Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1912-12-07

Tim was one of pride, not of race, but
of possession.
The boys devotion showed itself at
once, as in extravagant terms he
told her Of his surprise and delight
at such wonderful puppies.
Then Tins worries began. Mol1ie
had to be fed. She needed extra feed
ing, milk especially; but where was
it coming from?
There were no filled milk bottles
where he lived. Sometimes they had
little from the grocery, but Tins
uncle thought 1t luxury.
Luckily the real cold weather had
not begun, but it was cool enough up
there. |es.
Mollie, an invalid, did not care
about dry bread and, finding she did
not eat it, he left her half, and ate the
rest.
When he dared no longer stay up,
he pressed a kiss on her loving nose,
lightly touching the baby heads, and
stole down to bed. Before daylight
Tim had started on his rounds. Milk
wagons also made an early start, so
there were full bottles for Tim to &C.
lect from.
It seemed as if Mollie would have
to go on the plan of feast and a
fast, as even cream bottles could not
easily be kept.
| Putting the bread into an old sau-
Ger. Tim poured in the cream and fed
his cherished pet and, when the bot,
tie was empty, Mollie lay back with
a sigh of content
Tim smoothed down the brown
head while he tried to smooth down
his own conscience. To starve the
dog lust now was what he couldn't do.
IL it were possible, he would earn
money. If not, why, there was the
other thing. To be a crook meant that
one lost social standing; yet he came
back to the same reasoning-the dog
must be fed somehow.
A day or two later policeman's
suspicious we're aroused, and, In the
gray dawn, Patrick Healy saw the
sight that brought mistiness to his
official eyes.
F.! He had come up by way Of the next
building and, hidden in the shadow
waited to see if the boy would ap
pear.
Hugging the bottle, Tim crept UP
to the shed, crouched down and poured
! out the cream. Cream bottles being
smaller we're more easily handled.
The policeman leaned over and saw
a mongrel Of low degree, three roly
poly puppies, and a boy whose face
was trensfigured for the moment az
Mollie licked his face and hands be-
fore starting on her breakfast.
Patrick Healy kept quite still as
Tim, with due caution, tucked the
empty bottle out of sight, and petted
his dog. There hadn't been much food
for the last few weeks for Tim, and
| he was strangely tired.
Pulling the dirty carpet over him
! he gathered Mollie and her babies into
his arms and the five slept.
=
It was an angry embittered boy who
followed an irate uncle to the chill
! dren's court.
! The kindly officer obliged to make
| the charge, had an Invalid Wl1e ano
only memory Of sunny-haired baoy
J He had seen the boys viewpoint, also
the viewpoint of an excited restaurant
keeper, who demanded the payment
! Of various bottles Of cream; but the
! officer considered the boy the most i'm
! portant object.
| The far.seeing eyes Of the judge
looked at the sulky, boyish face and
noted the tired lines about the blue
eyes.
! Didn't you know it was stealing tc
| take the cream" .~a.-.
yep. er yes, sir
Couldn't you have managed to gel
cent or two?"
Nope, couldn't get nothin! tried