Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1914-05-27
not dare climb that ladder to the BAN.

ueISu IL WdS dlIIlOSI DIS IL Iney SnOuiU
all do it; 1t was always this one who
led into the dangerous places; always
this one who went a bit further when
the cthers' courage failed: they ex-
planned IL pleasantly by that fortunate
lack IN Francois' inside mechanism
which produced in the others the dis
comfort called fear, hindering bold
deeds.
he has no Judgment, Francois;
therefore, he fears nothing they some
times put the case.
But the fact remaine@ that he was
afraid of nothing. The boys waited a
minute, eyes and mouths stretched, and
at length came the decision.
Il dare said Francois. Then the
dark heads came together in an un-
easy mass, and there was whispering.
At the dinner hour that day several
mothers of the village remarked that
their small lads We're restless, not in
the soup of chopped vegetables and the
green beans-alI anxious to finish and
get away. Only the mother of Fran
OILS, however. reasoned from this that
mischief was brewing. When the slim,
why, little figure slipped from the table
and out through the open door. she rose
and, followed and too in the great
entry watching him race across the
field toward the church. But at that
momen the baby cried and she turned
back into the house. and when she
looked again the boy had disappeared.
Yet IT was or her mind that Something
would happen. and from time to time
she left her work and vent to the
doorway and shaded her eyes, looking
for her little lad. Meanwhile Francois
had veered but once In his straight
path-to turn to the Philpoteaux cot
tage. where the glider lodged while in
Vicques.
How soon will one be at work up
there again." he asked through the
window of Auguste Philpoteaux, sitting
at his dinner, and the man answered
good naturally, enjoying the publicity
which made him the most interesting
person of the village.
Not %ooner And Francois raced on.
by this time a boy here and 9. boy
there had stolen from their dinner
tables and were gathering in groups
down the street, but the elders paid no
attention. Francois disappeared into
the church: the boys began to grow
GREATNESS.
1T will take some minutes for the
stairs" one said, and they waited. Two
minutes, three, perhaps five; something
rose out of the trap door leading to the
platform from which the steeple sprang
"a figure, looking very ma SO far
up above them. Instantly it attached
-~|%. %NNt - ~ III ~ w JIG IVA VI
the steeple; 1T moved upward. Henri
Dufour, below in the street, Jumped as
a hand gripped his arm. He looked up
frightened at La Claire.
is that nv Francois? ?" she demanded
sternly. but the boy did not need to
answer.
With that, by degrees people came
from the cottages as at some mys-
FERROUS warning and stood silent,
afraid to breathe, watching the
little figure creeping up, up
the dizzy narrowing peak Of the
church steeple. A rider galloped down
the road; seeing the groups. he pulled
IN his bay horse and his eyes followed
the upward glance OF the whole viii
lage. In spite of the distance, one
could tell that it was a child's. not
a mans figure, glued against the
f1eche. almost now at the top.
Who is it?" he flung at the nearest
Knot of peasants; his voice was
abrupt INC commanding.
The men pulled off their caps and
one answered respectfully: 1t is lit
tie Francois Beaupre, my seigneur;
II is a child who has no fear; he is
almost at the top, but we dread it
to descend. Yet the child is not afraid
We hope he will come down and in
h a case his mother should most Ger
tainly give him the stick"
MON Dleu! the man on horseback
growled. IF he looks down he is lost;
the lad is a born hero or a born luna,
tic
The crawling spot up there showed
dark in the Sunlight against the new
gliding of the ball. 1t stopped; the
blot was fixed for a second; another
second. From the crowd rose gasps
and excited broken sentences.
H has the vertigo. He is lost"
A mar spoke that plainly and Henri
Dufour felt Claire's fingers on his arm
loosen as if life had gone out Of them.
A strange sound came from her lips,
but the boy did not stir his eyes from
the church steeple. In the stiffness he
heard a woman yards away whisper
as if to herself:
He will fall now-at this moment"
Ind the dark blot chung against he
gliding. Then suddenly it moved, be-
gan to make g. slow way downward,
and a long sigh. like a ripple on water,
ran through, the ranks of the people.
No one spoke; all the eyes watched
unseen ladder In the air. At last it
was at the bottom; it disappeared in
to the trap door. Every one began to
talk volubly at once; a woman cried
for joy, then a child spoke In a high
voice.
See" she said shrilly, the mother
of Francois goes to meet him"
La Claire was far down the street
gliding toward that church door which
| was under the steeple. AS she reached
it the little lad came out. his face
flushed. his eyes shining with excite
ment n triumph. She took his hand
silently, hardly looking at him, and
turned SO, quietly, without a word of
either joy or reproof, her face impas-
sive. She had got her boy again from
the dead. it seemed to Claine, and
those first moments were beyond
| words or embraces. To touch his
warm hand was enough. The man on
the bay horse. trotting slowly along,
saw the meeting.