The Durant news. (Durant, Miss.) 1882-1985, 1937-04-22
x-Continued
y Mabsl Oseood Wright

Is
In the far end Of the shed bum
dies of straw and bags Of feed we're
stacked. Here and there were
pieces Of rusty machinery from
which hung shreds of rotten betting.
Almost opposite the door was a
wide, open chimney such as belongs
to a forge and in 1t roared and
snapped a fire made Of rotten logs,
wind-broken branches, old boards,
and anything that would burn, light.
ing the place and sending out a
heat famed by the wind that
whistled through the crevices Of
floor and roof. Horse blankets hung
from the rafters making a sort Of
alcove in the corner next the fire
wherein was ar improvised table
and a bed of straw also covered
with horse blankets. On this cot
lay a young woman a little over
twenty and in her arms was a bun
die from which came the little
creaking whimper that tells Of q
young babe.
There was some food or the table.
A pine branch propped against the
wall, before which a candle stuck
in a cobwebbed bottle threw its 1T
full light upon the pale face and
ash-brown hair Of the young mother.
Nearby sounded the mufHed stamp
ing Of horses or cattle as they
shifted footing upon the dirt floor,
together with an occasional friend
ly whinnying.
The man. having gone at once
to the corner to reassure the young
woman by a glance and a lingering
touch Of his hand on her forehead.
stood out in sharp relief between
fire and candle light. Tall and
slightly built, his g~auntness showed
even through the loose coat that he
wore. His hair and eyes were dark
and when well shaven his face
would have been called clean cut,
now It was simply haggard and
grin. He might have been almost
any age instead Of turning thirty,
and, in the eyes that rested upon
the figures in the bed, passionate
love was struggling with despair.
The instant that Bess was freed
from the tightly wound scarf and
cap, she few to the bed, took one
look beneath the shawl that covered
the little bundle and said in a voice
made low and tender by a feeling
that she herself could not under
stand, ut is the Christ-baby! Oh,
Tommy, come quick and bring the
presents, for there Is his little
Christmas tree with nothing on it,
not even popcorn"
us your name Joseph" Tommy
asked.
Eyes, my name is Joseph, but
how did you guess it?" exclaimed
the man in surprise that was akin
to a shock.
Il didn't guess. it had to be, you
know, the same as hers is Mary
and that you came up to pay your
taxes and all the rest of it. / do
think that they might have made
a little bit of room for you over
at the inn, because it's so very
cold and people ought to know bet
ter about it all than they did be-
fore. That first time of Christmas
was in a warn country where the
shepherds sat out all night with the
sheep, so it didn't make so much
difference as now.
1T was SO good that the Star
stopped right over this manager.
Bess couldn't have walked much
further and my feet don't feel very
well. / think tomorrow you'd bet
ter all come up and stay with US
at grandmother's. There's lots of
room there and even it there wasn't
grandmother would make some, for
a Christ-baby would be ever such
good luck to have in the house"
Then Tommy marched over to the
bed and laid the gifts upon the
table by the pine branch and candle,
the man following with the dazed
expression of a sleep-walker.
Slowly the children's meaning
dawned upon the man leaning over
the bed. The knowledge. moving
him beyond utterance, stopped his