Evening star., 1923-03-04


of the best land on the little farm
to pay the note. 1t was after the |
sale that Mr. Kirby. who lived FIVE |
miles away. had ridden over. i
why didn't you let me know. Mrs. I
Atlan?' he hail demanded. "Or Steve |
Earle? Either one Of us would have |.
loaned YOU the money-glady. glad i
ly.' He had risen from the fire and !
pulled on the same overcoat he wore |
now. 1t was faded then, and that |
was two wears ago
1t was sunset when Davy reached
home TO find his mother out in the
clean-swept yard picking up chips
in her apron. From the bedroom win
dow of the little one-storied un-
painted house came a bright red
glow, and from the kitchen the smell
of cooking meat. His mother straight
ened up from her task with a smile
when with his new-found partner he
entered the yard.
why. Davy.' she asked. where
did YOU get him"
"He-he just followed me Ma"
But whose dog is he?"
He's mine, Ma-he just took up
with me-"
Where. Dayy?'
"oh. way back down the road in
a pasture
"He must belong to somebody
Hes just d oil hound dog, Ma.
that's all he is Lots OF hounds don't
belong to nobody-everyb knows
nigh starved to death. Lemme keep
him We can feed him on scraps. He
can sleep under the house We an him
will keep you in rabbits. You won't
have to kill no more chickens. No
body don't want him but me-
From her gaunt' height she looked
down into the boys eager eyes, then
at the dog beside Kim. "All right,
SON" she said "If he don't belong to
anybody"
That night Dary alternately whist
led and talked to the dog beside
him as he husked the corn he had
raised with his own hands, and
chopped the wood he had cut and
hauled-for since his fathers death
he had kept things going. He ate
supper in sort of daze: he hurried
out with tin plate of scraps he
fed the grateful. hungry dog on the
kitchen steps. He begged some vase
line from his mother and rubbed it
on the sore neck. He then got two
or three empty gunny sacks out of
the corncrib. crawled under the
house to warm place beside the
chimney. and spread them out for
bed. lie went into the house whistling
he didn't hear word of the chapter
his mother read out of the Bible. Be-
fore he went to bed in the shedroom
he raised the window.
You all right, old feller?" he called.
Underneath the house he heard the
responsive tap-tap of a tail in the dry
dust. He climbed out of his clothes.
leaving them in pile in the middle of
the floor, tumbled into bed and pulled
the covers high over him.
"Golly" he said. "Oh. golly
n NrENT day he hunted till sundown
~ The Christmas holidays were on
and there was no thought Of school.
He went only now and then, anyway,
for since his fathers death there was
too much for him to do at home. He
hunted in the opposite direction from
Old Man Thornycroft's 1t was three
miles away: barriers Of woods and
bottoms and hills lay between. and
the old man seldom stirred beyond
the boundaries of his own farm; but
Davy wanted to be on the safe side.
There were moments, though.
when he thought of the old man and
wondered il he had missed the, dog
and whether he would make any
search for him. There were sober mo-
ments, too, when he thought of his
mother and Mr.. Kirby, and wished he
had told the truth. But then the long
drawn bay of the hound would come
from the bottoms ahead and he would
hurry to the summons. his face flush
ed and eager. The music of the dog
running, the sound of the shots and
his own triumphant yells started
many an echo among the silent, FROST
ed hills that day. He came home with
enough meat to last week-six rab-
bits. As he hurried into the yard he
held them up for the inspection Of his
mother, who was feeding the chick
ems.
He's the finest rabbit dog ever was,
Ma" Oh, golly, he can follow trail!
never see anything like it, Ma 1
never did I'll skin 'em an clean 'em
after supper. You ought to have saw
him. Ma! Golly."
And while he chopped the wood.
and milked the cow, and fed the mule.
and skinned the rabbits. he saw other
days ahead like this, and whistled and
sang and talked to the hound, who
followed close at his heels every step
he took.
Then one afternoon, while he was
patching the lot fence, with Buck
summing himself near the woodpile.
came Old Man Thornycroft. Davy
recognized his buggy as it turned the
bend in the road. He quickly dropped
his tools, called Buck to him and got
behind the house, where he could see
without being seen. The buggy stop
ped in the road and the old man, his
hard, pinched face working, his buggy
whip In his hand, came down the
walk and called Mrs. Allen out on the
porch.
IT just come to tell you." he cried.
'that your boy Davy run of with my
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