The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1910-12-29

paper woman, since you will be charitable.
Now good-by, really. 1 must co.
And gathering a fresh resolute hold upon
her skirts Tommy fled,
L duly bought a paper, and turned to
peep after Tommy. Sometimes she would
appear at the window on the first floor of
the office, f~ieetingly, and one might nave a
glimpse of a waving little hand. Today
The window was blank.
So much I had perceived; when sudden
" there came to my ears sounds of alarm.
a quick, confused shouting, an instant
check in the never ending stream of hui
mainly flowing city-wards. Half panic, in
tense curiosity, distress, showed together
IN the sudden cries; a fire engine had APP
peared as a meteor, among the traffic. 1t
cleft Its way with ~invincible, astounding
swiftness; flashed by me down the Hill of
Charterhouse street, finging mud and
noise right and left.
Ifen came that happening which showed
me how little l had learned of life. An
SaTeEii, ragged, frantic with excitement.
dashed across Charterhouse street from
out OF the semi-darkness of Shoe Lane.
ne MAD heard the fremen's cries without
locating them; had determined to see all
that might be seen. Desperate shouts
warned, toe late, from a score of threats.
mad a dim knowledge of the boy and tho
horses being hideously together; and with
them the hasty vision of a girl, fair-haired,
auick-handed to save. The swarming
crowd curtained the scene almost Instant
~ from my eyes, as I ran forward toward
it.
Ihe IRE engine moved away, callousIy
almost. Yet was there not life to rescue
elsewhere? No moment this for aught but
duty, action, and the rest of it. A no
iiccman ordered the crowd; I contriyed to
WIN 70 his side. h boy was there; dead
~ white and dazed, diffused in ready tears.
Ee had his arm held defensively across
his narrow chest, lest some one might saw
he was to blame.
And Tommy?
I lifted her heart high, all crushed and
muddled as she was. She made a little
wry grimace as she recognized me. then
became a dead weight in my arms. Some
how, I got her to Bartholomew's; and
waited in an agony Of suspense while the
house surgeon examined her.
4 hate to tell the rest Of 1t. There was
no hope, no chance. She asked for me
they said; and / stumbled blindly along the
Corridors to her side. They had covered
her poor broken body in a blanket that
her dear eyes might never know the truth
She whispered through the bIeached Inns a
1alntly huttering command that / was RI
tell them at the office.
Make 1t all right for me, won't youp I'll
be back tomorrow or the next day. DID
they pick up my hat? The feathers-the
feathers!" 80
I knele beside her and took her b,na
she turned her face toward mine.r We
kissed, for the first and last time in our
lives. She smiled even in the throesepf IN
utterable anguish.
The feathers" she again
family. Something will have to be done
with those feathers. They'll ne:ar look
anything again. 1 oughtn,t to- have uerr
the nat. But you said you like it7"
dear, valiant hearth
Sh closed her eyes, contentedIy as q u,
tie child tired Of a long, long day. / felt
ner cold fingers grow colder still. She
sighed deeply. once, twice. Tommy !
caiied under my breath, hopelessly. ..My
little girl, speak to me-,
The feathers!" she breathed again.
dreamily. Next week-it will mean no
lunch! But. stili-you said you liked II,
You said-you said,
Then silence; whilst the eternal question
was inwardly debated. And an~swered-for
good and all.