The Ordway new era., 1911-02-03
AND THE
Illustrations by
Magnus G. Kettner

Copyright 1909. The Bobbs.Merrill Company.
CHAPTER !.
Ethel Maud ssws Her Thumb.
III grown-ups would Jest chsw one
snothsr's good luck. they could get =
heap Of satisfaction from It."
Miss Selma Lue.
Miss seliny Lue! Oh-Oh-o-
no. Miss seliny Lue! Boo-hoo-hoo
You. Bonnie. honey. quit crying this
minute and tell me what the matter
d. Come here and let me see!" And
grief.contorted youngster who was
dancing with excitement in the gro
osry door. Nov. where is the place?
Put your hand where you hurt If you
can't say I'll"
"Oh-ho-ho, 'tain't me a-tall! It's
Ehel Maud. and she's sewed herself
In the sswing-machine and pas Gus.
ning something orful and mas sick to
her stomick. Please. ma'am. come
quick and git her out!"
Lands alive!" said Miss Selma Lue
a. she reached with one hand for
sunbonnet hanging on the wall and
pulled the top on the pickle barrel
with the other. Miss Cynthia. honey.
can't you stay here for few minutes
until l can send Mr.. Dobbs back to
~ AnA vph hot dn
don't let nothing happen to the babies
In the soap-boxes. The red-headed
Flarity twin has been trying to turn
his'n over all morning: watch him.
Please hand me that turkey.tail duster
hanging over there on the wall. while
l straighten out my water waves. They
amt nothing like burnt feathers or
hair to bring up them that's in faint,
and l never 60 without 'em to burn"
And after a quick glance into her lit
tie bedroom mirror. Miss Selma Lue
hurried down the street. leaving an
uncertainty AZ to whether the turkey
tail or her own soft waves were to be
sacrificed in tho cause Of resuscita-
ton.
"0racious me. Miss seliny Lue.
WHO uO~ SahCo NAA .. ENAAAVJ
from her side door. standing with q
hot nat-iron dangling from her hand.
Mrs. Jim Peters also hailed from her
kitchen window. but Miss Selma Lue
kept sternly on her course. piloted by
the sobbing but important Bennie.
In tho first Of the three rooms that
formed the Dobbs residence Miss &c.
lima Lue found the pathetic little fig-
ure Of Ethel Maud hanging against the
corner of the sewing machine while
Mr.. Dobbs, red and embarrassed. stood
trembling by the window. and the ma
tsrnal relative Of the young sufferer
leaned against q chair. white and heav.
ting.
At sight of the deliverer. Ethel Maud
gave q relieved whimper and her tou-
selsd head fell over on Miss Selma
Lue's bosom, the depths Of which were
stirred by more than the mere suffer-
ang Of q pinioned finger. and which
took sympathetic note Of sweating.
masculine misery and white-faced. in
smcisnt mother-autterings.
Hurry on. over to mind the store
for me, Mr.. Dobbs." she said with a
kind glance at him. Il can git Der
loose in q minute. And, Mis- Dobbs,
quick a. you can, set the kettle on the
stove in the kitchen for some hot wa
ter to take out the swell. Well be
ready as soon as you git back with 1t. !"
30, vastly relieved. with one accord
the parents disappeared through oppo-
site doors, thus leaving Miss Selma
Lue with the limp and whimpering bag
to hold.
There, there. chickie-biddie," she
crooned to the little white ear buried
against her neck as she raised the
arm and hand and with a quick. dex-
ferrous turn of the needle released the
small pink thumb. 1T amt injured
much. However did you come to sew
your thumb?'
I'VE was trying to see what made
the top of it go and she got in the
way" volunteered Bennie, who was
the only member of the family that
had stood by the afflicted one. AL
though his distress had been genuine,
there is an attraction to ten years in
flowing blood, even though that same
blood be consangineous. "Shoo! that
didn't bleed half as much as my toe
did last week." he further remarked.
"It did! 1t did!" walled the small
sufferer. for the first time giving away
to the to-be-expected lamentations of
one injured Everybody stumps they's
toes but they didn't ever anybody get
sewed up In n sewing machine before"
Bennie was on the point Of arguing
the question when he was overtaken
by swift retribution for his seeming
heartlessness In the shape of n wet
dish-towel that spanked across his
shoulders With sting.