The Dolores star., 1916-10-06

something that stirred her to the
depths Of her soul. It just couldn't be.
Here I am, ma" said Mary Alice.
"Was you scaredr'
II was most scared to pieces, child.
Good land, where've you been7"
my names Thomas, Sam Thomas,"
said the bucolic stranger. 81 s'pose
you're Mrs. Brown. This little girl
come to my house last night, and we
kept her till Dornin'. I'd brought her
| back sooner, but what with chores and
errands and"
He stopped and looked hard at the
woman. Then he blinked in a puzzled
way and asked: Say, am mistaken
or are you Lottie Dillingham;. that mar
ried Lem Brown
That's just who am" said Mrs.
Brown. ~ recognized you the minute
you opened that door. Sam"
GOSH said Sam. He held out a
large hand, about as soft and yielding
as a nodded brick. This is surprise.
amt it!'
Mary Alice looked in bewilderment
from her mother to her new friend and
back again. Something besides whip
pings and skipped meals was begin
ming to happen in her life. She lis
tened with her entire equipment Of
ears to the conversation between her
mother and Sam Thomas; and she
helped get the breakfast. The baby
sucked contentedly at bottle Of warm
milk. Mrs. Brown said he was a good
deal better.
Mrs Brown was not a reticent won.
an: that is, IL she were, all her instinct
Of self-repressiOn was broken down by
this unexpected meeting with an old
friend. She told Sam Thomas all the
things that Mary Alice had been at
pains to conceal. 1t was not quite
edifying to hear her do SO. Mary Alice
did not understand the awful longing
to tell ones troubles that accumulatet
through years of silent suffering.
Mrs. Brown had had a home and
baby girl. as much hers as LENS. Thii
home she had helped to make pretty
and attractive. Mrs. Brown and heI
baby did not drink, of course. Lem
lost Job after job and became desd
tute. Nobody would keep Lem at worL
just because his wife was sober and in
dustrious. Mrs. Browns unexception
able habits did not prevent the build
ing and loan" from foreclosing the
mortgage. She and her children were
paying debt they had never incurred
suffering vengeance where ne ven
geance was due.
You can say II you like that II
served Lem Brown right to lose his
home: he drank 1t up. But you cant
say it served Mrs. Brown right to lose
hers. You can say IL you like that II
served Lem right to be sent up, in the
coolest time of year, to work out
three months sentence in a warm jail
workshop, where the tasks were, after
all. not unbearably hard and there
We're blankets at night and regular
nourishment But you can't say that
1t served Mrs. Brown right to bear a
child in an unheated room, with quite
inadequate attention and not a penny
ut hand to pay for the nakedest neces.
| saries of her situation. Little Dick had
been thus born.
| Mary Alice Brown trudged off with
the wagonload Of laundry for Mrs.
| ALuNCLo. NoohhCthAhS AAu hdPhShSu AL
her life. What was to come of it,
She looked down trifle complacently
at her new dress Of dark blue cloth
with red trimmings. Below the new
dress a stout pair of shoes came into
alternate view. They were still stiff
and hurt villainously. Mary Alice
didn't care. She hauled the heavy wag
on up Clipper Hill and gloried in her
aching feet. Halfway up she met a
boy with red hair.
All the JOY went out Of the little
girls heart. This was the boy who
had helped her last night, the boy she
had treated so cavalierly, whose boun-
ty she had spurned and later picked up
from the gutter. She felt as If she
had stolen it.
Hello, Mary Alice Brown" said
Francis Willett. All resentment had
apparently gone from him. He seized
the wagon tongue.
Aren't you going to speak to me?"
he inquired. what you mad at?"
II amt mad" said Mary Alice
Francis assumed the entire labor of
hauling the wagon. She tried vainly
to pull share of the load.
"Oh. you leggo," said Francis. 81
don't need any help. Say. how often
do you come up this way? I'll tell
you what I'll do. Every day you come
up I'll try to be here and help you.
l belong to the Galahad knights. Us
Galahad knights have got to assist
maidens in distress. You can be a
maiden in distress, can't your?
How much" asked Mary Alice,
docs it cost to belong to your Gala
had Knights?''
TWENTY-FIVE cents a year: but girls
can't"
could little boy that lives out in
the country, all by himself with his
father and mother, on a farm, belong
to It? He's cripple; he never moves
out of his chair all day. Could he be-