The Wingham Times, 1915-10-14, Page 7October I4th, I915
THE WINGBAM TIMES
Freckles.
BY
Gene
Stratton -
Porter
Copyright 1904, by
Doubleday, Page & Co.
PROLOGUE.
This romance of - reckles and
;the Angel of the Limberlost is
,one of the moat novel, entertain -
Ing, wholesome and fascinating
,stories that have come from the
• pen of an American author in
'many years. The characters in
.this sylvan tale are:
- Freckles, a plucky waif who
•guards the Limberlost timber
.leases and dreams of angels.
The Swamp Angel, in whom
Freckles' sweetest dream ma-
terializes.
McLean, a member of a lumber
.company, who befriends Freckles.
.Mrs. Duncan, who gives moth-
er love and a home to Freckles.
Duncan, head teamster of Mc-
'leaan's timber gang.
The .Bird Woman, who is col-
lecting camera studies of birds
for a book.
Lord and Lady O'More, who
,come from Ireland in quest of a
;leaf relative.
• The Man of Affairs, brusque
.of manner, but big of heart.
• Wessner, a timber thief who
wants rascality made easy.
+Black Jack, a villain to whom
,P.Vhought of repentance comes too
.tate.
CHAPTER L
THE LIMBEULOST GIIABn.
REC1 LES came down the cor-
duroy that crosses the lower
end of the Limberlost. M a
glance be might have been
mistaken for a tramp. but he was in-
• tensely eager to belong somewhere and
to be attached to almost any sort of
enterprise that would furnish him
food and clothing,
Long before be came in sight of the
camp of the Grand Rapids Lumber
-company he could bear the cheery
evoices•of the men and the neighing ot
.the horses, and could scent tbe tempt-
ing odors of cooking food • A feeling
-of homeless friendlessness swept eve r
him. Be turned into the newly maue
.road and followed it to the camp.
The men were jovially calling back
:and forth as they unharnessed tired
horses that fell into attitudes of rest
and crunched, in deep couteet, tete
;grain given them. As he wiped the
Clanks of bis beg bays with handfuls of
-papaw leaves. Duncan, the browny
Scotch bend teamster,' softly whietled,
"Ob wha will be my dearie, Oh!" and
:a cricket under the leaves at his feet
..accompanied him. Wreathing tongues
•of'flame wrapped about. the black ket-
etles; nod. when the cook lifted the
aids gusts ot savory odors escaped.
Freckles approached him.
"1 want to speak to the boss," he
frc-said.
Tj e cook glnneed him over add .en -
Wes Troubled With
Smothering Spells.
Would Wake Up With Breath All Gone.
jMEEburn's Heart and Nerve Pills
Entirely Cured Her.
Mrs. Wm. McElwain, Temperance
'Vale, N.B., writes: "I ani not much of a
believer in medicines, but I must lav
Milburn's Heart and Nerve Pills are all,
right.
Some years ago I teas troubled with
smothering spells. In the night I wcuid
be sound asleep but would waken up with
my breath all gone and think I never
would get it hack. I was tellirg a
friend of my trouble, aitd he advised n e
to try Milburn's Heart and Nerve I'9i1�•.
'He also gave me a box which I tried, r,1 d
1 had- only taken a few of them when l
could sleep all night without any ttcuelc,
T did -not finish the bcx until Kine years
: after:when I felt my trouble cclrirg
back, so I took the net el themetc! t1 -i
,..entirely eared me."
adilburit.'s Heart and Nerve fills arc
SOc•per box or ; poxes for $1.26, at all
*. dealers or mailed &erect cu rereie t et
priceiby The T. Milburn Co„ Limited,
':Toronto, Otit.
•
swered carelessly, "He can't use'you."
The color flooded Freckles' face, blit
he said simply, "If you will be having
the goodness to point him out we will
give him a chance to do bis own talk-.
"Yes," answered Freckles,
"I am very sorry,", said the bogs,
"but there is Duly one man i want at
present —a good, big fellow with a•
stout heart .and a strong body. I. hoped
that you would -do, hut 1 am afraid
you are too young and hardly strung
enough."
"And what was it you thought 1
might be doing?" asked Freckles,
The boss could scarcely repress a
start. • Somewhere back of accident
and poverty bad been an ancestor who
used cultivated English, even with au
accent. The boy spoke in a mellow
Irish voice, sweet and pure, It was
scarcely definite enough to be called
brogue; yet there was a trick in the
turning of the sentence, the wrong
sound of a letter here and there, that
was almost irresistible to McLean.
He was of foreign birth, and, despite
years of alienation, in times of strong.
feeling he ee11 into inherited sins of
accent and construction.
"It's •no child's job," answered Mc.
Lean. "I am the field manager or a
lumber company. We have just leased.
2,000 acres of the Limberlost Many
of these trees are of great value. `We
can't leave our camp, six miles south,
for almost a year yet, so we have
blazed a trail and strung barbed Wires
securely about the extent of this lease,
Before we return to our work I must
put this Limberlost lease in tie bands
ot a reliable, brave. strong man who
will guard it' every hour of the day
and sleep with one eye open at -.night
I should require the entire length of
the trail to be walked at least twice
every day, to make sure that aur lines
were up and no one bad been tres-
passing."
"But why wouldn't that be the finest
job in the°world for me?" pleaded
Freckles. "1 am never sick. I could
walk the trail twice, three times every
day, and I'd be watching sharp all the
while."
"It's because you are little more than
a boy, and this will be a trying job
for a work hardened man." answered
McLean, "You would be afraid.' In
stretching our lines we killed six rat -
Ing„
"With a shrug of astonishment, the
cook led the way to a ¢road, square
shouldered man, "Mr. McLean, here's
',another man wanting to be taken on
the gang, 1 suppose," he said.
"All right," came the cheery answer.
"1 never needed a good man more
than 1 do just now."
"No use of your bothering with this
fellow," volunteered the cook. "He
has but one hand."
The flush on Freckles' fnce burned
deeper. His lips thinned to a mere
line. He lifted his shoulders. took a
',step forward, and thrust out his right
arm. from which the sleeve dangled
empty at the wrist
"Tbat will do. Sears," came the voice
of the boss sharply. "I will interview
my man when I have finished this re-
port."
Freckles stood one instant as he bad
brncede,himseif to meet the eyes of the
manager. then bis arm dropped •and a
wave of whiteness swept over him
The boss had not even turned his bead
to see the deformity pointed out to
him. He bad used the possessive.
;'When he said "my Paan" the hungry
heart ot Freckles went reacbing out
sfter him. The boy drew a=quivering
breath. Then he whipped off his old
hat and beat the dust from it care-
fully. With his left handehe caught
the right sleeve, wiped his sweaty
face, and tried to straighten his hair
with his fingers. Re broke a spray of
ironwort.'beside him and used the pur-
ple
utple blossoms to beat the dust from
his shoulders and limbs.
(McLean was a Scotchman. The men
of his camps had never known him to
be in a burry or to lose bis temper.
Discipline was inflexible, but the boss
always was kind. He shared camp
life with his gangs. The only visible
Signs of his great wealth consisted of
a big, shinuitering diamond stone of
Ice and fire that glittered and burned
on one of his fingers and the dainty,
beautiful, thoroughbred mare he rode.
No man of McLean's gangs could
honestly say that he had ever been
overdriven or underpaid They all
knew that up in the great timber city
several minions stood to his credit
Re was the only son of that Mc-
Lean who bad sent out the finest ships
ever bruit ii{ Scotland. That his son
should carry on this business after his
death bad been the father's ambition.
Re sent the boy through Edinburgh
university and Oxford acid allowed
him several years' traveL
Then he was ordered theougft south-
ern Canlada and lliiehigan,to purchase
a consignment of tali, straight timber
for Masts and down into Indiana for
oak beams. The young man entered
these mighty forests, parts of which
drill lay untouched since the dawn of
the morning of time. Thee intense si-
lence, like that of a great empty cathe-
dral, fascinated him. He gradually
learned that to the shy wood crea-
tures that darted across bib path or
peeped inquiringly'ftom leafy ambush
be was brother. He found himself
approaching, with a feeling of rever
ence, those majestic trees that bad
stood through ages of sun, wind and
snow. Soon it became a difficult
thing to fell them. When he had fill-
ed his order and returned home he
was amazed to find that in the swamps
and forests be bad lost his heart, and
It was calling, forever calling him.
When he inherited bis father's prop-
erty he promptly disposed of it and,'
with his mother, founded a home 1n a
splendid residence in the outskirts of
Grand Rapids. With three partners
he organized a lumber company. His
work was to purchase, fell and ship
the timber to the mills. Marshall
managed the milling process and pass-
ed the lumber on ter the factory, From
the lumber Barthel made beautiful
and useful furniture, which tptegrove
scattered all ovet the world from a
sig wholesale house.
McLean faced a young man, stili un'
der twenty, tall, spare, beavily framed,
thickly freckled and red haired, With
a homely Irish face, but in the eteady
gray eyes, straightly meeting bib
° searching ones of blue, there were art.
tiwerving candor and a look of long-
ing not to be ignored.
"You are looking for work?" queil-
tiened,Mcter .
Had A Lave Back
FOR A LOC TIME.
Sometimes Could Hardly
,,Turn Ito Bed.
When the back gets so bad and aches
like a " toothache" you may rest assured
that the .cidneys are affected in some way.
On the first sign of a backache, Doan's
Kidney Pills should be taken, and if this
is done immediately you will save your -
sell many years of suffering from serious
kidney trouble.
Mr. W, Fraser, Truro, N.S., writes:
"I have had a lame back for a long time.
Sometimes I could hardly turn over in
bed, but after taking six boxes of Doan's
Kidney Pills I find that my back is as
strong as ever. I can't praise them
enough."
Doan's Kidney, Pills are 60e. per box,
3 boxes for 51.25; at all dealers or mailed
direct on receipt of price by The T.
Milburn Co., Limited, Tqronto, Ont.
When ordering direct specify "Doan's."
cotter lvitli',Gat boy'', efore z rete, slit
I didn't dare for fear of waking the
old man, and 1 knew I couldn't handle
the two of them, but I'm hoping to
meet Mw alone some day before I
die."
McLean liked the boy all tbe better
for this confession.
"I didn't even have to steal clothes
to get rid of starting in me home
ones," Frreokles went on, "for' they had
already taken all me clean, neat things
for the boy and put me into his rags,
and that went almost as sore as the
beatings, for wiere 1 was we were al-
ways kept tidy and sweet smelling
anyway. I hustled clear into this state
before I learned that man couldn't
have kept me 1f he'd wanted to. 1
commenced hunting work, but it is
with everybody else just as it is with
yon, sir. Big, strong, whole men are
the only ones for being wanted.'"
"I have been studying over this mat-
ter,'e answered 1ifcLean. "I am not ea
sure but that a man no older than you
and like you in every way could do
this work very well if be were not a
coward."
"If you will give me a job where I
can earn me food, clothes and a place
to sleep," said Freckles, "1f 1 can have
a boss to work for like other men, and
a place I feel I've a right to 1 will dc'
what you tell me or die trying."
Ele said it so quietly and convinc-
ingly that McLean found himself an-
swering: "1 w411 enter you on my pay-
rolls. We'll hive supper, and then I
will provide you with clean clothing,
wading boots, wire mending apparatus
end a revolver.` The first thing in tbe
morning 1 will take you over the trail
myself. A.11 I ask of you is to come
to me at once at the south camp and
tell me like a man if you find ties job
too hard for you. It is work that few
men would perform faithfully, Wbat
name shalt I put down?"
Freckles' eyes never left McLean's
face, and•the boss saw the swift spasm
of pain that swept his lonely, sensitive
face.
"1 haven't any name," he said stub-
ooruly, no more than one somebody
clapped on to me when; they put me
tiesnakes almost as long as your IRtde
and as thick as your arm. on would
always be alone, and the Limberlost
is alive with bounds and voices. 1
don't pretend to say what all of them
.come from, but from a few slinking
forms l've seen and hair raising yells
I've heard I'd rather not couflont
their owners myself, and I am neither
weak nor fearful -
"Worst of all, any man who will
enter' the swamp to mark and steal
timber is a desperate fellow. One of
my employees at the south camp, John
Carter, compelled me to discharge him
for a number of serious reasons. He
entered the swamp alone and ,marked
a number of valuable trees that he
was endeavoring to sell to our rival
company when we secured the lease.
He has sworn 'to have these trees if
he bas to die or to kill others to get
them."
"But if he came to steal trees
wouldn't he bring' teams and men
enough, that all any man could do
would be to watch and be after you?"
queried the boy.
"Yea," replied. McLean.
"Then why couldn't I be watching
just as closely and comingas fast as
an older, stronger man?" .
"Why, by George, you could!" ex-
claimed McLean. "I don't know that
the size of a man would be half so
important as his grit and faithfulness.
What is your name?"
Freckles grew shade whiter, but
his eyes never faltered_
"Freckles," Ire said.
"Good enough tor every day," laugh-
ed
aughed McLean, "but I can scarcely put
Freckles on the company's books."' ,
"I haven't any name," replied then
boy.
"I don't understand," said McLean.
"I was thinking from the voice and
the face of you that yon wouidn't,"
said Freckles slowly.,
"Does it seem to you tbat any one
would take a newborn baby and row
over it until it was bruised black, cut
off' its hand and leave it out in a bit-
ter night on the steps of a "charity
home to the care of strangers? That's
what somebody did to me.
"The home people took me in, and I
was there the full legal age and several
years over. They could always find
homes for the rest of the children,
but nobody would ever be wanting me
on account of me arm."
"Were they kind to you?" asked Mc-
Lean.
"I don't know," answered Freckles.
The reply sounded so hopeless even to
bis own ears that he 'hastened to qual-
ify it by adding: "You see, it's like
this, sir. Kindnesses that people are
paid to lay off in job lots and that
belong equally to several hundred oth-
ers ain't going to be soaking into any
one fellow much."
"Go on," said McLean.
"There's nothing worth tbe taking of
your time to tell," replied Freckles
"The home was in Chicago, and I was
there all me life up to three months
stgo. When I was too old for the train.
Ing they gave to the little children they
!bent nae Out to the nearest ward school
as long as the law would let them, but
I was never like any of the other chile
dten, and they all knew It. Fa to go and
Owe like a prisoner and be 'working
about the home early and late for me
board and clothes. 1 always wanted
to learn mighty bad, but i was glad
wh?n that was over.
"Then a new superintendent sent me
down in the state to a man he geld he
knew that needed a bey. Re wasn't
fir reniembering to tell that mai that
I was a hand short, and be knocked
Me dawn. Between noon and that
evening he and bis son, *out my' age,
had me in pretty much the sate Shape
in which t was found in the begilming,
so I lay awake that night end ran
away, .I's hill to have sgpered.11oe,f»
On the home books, with not the
tbougbt or care they'd named a house
cat. What they called me is no more
my name than . it is yours. I don't
know what mine is, and I never will.
But I am gding to be your man and
do your work, and I'll be glad to an-
swer to any name you choose to call
me. Won't you please be giving me
a name, Mr. McLean?"
The boss wheeled abruptly and be-
gan stacking his books. In a voice
harsh with huskiness he spoke.
"I will tell you what we will do, my
lad," be said. "My father was my
Ideal man, and 1 loved him better than
any other 1 have 'ever known. He
went out five years ago. If i give to
you the name of my nearest kin and
the man I loved best—will that do?"
Freckles' rigid attitude relaxed. His
head dropped, and tears splashed
down on the soiled calico shirt:
':AII righte, e a "1 3'111
Your Liver
is Clogged up
That's Why You'r.. Thud ---Oat .1
Sorts --hist he Appetit&
CARTER'S LITTLE
LiVER PILLS
will put you right
is a few days.
They do
their duty.
Cute.
Gatti-
.., Isilg..ties, .i;;1SItk N..tlileli.,
11 Pill, Small D.s., Small Price.
Genuine ,owl bwr Signature
Page 7
TAW -VW,
"WON'T Ton PLEASE BE CIVINO ME A
_ease ?"
write 'Ix cid ibe'V' val1-7- Pies 'Bois •Ii a-.
Lean."
"Thank you mightiIy," said Frec-
kles. "That makes me feel almost as
if I belonged already."
Freckles' heart and soul were sing-
ing for joy.
CHAPTER II.
P'BECSLE8 PROVES •819 METAL.
EXT morning the boss showed
Freckles around the timber
line and engaged him board
with his head teamster, Dun-
een, whom be had brought from Scot-
land and who lived in a small clear-
ing be was working out between the
swamp and the corduroy. When the
gang pulled out for the south camp
Freckles was left to guard a fortune
in the Limberlost. That he was under
guard himself those lirst weeks be nev-
er knew.
Every hour was torture to the boy,
The restricted life of a great city or-
phanage was the other extreme of the
world from the Limberlost. He was
afraid for his life every minute. He
cut a stout hickory cudgel, with a
knot on tbe end as big as his fist, and
it never len his hand. What be
thought in those drat clays be himself
'could not clearly recall afterward.
His heart stood still every time be
sew the beautiful marsh grass begin a
sinuous waving against the play of the
wind, as McLean had told him it
would. He bolted a half mile with his
first boom of the bittern, and his hat
lifted with every yelp of the sbeitpoke.
Once he saw a lean, shadowy form
following him and blazed away with
nis revolver. Then be was frightened
worse than ever for fear it might have
been Duncan's collie.
The first afternoon that be found
his wires down, and he was compelled
to plunge knee deep into the black
swamp muck to restring them, he
could scarcely control his shaking hand
to do the work. With every step he
felt that he would miss secure footing
and be swallowed. up in that clinging
sea of blackness. In dumb agony he
plunged along, clinging to the posts
and trees. He bad consumed much
time. Night closed in, The Limber -
lost stirred gently, then shook herself,
growled and awoke about him.
Tbere seemed to be a great owl boot-
ing from every hollow tree and a little
one screeching from every knothole.
Nighthawks swept past him with their
shivering cry, and bats struck his face.
A prowling wildcat missed its catch
and screamed with rage. A lost fox
bayed incessantly for its mate. The
hair on tlee back 01 Freckles' neck rose
like brl?;t es, and his knees wavered
under him. He could not see if rile
dreaded snakes were on tbe trail nor
in the pandemonium hear the rattle
for which McLean had cautioned him
to listen. i
Something big. black and heavy
came crashing through the swamp. and
with a yell Freckles broke and ran—
how far he did not know. But at last
he gelned some sort of mastery over
himself and retraced his steps. When
he again came toward the corduroy
the cudgel fell to test the wire at ev-
ery step.
Sounds that curdled his blood seem-
ed to elose in about eblm and shapes
of terror to draw nearer and nearer
.lust when he felt that he should mit
dead before he ever renc•hed the clear-
ing came Duncan's rolling call, "1''rer•
kles. Freckles!" A great shudnerine.
soh burst in the boy's dry throat. Bet
he only told Duncan 1haat fludiIK the
wire down hurl made Mtn bite.
Tile next mnrniuts he starlet, out on
tinea flay uftet day with tris me rt
taoundittg like a triphammer ne auegeu
t evet -think of that before? Of cttrt,e
they are! They are fust little brt,utte
colored cocks and bona. Rut weal
would you say to me 'wild enx•tiatns ne.
Ing a good deal tamer than yours bent
to your ynrd?" c
"Hoot, tad!" cried Ttuncnn.
"Make gouts light on yonr head and
eat out of your hands and poctcetS,"
challenged Freckles.
"Go tell your fairy tales& to the wee
people! Tbey're juist brash on Pe-
lievin' things," said Dunean.
"I dare you to come seer" retorted
Freckles. •
"Take yel" said Duncan. "It ye
make julst ane bird licht on your betd
or eat frae your hand ye ate free to
help yourCel' to my corncrib and wheat
bin the rest of the winter."
After that Ii'reekles alwaytb spoke of
the birds as his chickens" The next
Sabbatb Deneeu, With his wife and
Children Cry for IFIetcher'•
CASTOFtlA
The hind You Save Always I3o11ght, and which has beetie
In use for over 30'7ea;rs, has borne the signature oil
and has been made under his per-
sonal supervision since its Infancy,
4, Allow no one to deceive you in this.
.,All Counterfeits, Imitations and "Just -as -good" are but
Experiments that trifle 'with and endanger the health of
Infants and Children—Experience againet Experiment.
What is CASTORIA
Castoria is a harmless substitute for Castor 011, Pare.
goric, Props and Soothing Syrups. Itta pleasant. It
contains neither Opium, Morphine nor other Narcotic
substance. Its age is its guarantee. It destroys Worms
and allays Feverishness. For more than thirty years it
Las been in constant use for the relief of Constipation,
Flatulency, Wind Celle, all Teething Troubles and
Diarrhoea. It regulates the Stomach and Bowels,
assimilates the Food, giving healthy and natural sleep.
The Children'is Panacea—The Mother's Friend.
GENUINE CASTORIA ALWAYS!!
Bears the Signature of
In Use For Over 30 Years
The Kind You Have Always Bought;
!TNCCNTAUN COMPANY, NCW YO,IK C,TY.
efilliL•en, folTutvdd ,5'iecites'fir- the
swamp.
Freckles' chickens were awaiting
him at the edge of the clearing. They
cut the frosty air about his head into
curves and circles of crimson, blue and
black. They chased each other from
Freckles and swept so closely them-
selves that they brushed him with their
outspread wings.
At their feeding ground Freckles set
down his old pail of scraps and swept
the snow from a small level space with
a broom improvised from twigs, As
soon as his back was turned the birds
clustered over the food, snatching
scraps to carry to the nearest bushes.
Several of the boldest, a big' crow and
a couple of jays, settled on the rim
and feasted at leisure, while a cardi-
nal that hesitated to venture fumed
and scolded from a twig overhead. '
Then Freckles scattered his. store.
At once the ground resembled the
spread mantle of Montezuma, except
that this mass of gayly colored feat hers
was on the backs of living birds. While
they feasted Duncan gripped his wife's
arm and stared in astonisbment, for
from the bushes and dry grass with
gentle cheeping and queer, throaty,
chatter, as if to encourage each other,
came flocks of quail. Before any one
saw it arrive a big gray rabbit sat in
the midst of the feast, contentedly
gnawing a cabbage leaf.
"Weer, I be drawed on!" came Mrs.
Duncan's tense whisper.
"Shu -shut" cautioned Duncan.
Lastly Freckles took off his cap. Iib
began filling it with handfuls of wheat
from his pockets. In a swarm the grain
eaters rose about him like a flock oft
tame pigeons. They percbed oa bit,
arms and the cap, and In the stress
of hunger torgetting all caution, a bril-
liant cock cardinal and an equally
gaudy jay fougbt tor a perching place
on his head.
"Weel, I'm beat!" muttered Duncan,
forgetting the silence imposed on bis
wife. "I'll hue to give in. Seein' ie
ttelievin ."
A week later Duncan and Freckles
rose from breakfast to face the bitter-
est morning of the winter. When
Freckles, warmly capped and gloved,
stepped to the corner of the kiteben for
his scrap pail be found a pan of
steaming boiled wheat on the top of it.
He wheeled to Mrs. Duncan with it
shining face.
"Were you fixing this warm food fol
me chic ns or yours?" he asked.
"It's 16r yours, Freckles," the said.
Freckles faced Mrs. Duncan with a
trace of every pang of starved mothel
hunger he bad ever suffered written
large on his homely, splotched, narrow
features.
"Ott, how I wish you were my moth
erl" he cried.
"Lord love the ladle exclaimed Mrs,
Duncan. "Why, Freckles, are ye no
bricht enough to learn without beimg
taught by a woman that I am your
mither? If a great man like yoursel'
dlnna ken that, learn It now and ne'er
forget it. Ante a woman is the wife
of any man she becomes wife to all
men for having had the wifely en
perience she kens! Ance a man child
bas beaten his Way to life under the
heart of a woman she is mother to all
men, for the hearts of neitheti ars
everywhere the same. Bless ye, lad.,
die, i am yonr mitherl"
She tucked the cooties Nottr'e she had
knit for him closer over his Chest and
pulled his cap lower about hie ears,
but Freckles, whipping it off and hold
Ing it under his arm, caught her rough,
t'eddened hand and pressed it to his
lips in a long kiss. nen he hurried
away to' hide the h*ppy, embarraadng
tears that were Coining straight from
his swelling heart.
Ws. t)uncnn thre* herself Into bot'
Can's arms
"Oh thy. pgir half" she waited,. "Obi
the pair wither hungry lard! rte breaks
My heart!!"
Duncan's arms closed convuinirely,
about his wife. With a big brown
hand be lovingly stroked her rough
sorrel hair.
"Sarah, you're a guid woman!" ht
said. "You're a michty guid woman!
Ye tae a way 'o' speakin' out at times
that's like the inspired prophets of the
Lord."
All through the winter Freckles' ens
tire energy was given to keeping uli
his lines and his "chickens" from
freezing or starving. When the tired
breath of spring touched the Limber.
lost and the snow receded before ite
when the catkins began to bloom;
when there came a hint of green to
the trees, bushes and swale; wben tbet
rushes lifted their heads and the
pnlse of the newly resurrected season
beat strong in the heart of nature,
something new stirred in the brease.
of the boy.
Nature always levies her tribute.
Now sbe laid a powerful hand on the
soul of Freckles, to which the boy's
whole being responded, though be bad
not the least idea what was troubling
him: Duncan accepted hes wife's
thenry tbat it was a touch of spring
rever, bit Freckles knew better. Ike
bad never been so well.
fledged, ran wben he could and fonfht
like a wildcat when he was brought to
bay. If he ever had %Nee of giving
up no one knew it, All these Whinge .
in so far as he guessed them Duncan,
who had been set to watch the first
weeks of Freckles' work, carried to the
beefs at the south camp, but the inner-
most, exquisite torture of the thing the
big Scotchman never guessed. and Mc-
Lean with his finer perceptions came
only a little nearer.
After a few weeks, when Freckles
found that he was still living, that he
had a borne and tbe very first money
he bad ever possessed was safe in Ok'
pockets, he began to grow proud. Be
was gradually developing the fearless-
ness that men ever acquire or dangers
to which they are hourly accustomed.
His heart seemed to be in Ms mouth
when bis first rattler disputed the
trait with him, but be muslered'cour
age and tet drive at it with 1118 club.
After its head had been crushed ne
cut off its rattles to show Duncan.
With the mastery of his first snake
bis greatest fear Of them was gone.
Then he began to realize tbat with
the abundance of food in the swamp
flesh hunters Would not come out on
the trail and attack him, and be ..had
his revolver for defense it they did.
Ele soon learned to laugh at the floppy
birds that made horrible noises. One
day watching from behind a tree he
saw a crane solemnly performing a
few measures ot a belated nuptial
song and dance with bis mate. Be-'
alining that It was intended in tender-
ness, no matter bow it appeared, the
lonely, etarved heart Of the boy went
ant to,them in sympathy.
(To 13N CONTINUEtt.)
Hard to Chooxe.
"Why can't she netke a -twice be.
Ween her senors?"
"Well, one of them f8 8 prose agent
the language is very attractive. tint
the other le a traveling, salecmam. anti
he treats her os if site were a beg
buyer;"--Rnnses City Journal,
tet us do what bettor demands.—Mt
clue.
Children Cry
to FLETCHER'S
CASTORIA