Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1912-01-22
RF(;klES
BY
Gene SoraGG0m-
Porter
coPMncsn. 1904. ~ DOUBLEDAY. PAGE
= 90.

'sWeeI, I be drawru onr' came Mrs.
Duncan's tense whisper:
"Shu-shuw cautioned Duncan.
Lastly Freckles took OF his cap. He
began filing 1t with handfuls Of wheat
from his pockets. In swarm the grain
eaters rose about him like flock Of
tame pigeons. They perched on his
arms and the cap. and. in the stress
OF hunger forgetting all caution, bril-
liant cock cardinal and an equally
eaudy jay fought for perching place
on his hsad.
'Weel, I'm beat!' muttered Duncan,
forgetting the silence imposed on his
wife. ''I'u hae to give in. Seem Is
believin'."
4 week later Duncan and Freckles
rose from breakfast to face the bitter
est morning Of the winter. When
Freckles, warmly capped and gloved,
stepped TO the corner Of the Kitchen for
his scrap pail he found pan Of
steaming boiled wheat on the top Of 1t.
He wheeled to. MIS-. Duncan with a
shining face.
10s
me chickens or yours?" he asked.
cts for yours, Freckles." she said.
Freckles faced Mrs. Duncan with q
trace Of every pang Of starved mother
hunger he had ever suffered written
/ large on his homely, splotched, narrow
features.
"oh. how wish you were my moth
ervs he cried.
Lord love the ladv' exclaimed Mrs.
Duncan. why. Freckles are ye no
BRIGHT enough to learn without being
taught by 4 woman that am your
mither? II q great man like yourself
dinna ken that. learn it now and ne'er
forget it. Ance woman is the wife
Of any man she becomes wife to all
men for having had the wifely ex-
perience she kens! Ance q man child
has beaten his way to life under the
heart Of q woman she Is mother to all
men, for the hearts Of mithers are
everywhere the same. Bless ye, lad
die, am your mither!"
She tucked the coarse scarf she had
knit for him closer over bis chest and
pulled his cap lower about his ears,
but Freckles. whipping it OF and hold.
ing It under bis arm, caught her rough,
REDEEMED hand and pressed 1t to his
lips in long kiss. Then he hurried
away to hide the happy embarrassing
tears that were coming straight from
his swelling heart
Ms. Duncan threw herself into Dun
cans arms.
Ia ~1,<> Onx9
the puir 'hither.hungry lad! He breaks
my hearth
Duncan's arms closed convulsively
about his wife. With a big brown
hand he lovingly stroked her rough
sorrel hair.
Sarah, you're guild woman!' he
said. you're MIGHTY guild woman!
Ye hae way O. speakin' out at times
that's like the inspired prophets Of the
Lord"
All through the winter Freckles' en-
tire energy was given to keeping up
his lines and his chickens from
freezing or starving. When the first
breath Of spring touched the Timber
lost and the snow receded before It.;
when the catkins began to bloom:
when there came hint Of green to
the trees, bushes and swale; when the
rushes lifted their heads and the
pulse Of the newly resurrected season
beat strong In the heart of nature.
something new stirred in the breast
Of the boy.
Nature always levies her tribute.
Now she laid a powerful hand on the
soul of Freckles. to which the boys
whole beinp responded. though he had
not the least idea what was troubling
him. Duncan accepted his wife's
theory that It was a touch Of spring
fever. but Freckies knew better. He
had never been 20 well.