The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1907-07-20
JACK
By Belle Moses

rvarv one agreed that Evelyn Greg
org was queer child. of course II
il natural that she should be queer,
every one said. for the poor h.'te
mortal to have four parents Is fatAei
too much Of a good thing.
And 50 it was, for papa ana hlaii'lil'l
and grandpa and grandma each owned
share OF this only child. and mas
wonderful ideas about bringing her
up.
she must be an exception to the
ordinary only child declared the TWO
generations of Gregorys, ana lhey
we're SO afraid Of spelling her by con.
tact with other children not SO Wen
behaved that until she was quite
big girl she had no companions OF her
own age. That she should nave oeen
happv under these circumstances, was
enough to prove that she was queer
but no one knew with what longing
she looked out upon the forbidden,
glorious world of romps and games
until Jack came.
How he got there no one ever kne"
least Of all Evelyn-but after long
and lonesome rainy day, when nurse
had tucked her UP snugly Tor the
night and the freight danced merrily
all over the floor, Evelyn thought she
saw another crib close beside her and
the dearest little ably boy sitting up
and staring about him with round,
| sleepy eyes.
Jack, jack" she cried with delight.
I'm SO glad you've come to play with
me-" and, stretching out her arms, she
snatched him up and covered him
with kisses.
Ii any one had peeped into the nur-
sery at that minute they would have
seen only an excited little girl stand
ing straight up in bed, hugging her
self very tight and kissing her own
chubby hands. But Evelyn knew bet
ter-it was Jack-her darling little
brother Jack, and he had come to stay
with her always.
She told mamma all about it the
next morning in her quaint. solemn
fashion, and was quite charmed when
mamma gave her permission to play
with Jack whenever she liked. SO
every night Jacks crib grew up be-
side her own in the nursery and every
morning while she was being dressed
she dressed Jack very carefully. and
all day long she talked and played
with him, until Jack--the fanciful
creation of queer child-began to
occupy a real place in the household
Evelyn never forgot him under any
circumstances; wherever she went
whatever she did, Jack was there, and
whenever she walked in the street
she always held out her hand as #
she were holding Jacks and talked
to him as earnestly as if he were
really trotting beside her.
What did it matter if other little
girls and boys had sisters and broth
ers. She had brother-the dearest,
sweetest thing, and there were thrill
ling adventures now to fill up each
day.
An only child has to be dressed
about three times as often as three
children, or even half dozen chill
dren, and when an only child happens
to have long golden curls and a very
particular nurse these are times OF
suffering indeed; but Jacks coming
made a difference, because, as NAM
ma said. she had to be very sood and
patient for fear of being a bad ex-
ample fof Jack.
AS she grew older and the curls
were gathered together in a bright,
thick plat, she sorrowfully decided
that Jacks hair must be cut. This
was an awful day. She took him into
the nursery and talked to him very
kindly about it, but poor Jack cried
and cried and she cried, 100. while
she shipped them off with her own
hands. But by lunch time it was over,
ind when Evelyn told Of the dreadful
scene in the nursery she was glad to
hear mamma say that short hair was