Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1919-09-14
(Prize)
A Story.


TT was clean, cold morning OF
l November and to some children
it brought visions of a stuffed tur-
key roasted brown and long tables
overloaded with good things to eat
and surrounded by uncIes, aunts,
cousins, brothers and sisters, grand
Fathers and grandmothers, and all
kinds OF relatives. but to Tom it
meant sitting i'll trout OF a hre in a
fireplace and one that filled the
room full of smoke whenever blast
of wind came down the chimney.
Tom was 15-year-old boy, born
and raised on the plains OF Nebraska
and he had been in Omaha one win
ter staying with his fathers brother,
while his father, who could not leave
the ranch. brought him and then
vent right back home. ON arrived
yust before Thanksgiving and he had
never seen real Thanksgiving din
ner before, and. of course. was Won
derfuly impressed with the diuner
and all that went with it, but this
year he had stayed home because
his father needed him. 1t was
cold day and Toms father had gone
to the station to sec about some cat
tie that he had i'll the stock yards,
waiting to be shipped. The last
thing he said to Tom was, I'm
sorry | won't be able to eat Thanks
giving dinner with you, and that |
can't leave you anything better than
died beef, but remember that this is
1918 and the soldiers in the trenches
aren't getting as much as that or
maybe not only their usua! ration.
Bear it like a soldier, SON" and
with that he had gone off with the
two best horses pulling the sleigh,
leaving Tom to think about every
thing or anything.
Toms great desire was to serve
his country, and he thought that
his cousins in Omaha were
lucky to be able to see the soldiers
from the balloon school and perhaps
do something for them.
Tom set about to spend the day
like a soldier So first he arranged
the room in order like he thought a
good soldier would, and then about
noon, after playing all morning, he
had his dlnuer, as it was not any
feast you would have here i'll
town or close to one. All Tom had
was loaf OF brown bread and dried
meat and coffee without milk or
cream. He had finished his dinner
and was very sleepy, so he put his
leftovers from dinner away and
then went to what he called his
sacred room, and it was because YOU
or | would have to be pretty clever
to find it. 1t was up in the loft.
The loft was the space between the
ceiling and the roof, and in this
house there was floor there, and
the ceiling was fixed SO as to keep
the air out pretty well. Tom was
very tired SO he made his bed and
almost immediately went to sleep
and did not wake up until several
hours later.
Tom had been dreaming that he
was a soldier, and suddenly woke
up to the fact that he was very cold,
lie opened his eyes and found that
dusk had fallen and 50 he knew it !
must be nearly 8 o'clock. He was
about to get up and go down to the
other room when he heard voices
coming near the cabin. Soon he
heard someone swinging the door
open and he thought it was his
father bringing someone home with
him, because he had heard two men
enter. He then looked down
a small hole which was
hidden by the plaster hav-
ing become wet by the rain and
sagged down and split SO that no.
body would think that a person
could see through it. Tom. looking
through this saw two Of the worst
looking men he had ever seen. Both
we're tall broad shouldered, square
built with their eyes set far apart
On their faces which were covered
almost by bristling beard.
One OF the men said, We can
talk safely here because this is jim
Pa5tiif's cabin, and he went to town
and won't be able to get back on
account of the storm"
Then the biggest one started to
tell the other about some beef that
soon would he shipped to Omaha TO
be sent abroad. Then he uufolded
a plan TO poison the cattle SO that
the meat would spoil and get poi
soned without the soldiers knowing
il, so when they ate it they would
be poisoned and die. Tom knew
by this that they were German
spies.
The men soon left and Tom was
so anxious to tell his father that he
could hardly wait to tell him and
when his father came home he
brought TOMS uncle along who had
arrived just that day and who was a
quartermaster in the army
Tom told them what he bad heard
and also told them thai the men
were to meet at certain place the
next week, SO with that information
the soldier hurried off TO tell his
chief, and, when the Huns met they
found an unpleasant surprise was
Y aiting for them.
At present Tom is helping his
ia Their raise cattle to feed the French
refugees. and every night he looks