Show I Their Waif Wail Now at the very beginning there were only two In due duo time however there W were re six and then then bev seve en In those thos latter days do there was i n a great expanse of dining table tuble In Jn the Merrifield farmhouse l Tile The years i skipped h by so o rapidly that you JOU could hardly count lum th thlU m and Pretty pretty pret prete t ty soon one nile of the tic young JUu Morn Irl fields heard th the old age call cull of oI the land 1 II fait farther her on un and he lie man married if d and find moved far fu away Ere Eie long another followed then mother another and und then another That shat left only their fir first horn horn t-horn and when one wintry du day he left them raid find took the thelong thelong thelong long trail Mail there were wert only the two who ho I had started out alone done In ht the M I place on the hill bill The dining table shrank to its original original origl- origl I nal size It seemed very small And the how house bouse c seemed very ery still Something Something Some Some- thing was gone and loneliness crept In Mother said nothing Neither did father But at times their eyes met and they understood Several lonely years dragged by Then one day father came home from the i city with a little boy who was very I dirty and very ragged and quite probably probably probe ably very wicked He was about nine years of oC age but buthIs buthis buthis his eyes bore the tho look Jook of a tired sad old man And he was very small They gave him a warm bath a sup sup- u L per 01 or of fried chicken wan hot not noi gravy thick slices of made home bread with lots of oC jam and I 1 dont don't know how many mugs of good rich milk mUk i They put him to sleep in a bI big bis bed j that hat looked so clean and white that the boy oy was almost afraid of It especially especial especial- ly y when he dropped down so far tar he was almost buried burled Then to the boys boy's wonder the old mothers mother's soft hands bands tucked him him In lovingly and her soft sott lips gently touched his forehead It seemed to him a dream to her It was living a memory a memory of years that hat co could ld no not return Father and mother quietly descended the stairs to the parlor He told her that hat the boy was a runaway from the Orphans Orphans' home but had bad been caught and would be returned unless unless unless' a n home was found for him The little fellow seemed to have hav a horror of tb the place e and father had decided i to keep him him awhile I 1 dont don't believe hell he'll bother you much said father n a bit worried Bother 1 I echoed mother That dirty little boy will be a bushel of bother Hell He'll break things and hell he'll lose oso things and hell he'll hurt himself and hell he'll eat moren two hired men Bothen Both Both- er en r 1 l Why hell he'll bother me all the time And If it he doesn't Jim Merrifield you youcan youcan can an take him right back quick for I II II I- I I Just want to be bothered In the morning they fe fed the little fellow ellow mush with real cream fried eggs and a n big plate of ot- pancakes pan cakes cokes such as I suppose they make makeIn maken In n the New Jerusalem and more mugs of milk The never had had lad a 0 hired man who could eat half hol as much as that boy who had been beef starved all his life Before he went to bed that night tired but happy he had been all aU over the he farm and had found a dozen strange and wonderful places He had romped over the hay mow but had not disturbed the pigeons' pigeons nests nests just just looked and looked He had waded in the creek and chased tadpoles les climbed the highest tree on the farm knew where the best apples were In Inthe Inthe inthe the orchard helped feed teed the hogs thought bought It great sport when Mr Merrifield Merrifield Mer- Mer squirted milk Into his mouth sat on the fence ence and let the young calves suck his bare hare toes asked a mIllion milIon mil mil- lion Ion questions and ended by putting his ils face on old Barneys Barney's soft sott warm nose nose and telling the wise old horse all about what a rippin time he was Vas having laving After supper he had bad thrown windfalls windfalls wind wind- falls ralls like a naughty boy and horrible to o relate had missed his aim nim once and broken the kitchen window He lIe had stood paralyzed for a little while Then Theu he lie walked slowly into the house Father Father Father Fa Fa- ther and mother awaited him with sober sober so so- ber faces I done It said he Well his bis hosts must have been get get- getting getting ting ring old and childish for tor they didn't spank him c Ten cen one little spank Instead Instead In In- stead stend they patted him on the tIle head and clapped him on the back a and d declared it didn't matter because they were tired of ot that old window anyway In the cozy bed the little lad stretched his limbs and yawned sleep sleep- ily He was all tired out but what fun tun hed he'd hud had I Downstairs fa father ther and mother were sitting In the parlor looking out over tho the moonlit fields and thinking Ke- Ke Remembering a certain other moonlit night years g gone ne father took mothers mother's hand band In his great grent calloused paw and held It How ow foolish youre you're getting Jim said mother but her eyes shone strangely and she did not take her herband hand hand band away 0 Hes Hos es e's an awful bother she said after after after af af- af- af ter a long silence I Just love him And It'll cost a heap to fix that dow v added father be a winning winning win win- ning smile Hes absolutely brood good for nothing And he be swem swears Gracious 1 1 Shall Shull I take him back tomorrow I Mother sat quickly erect Well I should y s-a-y s y i Tot Not t father Joined In and helped finish the sentence Christmas is coming pretty soon oon continued mother And do eln you know I Jim If It we keep him until then we wc e can 1111 have a Christmas tree and red engines and tin horns borns and and and- Father knew that Christmas was only an excuse but hut he ho said nothing Besides he himself was liS thinking of oC Fourth of July As they passed the tho bo boys boy's s room they paused and then went In on tip to The moonlight shone through the window win lvin- In- In dow and fell tell softly on the tousled d head I of the sleeping bo boy late of oC the big hig city streets He lie stirred and rubbed his eyes with a ft thin hand and mumbled mumbled mumbled mum mum- bled sleepily Golly old Barney I didn't know anybody could be o so o good to a n feller Im I'm bout bustin busUn Im I'm so to full tull o ot o happiness happi ness and and and pancakes 1 l |