Los Angeles herald., 1909-08-15

Mrs. Livingstone took him upstairs and washed his
little hot face and hands She gave some advice about
keeping very quiet i'll weather, but Robert hardly
heard her His supper tasteles in his mouth Why
oh, why had he thrown that stone? What would Rose
mary think of him? After ALL grown people knew best
He would break loose and try form existence
of his own again Henceforth life held for him nothing
but series of family excursions and long, lonely days
his heap of beach-sand in the backyard Perhaps,
in the morning. Willy would be waiting for him with
stone as big as your head Even that would be easier
to bear than this But perhaps he ought to tell papa and
all about it like little When this thought
assailed him. hope and courage vanished He crept
to his mother, and leaned his head against her
L guess will go to bed now, he murmured in Sub
dued little voice
II he had known the success of his effort his little
soul would have been upset. He had
considered the possibility of hitting Willy; he had not
him he hurled the But often
least carefully considered efforts and the
stone had struck Willy the shoulder in exactly the
right spot to prevent him from returning the shot Such
years. Willy squirmed and twisted his hand clapped
protectngy the bruised spot The two Bulge boys
simultaneously from the horse-block
Feel it? they inquired udiciay. The ethics of the
required interest rather than sympathy. Willy
grimaced to imply unheard-of suferings, herocally
borne
He's a mean sucker" he began.
Rosemary Bulge lowered her lean anatomy from the
fence, and looked him sterny in the eye.
You began it." she said.
The Bulge boys stopped whiting and considered this
reversal of the situation open-mouhed Willy kicked at
its your own fault He didn't say thing to you"
Rosemary finished the question: and settled her hat firmly
her forehead.
Rosemary! Rose-maryl" called Mrs Bulge appear
ing the piazza of the green house with baby in her
arms. Supper will be ready in FIVE minutes" And the
Bulge family streamed joyfully homeward, beginning
the narrative of the days events at the gate.
The little boy next door throw like everything!
He hit Willy Stevens right the"
Willy, deserted the of his defeat, heard the
story of his msdemeanor and its punishment clearly and
canddy stated He thrust both hands into his pockets
and turned homeward getting poor consolation by de-
steps
Meantime the little boy next door lay his bed and
gazed open-eved into the dusk Over and over again he
lived through that afternoon. Once he saw his
prospects spread fair before him. Once he felt
the shortived madness in which he had wrecked the
possibilities OF a lifetime. He sighed deeply and the pill
low grew hotter and hotter and less and less adapted to
his head Suddenly he felt longing express himself
prayer He slipped of bed and stood in the center
of the searching proper oratory Moved by some
dim Biblical suggestion he scurried over to the wash
stand and turned the faucet until the bowl was full
Then he kneeled before it.
Dear Lord" he began, and then stopped, fearing
undue familiarity That rather the way to address
grandmOthers.
Our Father, Who art in Heaven, I want tall, thin
sister and two brothers l don't mind if they have
freces want" he hestated-" want little brother
and little sister, too please to wheel in baby-car-
riage, all by myself have been very bad, but didn't
know was going to be. If you WILL will stand still
and let Willy Stevens throw stone at me, and | will
shut my eyes cannot wait much longer for my broth
and sisters because feel dreadfuly And think
i think mama would like Them too. And this ask
for Jesus sake Amen"
He rose and let the water out of the bowl Then he
stole back bed and drew the sheet up close under his
chin A cool breeze began to come in at the window,
and the darkness stopped pressing its fingers his eye
balls, and grew all soft and quiet And in his sleep his
hands and feet twched slightly like little dogs, who
dreams that he is running very fast
Robert awoke to an impression of great events. He
had made business arrangement with God and he, at
least would live up to his side of it. He rose with the
desire strong upon him to out and meet Willy Stevens
and redeem his Lessons took place as usual while
the sound of childrens voices tantazed him from the
street Mrs. Livingstone fond of teaching, and she
considered good plan to keep childrens minds occu
MED II was quarter before eleven when she closed the
volume OF Reprints from Great Masters and put it away
Robert and stood in front of her. his hands behind
his back
hard
Out for a walk" she asked
He wondered whether wrong not TO tell her that
it was exactly for walk, but this not the time
tell Of his sin and the great atOnement that there was
to be He hurried into the hall for his hat, She
swept after him, tall and graceful, and, taking the hat
from his hands, she adjusted carefully and passed the
elastic under his chin shade OF misery passed across
hand and kissed him on both cheeks
Della will give you your dinner" she said, as she
turned upstairs to make ready for day in town.
Robert slowly down the first flight OF stone steps,
and then paused the landing and looked about him.
1t he had feared. The street was empty. Sud
denly the door Of the green house opened and process
sion streamed out Rosemary her hat set firmly over
her eyes, carried large market basket in one hand and
from the other swung the small person of indefinite SEX
whose face almost featureess in the joy that eX
pressed Then came the two Bulge boys, each with
large tin pail AS they reached the foot of his steps,
Rosemary looked up and nodded
Come on" he thought she said.
Could it be possible2 He took step forward, and
then hung back
We're going to Bad Mans lot. Don't you want to
Gomez"
Come on" echoed the Bulge boys
Don't stop for anything to eat" continued Rosemary
with tact which should win her many lovers "We,re
going TO call for Maude Winslow We've got jelly
sandwiches for everybody"
Robert hesitated no longer wave of JOY seemed to
lift him off his feet and he was with them In after life
the memory Of that moment brought back to him mad
OF delight like nothing else that he had ever known
Bad Mans lot piece of unclaimed land standing at
the head Of the street It belonged unsettled estate
and tramp, really bad-lookng man, had once been
seen going across it There the Budges always bold and
progressive had established playhouse. Robert knew