Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1919-02-13

one rose and sn,iInd as she lookeG
into my face. Saw q kind, gentle
glow in her eyes that treasured me.
She clapped ner hands with JOY. She
examined my palm and grew serious
and stood looking thoughtfully at the
sun.
1 see, now, hcr dark figure stand
ing against the sunlight as it stood
that day with Amos in. its shadow.
What a singular %cloquence in her pose
and gestures and in her silence! I
remember how it bound our tongues
that silence of hers!
The woman turned with a kindly
smile and sat down in the grass again
and took the sheet Of paper and
resting it on Il yellow-covered book be-
gan to write these words:
81 see the longing of the helper.
One, two. three, four great perils
shall strike at him. He shall not
be afraid. God shall fill his heart
with laughter. I hear guns. I hear
many voices. His name is In them.
He shall be strong. The powers Of
darkness shall fear him, he shall be
a lawmaker and the friend Of God and
of many people, and great men shall
bow to his judgment and he shall"
She began shaking her head
thoughtfully and did not finish the
sentence, and by and by the notion
came to me that some unpleasant Wis
ion must have halted her pencil.
Aunt Deel brought some luncheon
wrapped in paper and the old woman
took it and went away. My aunt fold
ed the sheets and put them in her
trunk and we thought no more of
them until-hut we shall know soon
what reminded us Of the prophet
woman.
The autumn passed swiftly. I went
to the village n Saturday with I'm
Gle Peabody in high hope Of seeing
the Dunkelbergs, but at their door
we learned that they had gone ur
the river on a picnic. What Il blow
it was to me! Tears flowed down
my cheeks and l chung to my uncle'>
hand and walked back to the mali
street of the village. A squad Of sinai
boys jeered and stuck out the;
tongues at me. 1t was pity for III.
sorrows, no doubt, that led Uncle Pee.
body to take me to the tavern for
dinner, where they were assuaged by
cakes and jellies and chicken pie.
At Christmas I got a picture-book
and forty raisins and three sticks Of
candy with red stripes on them and a
jeW's-harp. That was the Christmas
we went down to Aunt Liza's to
spend the day and 1 helped myself to
two pieces of cake when the plate
was passed and cried because they all
laughed at my greediness. 1t vas the
day when Aunt Iiza's boy, Truman.
got a silver watch and chain and her
daughter Mary a gold ring, and when
all the relatives were invited to come
and be convinced, once and for all.
of Uncle Roswell's prosperity, and
be filled with envy and r%econciled
with jelly and preserves and roast
turkey with sage dressing and mince
preparation we had made for the jour.
ney, and how long we had talked about
it!
In the spring my uncle hired a man
to work for us--a noisy, brawny,
sharp-featured fellow with keen gray
eyes, Of the name of Dug Draper.
Aunt Deel hated him. I feared him
but regarded him with great hope
because he had a funny way of wink
ing at me with one eye across the
table and, further, because he could
sing and did sing While he worked
songs that ratified from his lips in q
way that amused me greatly. Then,
too, he could rip out words that had
Il new and wonderful sound in them.
[ made up my mind that he was like.
ly TO become a valuable asset when ]
heard Aunt Deel saw to my Uncle Pea
body:
you'll have to send that loafe1
away, right now, ayes, I guess you
will"
"Why?"
Because this boy has learnt to
swear like a pirate-ayes-he hast"
Uncle Peabody didn't know it but
l myself had begun to suspect it, and
that hour the man was sent away,
and I remember that he left in anger
with Il number of those new words
flying from his lips. A forced march
to the upper room followed that event.
Uncle Peabody explained that it was
wicked to swear-that boys who did
it had very bad luck, and mine came
in a moment. / never had more of
it come along in the same length OF
time.
After I ceased to play with the
Wills boy Uncle Peabody used to
say, often, it was a pity that hadn't
somebody Of my own age for com
pany. Every day I felt sorry that the
Wills boy had turned out SO badly,
and I doubt not the cat and the shep-