Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1908-06-04
~ a disgrurtlso

Nnat the nee ~ 4 mus having
TO work at sllf" 10 complained. That's
what | Gcitt see. or course it's differ.
ent If you have nne. easy fob, wish
had one lla.' Matthew Carrol's-ne
work and pcnS of pay-or Jim John.
sons. bosSiag LOT OF ditch diggers
That's comfortable thing. Twas by
pull he gct it. and wish had his
luck. Then" with meaning glance a.
Kitty then I'd have wife ana live
III fine style
Kiuy's cheeks famcl and her eye.
flashed
THE man marry" she cried .wil
fight his own way up He'll have y
backbone rot Il wishhone, MI Des
monl Fitzgerald"
The phrase dwelt With Desmond thu
rest % The day He shoveled venge
tully.
i backbone instead of a wishbonc.-
ne kept repeating. The eek of the
girl to say thing like thar 90 me-
His angrrat Kitty became more and
more poi@uant and when Thomas
spoke 10 bin lie made ii apparent that
he WISHED ., have nothing further to
do witb any member OF the family Of
Macdonnrgh
Next Noon iousIe headed youngste.
brought T1ueas' dinner pail.
"Where's Kitty Desmond ventured
to inquire.
"Siek Th@Mus was huskiy iAconic
De mond's anger cooled with a sud
denneSs astoHishil% eycn to himself. \
lump rose 70 his thro't and a quick
mist 10 his eyes Sick: was she. the
poor giil EjEe as NOT she had over
worked ing her auat ana the chill
dren What She needed was some one
to watch over her and lake care OF her
He wouId buy her some flowers that
very eyc,'lg Eut when he came t.
turn out his poebeTs lie found that ="
cents comprised his worldly store
1T Will Err dozen of some kind OF
posies though" he thought "auJ
what's a bi,c 10 eat co pared TO that
I'm not hungry anyhow"
He found his way to Kitty's tene
ment with box Of pink carnations,
and Ilitty's auHt opeucl the door
'Who win | say they're from? she
questioned in The suhdued tones people
use In airlrooms.
"Tei-tell her u r're from Des
mond." he stammcrcd. swallowing
hard lie CROPPED his way down ths
rickety stairs ,nWaldly determined tc
send her roses every other day. As
for the money he could work even
ings. There were always plenty of odd
jobs for man who was willing
So each morning Thomas told him
how she was. and all day long and
far into the night Desmond worked
with passionate energy. an energy
which helped him in part to forget two
dreadful questions: What If Kitty
didn't get Wen? And what if there
were another man whom she loved?
And not the lazy vagabond must
have seemed" reflected poor Desmond
musing bitterly on his wasted years.
But Kitty gained and gained and
was sitting on a rocking chair by the
window when Desmond went to see
her, box Of roses under his arm. She
was as pale as the soft white wrap
per ,hat she wore. yet she flushed at
sight of him and held out a thin little
hand
oh Desmond" she said. you've
been so good to me. and the flowers
Were lovely. | couldn't have got
well without them. They made my
room like Il garden when l used to lie
there and Look at them And they tell
me-they tel me you're doing finer
'If am it is all owing to you Kit
ty," said Desmond, fumbling in his
pocket
''What have you there?" she cried.
Desmond looked a bit shamefaced
and drew out a wishbone.
"Do you mind what you told me
about a backbone being the best thing
in life? I've brought you this as a
sign I'll win my own way up instead
of wishing"
Kitty's eyes danced
but, Desmond" she objected "the
bone was Weant 20 be broken so sup
pose you take che wish more. the last
Of ALL and theu have done with it for
ever? Twill be kind Of celebra
ton"
Right YOU nir" cried Desmond
Here gOesv
They pulled.
II VIM cried Desmond breathlessly,
81 win. And do you know what it was
that wanted? ] wished that | might
marry Kitty Macdonough. the sweet
est pirl in tho yvboIa vida ,vori1
Kitty hid her blushing face on Des-
mond's shoulder.
"And I wished the very same thing"
she whispered
Montaigne's Chateau.
MIN 2