night! That beef tea ana stun
,so a., oav. away last night is likely to
Srove The best investment you ever maze
!" And leaving her to puzzle out what on
earth he could mean, he forthwith rusn ne
a"t 90 and startled the shopkeepers OF the
u uoverty stricken neighborhood by INSIST st
ng in being supplied Immediately with
vast vas quantities of new-laid eggs e. i Po DIT
r.;ne chickens. and beef extract. and on
being informed how it was that among reu,s,o a
community comm of respectables and presum :