Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1906-01-09

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that it must hurt him som ewhere and
that he must tell the doctor. remem-
Der now Billy opened his sick eyes and
looked at me. did not understand 1t
then, but I do now. He was asking
me In that look how 1t was possible /
did not understand where it hurt him,
/ wish there were doctors who could
! see little further than the tongue
land the pulse! But then why should
they when a father does not?
he spoke OF slothfGl circulation
listless something advised fresh
air, I was to let him rest a day or
two more; perhaps, he would wish TO
go out. If not, was to induce him
to got was the sunshine he needed.
All this did, but he was not keen
Ito go out with me. Then essayed
temptation.
Yesterday" said, 81 saw a patch
of wild white violets as big as this
bed"
/ For moment 1 succeeded, All Bill.
ily's boytsh joy leaped into his small
face. He sat up in bed and cried:
"oh! Where?"
But his hands had fallen upon me
at that moment, and he relaxed, the
joy fled from his face and he lay inert
lily down again.
"If you wont go for them will
bring them to you,'' / said, knowing
how this would further tempt him.
NOT he cried suddenly Then, with
a little remorse: Il don't want any
flowers, papa"
"WhatW I cried in real amazement.
"Billy-Boy, the. lover of flowers! The
beloved of them!"
"They might be alive" he answered.
have been thinking. And if you were
alive, and some one stronger than you
was to press the life out of you with
fiat irons, how would you like it?"
exploded with laughter happy that
| had discovered that Billy's illness was
not OF the body but Of the strange little
mind, and could be easily cured
"Billy-Boy," said, boys are just
like men. If they are allowed to nope
in bed and the darkness when there is
sunshine without, they fancy and even
see strange things-thIngs which out
in the sunshine where the dear birds
sing, and the lovely flowers bloom, they
will know to be not only untrue but
silly"
And all Billy answered was: did
you say the dear birds. papa?"
why. yes. Nothing on earth is so
exquisitely made and adjusted as the
mechanism of bird"
IT don't see how you can say that"
sighed Billy, willing to drop the
whole matter.
Z Now, at that moment, the conscious
ness that Billy did not quite like me
any more, which had. kept me often
awake, came very -petgnantly, Oh
course. you didn't know Billy, and you
can't fancy how serious a matter 1t was
not to be liked by him and to be con-
fronted by the possibility Of his dis,
like.
Flowers are not alive, Billy Boy"
said with, fear, bit of a tremor
in my voice. And God meant them
for just what we use them-to take
joy in their beauty and perfection
and perfume. And so 1t is with all
the inferior things and creatures on.
this earth. This morning | bagged
twenty ,rfng-necks and lost four, be-
cause Billy-Boy was not there to rush
into the raging surf and get them.
Tonight we shall have them for din
ner and Billy shall have as many as
ii he had helped to kill them"
ttNo!" he cried again in sudden ter
ror. Then, as if he regretted It:
Papa, l don't like to eat brides.
Mebby you are right, papa, dear.
about things, but you won't be angry
If / don't eat''-he gulped upon some
Ill.,. l., l,fe-
"Why, no, boy cried. t'You are
all the boy we have, and you are to,
have and not to have everything you
like OF don't like"
This generosity was tragic for the.
little boy. He said: Papa, dear, to-
morrow will go with you. But that
pitcher-plant was beastly!"
eyes, laughed, "that was"
CHAPTER III.
So the next day we went He took
his portfolio for flowers, r took my
gun. AS the unwise doctor had said,
the sun did get into the soul of the
little boy. But we had not been long
together when / knew once more that
Billy-Boy was aloof-that he feared
something. 1 think it came out at
the first kill-though I did not think
so then. Billy left me and sat on the
hills far away with his face turned
from me. When later went to him,
he was lying on his face and his port
folio had fallen neglectedly at his
feet He had no flowers.
/ had come softly, and when I
touched him he cried out suddenly in
terror. He made no explanation of it
and begged to go home. I said that
we would go in a little while that n
had seen bunch of birds too easy to
go away from He said brusquely
that he was going home, and started
rapidly away without me.
When got home Billy was very Ill.
Papa he called through the door,
don't come in, please. Say good
night through the crack / am very,
very sleepy and don't want to bel
'sturbed."
aprt Pow dooro cold aI Y,,,,e+