The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1910-07-14

had been in the house. but she declared
that you had not. Ny boy Jean says he
saw you running toward the house with
both hands open and likewise your mouth.
and come out OF 1t holding a franc be-
tween your teeth. SO, Toni. you are a
thief, and your mother. am sure. win
never love you again, and TO keep YOU
from being sent to prison for life. I
mean 10 give you as good a whipping as
l am able. for fear your mother will not
do her duty by you. and when I am
through, I viii take you over to her. and
when l tell the police
Clery paused. Toni was thoroughly
awake and alive then. A thief! Tell
the police. That meant prison to him.
This awful vision drove everything else
out of his mind. And then Ciery, sud
denly brandishing the cane, brought Il
down on TOMS shoulders with all the
strength of an able-bodied tailor Toni
uttered a half-shriek, but after that
neither cried out nor wept, but bore
stoically the blows that Ciery rained
upon him. II seemed as If the day of
Judgment had come.
When Clery. honest man. had finished
with Toni and was taking him across
the street. Toni looked around him with
wild eyes OF despair That precious ref
uge under his little bed seemed no longer
open 10 him. He was a thief-he must
go 10 prlson-that was ali he knew. And
just then he looked up and there was
policeman walking straight toward
him That was enough Toni, wrestling
himself from Clery's grasp. turned and
ran like one possessed, the specter OF a
mad fear chasing him, down toward the
bridge. He was afraid to crawl into his
usual nook. because he could be easily
seen from there. so he ran across the
bridge and hid himself in a thlcket OF
young chestnut trees on the other side.
He lay, terror-stricken, his heart beat
ing so that he thought 1t must almost
make hole In the ground. What was
to become of him? His mother, as Clery
had told him, could love him no longer.
He dared not look any one IN the face.
but felt an outcast, like Cain. He lay
there for hours, through the waning
scended on the white town, on the
| sparkling river, the long rows OF bar
racks. and the open fields in which the
circus tent had been pitched. Il was
now taken down. and the circus people
were preparing TO go by the highway
to the next town. ten miles away.
1t was nearly o'clock, and the young
moon was trembling In the heavens, when
| the circus cavalcade began TO travel
along the white and dusty highroad, pass
| ing by TOMS place Of concealment It
suddenly came into HIS mind that the
only thing for him 10 do was 10 60 with
the circus. AS the end of the procession
Of carts and vans and horsemen and
horsewomen passed. Toni crept out Of
his hiding place and came up TO a COM
pany of men who were trudging along
on foot. He said TO one Of them, Nicolas
by name. youngish man with hair and
beard as red as Judas:
May I walk a little way with your
This little way, In TOMS mind, meant
to walk through life with the circus
company.
/ Nicolas laughed. Runaway boys were
TIE SSAcfdt CoIscOi2litalltS VI q NfNNS
company. And in a moment more he
recognized the boy who had stuck on
the pony's back, and then had run away
so quickly.
Eyes, come along. you young rascal, y
he said, "and you can carry this portman-
teau If you like"-and he slung the heavy
portmanteau from his own shoulders 10
Tonis.
Toni trudged along. carrying the port
manteau easily being strong boy. He
got into a conversation with his new
friend and soon expressed his determine
ton TO stay with the circus II only they
would give him something to eat, for he
was very hungry. A woman. walking
along with them. heard this and handed
Toni couple of biscuits. which he
eargerly devoured. They trudged on for
| two hours. the moon growing larger
and brighter and flooding with a white
radiance the hedges. the wide fields. the
woods, and the highway along which the
| cavalcade Travelled slowly Toni felt an
immense sense of relief. The police could
not come so far TO get him. He hardened
his heart against his mother He judged
from what Clery had told him. that his
mother would be the first 10 denounce
him.
And so began poor TOMS life with the
circus, away from his mother. away from
Denise. away from Paul Verney-oniy
Jacques remained.