The Climax-Madisonian. (Richmond, Madison County, Ky.) 1914-1917, 1915-12-08

swinging slightly to and fro in the
the instant, for the child had slipped
to the floor and knelt there by the old
mans knee, her face hidden in her
chubby hands. Perhaps in the intense
stiffness she missed the voice that gen.
orally guided hers. for there was a mo-
ment of hesitation on her part. Then
she began to pray aloud, hating over
the words:
Jesus, tender shepherd, hear me;
Bless thy little lamb tonight;
In the darkness be thou near me,
Keep me safe till morning light.
Let my sins be all forgiven,
Bless the friends love so well,
Take me when die to heaven,
There forever with thee to dwell"
God, take care of muvver and uncle
and faraway daddy and make Betty
a good girl frever and ever. Amen"
1t was very still all around, and
usually when she finished her prayers
a soft cheek was laid against her own,
while a soft voice echoed Amen" and
that meant my heart wants it to be
exactly sou Now, however, no one
spoke. Betty glanced wonderingly
about as she rose to her feet, a trile
dazed and even frightened, but such
grave, quiet, kind faces looked back at
her that swiftly she dropped to her
knees again with another petition,
GOD bless everybody an most speshil-
ly Santa Claus
amen" said old Jerome in the
pause that followed.
A bed had been hastily constructed
in the warmest corner out of the best
materials the camp afforded, and thith-
er Jerome carried the child. She nes-
tied down drowsily while he tucked
the covering about her. But his was
an alien touch. and through the room
there suddenly sounded a low, wailing
cry:
''Muvver-oh, muvver"-
There, honey! There, blossom
the mans voice broke, the hand that
soothed was clumsy and old, and 1t
trembled. There, honey
The men sat Notwithstanding,
dreading to hear the cry again, but mo-
ment after moment passed, and it did
not come. There was one little sob;
then the dream fairy stopped with her
comfort
How quiet the room vast And this
was Christmas eve-the time when
each man was to do a stunt for the
amusement of his fellows and the glo-
ry Of himself. Generally on this occa-
sion the lord of misrule held high car
nival-the flowing bowl was like per-
petual fountain, and laughter, shout
ing and horseplay abounded on every
side. There was rum in plenty since
Terry had not failed them, but no eff.
fort was made to secure it. Desire of
that kind was dead, 1t seemed. They
were content to sit there listening to
the soft rise and fall of the child's
breath; the land of dreams into which
she had slipped open to them also.
And though it was so different from
those other Christmas ewes it was far
from being dull. Into each heart there
had crept soft glow. which did not
come from the blazing logs and which
no grog, no matter how skillfully
blended. could have given, for once
again the presence of one of Gods lit
tie ones made holy a humble place.
Shave was the first to bring the still
ness to an end. They. had been sit
ting quiet, nobody could tell how long.
when he got to his feet. Noiselessly
rs he moved he broke the spell. and
eyes that had grown misty looked at
him, some with resentment, others
with curiosity and others again with
reproach. Old Jerome's gaze held the
latter quality. Nobody knew much
about Shave. anyway. He was not
one of Them He had come to the
camp some weeks before and would be
gone in day or soup to Merle this
time, and then He was a wanderer
some outcast, perhaps. from a better
life gone by. Nobody knew him. They
had no quarrels with him. He was a
good enough fellow. only not of them
They watched him. therefore. almost
coldly. yet noting with jealous salts
faction that he stepped warily as he
passed from the room. Then they fell
to thinking again-with difference.
BE came back after a short absence
with soft. dark mink's skin in his
banda bit of fur that a woman's I'm
gers could fashion into cap to cover
a child's golden hair-and went to the
small stocking, examining the gift faI
down to keep that other company.
breath of approval fairly twinkled
around the room- The grave faces
melted into smiling delight, and just
as the circles widen In a pool of water
when a stone Is thrown in. spreading
farther and farther til the whole SUI.