The Eureka sentinel. [volume] (Eureka, Nev.) 1902-current, 1912-10-12

I'LL a NEttf W. NhOAa WV NVot0
be paid. dead or alive.
Curses rose to his lips. lips that had
never known an oath before. Prayers
and pleadings were forgotten In that
bitter arralgnment of fate.
Then came the sudden revival of
youthful spirits. carrying with them
the reckless bravado that all boys pos
sess to the verge of folly. The band
was playing, the show had begun. A
fierce desire 20 brave detection and
boldly enter the charmed pavilion took
possession of him First he would buy
OF the pie mans wares. then he would
calmly present himself before the tick
ct wagon window. after which, But
he got no further in his dream of au-
dacity. The placard on the fence
seemed to smite him In the face. He
s~huddesiag.
Ci"cling the dressing tent, he came
upon men Mt work. They were draw
ing stakes with the old fashioned
chains. For awhile he duly watched
them. They passed On. lie crept from
his place Of hiding and. attracted by
the lights as a moth Is drawn by the
candle, made his way to the shelter
ed spot at the joining of the tents.
An -overpowering sense of lassitude
fell upon him. His eyes closed in alb
rupt surrender to exhaustion. The
rhythmic peat of the quickstep leaped
off into great distances: the champing
and snorting of horses in the dressing
tent died away as IL by magic: the
subdued voices of the men and women
who waited their turn to bound into
the merry ring faded into indistin-
Guishable whispers: the crack of the
ringmaster's whip and the responsive
yelp of the clown trailed of into ST.
lence. His head fell back. his body
relaxed and he slipped of into sweet
Inconsistencies.
A man In motley garb. with n face of
scarlet and white. caught sight of an
arm and hand lying limp under the
edge Of the canvas. He stared hard
for a moment. and then. attracted by
the slim. unfamiliar member, arose
and advanced to the spot. AS he stood
there a woman and a young girl ap-
preached.
Drunk observed the clown with a
grimace.
The woman spoke. "How long and
fine the fingers are. A boys hand. not
a mans. See who is there, Joey. do
And so it was that the fugitive was
taken.
The clown lifted the side wall and
bent over the form of the lad, peering
into the white. mud streaked face.
Hes not drunk" he said quickly.
HE looks i'll, poor fellow. How wet
be is-and so muddy. Is he asleep? 1t
isn't-it isn't something else?" She
drew back in sudden dread.
Hes alive. right enough. | say,
Mrs. Braddock. there's something queer
about this. He can't belong in this
ere town, else he wouldn't be sleepin'
ere in the mud. He's plain pegged
out. ma'am. Like enough 'e's some
poor fool as wants to join the circus
Run away from 'ome. l dare say
We've 'ad lots of 'em follow us uI
lately, you know. Only this 'un looks
different. Shall l call Peterson? HeI
wake i'm up right enough and con
vince i'm that the show business is c
good thing to stay u of while he can
Don't call Peterson. He Is a brute
Rouse him yourself, and tell him t
come inside the tent. Poor boy, he's
half drowned. Come, dearie," to the
girl, Ego into the dressing room. Yot
must not see
HE is so white and i'll looking
mother said the girl, in plying tones
her gaze fastened upon the face of the
sleeper. The mother drew the chile
aside.
"He may be another Artful Dick. m,
child ventured the mother. You
father says the p~ickpockets are un
commonly numerous this spring."
I'm sure he isn't a thief-I'm SURE
of it," said the girl eagerly.
She was a pretty. brown haired crea
ture. whose large. serious eyes SCENE
%unnaturally dark and brilliant agains
the vivid coloring of her cheeks ant
forehead. One who understood tn
secrets of the makeup" could hav'
told at a glance that underneath tn
thick layer of powder and paint Their
was a soft. white skin. Even TIL
rough. careless application of harm
less cosmetics could not in any sens
, deceive one as to the delicacy of he
features. The mouth. red with III
carmine grease. was gentle, even tren
ulous: her nose. though streaked wit
n thin. white line. was straight an
pure patrician in its modelling. wit
fine. duivering nostrils. now gently dis
tended by sharp exercise in the ring
Her ears were small. her throat roun'
and slim. Right proudly her head rod
the firm. white neck. The warm, brow
hair swept down in caresses for th
bare shoulders. A long. red Shake
! cloak enveloped the slim. straight bod,
The mothar still was n Young We