Pike County press. (Milford, Pa.) 1895-1925, 1910-01-07

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consequence.
After he had extracted the stinginl
barb he laboriously and stealthily
erawled out, dragging his pole and
line. Back of the house he sat down
on a stump to think things over.
Did you ever know time TO go SO
fsst7" Mrs. jones had chirruped.
Yes" his mother had responded
I'VE shall close the cottage and &c
back to Chicago next week. Bobby's
school begins the week after"
Bobby was nine. As he sat on the
stump with the apple orchard in front
of him he saw instead of 1t the long
staircase with the monitor at the tor
and felt the slippery shininess of a
stack Of brand-new school books. He
knew just how the pages would stick
together in their abominable new.
ness and how weird the unfamiliar
contents would look.
He felt cramped, bound down, domi
mated. All the delightful buoyancy
which had been ais for three months
had vanished and big balls of lead
weighed down his toes and fingers
and shoulders. He dropped as be.
meath the weight of the world He felt
very old and very tired. Once, un-
der his breath, he said: "Darn!" as
he kicked the stump on which he sat.
His eye fell on the rocumbent fish
pole and another pang lacerated his
heart. No more for him the shiny
silveriness of the dear little bass he
had been catchingl And those trees
in the woods full of gree nuts! And
the ripening grapes! And the sumac
and .sassafras bushes already begin
ming TO hint of red and orange glories!
And the rabbits!
With one bound Bobby made for
the rabbit hutches. Eagerly lifting
out the two half-grown black and
white bunnies, he stuffed them into
his pockets. Then, grabbing up the
FISH pole, he looked hurriedly round.
A new light was in his eyes. There
was determination about his mouth.
He headed for the kitchen.
Cookies, Norah." he begged. Lots
Of them"
"Yeh won't have no appetite for
supper" said Norah, handing over
Bobby's perquisites.
His lips frightened, for little she
knew! Supper indeed
Crawling under the fence because
he was on a desperate expedition that
made a gate unbefitting his progress,
Bobby struck out for the woods. Once
his feet had touched the Indian trail
he halted his mad rush.
They never would find himi None
of the grown-ups ever walked the In
dian trail because their hair caught
In the branches and their lace skirts
In the prickly wild smilax. Their feet
did not know the delight of the
stretches of brown hemlock needles
nor their noses the smell of woodsy
things. Bobby's postrils twitched like
those of his rabbits as he shifted bal.
samie fragrance.
He walked and walked, finding the
hshpole difficult to carry when taken
In combination with a narrow path
and eager, reaching bushes. He had
walked farther on the trail than he
had done before all summer and the
trees were bigger and closer together.
It was even gloomy, for now the sun
had gone down outside. The quick
dusk In among the trees chilled his
spirits.
He stood still and listened. Not a
sound. II you want to realize how
scary absolute silence is you should
be a little boy Of nine, far from
home.
Waitl There was a noise-oh.
what was that awful noise? 1t was
the blood pounding in Bobby's tenn
pies.
He dragged out the bunnies and
hugged them closer. They were warm
and their fur was soft as they cud
died at his neck. He took few slow
steps. A branch cracked up above
Bobby stared feverishingly into the
gloom overhead. II might be a pan
ther or a lion or a tigerl Dreadful
thought
Turning, he crashed through under
brush, dropping his fshpole. Little
whimpers were struggling up to his
lips, but he bit them back.
When 1t was entirely dark he found
he was quite lost After he had cried
himself helpless he went to sleep
through sheer WEAKNESS.