The Kennewick courier. [volume] (Kennewick, Wash.) 1905-1914, 1907-09-13
Courier
Friday, September 10, 1907

mere was woman" explained the
tramp. seeing that she was interested
and seeming chance TO get food to
carry with him on his way.
"IIe told me the story once. He was
In love With a girl, but her old p,an
made her marry q fellow that had mon
ey. Sam couldn't stand for seeing her
another nuns wife, and he lit out.
"Ie wasn't hit in the city. His
disappointment sorter took the heart
out of him"
II know" she said quietly "He was
killed the next year while saving q lit
tie child
KILLED nothin'v' scoffed the tramp.
THAT was n stall for the girl he was
stuck on. He was down so low he took
to the road, and he got the clerk of
lodging house to put up that steer. Said
he'd rather have her think he was dead
than to guess he'd taken to the road.
You know the girl?'
Yes, l know her"
"Well, don't tell her Sam was a
good fellow. 1t was only that he didn't
have anything to live for. You can't
blame him. He's dead now. He got in
with some yeggs after he left me and
the bulls got him in Chi"
1.-The bulls got him?" The woman's
voice quavered little.
That's slang" explained the tramp.
''The Chicago policemen started to ar
rest him, and he tried to run, so they
shot him. He was a good man." he
added softly. "Say, lady, you couldn't
let me have some more bread, could
you, to take with me?'
She rose without a word and entered
the house, returning presently with a
fresh loaf and some cold meat wrapped
in a paper. With a word Of thanks
the tramp slouched off, and the summer
stiffness fell upon the piazza again.
But the woman's heart throbbed with
q dull ache.
"The bulls got him in Chi"
The sentence ran in her brain. So
this was the epitaph of her boy lover.
The heroic rescue, in which he gave mp
his life for another, was but a Pigment
though she had come in physical con-
tact with the thing that had been her
idol and who had become loathsome,
ragged tramp.
Then her thoughts softened. Her
visitor had been right. Sam had been
different from the practical, unimagina-
tive men with whom he lived. They
had made great plans for the future
their future-and disappointment had
taken the heart out Of him.
A dreamer. men called him; a vision.
airy, who preferred the pen to the plow.
1t was for this reason that her father
had withheld his consent and had fore
ed her into a hateful marriage with
Condor.
She sat with idle hands staring across
the fields. with eyes that pierced the
veil Of years. Her eyes were dry. Her
tears were long since shed, but the old
wound bled afresh.
For years her heart had been as a
stone within her breast, but now 1t
softened under the influence Of her
grief. The sinking sun shot its beams
slantwise across the porch and warmed
afresh her benumbed sensation. At last
she stirred.
"Sue" she called. The girl, her eyes
red and swollen from weeping, appear
ed in the doorway.
You'd better battle your eyes and
put on your muslin Dress" counseled
her mother. IF Hank is coming you'll
want to look your best. I'll say yes
my dear. guess you ought to know
better than me whether it's you or the
farm he wants. You've got right to
happiness.
you've thought 1t over?" asked the
girl as she kissed the faded cheek.
Il guess I've had q message from the
Lord" she answered, "even though he
did pick out a tramp for a messenger"