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VOLUME 73. Nuuun 33.
$1.75 A YEAR. SINGLE Camus 5 Cu
HEY were so near
each other that
their 0HL4tl.'(‘ll3l)I-‘II
hands oonld have met’
the boy eoiicealed be-
hind l.he rock, the old
woman just above him.
The laurel thicket, pul-
shaded them both iin-
partinlly. .'
The wasli of the
the woman should IIVJI’
lint the woman was
absorbed in grief. She
It was a pitifully
wasted and gaunt figure
that knelt there in the
midst of the beriiity
and amplitude of the
season; a figure out of
hamiony with lliltllrl‘,
which seemed in her
cruel success to ha , no room for such failures.
Perhaps poor Elvii-.1 'I'(’<-l-hound next week
for the poor-funn-felt the iiiwiigniity, for she
dim eyes, as she prayed in a low,
half-audible tone.
The boy's hard eyes poeped through the
tangle of grasses and wrxids at her, and a
curious, niirthlass smile played over his face.
Crnnclied down there, he looked more like
some wild beast than like a human being.
The stained, ragizecl cliitliiiiu hung loosely
his bony frame. No one could have told how
old he was, for the idirewd, suspicious face
belied the childish statiuv.
“Only through Inuml-tinie, O Lordl Only
tliroigh laurel-tiniel Work a miracle, an’
keep ‘em a.-hlo0niin' thronuli the year! 0 my
dear God. not the poor-fann now, and me
tunied of seventv!" ninumvl the woman, in an
agony of snppliiztioii. some loose blUK",4Jl'lIS,
as it in niockery, fell on her upturned hue.
She smrted as if they h:ul been blows‘ This
as r answer-the beginning of the end of
laurel-time! She mse painfully from her knees.
wom out, yet relieved by this passionate out-
burst. A dull apathy piwessecl her now, as,
" MA‘! I COME in?"
with one backward glnnoe of fond pride on l lnnrr-l wliich had influenced the hank olliuenx
her laurel-patcli. she turned toward the low,
unpainted lionse on the hill.
ller lzinrels were the only thing in her long,
uneventful life that distixigrnished her. There
were other solitary worm-n mi other seaside
farms, but no other laiirvl-crowned point, like
Tet-l‘s Neck. For yours and years these
lanrels had been famous. Even fmni Bath
gay parties would drive down in the samoii to
picnic beneath their shad:-,. Their hlnssoiiiim;
had niarked every yenr for the Teel family,
and all events, were rovkom-d from it.
“Father died two montlui after laurel-time,
and mother when they wore in the bud." Miss
Elvira won d say, who was now the last
survivor.
their pmmst time no inemb:-r ut the
lIOllSf‘ll0l<i had ever thnin;ht of sin-h a suurilr-i;e
as plowing up the lrinri-ls. The 5(‘a.I‘il)'K‘.1l'Ill’II
might run up and down the mrky hill, but the
good ground where tho ltIlIl'1‘l$ mew was :Qll‘.l’I’4l
soil. It was a disiritnn-iii:-<l tribute in l!l‘nlIt)',
for no 'l‘i>el had ever sold the lnurv.-l. It had
docked many a In-st room for u marrying or a
burying, but it hud la-on love‘s gift.
It was this well-known feeling about the
wh<‘II'tlie. Iiwlt-.."7l4.'9 on the little f'iini was
about to he foreclosed in 1 a‘
“Poor old thing! She's got to go to the
poor-(unit. I siiyipose, but u'e‘d better let her
stay (ill laurel-tinie is Liver. ”I‘won't hurt
us,-we-‘ll have to look mnnd for a ]iIIl’('l)3API",
eand it will be a great (ximfort to hi-r," said
the hunk presiilent. 50 Miss Elvin: luid stayed
on, lll‘I‘ minty living eked out hy many a
present o[ fish and mill; from the Noun boys
who W(>l'kIll part of the iann.
Tlii-ro was not more than a week Ii-it now
before. IIH! liuslws would be idiorn oi tlivir
ory. The little lnlir-covered, nail-hound
tnink stootl open likea)1iwning izmve in the
i ii:-morn which Eliim Teel now entoriwd
with f.1lt:-ring feet She sat down in the old
lliitbli l"!X'l2I‘I' by the VA imluw wliich loniuxl up
the rilil-on ro:id thronzli the pnsiliro. so she did
not sum the boy nppnxirliiiiiz Ilia lions:-, an hour
lilt4’I'. till he ritual on the lllior-stmli‘.
“l'li-iuu-, mny I mine in and get wnrm 1"’ he
iukvil, and the 1-liatterimz twtli eiiipliiuiml the
inn.-a
“(ii-tviunnl For i.liehI.n' sakes, boyl You've
got a clulll CUIIIE in and wrap yourself in
L.
I2‘
"con FOUND comma: AT Lnsr."
this quilt" W.
white cotton quilt.
‘‘I an wash it"
di. "zed it around him Vt ith dirty hands.
. . Elvirn brought from a
chest under the stairs on old hlueuiid. of ilnsuiliitiiirl in her uIilovili;.: and Iililovud life,
. T]
I is tliou;:lit, as the boy
'linown. So the mm only uii.i.uiuii..-rmise
Me is no such iiuiiger as in-uiuiiiiigori
Now this poor st.'u'ved in-iii: heat la.xt und-r
‘ the iadod pui1il0 ualioo gown at the nestling of
But still he hlllV(‘,l‘l’4l as he sat on the this little tmnI[i‘5 Iii-mil It hml Il‘(‘ll fmn-n
lower hall step, and Miss Elvira linstened by this iiarmw (
to light the fire in the living-morn and boil the to lll6'lt. with a Joyous rusli, whivh niiide her
all life, but now it iuwiiixl
kettle. The boy VHllL'lIl’4l her with lan',:uid l young uiyain.
l
l
interest some of the time, lint mostly leaned
with closed eym against the wall. it was her tlionizlit of the Slouns. This boy had hwii
turn to study him now.
said aloud, "“'ho be you ?"
“Whzit?" asked the bar, in u dazed way.
path toward delirium.
“Wliat's your nnnie?"
“Con Kelly, but they call me Can, the Duck."
‘wvii vr"
“Oh, '('LIIl.Sli I‘iii King of the
Dock this ymr-the best diver,
you know,“ sziid the child, inma-
tiently, I‘!-'ltI(5L'l.IIt to write but. “I
, it hurts me so here,“
and he groam-<1 its he put one
grimy lianil on his t-liest. Miss
now thoroughly
8l1I'l'll8(I. She innst get him smile-
“lime at mm-.
"Wlivre are you fniin?" she
axkexl.
“New York," said ('on. “I
tmiiipwl it in Boston, and
thou I mine with a circus
to l'ori.1and. I was
sli-epiu’ out in the rain hut week, and I took
cold. Can't ya help inn? ('uu't yer do sonny
thin‘ to mnl-re my breath mine?"
The words mine in lmoken grains and the
mus streamed down the soiled film. which
was now fever-llusliixl. She never knew a hat
made her do it, for by nature and habit she
was uiiileiiiortstrativo, but at the sound of that
haunting wail all the motlii-r-love in her. which
had never found vent, burst out. She knelt
beside him and drew the lilue-and-White
cliwked bundle in lwr, and he leaned his
frowzy brown head luminst her breast.
Then the miracle It1I['D1‘ll('(l for which Miss
Elvira hnd pmyed. Slit-, iori3‘1t that she was
old and llel[VlPSS and you-iiy-stm-kon. Sn:-ha is
wave nf joy sni1.:od thmu;:li her that the old
liunds, with the swullr-n hluo veins, tieniblcd
as she softly pulled him. Mm was needed by
some one! Oh, the swevtiivss of being imm-
isary once niorel
For twenty )'L‘t'u'S no one had ever iimlml
Miss Elvlm The In-ilzliliurs. uho were all
well-imlo. pitiul the old mind on tier lonely
fanii on the point. Tlii-y did as lunch for IIPI’
as they dared. but she mus too reserved to talk
of herself, and mo prom! to make he: wants
“He's got a fever ooniin’ on, that's Wluat
he's got! The sooner I find out who he is and
where his folks live the la-tier. I can't have‘ but she soon saw it
him sick here on my hzinds. I must get him Sum Sloan would be there at niilkiiiiz-tiiiio, but
' over to the Slrians‘," she tlioiiglit. Thcuslie 1 she ihirvd not wait till then; she niitzht losea
’l‘hom was no longer any hitsliatllrll, no more
‘ Miss Elvira not him into her lad, nnd
anplioxl snrsli llllIl]IIE rr.-iii:-alien as she knew;
‘ wasacase for l.ll(‘(I0l1A'tK'.
ijcliunx-e to send to the village (‘on win; in a
1 heavy slia-p SAIHI. so she could leave him in go
forhewassli1ipi.iigdou'ntluit S[l‘all,’,'&l)'11l9!lS&I'lt‘ forlwlin The ribbon It-wl had nvvvr M-Imsl
so short, and she felt no sense of iaiiizue.
““'liy, Iiliiry I" said old Mrs. Sloan, who
1 was sitting on the side porch in she hurried
lup. “Wlititoneartliailsyer? I‘-.aciIi'tlimii;.:li
the fields. R>tPlI]]it,ln' of our old bull by yr-r
at-tionsl Sit down, do!"
“I <:ui't., lilis‘ SIWIIA Where's the boys?"
“Gone to the upper niulder. a-lniylu‘.
“'liy‘?"
““'lu>re's the 5arlllIS‘?"
“Jolin'ii siimirs gone to spend the day with
‘her folks, and ’I‘om's has-ali's in the bum
a-hitcliin' up. Sh '5 gnin‘ to [E‘iL‘l1 ll(‘i’ lioine."
“()1 " cried lily" with a relievixl look,
“then I'll ask her to stop for Doctor Milla-
l pan.-zhl ’1‘liere‘s a boy to my housr-‘a tramp,
:I rwkon-wlio'ii dreadful sick. In for lung
. fever, I'In f(’:Il’l’ll."
Mrs. Sloan struiglilened up, and b(‘l'lII4’<l lo
, ltlse two poiulils of flesll. A look of Illti-Iv-:.t
t-nine, over IIPI‘ fat, iiieaningless (Lu At the
inniie of iiivkiioss she vrna in her EIPIIWIIL For
years she ll2l4l Ix-vii [11-'II(’l1lllllI'Sl‘. to all along-
5ll(ll‘(L '
"Lung feveri" she snoituL mnteinptuonsly.
‘It’! min-h you knon about it, Elviry Te<‘ll
Never mm any .5il'l<ll9:‘S. as you’d mil sink-
noes 5('l'.lll' as yer pa and ma went on snddi-n.
it'll warrant it's nothin‘ but [.:roL-n-.sppli- mlie."
But Elvin: hurl hurried on to the hunt to find
'I‘om's Snmh, and urge her to hurry.
Tlirvelioiirs lntt-r Doctor lllillspnilizli drove
u the ribbon rua<L the in-riiiizs of
his buggy saiziziinz Ulllllkillsly on one
side. Un that side sat Mrs. Sluurl,
while lieside her, a hip; basket 1: ug
asznliiit his knees, while he listvniwl to
a lixtnre on the trvntiiit-nt (II his
“lr.l-x -ry. sang out the woman.
In the Ntzde of Maine! “'e'll save
that boy of yourn to break into
stmiulsbom bank some day."
“llnshl" said Elvira, ani.'rily,us she
nppo-are-I ‘in the open door. “He'll
llt'nl' you!" But Con Kelly was past
in-nring now. lie was nnnbliiig on
in a lon(.:, disjointed talk. eiiijiliasimtl
here and there by a mane ymfanity
which shocked Blrs. Slorui.
‘”'I'aint his fault. poor (‘uni It's
the fault of Lheni he's livivd “ith.
"l‘aint for you or me to judgi-. hini,
Amveita Sloan, tirought up in ]N‘I'Il'S&
lug fainiliesl That pourlaiiilfs looked
on sights that would cnnlle mill-rl
Do you lV‘Ill(>‘lIlIEI' that book on the Five
Points? “'elI, he's from the docks of New
York, d I reckon they're no belt;-r," said
Miss im, with kindling eyes and a thigh in
the (adsxl face. “You‘ll see how (l(’('f‘llt livin'll
clianize him."
Already she was identiiyirig their futures.
.-tlri-ady Con Kr-lly had a chanipinn.
Mrs Sloan looked at her in asimiialiiiiont.
“'ris this the silent Elvira Teel who had lived
on their dizirity? Ilebuking her and milling
her ‘Ztmvi-sin Noun 1”
I)4I'iAtI‘ Millspaugh was makiinz a um-ful
exaniinatioii, and he looked very mare.
“It's in lxid cave of pneumonia. but his age
in his favor. and we‘ll do what no um.
Yoirll have to give him -“ and his eyes r(5’te<l
on Mrs. Sloan. But Mia Elvira quietly but
rii-nily sieppexl in front of her.
' xtnr," she said, and waited.
The (llI'Il)l" llPSil.HlRl. for Mrs. Slmn was
an iinnori.-nit person; but there was soiiwtliiii;.:
in Minn Elvin) when she was l'Illl$4'(l that
llt-'lI)lIlIIl1!I nispert. So the doctor nine his
onln-rs and 1lI1N'lI'14ll, and the two women
bexnii their night watch, for neither food nor
sleep had attitictiuns for Mrs. Sloan with such
noun f 101(7)“ N ““““?Ii‘.
