The Washington times., 1906-03-18

OF utter cOntent-Of comfort won
that is produced by the crunch
cruneh-crunch Of great white teeth.
grinding siIvery yellow oats or
crushing the brittle sweetness OF the
orange-cOloreG corn Listen-eount
1-2-3; crunch-crunch-cr
now long. deep. soft sigh--then
crunch-crunch- crunch.
Al the house John met another
surprise. He had expected tc hunt
about IN semi-darkness for the bread
crock and the butter or molasses or
anything almost. and take cold
bite and go to bed. But here was
as good a supper ready for him as
the limited contents Of heir very
primitive larder would allow. and.
oh, crOwning grace Of an American
farmers meal. IL was hot, But be-
yond these comforts there was a
look in the wife's hazel eyes. a clear,
bright. straight look. that shook his
very heart II was so like the good
days OF the past Wnen supper was
over and Sancho was carefully sep
arating his bits OF corn bread with
gravy on them from those bits which
had none. and after the manner Of
his species eating the best portions
first. Mrs. Tyler came TO her husband
and put one arm about his neck,
while with the other she closely cud-
died the baby 10 her side. AS John
stood looking down on them he felt
il was for him Messed sight and
bent 10 kiss her. But she avoided
the caress and hiding her face on
his breast, she made full confession.
Perhaps it was as well that she
could not see the paIlor Of his face
as she told Of the hours the baby
lay abandoned in the woods; nor
tho drops Of perspiration on his brow
as she described the bear IN the
thicket, and Sancho's furious de-
fense Of the helpless little one. The
silence that followed her plea for for
Siveness was for a few moments
broken only by Sancho- He had sat
bolt upright before them, watching
their faces closely with his honest
brown eyes and now he shifted and
snufHed as though on the verge Of
tears. while with persuasive tail he
raped on the bare floor so loudly
that one might have mistaken the
noise for the mailing down Of a car
pet
John raised his big rough hand
and smOOthed his wife's hair. The
clumsy strokes were given the wrong
way, but the awkward caress was
sweet TO her, as precious as it was
rare Then he said slowly: Never
do it again, Bess. No-no-I don't
mean that, 1 mean never worry all
alone again II you are anxious and
troubled about the farm or the
money or anything else-fOr Gods
sake tell me about it, and let me
share the worry" and he kissed
her. Then. looking down on San
cho, he said, gently: Thank you,
old man."
Then occurred q curious thing, for
you must remember Saneno was sim
ply farm dog, who had never been
taught one trick in all his life. yet
now, when he thanked him John Ty-
Ter offered him his hand Sancho,
embarrassed and confused, lifted
and lowered his ears rapidly,
glanced at the hand, then at his
masters eyes, half lifted his left
foot, dropped it again, and suddenly
raised his right, laid the black paw
firmly in the extended hand and
gravely John Tyler held It a mo-
ment, and then repeated. Thank
you, old mani" Ten minutes later
the wooden bar was across the door
the candle was extinguished, and
darkness, silence and peace de-
scended upon the little Dackwoods
home.
When the writer was a little girl,
a very, very old lady used on bright,
fair days to lead her down the
country road, past many white
houses amid their orchards, and
point out a great old hickory tree,
: and tell her that was the spot where
she had in her madness left her
baby. Who is now Mrs. b she
would add
But l always had to hear over
and over again about Sancho, who
the old lady said scratched and fit
and killed 'chucks and snakes, and
had taken the children to and from
school for eight years after thai.
Then one night he had gotten up
from his mat and had come into the
bedroom, and stood by the bed and
had licked the hand of his master
and had then gone back to his mat,
and in the morning he was dead
Just as If Death knew, he could only
get him away from US by taking him
In his sleep"
And I would lean against ths