Show little si r sa ai a h C 1 A story with a soul ea am D 13 i za copyright by small maynard ft company faith in god love of men sound living an g these an and d more are here hera set forth in a way that makes this now new quest of the holy grail one to benefit every member of every home in following lt it with the little boy whose sublime e falth faith and stanch loyalty are the most real things in his life the people you are to tb meet here are real people their homes a and nd lives are like our own and you will neighbor with and I 1 love oye them every minute of the way along CHAPTER 1 I on Cli clipper oper hill J af mary au alice brown alth with the washing for mrs travers on a boys express wagon trudged e earnestly a up the long of clipper hill the big washing packed solidly into the small cart re bleda young montain on wheels andion and you wandered von dered if mary alice would ever get to the top of tho the hill then you saw tn in mary alices wan little face a determination that made up for what her thin arms and legs lacked in strength yes she would get to the top somehow mary alice was twelve and skinny tor for her size great solemn eyes gazed at you from beneath a not very tidy mass of black hair innocent of adoro adorn anent ament the things that make little girls attractive cleanliness plumpness nice clothes mary alice failed in ia yet she made a pathetic mute claim upon your you r attention ut mary alices mother said it was funny how bow the little girl generally managed to do the thing she set out to do no matter how hard it was the iya washing shing had never failed to arrive at sirs mrs travers house in good condition and season the sun had bad slipped away behind the farther slope of clipper hlll so thattie that the cre crest crestol of the long slope ended at a shining gateway formed by the arching elms clipper hill was the aristocratic ra venue of sheffield the suggested symbolism of that long climb was lost upon mary blary alice brown her back ached so did her arms legs and head consciousness of these afflictions left space in her soul for symbolism although there was room enough in her stomach she had had no supper I 1 three boys came racing down the ahill shouting and taunting one another all ali had been recently fed in their re respective s homes along the select highway mary alice saw them chang ing down upon ulon her like an avalanche and shrank aside to let them pass pasa two of the three avalanching youths passed mary alice and her wagon harmlessly the third several paces in rear thrust out a hand caught the wagon tongue from mary alice and sent the load spinning along the asphalt it tipped on two wheels and 7 mary alien alice wept miserably itself stupidly against the fence where it turned turtle the bundle of t laundry ladry instantly and a shower of miscellaneous linen elnen scattered in the street I 1 maryalice mary alice with a protesting cry of janger anser and chagrin ran a few steps after the fleeing youth shouting shrill of wrath ile he looked over his shoulder atthe at the result of his wanton ranton W fl anton impulse and laughed mary mari alice wept miserably and began picking up the soiled and undeliverable pieces she heard beard quick ste steps ps and felt the wind of a passing solid seemingly propelled out of ordnance a human and wiry projectile then followed snarling hig high pitched cries the thud of blows the rattle sif toes and heels beela upon tone stone A few yards down the street vengeance had overtaken the malefai hard upon the heels of misdemeanor I 1 1 I fixed him said ic a voice cho kedly breathless ile he wont do that again in a hurry burry mary alice looked up into a face ace designed for or good humor but just now devoted to the scarlet purpose of wrath the blueeyes bluee yea flashed the mixed lighton light of indignation and complacence the red hair seemed to bristle with truculence and pride mary alice went on soberly picking up her hei scattered load bodd vaguely the possibilities of this pugnacity stirred in her mind maybe the boy would fix lier her too foo but all at once he grinned lehme let me help you he be said are they all dirty if is ifs a too bad what are you coln to do with era cm take era em home again replied mary alice Mother Iother Pl 11 have to wash lem em all over the redheaded red headed boy picked up the last dust smutted napkin and watched mary alice pack the ahe big misshapen loada load into place she swung the little wagon away from the fence and in silence started q down the hill where you rou coln demanded the boy home wheres that calvert street oh said the boy he knew all about calvert s treet street by reputation it ran through the neighborhood known as the devils truck patch 1 I guess ill go long with you he decided maybe faybe those fellows might bother you some more they wont if im along though mary alice neither accepted nor rejected this proposal she went silently down the hill leaning k back to d check the pace of her loaded wagon your name demanded the boy amary mary alice brown mines willett Wll lett francis willett Wll lett he be informed her quite gratuitously im a galahad knight 11 mary alice brown showed no curl curiosity concerning the complexion or duties of a galahad knight its a club francis explained we have ten members and were all pledged to the weak against the strong W why by I 1 licked lutey travers I 1 got up the club myself read all about the idea la in a book A knight Is a fellow that swears that whenever he be sees beauty the knight paused and scrutinized mary alices thin face as they passed under an electric light for the golden gate at the street head had bad now faded as nil all symbols are prone to do ile he went on i ier er beauty or anything in distress of course you arent that Is you yon were in distress so I 1 came to your rescue see seel ho he steadied the toppling wagon as maryalice eased it across a curbstone the little girl heard his complacent chatter all too indistinctly she was going home empty handed and they needed t the be money so bitterly mary alice shuddered francis wil wili i lett finding in his own virtue a rei ward heightened by rehearsal babbled cheerfully of galahad knights and explained in detail how they differed from boy scouts mary alice wished he would go away at last they came to calvert street threading the devils truck patch it was full of people men and women lounged upon front stoops children in droves played on the pavement both sidewalks were bordered with the window lights of stores largely saloons aa loona it was a tough neighborhood francis willett had bad never seen that street before some raucous voiced urchins swarmed by jostling and boisterous they were very dirty and very happy the boy from clipper hill lost a little of his assurance A drunken man lunged past swaying and tottering and as he went he mumbled thick blasphemies blasphemes phe ph mies emes my grac gracious loual said the boy a little appalled do you have to live here course I 1 do answered mary altee alice it was almost the first time she had spoken my folks live here I 1 got to stay with them aint I 1 17 1 I 1 I suppose so which Is houi your he house use mary alice turned up an alley narrow and dimly lighted and crowded before a tenement house she stopped heros heras where I 1 live she said she did not invite her escort in she did not thank him for his knightly conduct she looked at him and wished he would go away he was very smug in his neat clothes with his round good humored complacent face he had never known a trouble in the world 0 O oh yes he said craning his neck to to view the spider web of fire escapes that decorated the front of the building well I 1 guess I 1 wont stay my rather father like for me to tcp say bayt heres a present for you the galahad knights are all pledged to ile he held out something in hla his hand band something which he be drew from a i pocket where it jingled against others of its kind it was a particularly shiny ball dollar mary alice looked into the good natured self assured prosperity of francis willetts boyish face fac ethen then she looked down at the coln coin all the way home he be had bad impressed her with his big abundant good will toward the weak and helpless he was not a child like herself a companion but d a self right r bous little prig puffed up with his own virtuous conceit of course mary ma alice did not think this thi s unjust in just those terms but her whole starved starred little being stung with the sense or the facts fact she became furious and suddenly struck the offered coin from her would be bellef benefactors ef extended palm then shw turned and ran blindly up thes the steps and slammed the door with A a bang that astonished the young philanthropist even more than it angered him he too turned and leaving the coln coin where it had bad fallen stalked off down the ahe A iley alley with the dignity of offended vanity lem brown was at home bome he sat humped in a kitchen chair stupidly watching his wife who was dabbing her cheek with cold water at the sink lem had just struck mrs brown because mary alice did not come home sooner with the washing money from mrs travers just what connection H I 1 7 tho the dr drunkard u n k a rd S struck tru C k her heavily upon the mouth I 1 he be made in his blurred mind between his wife and the nonappearance of his daughter Is beside the point it satis fled him so he acted accordingly lem lein would not have come home at nil all that evening except that helas he was entirely destitute he could not seem to get any more liquor without money bartenders are a singularly unsympathetic lot when the question of credit Is broached and free spenders preferred to lavish their hospitality upon good natured friends rather than upon the quarrelsome brown lera lem was entirely out of patience with work for or himself but it gave him considerable satisfaction to know that hla his wife could command employment as a la undress by some of the vest best families in the city he was an authority upon athletic sports and spent the greater part ot of his time in places where such sports were discussed taking his ample part in all arguments he also had bad hla his opinion of the government city state and national and his dictum upon international relations carried the dignity of an ultimatum he thoroughly disapproved of prohibition local option or any actual or suggested restraint of ot trade touching upon the distribution of stimulants lem iv was a large knobby man with a wobbly ebin chin and a prominent under lip hla his eyes were meaningless stupid eyes of eap exp expressing 8 any softness or human sympathy he was always dirty diky always sullen when more than ordinarily intoxicated hla his sullenness became a dangerous b brutal anger against all opposition and next time ill give you worse he promised eying hla his wife here 1 I am in want ac ae shully deshute de stute and not a penny do I 1 get if that brat dont come home soon im gonter neck knock your head off mrs B brown ro wn the kitchen kichen lighted ettely by a gas gaa jet was a dismal place ch choked ikid with the redolence of lem browns alcoholic aura in a corner a child slept uneasily A bottle and spoon on the table near vy by suggested that the occupant of the shabby crib was ill mrs brown went and tent bent over it listening anxiously to the quick irregular breathing steps on seemed to hesitate outside the door which presently swung open to admit mary alice she looked fearfully from lem to her mother mathei hullo kid said lem what kept you did mary alice swallow her pride enough to lead th the a brutal father down to the gutter where he had thrown tho the coin coln 0 TO BE CONTINUED |