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Show Boys and Girls Cosy Corner. it was evident that something unusually important im-portant was going on. Mamma was up in her room, and her eyes had appeared very red when Bobby and Billy saw her last. Papa looked grave, while cousin Tom was the very picture of despair. And well he might be ! Last night Mr. Stanford had come home with a lot of important papers and money. He was very much worried about keeping them in the house over night, but bankinir hours were over, and the only course left was to leave the valuables in the safe where Mrs. Stanford's diamonds were usually kept. In the morning the safe was empty. Bobby and Billy knew all about this, and had seen strange gentlemen examining the safe ail day in papa's study, for this room was just across the hall from the nursery. Cousin Tom, who had become an orphan about a year before and who bad lived with the Stani'ords ever since, was the only person per-son besides Mr. Stanford who knew of the new addition to the contents of the safe. He had always been a wild, reckless sort of a lad, and suspicion rested strongly upon hiin. Now the eventful day was over and Bobby and Billy were thinking. "Bobby," said Billy, "they say it's Tom." "Billy, maybe they'll put him in prison, where thsre'll be lions and things, and he'll be all eaten up! Oh-h-h-h!" he moaned. "No," said the other, "he'll be hung." "But he. didu't do it," said Billy. "No, he didn't Billy; we like Tom, don't we?" "No, wo love him." "Theu we won't let them take him to be hung." " now?" queried the matter-of-fact Billy. But at this moment Jane was seen to approach, ap-proach, and Tom's sturdy little defenders were pounced upon and marched off to bed. "Wait till she's gone," Billy whispered, "then we'll talk some more." As the B.'s went to bed unusually late that evening, and the family retired quite early, every one was souud asleep before the conference con-ference was over iu the nursery. When, after much debate, the little detectives had decided that the real thief must be traced to save Cousin Tom, they settled down to sleep. Billy was already in the land of Nod. while THE LITTLE RUNAWAY. "I will run away this very day, I will, I will!" exclaimed little Nellie Barker, stamping stamp-ing her right foot very hard on the bedroom lloor, and then throwing herself down on the tiny white bed to- bewail her wrongs anew. They were not such very great wrongs, but they seemed very gigantic to Nellie. First of all Kitty Peyton had come over just after breakfast to ask Nellie to go walking. But mamma said she could not go until her practicing was done. So Kitty went away and Nellie went into the darkened, sweet-smelling sweet-smelling music room to whack away at the hateful old scales and exercises. But sho banged the ivory keys so bard that mamma came in to say she must not show her temper. tem-per. Then Nellie had said something sharp back and mamma had sent her to her room to think it over. She was thinking it over, and she had concluded to run away. She rose presently from the bed and looked around to see what she should take with her. J "I cau't carry my trunk," she said, look- I ing regretfully at the pretty steamer trunk in the corner. "No, I shall have to carry a eatchel." ' She crept out quietly and stole up the attic. There were two satchels tip there, both of thorn big, black shiny affairs which weighed nearly as much at Nelly when they were empty. "I'll take them both," she said. So she tugged them down stairs. It was lard work, for Nelly was only seven years old, but she managed it. Then she put in all her dresses, some books, a few keepsakes, keep-sakes, and by this time the satchels were nearly full. Bobby was fast jretting there, when the latter lat-ter suddenly imagined he saw, by the small light in the hall, some one. cross the study door. "Hilly," he whispered, shaking his brother excitedly; "Oh, Billy, he's back again!" 'Who:'" asked that worthy, sleepily. "The pickle man?" "Oh, Billy, it's the stealer roan, and wo can't pass the door to call mamma, 'cause he'll get away, and oh, Billy, you get your "NV'ilcl West lasso and I'll scare him with my gun, and then we'll yell!" Billy was wide awake now and followed his brother's wise plan without comment, in less time than it takes to teil it two white, frightened figures tip-toed across the hall aud peered in. The safe was wide open, while a white figure was lifting one corner of the carpet. With a terrible warwhoop the lasso flew into the air and caught the intruder's arm, while Bobby, not heeding what he said in the excitement, yelled at the top of his lungs: "If you dou't want to get shooted, come right along and get hung!" The noise had roused the household and frightened fright-ened faces now began to appear iu the doorway. door-way. And then the queerest thing happened. hap-pened. The man, who bad been dragged to the floor now seemed to rouse himseli and Billy roared: "Why, it's papa!" and buried his face in his mother's skirt, while Bobby followed suit, kicking snd howling lustily. While the twins were being quieted it was discovered that the supposed thief was indeed in-deed Mr. Stanford. alLhonch the latter had There was just a tiny corner empty, and Jselly looked at this thoughtfully for a long time. Then she tiptoed carefully down the back stairs and asked Jane for a lunch Jane, who was the best-natured girl in the world, gave her two sandwiches, a wedge of cake, some sliced dried beef, and two scalloped scal-loped cookies with raisins in the center. Then she crept back again, pausing long enough to hear mamma in the parlor, talking talk-ing to Mrs. Bate, who had come to call. "She's safe and won't see me, and papa is away. I'll go at once," thought Nellie. She grasped the satchels bravely and etarted downstairs again. There was a small door at the foot of the staircase opening on the side garden. Nellie opened it and passed ont, screened by the high hedge, very cantiously she trudged along the unused un-used path until she reached the main road. Then she set off briskly in the direction of a neighboring town. "I don't know where I'll go," she said, "but plenty of people will be glad to have lue, rm sure. Mercy! how heavy these atchels are!" 8o they were; as heavy as lead, and a curious-looking figure was the little girl tugging them along. Presently she came to a big shady tree by the roadside. "I feel very hungry," she said. "I'll sit down here and eat my lunch Jane gave me and rest." 8o she sat down between the two satchels, opened one and took out the lunch. First she ate the sandwiches, then the cake aud dried beef, and then she started on one scalloped cookie. "I almost wish I hadn't come," she said as he took the first bite. "Those satchels are so heavy, and I'm so tired. I must have come miles and miles. I never was down this road before." Another nibble at the cookie. "And I'll never see baby brother gain, nor papa, nor anybody. Oh! I'm ure I with Td never come." And with that she began to cry, and presently sho fell fisleep under the tree with the tears dry on Ler cheeks and the cookie in her hand. After a long time a man came driving flown over the hill beyond. He came nearer and nearer, and finally he got just opposite the tree. He drew rein as he saw the curious curi-ous little figure asleep there. Then he jumped out and went toward it. "Somebody's child is lost," he said, and then he went over to look at the face which ' was turned away from him. "Why l it's my Noll!" ho exclaimed, and ! then he picked her up. 1 "Hello, papa!" she said, sleepily, as she looked up. "Let's go home." And so they did. And many a time Nel- no idea of how he happened to be in the study. But on second thought he remembered remem-bered that he had been troubled with sleepwalking sleep-walking more than once in his youth and the anxiety about the papers had, no doubt, caused him to hide them more carefully under un-der the carpet without, however, remembering- it at all next day. As is customary in such cases, he had gone through all the motions mo-tions of the previous night again. When Billy and Bobby were once more marched off to bed, there was not a more triumphant pair of twins to be found anywhere, any-where, while Bobby's last words were: "We said we wouldn't let Cousin Tom be hunged." Next evening two little boys, looking very much like our friends of last evening, sat on either side of the fire in the nursery, while each little lap was almost filled with a huge box of bonbons. Bobby stretched out a plump little hand and the tireiight shone on something bright around one tiny finger that had not been there last evening. Billy's hand was held out, too. "Ah," said Billv. "Oh," said Bobby. lie s papa laugnea at -eine ior running away with two big Sitchels, and not getting any further away than the next farm, where he found her. And Nellie laughed, too. She ! did when she told me about it, for Nellie wag I a real live little girl once, and this story is a true once. |