The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1906-01-21


and his heart was glad.
The boy was sure that no man
would dare to follow him, even If the
fence would hold a mans weight. He
had scurried up the bank before his
pursuer had reached the side Jimmy
had leaped from so lightly. He scoot-
ed though the underbrush. Again and
again did the ''champeen fence walk
err smile to himself as he slackened
his pace to dodge a vOlley Of rocks,
and again and again did James Sears
an exemplary youth for the most
part who knew his Ten Command
mentS by heart-lOok exultingly at his
/ pullet. He gloried in his iniquity.
Lentulus returning to Capua with vic
! tOriOus legiOns was not so proud. But
/ there the evil spirit swoOped low upon
/ him-the spirit of destruction that al
/ ways follows pride. Jimmy tripped
| and lunged forward; the chicken, the
/ hat, the bow and arrow, and the boy
! all parted company. Then Jimmy felt
| a pain-a sharp pain that he recog-
nized too we'll He feared to make
! sure of the extent of his injury. In
! stinCtive knowledge told him he had
/ ''stumped" his toe. This knowledge
/ also brought the sense of certainty
/ that his days pleasure was spoiled.
! He knew that he would go hObbling
/ along, the last brave in the Indian
/ file.
The pain in his foot began to throb
/ as he gathered up his chicken and
weapons. He walked for a few mo-
ments without looking at the wound
/ He felt the oozing blood, and he bent
/ his body and went along, grunting at
( every step. Finally. coming into a
flood of sunlight on the path. he sat
on d log. and slowly lifted UP his foot
twisting his face into an agOnized
knot. He Deeked at his toe at first
\ stealthily; then. little by little taking
away his nursing hand. he gazed fix
eddy at the wound. The flesh on the
end of the toe was hanging loosely by
the skin. It was full minute before
the boy could find courage to press the
hanging flesh back to its place.
In the meantime the chicken, which
had been lying behind him under the
log, had regained its senses, squawkeC
hoarsely twice and walked into the
bushes. When Jimmy's mind turned
to his prize the prize had gone. He
had been in the depths as he sat or
the log. But the loss of the pullet
! brought with Ii a still further depres.
sion. and Jimmy forgot all about hi.
representation of the Bald Eagle.
He lost his conceit in the red ochr'
stripes on his face and the irfdescent
= feathers in his hat and the blue-blacI
mud on his nimble feet. For a few
moments he was just a sadeyed boy
. who saw the hand of the whole work.
raised against him. The cry of the
new baby rang in his ears. The
+, thought of the other boys teasing hin
| about the number of babies at hi!
house frenzied him; and as his bill o.
wrongs grew longer and longer, Jimmy
shook his head defantly at all TIT
world. For a few hollow moment!
Jimmy tried to find the straying chick
en-. He went through the empty form
) of splitting in his hand, saying, befOr,
he came down with his index finger
; spit, spit SOY,
Tell me Whur my chicken is, er I'll hi
We in the eye"
He threw a stick in the direction tn
chicken might have taken, but h
/ knew that luck-like all the world
, was against him, and he had no hear
in the rites that on another day Nigh
have brought fortune to him. Hi
stubbed toe was hurting him, and tn
z murmur of a ripple in the stream
few rods below the cattle guard calle(
to him enticingly.
AS soon as the boy deemed it SAT-
to venture out of the thicket, he hob
bled down TO the waters edge and sa
for a long time in the shade, with tn
/ cooling water having his bruised feet
He knew that the other boys wOult
miss him, but he did not care. He wa
enjoying the gloom that was settlin;
down upon him. Slowly, and by al
most imperceptible degrees, there TOs
in his conscience a sense of guilt. A
the end of an hour the feeling that h
was a thief swept over him, covering
his sense of personal grievance like
mantle For another hour he wrestleC
with a persistent devil that wa
, tempting him to strange his scru
pies; ne won. Jimmy Sears had sew
teen cents in his cast iron bank a
home-the result of a years careful
saving. He crossed the creek AM
, trudged back to town, and fancie'
that ne was walking in a sanctifie'
/ road; for he was full of the resolve t
go straight to the store of the groce
who owned the chicken and offer al
, his available resources in payment 70
! ! the wrong he had done. Only the hee
of his left foot touched the ground
; and he progressed slowly So tn
| afternoon was old when he turned tn
corner and trudged into Bakers store
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