The daily Alaskan., 1918-10-15
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l THE PRODIGAL SON|
 By AUGUSTUS C.. sHERwlN. |
0SNSVeS~>S<>>SS~S Copyright, 1918. by Western Newspaper Union.

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 He was man of whims and impulse apparently, for he was almost child. ishly engrossed in viewing pretty picture, of which a bright, attractive looking girl was the center. She was just inside the fence of clover field and was daintily picking the lucious red tops. Then she would go to the separating barbed wire fence, reach through and pet, converse with and feed a ;white-speckled calf, plump, friendly and spotless of grime or brier. @.
 'Tve an fidea-the fatted calf !" abruptly chuckied the onlooker. Al most as pretty as the gsrl."e and he ap- preached the fence near which Hilda Strong stood. "c. ~-.a,
 "Part of the big farm @ bit back where they're selling outf" he asked.
 The girl. quite startled. flushed and futtered and gave a confused assent. "T'll take that calf If the figure is right" resumed the stranger.
 But Whitey Is not for sale." an- nounced Hilda. "She does not belong to the farm. Mfr. Warren gave her to me when she was the tiniest little thing and I have raised her.?
 "You wouldn't sell her, then7"
 "Oh, no! Never! That is-unless l had to. And maybe that may come" said Hilda, a mournful shadow cross ing her pretty face. MT. Warren Is breaking up end Imust look for new home. I am an orphan and have only few distant relatives"
 Her artlessness charmed Bart Mill Ter and her simple ways aroused his sympathy and interest.
 ,"Heighol" he uttered. "We're pretty near of kind. I've been an orphan myself for ten years-that Is, ran away from home and haven't seen fa- ther or mother since"
 "Oh, dear how could you stay away from them?" chided Hilda.
 "Well, I;got going careless and rough and bad. Then in trouble, and finally settled down to life among the hard est crowd a ranch ever knew. It was cards, drink and fighting most of the time" .:
 k Hllda had shrunk little at the con- fession. :"You don't look very careless. and rough, and bad,". she said. He laughed quite bolsterously at her in- necence.
 "Tm, not-now. That's why I'm going back home."
 "Oh, are you? Are you?" cried Hil- da, sprightly. How glad your folks will be to see you !" ..'. .
 Father Is dead" said Bart, "but mother Is living. and I've, sort of spied out the land before ventured to let her know I was around. AS said, l was reckless. one until a year ago. I had gone to. prospecting. Bad as ever, I trained with q hard crowd. One day I took drop too much. and 8 tum- ble. I went into pitt must have been over fifty feet. How I escaped being killed I couldn't reckon out. When I landed 1t was on soft bed of sand-on my knees."
 He spoke the last words solemnly. A strange, spiritual expression came into his eyes and illumined his face, until Hilda was fascinated In an in- tense, hypnotic way.
 "Yes. on my knees.'' repeated Bart. "There I was--saved by. the Almighty. was, as I had been at my mothers side way back In childhood. All my bad life flashed upon me, The. words of Now I lay me down to sleep drif'a, ed dreamlly through my mind. onot n couldn't stir for over all hour. Aflatarr time some new spirit seemed to ,ISeocs ;n oTd over me. Young lady, crawle interna
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