Evening star., 1914-11-26

Wilson,, he continued, as he cut a
great piece and began to eat, "he said
to me. Governor. governor. said he.
| never disregard a lady's advice, an
| / always remembered what he said"
He nodded in friendly way toward
the pie and ate noisily and with evil
dent great enjoyment, chuckling be-
tween bites.
manners of man who had dined
with the President. but she poured his
tea, favoring it with rb,h cream and
sugar. and passed it to him.
I'm not much of a hand for tea"
said the man, as he drained his cup.
but the doctor SAYS l must drink
lit for my digestion when there's
nothin' better. You see, l ruined my
digestion when l was in the army,
and he looked at her solemnly. But,
say by the way" he continued, pick
ing up the silver teaspoon from his
saucer, have you any more of these"
They are as neat an pretty pat
tern as I ever saw. an so odd too.
the dozen if you have EN-.
Mother has only eleven" said Car
rie in her innocence, and she is very
proud of them. But 1 will show them
to YOU.
Then she brought the little box
with the precious table silver-eleven
teaspoons. four tablespoons and an
ancient cream jug, all pure silver and
SHiltlHS brightly, ana placed thefn be-
fore her inquisitive visitor to admire.
He had finished his light lunch"
That is. the pie was demolished, the
cake gone. and the teapot empty. Then
he made a motion as though to go into
the dining room to get his snack of
turkey, but the loud ticking of clock
caught his attention instead. He look
ed at the round face speculatively. if
asking it to inform him when the train
came in. and about how long it would
tai L he rirl' fly hor ,nft ftAr
back home. AT last he shook his head
regretfully and picked up the treasures
the girl had placed on the table in
front of him. He carried the box to
the window, examined it's contents with
critical eye for moment, and then.
as if in joyful surprise, cried:
Il am right! They are the very
spoons. The very same identical
spoons that my friend lost when he
was boy, How lucky it is that
have found them at last
With these words and a very low bow
the rascal opened the door and slipped
away with the spoons and silver cream
pitcher down the path toward the gate
For an instant Carrie stood motion
less; then, rushing after him. she
shrieked. Give me those spoons! They
are. my mothers spoons and you are
trying to steal them. You are thief.
a thief. Bring them back. Bring them
back"
The man ran rapidly down the path.
Old Tecumseh was quietly nibbling
the grass near the gateway Hearing
his little mistress voice, he looked up
at the very instant that the tramp was
passing. Erecting his head with a
hoarse "Baa-a!' he shot after him like
a cannon ball.
The man turned to receive him and
defend himself. but the ram struck him
fairly in front and knocked him, half
senseless. fiat on his back, scattering
the silver in all directions.
For a few moments the fellow re-
manned sprawling in the dust Then
he slowly arose. limping and groaning,
and, without glance at his enemy, be-
gan to gather up his stolen spoils. He
had partly completed his task, when
old Tecumseh shook his long beard
and. with another tremendous "Baa-a" !"
dashed at him again, and over he went
a second time, his treasures flying from
his hands.
And now began a strange battle. With
cries of rage and pain the man recov-
cred his feet and turned upon the ram,
kicking and striking at him furiously.
while TecumSeh! accustomed to such
warfare from years of experience with
the boys of the countryside, easily
eluded him. and, in turn, butted him
to the earth again and again.
! Victory soon declared itself upon the
side of the quadruped, and, bruised and
bleeding, minus hat and shoe, the tramp
ran limping down the road. leaving his
antagonist in full possession of the
field and the stolen silver.
| Old Tecumseh remained motionIess,
gazing after his enemy until he disap-
peared around a distant turn in the
road, then, shaking the dust from his
coarse wool, he gave utterance to a low
grumble Of satisfaction, and, wagging g
his tail, returned to his dinner in front
of the house.
| Half an hour later, as Carrie washed
the coveted spoons and the bright little
| pitcher, and laid them carefully away
once more, she told her brother the
story and how the robber was foiled.
and Ned, full of enthusiasm, cried: I'VE
| will not kill old Tecumseh at all, for
! don't believe that father would shoot
him now for a hundred dollars"
| The boy was right. The old ram won
more than he knew when he fought the
| tramp and conquered him. He won the
warm friendship of the entire house
| hold, and no eater of Thanksgiving g
dinner enjoyed it more than the old
ram.
(THE END)