Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1919-05-09
id 1. /:
Adventure
toopy,isat. 1s1s. 8 W.stesal Ns1spaese 49,.
.syvi,vALrERJos E ! ! / DELANEY,

JOSEPl1 DELANEY
toopyr,sat. 1s1e. - W.st.sal xsw
About once a year Nancy, wife of
Aleck Forbes, had "a tantrum."'
Looking back over q full decade,
Aleck could recall many Of these 1T
full spells. For a day or two Nancy
was unmanageable, complaining. nag
ging. Suddenly the spell would dis
appear and Nancy would be good as
pie!" She never expressed penitence.
and the renewed sun Of her gracious
ness made Aleck forget to allude to
her spasm of i'll nature. II
II don't dare to face herl' he
groaned. "She's due for her regular
outbreak. # not, what I have done
will hasten it. Oh, dear! The loss
Of the two hundred dollars worries
me. but when I think Of what Nancy
will say about it I'm scared Z"
This had happened: Aleck had col
lected two hundred dollars. Nancy
knew all about the transaction and
was to have half Of the sum to buy
new set Of furniture. About four
o'clock Aleck had come home, found
her absent and had loitered about
town. ,s.
Returning, he had made an appall-
ing discovery. He had lost the money !!
Hastily he retraced his way but
found no trace of the missing roll Of
bank notes. His heart sank to his
boots. He dared not face Nancy. A
new suggestion came to him. He
would take the first train for Adrian,
where lived brother who might loan
him two hundred dollars, but the last
local for the day was gone when he
reached the railroad station.
: AS he passed the village garage he
recognized farmer just ready to start
out. The man could take him as far
as the cross roads, four miles from
Adrian. The automobile was an open
roadster, the evening was chilly and
Aleck had felt his chronic hoarseness
coming on by the time he reached the
cross roads. He was stiff and shiv-
ering as he started on his long walk.
This side of Adrian, about two miles,
Aeck made out the lights Of the little
town Of Leesville. He started q short
cut in the dark, got mired in a
swampy stretch, fell over a great log
and lay insensible for nearly half an
hour. s :.
When Aleck regained consciousness
he could not find his hat, he limped
from sprained ankle, he could feel q
great abrasion on one side of his face
and, a thoroughly wretched and nerve
racked being, he reached the road to
be nearly run down by an automobile
containing some wild spirits bound in
the opposite direction. He had not
pre- ceeded half a mile when he came
across a hat, evidently blown of the
head of one of the hilarious crowd.
It was soldiers hat, with the regu-
lation band about it. .Aleck was glad
to put it on. Then he made for the
cleaning village lights. With chat
tering teeth and shaking limbs he
made for a brightly lighted room at
the rear Of what seemed to be the
town billiard parlor. Half a dozen
young fellows stared at him as he
bolted in upon them, craving warmth
and well nigh exhausted. \.
Aleck must have tainted away, for
when he again opened his eyes some
,~3rn @,p1 ,k& ~ mt
down his throat. A sense Of rare
relief and comfort came over his be-
logged consciousness. 49,.
"He's soldier" spoke an unsteady
voice, "you can see that by his hat.
Say, fellows, our expected chum from
the front hasn't shown up. Wen
show the honors Of war to this hero,
Ell? Here, old fellow, we're going to
banquet you. See? Up to the groan-
ing table with the victim" and Aeck
was carried to chair before bewil-
dering supper layout. He tried to
speak. He could not. Only a hoarse
monotone responded to the effort. His
old ailment was upon him, he had tenn
porarily lost his voice. +
"Hey! give me text for speech"
nudged the lively young fellow be-
side him, amid the jangling Of glasses.
"voice gone, my friends, evidently
from exposure in the trenches Here,
write something" and given pencil
and paper, Aleck wrote:
Treated rough" ,sa.:....@
"Ah! my friends" cried the orator
grandiloduently, ''they treated him
rough over there!" ID
Lost in a swamp, crippled! !"
think Of his sufferings in behalf
Of his beloved country! He's getting
another chill. Prime him up with an
other dosel" @..<z
Now Aleck could never remember
how he got back home, but, carrying
the banquet bouquet, he entered the
y - -