The citizen. [volume] (Berea, Ky.) 1899-1958, 1912-09-19
OO
FRECKLES
BY
Gene SGraG10m-
Porter
COPYRIGHT. 1904. BY DOUBLEDAY. PAGE
n n

tnlnR-nODOOy Whuteu Ine hitorWhTu
90. of course, they didn't before Som,
of them should have been telling you
long ago"
IF that's all you have to tell,
Freckles, rye known that quite
awhile" said the angel stoutly. "Mr
Mclean told my father. and he told
me That only makes me love you
more. to pay for all you've missed"
Then I'm wondering at you" said
Freckles, in a voice Of awe. Cant
you see that II you were willing and
your father would come and offer you
to me, couldn't be touching the
soles of your feet. in iove-me, whose
people brawled over me. cut or me
hand, and throwed me away to freeze
and to diel Me, who has no name
Just as much because I've no right
to any. as because l don't know II.
When I was little. ] planned to find
me father and mother when grew
up. Now l know me mother deserted
me. and me father Was maybe a thief
and surely a liar. The pity of me
suffering and the watching over me
has gone TO your head, dear angel,
and it's me must be thinking for you
II you could be forgetting me lost
hand. where I was raised, and that I
had no name to give you, and II you
would be taking me as am, some
day people such as mine must be
might come upon you. ! used to pray
livery night and morning and many
times the day to see me mother. Now
/ only pray to die quickly and never
risk the sight of her. 'Tain't no ways
possible. ANGEL It's wildness OF
your dear head. Oh. do, for mercy
sake, kiss me once more and be let
ting me gov'
mot for a minuter' cried the angel
mot for a minute. II those are all
the reasons you have. There are
thousands Of young couples who come
to this country and start family
with none Of their relatives here. Chi
cago is a big city. and grown people
could be wiped out In a lot Of ways,
and who would there ever be to find
to whom their little children belonged
It's all so plain to me. oh. II could
only make you seer
She buried her face In the pillow and
presently lifted Il, transhgured
snow have itP' she cried "Oh. dear
heart! can make IL 30 plain! Freck-
les. can you imagine you see the old
Limberlost trail? Well. when we fol-
lowed IT, you know. there were places
where ugly prickly thistles evergreen
the path. and you went ahead with
your club and bent them back to keep
them from singing through my cloth
ing. Other places there were great
shining pools where lovely. snow white
hlies grew. and you waded In and
gathered them for me. Oh. dear heart.
don't you see? It's this! Everywhere
the wind carried that thistledown. 9TH
er thistles sprang up and grew prick
les and wherever those lily seeds sank
to the mire the pure white OF other
lilies bloomed. But. Freckles. there
was never a place anywhere about the
Limberlost, or in the whole world.
where tho thistledown fioated and
sprang up and blossomed into white
lilies! Thistles grow from thisties and
lilies grow other lilies Dear FreckIes,
think hard! You must see IL! You are
lily. straight through! You never. new
er could have drifted from the thistle
patch.
"Where did you get the courage TO
20 into the Lmberlost and face It's ter
rorsf You Inherited II from the blood
OF a bravo father. dear heart. Where
did you get the pluck 20 hold for over
year a job that few men would have
taken at air You got IL from a plucky
mother. you bravest Of boys You wad-
ed single handed into a man almost
twice your size and fought like a
demon, just at the suggestion that you
could be deceptive and dishonest
Could your mother or your father have
been untruthfulf Here you are. so
hungry and starved out that you are
dying for love. Where did you get all
ehah SupaNity AOt OshbA AOu oAuh '
inherit II from hardened. heartless
people who would disngure you and
purposely leave you to die. that's one
sure thing. Yet you will spend miser-
able years torturing yourself with the
idea that your own mother might have
cut OF that hand. shame on you.
Freckles! Your mother would have
done this
The angel deliberately turned back
the cover. slipped up the sleeve and
laid her lips on the scars.
"Freckles." she cried. come TO your
senses! Be thinking. reasoning
man! You Just must see Il. Like
breeds like In this world! You must
be some sort OF reproduction OF your
parents. ana I am not afraid to youch
for them. not for a minute.
"And then. too, II more proof Is
needed here Il 10: Mr. McLean says
that you are the most perfect gen
tleman he ever knew. and ne has
Travelled the world over. Then
there's your singing. I don't believe
there ever was a mortal with a sweet
or Voicor than yours ann white thar