The citizen. [volume] (Berea, Ky.) 1899-1958, 1916-07-20

In the shadow. For him none Of them
had ever approached in sensa tionalism
the quite unbelievable garb Of the
boy who came steadily on and on,
who came steadily nearer and nearer.
With q little closer view Of him the
watching man understood the reason
for the dense cloud Of dust above the
lone pedestrian. for when the boy
raised his feet with each stride the
man sized hobnailed boots which In
cased them failed to lift In turn. In
deed, the toes did clear the ground,
but the heels. slipping away from the
lean ankles, dragged In the follow
through. And the boys other gar
ments. save for his flannel shirt and
Tapping felt hat, were of a size In
keeping with the boots.
For q time Caleb had been at loss
TO make out the object which the boy
carried upon one shoulder, balanced
above 4 blanket tight rolled and tied
with q string. Not until the grotesque
little figure was within . dozen PAGES
OF him did he recognize It, and then at
the same moment that he caught q
glimpse Of an old and rusted revolver
strapped to the boys narrow waist he
realized what II was. The boy was
toting double springed steel trap. big
enough II seemed to take all four feet
Of any bear that ever walked-and It
was beautifully dull with oil
-
agape. A moment or two earlier he
had had TO fight or an almost uncon-
trollable desire TO roar with laughter.
but that mood had passed somehow as
the boy came nearer. for the latter was
not even aware of his presence there
behind the iron fence. He was walk
ing with his head up. thin face thrust
forward like that of young and over
ly eager setter with the bird In plain
sight. The world of hunger In that
strained and staring visage helped Ca
leb 10 master his mirth. and when at
a tentative cough from him the small
figure halted dead In his tracks and
wheeled even the vestige of q smile
left the wide WASTED watchers lips.
Then Caleb had his first full view OF
the boys features.
There were wide. deep shadows be-
meath the gray eyes. doubly noticeable
because OF the heavy fringe of the
lashes that swept above them; there
was a pallid. blush circle around the
thin and tight set lips. And the lean
cheeks were very. very pale. both with
the heat OF the sun and fatigue now
close TO exhaustion. But the eyes
themselves as they met Caleb's were
alight with a fire which afterward,
when he had had more time to ponder
It. made him remember the pictured
eyes Of the children Of the crusades
They fairly burned into his own. and
they checked the first half Jocular
words Of greeting which had been
trembling upon bis lips. His voice
was only grave and kindly when he
began to speak.
"You-you look a trihe tired, young
man." he said then. "Are you-going
farT
The boy touched his lips delicately
with the point OF his tongue. His
gravity more than matched that OF his
Questioner.
Affair tibet the-cityr
The words were soft OF accent and
a little drawing. There was an ac-
companying gesture Of one thumb
thrown backward over a thin Shout
der. But Caleb had 20 smile q little
at the breathless note I'm the query.
The city, he echoed. a little puz-
zled- The cityl Well. now, T. And
he chuckled a bit.
The boy caught him up swiftly. al
most sharply.
'"rhet's-ain't thet Morrisonf' he de-
manded.