Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1918-02-22
Snowfoot
By Alger Ray Perrine

mo, no." pressed an eager, excited
4coterie of schoolboys. There's some
new fellows here and we've been
Dragging about your acts" %
"All right, I'll see If Snowfoot has
forgotten his lessons. Don't let any of
you fellows get the circus fever out
of this, though. The glare and glitter
don't last long, and l wasted the best
years of my life in the sawdust ring
and you see what I've turned out to
be-"
"The Jolly friend of everybody"
shouted an enthusiastic chorus OF
voices.
Eyes, but a shIftless rover,
settling down, Observation-Disclosures, a
meal today, none tomorrow-Houpla!
lSnowfoot! |"
Everybody In town knew Snowfoot.
He was a big built, gentle but strong
and steady and belonged to Widow
Brayton. Everybody, too, knew Widow
Brayton and pitied her, for h was
desperately poor and an invalid. There
were two children, Ned q lad of eleven
and Alma just turning sixteen. When
the father died these two had stepped
into the breach so far as their limited
capacity of earning could count. Alma
was receiving a mere pittance In a
sort of apprenticeship to the village
milliner. Ned, young as he was,
earned ten dollars a week with old
Snowfoot.
This was how he did 1t: A MI.
Daily, sickly and a cripple, with his
farm a short distance from the Bray
ton place. There were fifteen cows,
and he made a proposition to Mrs.
Brayton to have Ned help milk these
and supply the milk to regular custom
ers. Mrs. Brayton had Snowfoot and
a wagon, Ned was q loyal, enterprising
lad, worked early and late and it
looked as though the family was on
the road to better times.
"As soon as / am able to trim hats
instead of sewing braid only, we shall
have all kinds of money, mother" Al
ma used to say.
Paul Dacre had dropped into Fern.
dale one morning early when Ned
stood leaning In dismay over Snowfoot
on the public street. Snowfoot had
collapsed when some equine ailment
came suddenly upon him and was ~
ing prone upon the ground between the
shafts, writhing and sasping.
"He's a goner" an old timer had pro-
nounced.
LET me see. I know considerable
about horses" said Paul, coming up.
He examined the eyes INT mouth of
the animal, took a pencil, wrote the
names of two ingredients on a chip OF
wood and said: go to the drug store
mix these powders in a quart of hot
water and hurry back as fast as you
cam"
Ned sped away with the prescription.
He returned with a steaming jar. Deft
and skillful, the stranger administered
the medicine. In five minutes old Snow.
foot was regarding him with a look as
though he fully comprehended his at
t~ention, and when he at length gained
his feet he lovingly laid his cheek
against Paul's shoulder.
They became great friends, those
three. Then a new token of interest
came into Paul Dacre's life. He natur-
ally met Alma and they became quite
friendly. Head-strong, e%rratic, ne'er-
do-well as he was, there was some
thing beautiful in his love for Ned and
old Snowfoot. Paul did odd jobs in the
town, but every morning he was on
hand to help Ned get over his route.
AS to Alma, he idolized her, and told
her so. "Some day I'll make a fortune
he declared. "Tl make you all rich
and you'll have so many suitors you
can pick some prince or major general
for the husband you deserve"
And now Paul, homeward bound,
was surrounded by a crowd of juvenile
admirers. He pretended to whisper in
iSnowfOOt's ear. Immediately the
clever animal he had trained in old
time circus tricks started running
around In a ring. Paul described a
running jump, to land squarely upon
the back of the horse. A dozen times
they sped around the ring. Then Paul
made Snowfoot steal a handkerchief
from his pocket, locate a hidden ear
of corn and nod his head seven times
when asked how many days there were
in the week. 9
Paul stood spellbound with dread
and doubt, when, late the next after
noon, he went up to the house to ac-
company Ned on his evening delivery
rounds. Ned was seated on the step
of the wagon, a picture of disconsolate
idismay. From inside the house came
the wailing of Mrs. Brayton. Alma
came out wiping the tears from her.
eyes.
"Oh, Mr.. Dacre," she cried, "Snow-
foot is gonei"
"Gonel" repeated Paul, aghast.
eyes, there was an old debt of poor