The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1924-11-27
A Four-Leafed
Clover
By. RUBY DOUGLAS
(Copyright.)

"Adl IL Tic WorIu is tnaI man look
ing for?' she asked of the matron of
the babies convalescent home.
The matron turned her eyes toward
the rich, sloping lawn that rolled away
from the porch toward the water be-
low. She laughed at the question.
"A four-leafed clover" she said.
but he does it every time he comes
up" persisted Sally. 81 have watched
him from our garden, and I've been
consumed with curiosity"
tits funny about him-poor chap"
explained the matrOn. "His little girl
has been here all summer convalescing
after winters illness. She has no
mother, and the father is all bound up
In the little thing. The youngster has
q notion that If her daddy could find
a four-leafed clover and give it to her
she could go home with him soon.
Such notion! We have all sorts of
whims in our sick children"
Sally was watching the young man
searching the thick clover patches.
Hell never find one there, but-do
you suppose he'd like to look in our
lawn?''
The matron was matter-of-fact.
why not? Do you grow them?"
"N-no, not exactly; but there seems
to be good crop of them this year,
as find one very time l go across the
lawn" Sally told her. "Pd gladly find
one for him, but that isn't the point.
You must find it yourself"
The man was coming toward the
porch, his lack of success evident on
his finely cut features.
rs your little Eileen to be disap-
pointed again?" asked the matron.
He nodded. I'm a dub at this sort
of thing, fear. 1 never found one in
my life"
The matron took the occasion to in
troduce him to Sally, and she laughed
at his lack of luck.
Would you like to try our garden?
she asked. "I've watched you more or
less all summer, and if I'd known what
you were doing-and why-I might
have planted some so that you could
not miss them" she joked.
The man looked at her. Are you
serious about having them in your
lawn?" he asked eagerly. 'That kiddie
Of mine is obsessed on the subject"
Perhaps it's a complex" ventured
Sally.
tits something feminine, anyway"
the man told her.
After few more words the pair Of
newly acquainted young people left
the matron to her charges and went in
search of four-leafed clover.
True to her prediction, Sally picked
up the extra-leafed clover inside of ten
minutes, and the man sat looking at her
with admiration. She handed it to
him.
He took it. "But I must find one N.Y.
SELF" he explained, not, however, offer.
ing to give her back the good-luck
omen Instead, he opened tiny note
book and put it carefully within.
Eventually, and with Sally almost
leading him to the spot where it grew,
he found a clover with four leaves.
The smile that wreathed his face was
worth much to Sally. She had known
the little Eileen ever since the home
for convalescent babies had opened up
in their neighborhood in the spring,
and now she could see where the wee
one had inherited her charming smile.
"I'll take it to Eileen at once, and
then 1 must hurry back to town. 1t is
quite trip out here to the country,
but since the youngster has no mother
l have to do double duty, especially
when she is ILL.," he said, sadly.
"I'll try to see much of her if it will
help you" said Sally, generously.
"Will it? asked the man, thank.
fully. II shall never forget your kind
ness"
If the matron had been of ro'
mantle turn of mind she might have
noticed the added devotion Of Sally
Arlington to the little girl whose father
had found her clover.
"And you do think I may go home
soon, Miss Sally?" asked the little one
few days after her receipt Of the
four-leafed clover.
'sYou are getting pink cheeks and
your appetite Is good, so l think ii
won't be long now, Eileen" consoled
Sally.
"And the clover did it, told daddy
so,' insisted the child.
Sally told the father what the little
girl had said.
'Td hate to tell you what dare to
hope the four-leafed clover has done
for me-" he said, earnestly. II wish
that might picture the vision that has
opened up to me since folded that
green charm within the leaves of my
notebook" he went on, looking straight
into her eyes.
Sally dropped hers under the spell Of
his earnestness.
y ''Why don't you? Why can't you tel
met" she asked.
The man was silent for so long thai
Sally wondered If she had insisted too
much on his confidence.
eff 1 were sure that you would like
to hear" he said II think should
tell you-here and now. lit seems
so soon. And there Is so much t.
consider.
"May tell you-that / love your
Sally nodded like a child as sh.
u ~