Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-02-22
GRANDPARENTS STORY.

This all happened when grandfather
was a little boy-,ong. long ago. as he
told me the story himself. however. as he
sat in a deep armchair by the glowing
fire. on a winters night when the buzz
Of the great city was dying down ana
the tap of the policeman's club on the
pavement outside made me, at least, 1eei
very safe and thankful.
When grandfather was boy he lived
on the frontier, and he was the loneliest
little boy 1 ever heard of. Just think;
he did not have a single playmate. and
he never owned a toy except those ne
fashioned with his own hands!
or course he had a bow and arrows.
and he had feather headdress that a
friendly Indian had given him, but they
were not exactly playthings. I have
said that he had no playmates; that is
hardly true, for he had Nimble Foot,
the white horse, who had been born and
brought up on the ranch. and he had
Brindle, the cow, who was "staked OUT
in new place SO often, and ate every
thing within range Of her rope in really
alarming fashion; and then sometimes
not often. but sometimes. when times
were hard-Black Feather, an Indian boy,
crept up to the log house where grand
father lived. and begged food of the moth
err, and told weird tales that chilled the
blood of little grandfather as he sat and
listened. Black Feather did not belong
to the friendly Indians and the mother
was afraid of him. She always thought
that he came to spy on them. But she
gave him food and tried to befriend him
because her heart was good and true.
Now. grandfather. whose name is john
liked Black Feather, not only because he
was young and companionable but be-
cause he believed in him and trusted him
with all the devotion of his lonely boy
hood. He used to watch for the coming
of the Indian. and sighed when the months
passed without visit.
John used to resort to all sorts of plays
to fill his days. He was an Indian. a
trapper or a missionary, as the mood
seized him. and sometimes he would don
his mothers gown and play that he was
a brave woman defending large family
as he was sure his mother would defend
him. When all these plays ceased to
interest him he would tie a rope to his
waist, and tie the other end to a peg in
the ground, and then he would make be-
lieve he was the COW. Brindie. "staked
out" TO be so confined made him real
ize how jolly it was to be a free boy
with father and mother to talk to. Then
would John release himself and be glad
that he was not a cow; and so he would
begin the old games again with renewed
vigor.
Nimble Foot was great joy That
horse was almost human in his love and
gentleness, and yet he was as swift as
the wind and as strong as horse we'll
could be.
Some day the Indians will come after
that horse" father used to say, with fear
in his eyes: there isn't another horse
like him on the plains
''Then I'll go after him.. John would
say, valantly, and mother would shud-
der and cry: ooh. John. remember you
must never go where mothers call COO
COO will not reach you And you must
always answer back 'coo-coo to me-
But if I am Brindle staked out 1 can
not call back laughed John.
You can say 'moo-moo" said father.
land that will do just as we'll
Well, one day mother was washing by
the back of the little log house. Sud-
denly she remembered that she had not
seen or heard John for some time: She