The daily Alaskan., 1919-02-20

| mat Oiu MelOu, ShiG oASI II o4S worth 1t. Come with me. I'm going to give you a present-ayes beT
 I was still crying when she took me to her trunk. and offered the grateful assuagement of candy and a belt, all embroidered with blue and white beads.
 "Now you see, Bart, how low and mean anybody Is that takes what don't belong to 'em-ayes! They're snakes! Everybody hates 'em an stamps on 'en when they come in sight-ayes
 The abominatlon of the Lord was in her look and manner. How It shook my soul! He who had taken the watermelon had also taken from me something l was never to have again, and a very wonderful thing it waS-faith in the goodness of men. My eyes had seen evil. The world had committed its first OfenSe against me and my spirit was no longer the white and beautiful thing it had been Still, therein is the beginning of wis dom and, looking down the long vista of the years, thank God for the great harvest of the lost watermelon. Better things had come In its place understanding and what more, often I have vainly tried to estimate. For one thing that sudden revelation Of the heart of childhood had lifted my aunt's out of the cold storage of a puritanic spirit, and warmed it Into new life and opened its door for me.
 In the afternoon she sent me over to Wills to borrow little tea. stopped for few minutes to play with Henry WillS--a boy not quite a ysnr older than I. While playing there I discovered a piece of the ] rind of my melon in the dooryard. On that piece of rind 1 saw the cross which 1 had made one day with my thumh-nQil. It was intended to in- dicate that the melon was solely and wholly mine. I felt flush of anger.
 "I hate you," said as l approached him.
 "I hate you" he answered.
 You're n Snakc!" suid
 We now stood, face to face and breast to breast, like a pair of young rooSterS. He gave me a shove and told me to go hoIae. l gave him shove and told him wouldn't. l pushed up close tD him again and we glarcd into each others eyes.
 Suddenly he spat in my face. l gave him q scratch on the forehead with my ffngcr-nails. Then we fell upon each other and rolled on the ground and hit and scratched with feline ferOCity.
 Mrs. Wills ran out of the house and parted us. Our blood was hot, and leaking through the skin of our faces a little.
 "He pitched on me-" Henry ex- plained.
 l couldn't speak.
 "Go right hOme-this minute-y0u bratg" said Mrs. Willis in anger. "Icre's your tea. Don't you ever come here again"
 <. 1 took the tea and started down the road weeping. What bitter day that was for me! l dreaded to face my aunt and uncle. Coming through )t the grove down by our gate met Uncle Peabody. With the keen in sight of the father of the prodigal son he had seen me coming "a long way off" and shouted:
 "Wen, here ye bel was kind O worried, Bub."
 Then his eye caught the look of de lection in my gait and figure. He hur- ried toward me. He stopped as l came sobbing to his feet.
 'Why, what's the matter2" he asked gently, as he took the tea cup from my hand, and sat down upon his heels.
 I could only fall into his arms and express myself in the grief of child hood. He hugged me close and begged me to tell him what was the mat ter.
 That Wills boy stole my melon" l l S2lu, anu lue NOIuS SohS SiN" "''H sObs.
 "oh. no, he didn't" said Uncle Pea body.
 "Yes he did. I saw a piece O the rim"
 "Wen by" said Uncle Peabody, stopping, as usual, at the edge of the preCipice.
 "ue'S a snake" added.
 And you fit and he scratched you up that way?"
 q scratched him, too"
 Don't you say word about 1t to Aunt Deel. Don't ever speak O that miserable melon ag'in to anybody. You scoot around to the barn, an l I'll be there in a minute and fix ye up" 2 ..-.... ?.
 He went by the road with the tea and I ran around to the lane and up to the stable. Uncle Peabody met me there in a moment and brought a pail of water and washed my face so that I felt and looked more respect able. -.-