The citizen. [volume] (Berea, Ky.) 1899-1958, 1916-07-27

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face. Caleb voiced the query which Re
knew must be behind her quiet intent
meas.
You said your name was o'Mara, I
believe. I suppose that was-ah-OId
Toms last name toor
Steve laughed. He laughed frankly
for the nrst time since he had halted
hours before outside in the dusty road.
why, Old Tom had dozen different
names In the last few years." he re-
piled. He had a new one every time
he went outen the woods fer a trip.
But he always sed he mostly favored
Brown or Jones or Smith, they bein'
quiet and common and not too hard to
remember. He Just changed names
whenever he got tired Of his old one,
Old Tom did. But he always did say,
too. that II he'd he'd as good q one as
o'Mara he'd a-kept it-and kept It
proud"
At the conclusion Of that statement
II was Miss sarah's gaze which went
searching across the table for her
brothers eyes. But the boy Just ran
on and on, totally oblivious to their
glances.
He told them Of his lonely days I'm
the woods shack, when Old Tom went
down river and was three or four
weeks In returning; he dwelt upon
blissful days in the spring when he
had been allowed to play a mans part
in the small drives which he and Old
Tom and the Jenkinses began and
which Old Tom and the Jenkinses
alone saw through to market in Morri-
sen. He touched lightly and inconse-
quentiaiiy upon certain days when Old
Tom would hang for hours over an old
tin box filed with soiled and ink
smeared memoranda, periods which
were always followed by days Of
moody silence and a week or more Of
lessons I'm a tattered and thumbed
reader which the woodsman had
brought up river-lessons as painful
and Aborious TO Old Tom as they were
delightful to the starved mentality Of
the pupil. And Old Tom. the boy ex-
planned, was pretty likely to be lick
cred up fer quite spell" after such a
session. which invariably began with
an exploration of the battered tin
box.
The boy told Caleb Of days and
nights on the trail-boasted uncon-
scously of Old Toms supercunning
with trap and deadfall and even pois-
oned bait. And that brought him to
the beautifully oiled bear trap which
he had left outside the door.
81 brung Samanthy along with me-"
he stated. II brung her Just because
somehow I kinda thought mebby Old
Tom'd be glad II did. Next to me he
always sed he set a heap O. store on
thet ole critter. He sed samanthy
was as near to hevin' a woman around
the house as anything he knew on
she he'd a voice like a steel trap, and
when she got her teeth sot in q argu-
ment she never did let up. I brung
her along with me. and the gun he
give me. but I didn't take nuthin'
else" 7
Caleb waited there until he knew
that the boy had finished.
"You never bothered about that old
tin boxY he inquired casually.
The boy shook his head again.
"Old Tom. whenever he went away
for a spell, always sed l want to med
die with It." he explained. This time
reckoned his goin' was just about the
same thing. only he won't be comm
back. so IL just locked the box up
In the cubberd and hitched the staple
into the door and come down myself"
BY the time that meal was finished
the boys eyes were so heavily lidded
that. fight as he would, they still per
sisted In dropping till the long lashes
curled over his cheeks. And In spite
Of Caleb's remonstrances 1t was Sarah
who saw him upstairs and into the
huge guest room with its four poster
and highboy and spindle backed chairs.
Ito be continued)