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Show : Little Sir Galahad TK ! A Story With a Soul I By PHOEDB GRAY v SYNOPSIS. While trundling the clean washing up dipper Hill Mary Alice Brown ts set up-un up-un by some mischievous boys, who spill the washing Into the dirt. She is rescued and taken to her home in Calvert street by Francis Willett, a Galahad kniffht. She Is punished by her drunken father for returning without the wash money. Mary Alice wanders away from home, takes a trolley ride into the country and spends the night at the farmhouse of Sam Thomas. Thom-as. In the morning she meets little Charlie Char-lie Thomas, a cripple. Sam takes Mary Alice home and finds that he and Mrs. Brown are old acquaintances. So poor little Mary Alice, who had known nothing but hardship and biting poverty and who looked upon God as some sort of pleasant myth in whom rich boys and girls might believe, came to know something of faith through her association with crippled Charlie. She actually actu-ally begins to get acquainted with Providence. CHAPTER III Continued. "I can remember," said Francis, pocketing the quarter. "I been there; the trolleys go there. Say, some day us fellows can all go out and see this Charlie, 'specially if he's a cripple. Some Saturday." The thought of half a dozen boys taking the trouble to go to call on little lit-tle Charlie Thomas transported Mary Alice into a rapturous heaven of gratitude. grati-tude. She began to like Francis Willett. Wil-lett. "I'll send him the litterchure," said Francis. "The what?" "The litterchure the d'rections and things, how to be a Galahad Knight. There's a book of rules, and a pledge with a blank to sign your name and send in to the secretary. Then there's another little book that tells the story of Sir Galahad and the Holy Grail. It's great. The twenty-five cents pays for it all and a year's membership." They came to the Travers house. "Is this where you were going?" asked Francis. "Why, that feller that tipped you over last night was Lutey Travers. Gee! If his mother knew, wouldn't he ketch it?" "Is he a Galahad Knight?" "No, he isn't. Say, what say we tell Mrs. Travers? She'll just fix him." "Is Galahad Knights tattletales?" asked Mary Alice. Francis Willett met her level gaze for a moment and suddenly felt his face go red. "You wouldn't make such a bad knight yourself, even if you are a girl," be said. Mary Alice returned with the dollar and seventy-five cents, to find her mother busied and excited. "We're goin' away," she said. "We're goln' to Hillside Falls for two weeks. Sara Mr. Thomas has invited us, the baby and you and me. He's gone ahead to tell his wife Martha Hrushly. I knew her when I was a girl. Hurry, dear; get your things and put 'em in the valise. The car leaves City Tark square in fifteen minutes." Mnry Alice began to plan. She would be at the farm when Charlie got his litterchure, and she could read him the story of Sir Galahad, whoever he might be. She thought of the awakening, in the big clean bed in the room with the Bloplng walls. "Land sakes!" murmured Mrs. Brown. "The child's singin'. I haven't beard her slug for months." CHAPTER 'IV. The Galahad Knights. Martha and Sam made their old friend thoroughly welcome. "It's a long time since we had company," com-pany," said the boss. "I wish you'd look at Charlie, will you?" The crippled child beamed with delight de-light from dawn until bedtime. Dick, the Brown baby, took his first few stops during the fortnight spent on the farm. Wistfully Charlie watched hi in test bis small wabbly legs, totter, and fall laughing In the soft grass tinder the apple trees, and clapped his thin hands to see the Infant manfully re-prat re-prat the attempt. "He's learnlu' fast." Charlie would say. "I wonder If I'll tumble around like that when I start to walk." In a few days the rural delivery brought him a fat envelope. Mary Alice had told no one about the Galahad Gala-had Knights. She hovered with the rest of the household about his chair to witness his breathless pleasure as he unwound the string from the rod buttons but-tons s-id spread the contents on the table Sam had ingeniously pegged across the chair arms. Into his face crept the faint pink flush of excitement. excite-ment. - "Don't he look handsome!" whispered whis-pered Martha, pluehinc Sam's arm. Then she cried softly, and Sam mumbled something about putting liniment lini-ment on the bay horse's lame shoulder and clumped hastily o(T to the barn. Mary Alice read aloud the simplified story of Sir Galahad's adventures, contained con-tained in a small paper book among the other "litterchure." When she had finished, Chnriie sat a long time look- Copyright by Small, Maynard & Company ing off at the blue hills. Then he said: "Read it again, Mary Alice. Ain't it grand! I bet that feller could licked old Herculuss. And it says here 'at I can be one of them Galahad Knights. Oh, Mary Alice, I wish'd you could be a knight, too. Why don't they let girls be knights, same as us fellers?" "I don't know,' said Mary Alice. "I wish they would, too." Sam, standing near by, chuckled. "Votes for women," he said. "The boss is a funny feller," observed ob-served Charlie. "What's he mean by that?" Mary Alice didn't quite know, either. "You're as good as any feller," asserted as-serted the loyal Charlie. "Le' 's me and you purtend you're a knight or a knightess. I'm goin' to call you 'Sir Knight Mary Alice' no, that don't sound very good." "Call her 'Lady Mary Alice,'' dearie," suggested Martha. The biggest day of the Browns' visit at the Thomas farm was that ca which Francis Willett and three other valiant knights came to see the new member. Francis' father drove them out from Sheffield in his car. Martha made ice cream. The boys Sir Toots Stacey, Sir Whacker Hodge and Sir Money Baldwin gave the new mem- At Command of Francis They Performed Per-formed Feats of Strength. ber the right hand of fellowship with embarrassed gravity. They stood about awkwardly, adjusted their neckties, and wondered how much hay was In the barn or where the cow lane led. At command of Sir Francis Willett they performed feats of strength, wrestled, ran races and boxed fiercely fierce-ly for the benefit of Sir Charlie Thomas, whose blue eyes blazed with ecstasy. He was one of them, a sir knight, member of a distinguished company. He became almost as complacent com-placent as Francis. Once more the lovely faint flush came in his small oval face. When it was over and Martha had carried him off to bed, she was afraid. "He's so excited," she said. "I guess he'll be a long time goin' to sleep. I hope he don't take any harm from it." Sam Thomas was very solemn at bedtime. He sat moodily, examining his stockinged toes, which he curled thoughtfully. When he looked up, Martha Mar-tha saw that there were deep, hag-' hag-' gard lines in his face, a great longing in his eyes. I "My God, Marthy!" he said. 'Tie thinks he's goin' to get well and walk and race and carry ou as they did. He thinks he'll be like them big strong boys." The bass bowed his head in his great rough hands; the strong shoulders shoul-ders shook terribly. "And it's all my doln'," he moaned. !""AJ1 my doin'. My poor little feller. ! my poor little boy! Your father did that to you." Martha, taking down her hair by the dresser, turned toward Sam. Just for a flashing Instant there glowed in tier ryes a small harsh light of resentment, resent-ment, of blame. She knew what the boss said was true. But she went and dropped on the bedside and threw an arm across his bent neck. "Ion't. Sam dear, please don't." she said. "I can't bear it. It was an an accident. Don't blame yourself: It's past and done and it can't be helped. I never blamed you. did I?" j "Not a word. Marthy, never a whisper. whis-per. I always wonder how you've kept i from liatin' me." I "Hush, dear." said Martha. "You're makiu' it up to him every day you live." "Makin" it up! If I only could, "t would give him bark his Iocs. That's the only way. and Lord knows it's forever for-ever too late, too la'c." He finished undressing, fixed the 'windows, and went dully to hod. where he lay far into the night without with-out sleeping. On the way back to town Mr. Willeti made inquiry. "Who did you say that black-eyed little girl was, Francis?" "That's Mary Alice Brown." "She's a quiet little thing and quit pretty. She's your Young Lady of th Wash Wagon, eh?" "Yes, father." "She has brains," said Willett pere "She's spunky. Who's her father?" "She never told me." "H'm! Mother takes in washing, little girl delivers the goods. Looks bad. Find out all you can about them, 'boy, and let me know. I like that lit tie girl. Pity she doesn't belong tl Thomas. Charlie's lucky to have a good father like that." "Any boy's lucky to have a good father," fa-ther," said Francis. He slipped a hand into that of Mr. Willett. "Find out where your mother buys her eggs and butter," said his father. The children had just come out into the orchard, and the young mornins sun nuerea aowu uirougn ine uees, dappling the still dewy ground with dancing patterns of gold. One sensed the hint of autumn. It was in the slant of sunbeams, in the odors of maturing vegetation, of ripening fruit. "This is just about the bestest day I ever saw," began Charlie; then "Ooch!" "What's the matter, Charlie?" asked Mary Alice. "I guess I'd; Mot Sir Charlie," said the little boy, rubbing the top of his head ruefully. "I guess I'm Sir Isaac." Mary Alice looked puzzled. "Well, I'll tell you," Charlie went on, his eyes twinkling; "a apple fell on my head. Didn't you see it? Well, that made me think of Sir Isaac Newton. He was an English feller. One day when he was sittln' under a tree a apple fell, plunk, right on his head; so he discovered the law of gravity." "I don't think that was very smart," said Mary Alice stubbornly. "It takes an awful lot to make some folks see a thing." "That's it, that's it," cried Charlie delightedly; "that's it exactly. A little lit-tle apple fallin' out of a tree made Sii Isaac Newton see that there was-a reason, rea-son, and the reason was gravity. I got a nature book that splains all about it. Gravity is what makes things fall to the earth, and the center of gravity is the middle of the earth." Mary Alice was twelve and Charlie Thomas seven, but the girl marveled at so much erudition. "My goodness, Charlie, you know bd awful lot for a little boy," she said. "That's somethin' I never heard about." "Oh, well," said the little boy, "I guess I don't know 's much as you think. I can't read nearly so good as you. Mary Alice." "But I'm lots older than you." "I've had some 'vantages, though," said Charlie. "I get heaps of time to think. When the other boys and girls are runnin' around, hollerin' and play-in', play-in', I'm thinkin'." "You're the greatest boy I ever saw," said Mary Alice. "Say, can you tell me something else? If this Sir Isaac Newton invented gravity, that makes things fall down, what made the apple fall before gravity was invented?" "Oh, Mary Alice, he didn't invent gravity: he discovered it. God invented invent-ed gravity." "Oh," said Mary Alice. Of course she had been more than half in fun when she questioned Charlie. She loved to watch his earnest face, to note its sparkling animation when he talked. She hesitated to prolong the present discussion, however. Her idea of God was not particularly vivid, certainly cer-tainly not intimate. "That's what makes me know my legs are goin' to got well," said the little lit-tle boy. "Anybody that can do the things God does can fix up one little pair of legs; don't you think so?" "I I don't see why not." was about as far as Mary Alice cared to commit herself; and yet, somehow, she felt a curious, awakening thrill. She wondered won-dered vaguely. Then she saw that It happened to everybody who knew Charlie. It was something more than merely "cheering up." In Charlie's life affairs were always going to be better than they were because God intended it. He was always looking ahead, w-ith his bright eyes fixed on the mountain moun-tain of Faith and Hope, just as he ; would it and gaze off across country at Uie blue hills and say to himself: i "Some day I'm goin' to climb up there." I ji And these children, "Little j j Sir Galahad" and Mary Alice t ' j and Francis Willett, come to be J ; fast friends. Into the girl's life if (j there will come soon an incident j j that will change the course of j , affairs for her even further than 'j ( they have recently been j jj changed. j Optimistic Thought, j Interest blinds some people and en-I en-I lightens others. |