Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1907-01-31

The most familiar figure in the
throng was Little Make-Believe, who
seemed to be ubiquitous. she was so
continually repeating herself
How eagerly they took the food
from the birds, and how eagerly they
ate and drank the good things!
What a chorus of thanksgiving filled
the air! "Prime, amt it?" Here's a
jolly gow "Good luck ter yer!" "Warms
a chap. don't it?" "Never had such a
feed in all my born days" Il wouldn't
call the Emperor of Roosher my un'
clev'
And they laughed and hoorayed, and
the birds kept up pleasant twittering
all the time.
"What do you think VI Ine s,Su..
asked the figure in the gray cloak.
Its beautifulw exclaimed the
dreamer. enthusiastically.
"Well, did old Dexter ever do such
thing?"
"I don't remember" said the dream.
er. considering little, "that he ever
did"
"It's worth doing, is it not?"
81 should say it was. Listen to the
little chaps"
"It seems to please you."
"It does"
"Why," asked the cloaked figure,
"did old Dexter never indulge in a
pleasure so cheaply purchased?'
"Now yer mention it, replied the
dreamer, II suppose it is because he
never thought of it."
Not young man, this Dexter"
mot at ALL" =.
"How old, should you say?"
ooh. I know, having lived with him
so long. He's ffty-fve."
"Fifty-fve! And never thought OF
doing a charitable action
perhaps he didn't have time,' plead
ed the dreamer.
mot in all those fiftyfive years? A
large family of his own to occupy him,
perhaps?"
"No," said the dreamer, with some
thing like sigh, "he has no family"
mo wife,"
"No. Here, sayw cried the dream
er. excitedly, as the phantom of Polly
Cleaver glided past. "What are you
doing here? l thought you was dead
"To whom are you speaking:
"To one who was my wife for about
a month. There she 1s-no, shes
gone"
Dead to you?"
"Dead to every one. so far as l
know"
"And left no child behind her?"
"None that I ever heard Of"
$50 YOU stand alone, without one hui
man link of love to bind you to the
world. without sympathy, without
charity, without a spark of kind feel
ing for the suffering and helpless.
Farewell"
In the utterance of this word the
children and the birds faded from his
sight, and the dreamer found himself
alone with the figure in the gray Cloak
which was slowly moving away.
But | say, old boy" cried the dream
er. you are rather hard on old Dex-
ter. He isn't at all bad sort OF fel-
low. Upon my soul, he isn't
He caught hold of the cloak, which
fell from the figure, and the dreamer
saw before him the form of man
shaped in ice, and on the region OF the
heart were inscribed the words, 'old
Dexter's Charity
The dreamer laid his hand upon the
inscription, and shivered as he mur:
INJURED:
precious cold upon my soul.'
Then everything vanished and Ihom-
MS Dexter enjoyed dreamlesS sleep OF
several hours.
He was aroused to consciousness by
a postmans knock at the street door.
lie jumped out OF bed and shutl1ed
into his shop. where he saw the letter
drop through slit.
On the floor there were two or three
other letters and three copies of daily
newspaper, which the postman poked
every morning under the door,
He gathered the newspapers and
looked at the dates.
"Why," he muttered in wonder, i've
been asleep for three days and nights.
I've been i'll, I suppose. 1 feel better
now, but still bit slfaky. What's
that noise?"
1t was noise of voices in the street,
followed by a cracking at the door,
which betokened that people were try
ing to force an entrance.
Hold hardw he cried. "What do
yer want?'
In response he heard voices exclaim.
ing:
"It's old Dexter's voicew
"It amt; it's his ghosts"
"lt's somebody robbing the place"
"Break it in policeman; break 1T in!'
To avert the destruction Thomas
Dexter hastily unlocked the door and
threw it open.
And there he stood, clad only In his
shirt, confronting quite number of
persons. most of them neighbors, who,
alarmed at the shutters being up and
at Dexter not making his appearance
for three days, had prevailed uron the
policeman to effect an entrance into
the shop.
All of them fell back at his appear.
ance, and few ran away as fast as
If Old Nick himself were at their heels,
and Whentbey were at safe distance
spread report that Dexter was dead
and his ghost was coming that way.
Thosa who remained were soon con.