The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1917-01-04
BILLY
BRADFORD
Story of a Boy Who Had
Never Heard of
Christmas
By F. A. mitchell

prairie schooner crossing the plains In !,
1S49 When he was old enough to ex
perience his first Christmas he was |
astride donkey In Mexico. There
was no Christmas for the Bradford
family and no mention of Christmas.
If Billy's father remembered 1t was
Christmas day he said nothing about
It. The wife and mother remembered
1t with tears. She had no home. There
was no mantel ON which her little boy
might hang his stocking, and II there
were there was nothing to put in ii.
The mother died while the family
were still moving from place to place.
Then the father died while passing
through an uninhabited country. Billy
found himself alone. He was eight
years old Considering that he was
left in wilderness, with no one to
take care of him. perhaps his want of
the refining influences of home were
In his favor With little help from
kindly neighbors. lv went about pro
viding for himself as young squirrel
does when left on its own resources.
At first he slept out under the trees.
then made himself a sleeping place
partly under ground. For food he
lived mostly on berries But his ia
Their had left a gun, and Billie knew
how to bring down birds. That is all
he did, the same as wild animals.
One day while examining the articles
his father had when he died Billy
found some certificates of shares In a
mining company located near San
Francisco. He had no idea what they
were, but one day a traveller passed
that way, and Billy showed them to
him. He told Billy that they repre-
scented a fortune for whomsoever owned
them. When Billy told him that his
fathers was the name written on them
and that he billy was all that was
left Of the Bradford family the stran-
ger advised him to go to San Francisco
and look the matter up. Billy explained
that his father had crossed a country
with no trees and plenty Of Indians
and stopped awhile In city, where
upon the man inferred that Bradford
had been forty-niner, had invested in
q mining venture and moved on.
The stranger furnished Billy with
funds to go to San Francisco, writing
out a note for the amount. and Billy
made An X at the bottom. Then the
lender went on his way, saying that he
would likely turn up some day in San
Francisco and claim the amount due
him. He never did.
Billy knew nothing of travelling and
walked the whole way to San Fran
cisco. more than 300 miles. He reached
the suburbs of the town on winter
evening at dusk. Passing house that
was lighted up he looked in through
window. A number Of children were
inside and some older persons were
hanging evergreen festoons from the
ceiling. The scene in the house pleas
ed Billy, and he went to the door and
knocked. A little girl opened 1t. and
Billy said to her:
"What you putin up the green things
forT
I "What are we putting them up for
I w ny. IOT SuTlslluds, VI COuISc.
whats ChristmasT'
"Oh, my good graciousw
She ran back into the room where
the Christmas preparations were being
made and cried out:
There's boy at the door who
doesn't know what Christmas Is"
The establishment at this announce
ment among the children was eclipsed
at sight Of Billy, who followed the cir
into the room and stood staring about
him, half blinded by the lights. A lady
descended from a stepladder and con
fronted him.
Are you the boy who doesn't know
what Christmas is?''
mo; don't"
"Where were you brought upf'
81 wasn't brought up at all I was q
mover"
"What do you mean by that?'
n That's what mother said we was
We was always goin' somewhere"
"where is your motherT'
III Dead"
"And your father?"
Dead"
"And you never heard of Christ
masT
mo, I never did"
"Children," said the lady. how offer
have | tried to make you understand
how thankful you should be that you
are surrounded with comforts. Here's
boy who has neither father MOI
mother, who has always been a wan
4 derer and who doesn't know wha
Christmas is. Have you anything TO bt
thankful for, little boyT"
"Yes, I'm thankful that | wasn't
horned a grounding or somethin' like
that"
i The children were not able to com
prehend this assertion. They did not
know that the only thing the boy had
to be thankful for was that he was q
human being. If they were thankful il
was that they were far above other hui
| T.