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“father nor tory. ull and he was ei
“No, Thank You, Tom.”
Tey met, when they were girl and boy,
Going to school one
ad “Won't you take my ree top, dear?”
Was all that he could
she bit her little pin:
Clo: ose | to his side ene 9 caine,
She w red, * NO, no, thank you, Tom, ”
But tock it ail the same.
They met one day, the selt-same way,
When t wift years jown;
He said, * lve nothing but my heart,
But that is yours alton
.d won’t you take my Tieare” he said,
rn
"No, thank you, Tom,??
But took it all the same.
And twenty, thirty, forty years
Have brought inem care and joy;
She es tie little peg-top still
her when a boy.
“Tve had DO wealth, sweet vite, ” st ys be,
ve never brought you
She whispers, ** No, no, thank yeu, Tom,
You've loved me al! the same!”
0 a
BLIND ELFINE'S
SILVER LOCKET.
By JOHN SHERMAN.
ought to be ashamed of your-
elf.”
Ae ee I don’t know as what I do is any
£8 concern of
“Any fellow with @ vconselence would feel
coneerned when he saw a helpless little thing
treated like that.”
The speakers were tivo youths of about the
same age—somewhere between sixteen and
seventeen.
But with the exception of the similarity of
age, there was no resemblance between them.
“Th uscular and elastic
frame, fair-hatred and blne-eyed, with a franiz
and fearless face, aud of a manly bearin:
He worea plain dark suit, neat though show-
ing the signs of wear; and his hands were
browned and hardened with toi
His name was Fred Follet; he had neither
The second opener was taller, but of a less
. symmetrical bui
Hiis skin was dark to swarthiness; be had
shifting, furtive black eyes; his air was in
lent and supercilious even to insolence.
He was dressed foppishly in the height of
style; a diamon
ger wore ared ¢ bu
‘foles ‘and carried a jaunty little gold-headed
cane,
His name was Gregg Gorman; he lived atan
aristocratic boarding-house in the neighbor-
hood, and his father was reputed to be
wealth ‘Ye
The youths were well-known to each other;
they had at one time attended the same school
together, but there was never any friendship
between them.
Fred had ‘always felt a manly contempt for
the other’s conceit and selfishness.
And Gregg had affected an air of superiority
over Fred, while he secretly envied the Jatter
for qualities which he did not himself possess,
The present cause of dispute was a child
eronched beside a band organ at a street cor-
ner where the two boys had chanced to meet.
She was not more thap seven years of age;
her frail body was clothed in scanty tatters;
her little feet were bare; and her bead had no
covering save a profusion of tangled yellow
Ter face was singularly beautiful and deli-
cate; and her large blue eyes were 80 brilliant
of hue and so seemingly expressive, that it
was not easy to believe the girl was blind,
But such she was; the earth, the sky, the
trees, the flowers, al earth’s beautiful things
—were known to her only in her vague memo-
ries of an earlier childhood,
As Gorman sauntered lazily around
“he corner be had espied the little girl, patient-
ly turning the handle of her wretched hand
organ, while one little cold palm was stretched.
trembiingly, toward the passers-by.
With aly movement anda cruel smile he
had stop ed toward herand touched the open
the smooth gold top of his cane.
fingers of tha blind girl
closed upon what at the sly touch she believed
to bea coin, tbe youth suddenly twirled kis
cane and struck a stinging blow upon the out-
‘stretched han
As the pane creature crouched away, moan-
ing with pain anc and shivering with terror, Gregx
rtless glee at the success of bh
paltry trick.
It was this incident which had aroused the
indignation of Fred Follet, who was on hi:
way home from work, and at the instant hap-
pened to appear upon the scene,
“*Any follow with a conscience? Is that
meant to insinnate rd oO not possess the arti-
cle?” the gundy sno
His shifting lack eyes shot a furtive glance
of venomous hatred toward the manly youth.
“You can take it as you like,” Fred answyer-
ed, coolly.
THE YOyNnG “MEN OF AMERICA.
ted the
“And you can take that» yocler
enraged da, ndy, lifting his ean wih ith | . stealthy
flash to strike the youth acrogs the ee swift-
The movement Had been of enred d for it.
ness, y Was not u
With a motion equally ra) aprey pnateled the
cane and tossed it into the streel wself seized
e next second Gregg felt PINr shakes a
by the collar, shaken as @ ter’ en) on the
raf, and t then seated ignomini? y
eurbst
“Ts that ‘enough for you?” Fred asked,
ay Dar turn will com! pough 5 T will
2 S0on oO
be even with you yet,” Grege p stra it
& malignant scowl, as he seramv! viene.
lyto his fect and picked up his
red made 0 response,
He eyed his antagonist i in stort § Aa until
that discomfited worthy wag ou! to the little
Then he directed his attent! Shivering in
blind girl who was moaning anted the youth
be gon piteous way, whieh m.
sked,
y Fred a
Did | he 6 hurt you much,
as he took the tay hand, atts, vowed = Heid
mark across t © pal
tar eed aa laden or
ear. oug! apa Renzi g)
@ beats me when there "ei had sey enous: a
the 2 child sobbed. R
0 is Papa Renzi?”
he ttle creature shook hor tangled curls
with a shudder at the quest;
*T don't boliove he is ston p papa; if he
was he would love one?”
“ co pat ls is your own name, itll?
“Well Elfine, would yoy js @ oe jest
warm suppers and sit by a nieg
. ‘The blind d girl did
he blind girl did not ans, '" -
As Fred bent over her ang yoked with sud:
den anxiety into bh her datia ate, w ,
perceive that she had faint ge
‘*T believe the Poor little. rg is porishing
with hunger and a a Er eq tbe he divested
ithout a second of hesi v
bimselt of his warm coat antl wrapped it
about the frail, eines lit
‘Then he lifted her inhi tue feular young
prs and burried throu the 118 y here he
wilight toward the humble joi
had lodyed and had his mei? ice he had
been employed in the factors
pile “ot boxes
As he receded from the ey ot
skulked from the shadow of
and barrels beneath a grocers g
away. shab-
The figure was that of a ta) iP
by top-coat, b his visage shag Ppy an equally
shabby slouch hat,
Witha noiseless tread the man nirsneet for
. Thok'he « he stopped. For an 1 t he tured
& pair of fi reo eyes, with a Ins eS! it ‘eine, in
the eectlon e youth had ?
in, prith a oa rious nd disaf ho slipped
over his fight shoulder the Toth ea otntnd,
old hand-organ which Fred had jno twilight
and 8 so strode away through t
Blo dr hed a
In the meantime the youth pf 7
low ‘wooden house, flanked 0 » odinary tene
ves not far
er t-faced, ki 4. of mid-
pleasant-fac nd-eyey ~o™
dle age met him in the neat papered and
cheerily lighted hall as he gnterot
0
‘earth havo
odness gricious is! wha ‘red as
&
eo
you got, Freddy?” she ent ora handsome
glanced from the youth’s flush "nN an
face to the unconscious bur buss wer, @ held so
tenderly in his strong young
“be poor little thing is ae, pfhiale oe
want of warmth and Hour ‘hished the
lant boy conelnded when he ha
necessary explanation:
“Bring her into the kitchen, a on tend
to her while you aro having’ you ro
per,” said the pitying voice
pho had just slipped into ot, cheery little
the daugh-
othe pretty girl was Minna goj0'
ter of bis pleasant-faced, i 8elesd, motherly
tonne ess about hi year or two
8 was abou! IS OWN a
younger, perhaps, and. she Bes ‘employed in
the same factory where Fred ek
Minna was as kind 0 of hi heart # nd ‘sweet of
disposition as she was pretty,
er tender, dark eyes werg apne. owt
athetic tears as she took the
blind'enta from Fred’s arms they started for
he tidy and comfortable kitchen.
“Minna understands, an: her to a vat
you see an unfortunate little we ‘ou lost,”
you always think of the baby sist? gro youth
firs. Solon remarked as she agate’ sd table, and
in her own chair at the inte TOO ming SUD
placed the choicest portion ofa oe
per before him. my little
IT do, in deeds Talways thin, % body's
sister Nelly as being in’ nee, { ome ¥
kindness; a am only doing & yt a0 by iy
blind waif as I would have oth
lost sister.”
“You hase always baiore yo pr baby sister
was at tolen 1 my
‘ust have be:
instructions somewhere Decegsns
r inheritance. A desk containi9S import-
ant documents had heen forceg 0 PER m and ran-
sacked th the same night Nelly was discovered
ng.”
“Tho fact points to a plot; put I don’t see
round the corner with me ant ‘arm fire for | neck.”
how such a scheme could be effected,” Mrs,
Solon said, thoughtfully.
“Tt could done easily enough. The
paper or the will which wouid have made my
sister an heiress, was known only to my father
and to the party who devised the will. Nelly
was undoubtedly stolen by some person who
guessed the secret, and who plotted to secure
te fora? by assuming the guardianship of
“Tn that case it would be the person’s in-
terest to care for her well.”
** We can’t be sure of that. So long as her
fate remains a mystery, 1 must naturally fear
she is being subjected to neglect and hardship,
or worse, the youth said g:
‘ou may solve the haystery some day,
Fri eddy.”
** You may be sure I shall do so; I purpose
to search the world over until nd her.
here are times when I fancy I bear my pa-
rents calling to me from their graves, demand-
ing me to recover the innocent babe which was
stolen from her cradle while they were lying
in their coffins in the room beyond. To think
of the subject drives me wild, Mrs. Solon.”.
The youth had arisen from the table and
was pacing excitedly up and down the room,
Just then proity Minna tripped up the steps
from the kitch
Her dark eys os. were glowing strangely; her
cheeks wore crimson 5 and she was trembling
from head to foot
w is the poor little thing?” Fred asked.
“A Tittle brandy brought her to her senses;
then I fed her some strong broth; she is fast
asleep on the lounge by the kitchen fire. I
was trying to change her wretched dress for
something warmer, Fred, when I found this
trinket hanging by a eotton cord from her
8
Minna had spoken so rapidly that her last
words were scarcely more than a gasp.
The youth had not fairly caught the mean-
ing of her agitation, when she held what
seemed to bea small flat tin box before his
questioning sig!
Througha pertoration in the box dangled
the loop of a stout cotton vine which had
held it about the child’s neck
With a nervous movement of her lithe fin-
gers Minna took the cover from the box, and
disclosed a small silver locket,
“Open it, and see what I have discovered,
Fred.”
py eonderingly the youth did as Minna bade
m. :
As he did so, the trinket fell from his grasp;
his manly face was white as ashe:
“Itcan’t be possible!” burst ineredulously
from his convulsed lips. ¢ +
“Ifthe pictures in your room are those of
our father and mother, then the miniatures
in the locket are theirs also,” said Minna,
“ sister Neliy was not blind! It is
not possible this starved, beaten, hapless beg-
gar-child can be baby Nel
The youth’s eyes were Wisty, his voice was
ehoked. The {sony of the moment was al-
most intolera
Ampulsively thay started toward the kitehen,
ne foot of the steps Minna uttered a
shan tpe
‘fhe lina girl was gone,-
indow ‘isto directly upon the side-
watt showed the lower Bash liftes
ere was an i of big grimy fingers
upon the Bpotless. tte paint of the sill,
In an instant the youth correctl. surmised
that Papa Renzi had stealthily entered through
the unfastened window and so carried the
child away.
**I may overtake him,” Fred thought, as he
snatched his hat and sprung upon the pave-
ent
The full frosty moon was just rising, and in
its clear light, he could plainly perceive a hur-
rying figure a half block away.
‘The figure was that ofa tall man wearing a
long top coat and a largo slouch hat.
It was the same individual who had skulked
from b beneath the shadow of the grocer’s awn-
ing, and who had picked up the hand-organ
which Fred had lef ind when he car-
ried the insensible child to ‘his lodgin
4
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BR
ing stride, but Fred soon gained upon him
sufficiently to perceive that he held the slight
form of a chil
The youth was. within a few rods of him,
when he suddenly and roughly dropped the
blind girl to her feet, and darted into a base-
ment notion store.
The next instant he re-appeared, the hand-
organ swung over his right shoulde:
Again he snatched the ehild, and ihus en-
cumbered, he stepped upon the platform of a
car he had abruptly hailed.
Fred made a signal to board the some car,
but it was not heede
He was obliged to content himself in board-
ing another just be behin
was detortained. ts overtake the forbid-
ding-looking wn man and demand the poor little
Elfine as his stolen sister.
As the two cars rattled up the avenue the
youth succeeded in keeping the man in sight,
When the latter finally left the cat Fred, too,
alighted ashort distance bebind.
is time it was intensely dar
ont mass of stormy clouds wad F obscured
the moon, the wind was blowing a gale, and
the raln was coming down in fetal gusts.
In the darkness and the pin d the man fora
moment eluded Fred's sig!
He poered in every ‘alrection, but the ones
@ sought were not visi!
pointment, in his fear that he had found his
stolen sister only to lose her again, and per-
haps more surely than before.
@ man had: any suspicion of being
watched and followed, he would be very like-
ly to keep himself beyond reach, or perhaps
leave the city altogether,
nd without friends, or money, or influence,
Fred felt he would be powerless to continue
the pu
As he “still lingered near the place where
he had left the car, he heard suddenly the
twanging and wheezing of an old hand
organ.
s he hastened in breathless suspense in
the direction whence the sound proceeded, he
saw the little blind Elfine.
She was crouched upon the bare stones, the
rain beating upon her naked feet and uncover-
ed head, her blind, beautiful eyes turned in
piteous, ‘aumb pleading toward the passers-
ye
A lady pedestrian, tripping hastily through
the chilling shower, stopped and laid a silver
half dollar upon the organ no box,
sthe lady stopped, a panel in a mov; wable
booth behind the child was stealtily slipped
asi
ice the clink of the coin, the greedy, forbid-
ding visage of blind Elfine’s tyrant appeared
in the opening made by the sliding panel.
Although the youth had resolved to regain
immediate possession of the poor little crea~
ture, he had not yetformed any definite meth-
od ot procedur
He had not ‘oven reflected that he might be
compelled to await the formalities of the law.
Even at the moment it did not occur to him
that he might require the assistance of an
officer. . .
With his lips set sternly and his eyes flash-
ing fire, he walked boldly up to the
“ cher child is my sister, and I claim her as
such; I have come to take her home with me,”
he vid, quie
@ man muttered something flercely ina
foreign tongue and lunged forward, one huge
grimy fist clinched for a blow.
With a lightning movement the youth par-
ried the blow; ina flash he executed another
movement known in the seience of athletics;
and ina second more the big clumsy figure of
the man had measured its length on the flag:
ing.
s He attempted to arise, but the muscular
youth had drawn both his wrists behind his
back and held them in a grip like steel.
There is no use struggling,” Fred said,
coolly. ‘An officer is coming; he would be
uno you before -you evuld take a dozen
teps.
“Let me go,” the struggling man almost
shrieked “in his abject terror of the approach-
ing officer. ‘Ino steal her; I tel} who did;
I tell everything. you want to ”
** Will you tell what was done w: ith the stolen
apers— where they are?”
“The papers I no steal. I tell who did. I
no like him more. You hear the name if you
let me go.
«J will hear the name first,” said Fred, giv-
ing the fellow’s wrists another twist in’ his
steel-like grip.
Ac rowd: was collecting, and the approaching
omer was so near that the man could catcha
Fed se of brass buttons shining in the fitck-
ering light of a street lam ‘Ps beneath which the
determined youth was still holding him fast.
He lifted his head with a desperate gesture
and uttered forth a name,
d loosed his hold and. staggered back as
if he ‘had been stricken. ‘His astonishment at
the utterance of that name was uncontrol-
lable, .
At the same instant the man staggered to
his feet, only to be seized by. the officer, who
had ust step pped upon the se
hat is the trouble here?” he inquired.
Ina few manly words, Fred explained the
situation.
The sympathy of the crowd was with him,
ana the officer was impressed by his noble
bearing, and so he was permitted to take the
hapless little blind girl home with him, while
the officer took charge of her forbidding Papa
ven our Jater the child was safe in t
shelter of Mrs. Solon’s humbie but eer fortabls
h
ome lous ad-
But in reviewing Fred’s marvel
several more hours were
ventures of Ba Met og ya midi be
‘ ver the ulet dwelling.
ore Sethe ‘settlea 0 red ‘as Wan sun
himself to patio
had aroused Powered his long lost sister—he
had discovered also the person who had stolen
her from her cradle; and he had fathomed the
motive for the » plot which had deprived him of
ber for so ma
It er oained, for pretty Minna’s sharp eyes
to Giseover that the plot had failed, that Tittle
ne—or more correctly, Nelly Follet—was
still to be an heires:
In examining ‘the silver locket Minna had
removed the miniatures; and behind each she
had detected a closely written paper of a fab-
ric so fine it might have been folded into even
a smaller space, and so strong it might have
been preserved intact for a centu wry
Those Papers held the secret o! Nelly’ 's in-
heritan
“ Now ‘the dear little thing can havea physi:
cian, her sight may be restored to her,”
Minna, almost erying in her joy and bes in
“ w she js to have money, they who
have 80 cruelly treated her sball be punished,”
Tho boy almost groaned ‘aloud in his disap-
Fred replied, soberly,