The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1918-01-26

iiiS cothtts, dppeuicu VII tic o>ShS,
and. keeping march time to the march
they delivered, the clowns daughter,
all radiant with tulIe and tinsel, drove
slowly into the ring, seated In her
gilded chariot. white ribbon lines
guiding the two snowy ponies.
And then. the wonder of wonders for
Eva, into the ring bounded the clown.
Oh. but he was funny! and oh, the
rapturous delight of Eva and the out
side audience, as Napoleon Bonaparte
came upon the scene. the gifted, trick
mule who chased his master In cir
Gle, toppled him over the ropes, threw
him Off his back and danced about
him on his own hind feet!
Never was so much delight crowded
INTO the space of single hour, and
the child wonder Of the white ponies
came into the room where Eva was,
and kissed her, and presented her
with a great overlooking bag Of pea
nuts, pop corn and candy. and the
clown made n speech to Eva's actor"
friends, and the air rang with the ac-
CARNATIONS of the Juvenile group.
$50 you're back from your grand
philanthropic excursion, are you"
hailed the ringmaster, as the clown
reappeared on the circus grounds.
Eyes, what's your interest, Espey"
challenged the clown keenly. "Say,
you're not by any means the gruff old
bear you pretend to be. and IL you had
seen all the good little attention TO.
the poor and lowly has worked, ont.
you'd come out Of that close shell Of
yours. Look here, I've given pass
to that odd dozen amateur actors FOR
tomorrow night. See th0t it's hon
ored. Will you?"
"What about the six dollars and fifty
cents? or course you got that"
"Sure I did" acknowledged the OPEN
hearted clown frankly, "and added as
much more to 1t, and donated the
whole of II 70 buy an invalid chair for
the little miss" and then he was quite
amazed at the pcrslstency of the ring
master In betraying an interest In do
tails Of the incident Of the afternoon,
even to the location of the widows
home.
At dusk that evening Gurdon Espey
left the circus grounds after carefully
placing bank note In an envelope. He
sought out the scene Of the amateur
circus of the afternoon and the home
Of Mrs. Daniels adjoining. He was
almost stealthy as he advanced up the
garden path. The front door was
closed, hut light streamed broadly
across the middle of the porch, al
though II was in shadow.
Espey crept up the steps on tip toe.
He stopped down, drew out the en-
velope and attempted to push It under
the door, but this set so closely shut
that the interstices would not admit
the envelope.
"What Is It, pleasew spoke voice
ut the Swallowed end Of the porch,
startling Espey quite. and straining
his vision. he made out a feminine
form rising from chair.
81 fancy am detected!" and he half
! laughed in IN embarrassed way. II
am one of the circus men, madam, and
we are all so interested In that little
tot of yours, that we want to make II
easier for her. and l was leaving a
trifle-"
There Gurdon Espey paused. There,
directly In front of the window. both
had come to halt. The full radiance
from the lamplight within flooded their
1 Ga Oh at n
expected confrontment - man and
wife!
"Gurdon |" died upon the lips Of the
woman. and she wavered and was
forced to steady herself by grasping
the porch rail.
"Alicer uttered the man, and the
habitual cynical expression left his
face, and the glowing eyes told Of a
new soul aroused.
She shrank back. It was under the
memory Of five years previous when
she had fed from this man as from a
pestilence, for soul and body were
given over to drink until she had
feared for her life. She had hidden
away from him and now-he had found
her.
"Alice!" he said, his tones tremu-
lous, but not uncertain, "since the day
of your absence and that Of your dear
little one awakened me to realiza-
ton of my utter unworthiness. no drop
Of liquor has passed my lips"
"Our little one" she corrected him,
for she recognized In him the regen-
Grated man.
MAY 1 come back7" he added, with
a longing glance through the window
ut a little white-robed form lying on
trundle cot.
Her hands clasped, her eyes were
suffused, her care-worn, but still beau
tiful face looked up to him trustingly,
hopeful, longingly.
"Oh, Gurdon |" she sobbed, "will you
come back to us7"