The Richfield recorder. (Richfield, Idaho) 1909-1931, 1914-09-24
THE THREE RUNAWAYS
BY CARRIE LOUISA SHAW.
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES

glimpse or the little blue checked ne
ure.
Slowly she turned and walked t
desk that stood in the room. 1t wa
the. one at which she sat each morn
ing to write the household accounts
Today it seemed to her the propert,
Of another. Every inanimate thin
appeared to stand coldIy aloof. Sh'
sat down and wrote. her hand ltrem
bling slightly:
Jim Dear:
Three months is not a great length O.
time, but 1t has been long enough to con
vince me that l am a failure.
The children will never accept blum
dering old maid as their mother. That Is
why l am leaving today for the West
oh. If I could only have made. them care
for me-that was my greatest dream.
l love them more than you can imagine
but they will be happier without me:
have looked truth squarely in the face
and l know they want no substitute for
that real mother, poor little things
After you have considered all things
| very carefully, you will see my view
| point and realize that l have acted
| wisely.
She folded the note, and addressed
it to her husband
Three months of the only real hap
piness she had ever known, and her
stronger self said this must be the
end. 1t would be hard to leave them
all, and the white, clean little house;
but the futility of staying had come
to her quite suddenly that morning
Lila-ten, dark eyed. and reserved
had prefaced request with moth
err" To Mrs. Carson mamma" had
somehow always seemed a sweeter,
more intimate term
Don't you think the word mother
a bit formal, dear?" she had ventured.
with fast-beating heart
Lila looked up quickly.
'I'll call you Mrs. Carson, them"
she announced briefly.
TITS no use-no use!" a voice In
her mind kept crying. "They may
even come to dislike you"
There were two others-Fred, sew
en-, and Alice, the baby.
She kissed the baby, but shyness
withheld her from caressing the two
impregnable little strangers who very
plainly did not wish to be caressed.
All her patient life she had longed
for domesticity and little ones, but for
years perverse necessity had kept her
in the schoolhouse Of middle West
town.
Some time after the sisters we'd
ding she met Jim Carson, widower
and after brief but sincere wooing
he brought her East as his bride-a
girl no longer, but full Of the inno-
cence and Illusions of youth.
The train she must take left at two.
She placed the note in the center of
the round table, and entered the bed
room-her bedroom and Jim's.
Carefully she took her clothes from
the closet and piled them on the bed.
They were new, neat things that were
her trousseau.
In opening the top bureau drawer,
a small package and sealed envelope
met her gaze. Both were addressed
in very round, precise letters to Mrs.
Margaret Carson"
The writing was vaguely familiar.
She tore open the letter first. 1t read:
Dear Mrs Carson:
1 take my pen in hand to tell you that
am going to run away today. II my
brother Frederick Carson. will go. will
take him, too. You can keep the baby
because you love her. know you do. be-
cause you kiss her and call her my little
I sowed on 1t every day after school so
1 could get 1t done by May 18th (twelfth). |
but 1t is not done yet. If you. Will kindly
Embroidery the big green leef it will be
done I am sorry YOU did not like for me |
to call you mother.
Respectfully.
Lila Carson.
P. 81 know you won't care because
you don't love me. You never kissed me |
goodnight in your life
MRS. Margaret Carson" drew long
breath then almost reverently united
the package.
A large cushion-top, embroidered In
bright red and green, unrolled to view
There must have been hundreds and
hundreds OF the crude little stitches,
and the goods had puckered woefully;
but to the recipient 1t was a glorious
thing
And then, because she was woman.
she cried.
Soon small feet came pattering
through the house, and in a minute
Fred stood In the doorway.
kin have doughnut?" he asked.
Eyes, dear, yes. Did your sister
,ome home with your" she queried
eagerly.
"Yes'm. She's out In the wood
she'd. She wants me to run away
With her, but l won't" said Fred vir-
uously. Don't tell her told"
In the woodshed she found her hid
ng behind box. A bit Of the blue
,hecked dress had betrayed her. ST.
emily the little mother raised and
olded her in her arms.
She kissed the flushed face several
ines.
my dear, dear little girl, you will
ot run away from mother now. Won't
'ou believe love you?" The tone
arried conviction.
Lila glanced up shyly.
Il thought sure you didn't And
hen you said you-you thought was
DO familiar, or something, because !
allied you mother"
The mother gave = wabbly little