The Irish standard., 1912-03-16

COPYRIGHT. 1904. BY DOUBLEDAY, PAca
up Now l know me mother deserted
me. and me father was maybe 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.
If you could be forgetting me lost
hand. whore was raised. and that
had no name to give you. and II you
would be taking me as l am, some
day people such as mine must be
might come upon you. used to pray
livery night and morning and many
times tho 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 a wildness OF
your dear head. oh. do. for mercy
sake. kiss me once more and be let
ting me gor'
Mot for minutev' cried the angel.
mot for a minute. If those are all
the reasons you have. There are
thousands Of young couples who come
to this country and start a family
with mono Of their relatives here. Chi.
cago Is big city. and grown people
could be wiped out in lot Of ways.
and who would there ever be to find
to whom their little children belonged?
It's all 20 plain to me. Oh, If l could
only make you see!"
She buried her face in the pillow and
presently lifted 1t, TRANSPORTED.
''Now / have It'll" she cried. "Oh. dear
heart! I can make it so plain! Freck
les. can you imagine you see the old
Limberlost trail? Well. when we fol-
lowed 1t, You know. there were places
where ugly prickly thistles overgrew
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
lilies 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 place anywhere about the
Limberlost, or in the whole world.
where the thistiedown doated and
sprang up and blossomed into white
lilies! Thisties grow from thistles and
lilies grow other lilies. Dear FreckIes.
think hard: You must see It: You are
lily. straight through! You never. new
er could have drifted from the thistle
patch.
"whsre did you get the courage to
60 into the Limberlost ana face its ter.
rors? You inherited it from the blood
Of brave father. dear heart. Where
did you get the pluck to hold for over
year job that few men would have
taken at all? You got it from piucky
mother. You bravest of boys. You wad.
ed single handed into 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 untruthful9 Here you are, SO
hungry and starved out that you are
dying for love. Where did you get all
that capacity for lovingf You didn't
inherit it 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 nave
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.
"FreckIes." she cried. come to your
senses! Be thinking. reasoning
man! You Just must see it: Like
breeds like In this world! You must
be some sort OF reproduction of your
parents. and am not afraid to vouch
for them. not for a minute
"And then. too. II more proof is
ueeVSU USI0 ~ 10. MT NCA8du says
that you are the most perfect gen.
tleman he ever knew, ana he has
Travelled the world over. Then
there's your singing. l don't believe
there ever was mortal with a sweet.
er voice than yours. ana while that
doesn't prove anything there u a
point that does. Just the little train
ing you had from that chotrmaster
won't account for the wonderful &C.
cent and ease with which you sing.
Somewhere In your close blood Is a
marvelousiy trained vocalist; we
every one OF us believe that, Freckies.
"Why does my father refer to you
constantly as being OF fine perceptions
ana honorr Because you are.
Freckles. Why does the BIRD Woman
leave her precious work and stay
here to help look after youI l never
heard OF her losing any time over
any one else. It's because she loves