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Show feat ; HrocifP& WM IIP! II 'iSK 0 O H. C. L. Synopsis In the village of Bins-vlllo Bins-vlllo thirteen-year-old Robert Era-mott Era-mott Morun, crippled son of a poor widow, Is known as the Shepherd of the Birds. Ills world Is his mother nnd friends, his little room, the flower garden of Judgo Crookor, and every flylnir thlnu he sees from his window. The painting of pictures pic-tures Ib his .enjoyment, and little Pauline linker, small daughter of a neighbor, tho object of his boyish affection. To him, J. Patterson Blng, tho first citizen of Blngvllle, Is the Ideal of a really great man. Tho village becomes money mad, reflecting the great world In Its state of unrest. Tho Blng family Is n leader In the chunge. To them the vlllnge has become "provincial." "provin-cial." The butcher nnd baker nnd candlestick-maker all rnlso their prices. Even Illrarn Blenklnsop, the town drunkard, works hard for n month. Tho Old Spirit of Blng-vlllo Blng-vlllo Is summarily fired. Tho first citizen builds an addition to his mansion and goes In for entertain-. Ing. Paulino Baker, victim of her surroundings, elopes with n stran- Iger and her pnrants are unublo to traco her. o 5 CHAPTER THREE Continued. Indeed It wns the tin soldier, who stood on his little shelf looking out of the 'window, who tlrst reminded Hob of the loneliness nnd discomfort of the coin. As n rulo whoneven the conscience of the boy was touched Mr. Kloggs had something to. say. It wns late In February and every one wns complaining of the cold. Kvcn the oldest Inhabitants of Hingvllle could not recall so severe a winter. Many families were short of fuel. The homes of the working folk were In-sulllclcntly In-sulllclcntly heated. Money In the bank had given them a sense of security. "They could not believe that Its magic power would fall ,lo bring them what thoy needed. So they had been careless care-less of their allowance of wood and coal. There wore days whep they had none and , could get none nt the yard. Some men with hundreds of dollars In the bank went out Into the country at night nnd stole rails off tho farmers' fences. The homes of these unfortunate people were ravaged rav-aged by Influenza and many died. Prices at the stores mounted higher. Most of the gardens had been lying ldl The farmers hnd found It hard to get help. Some of the latter, Indeed, In-deed, had decided that they ei'ould make more by teaming nt Mlllerton than by tolling In the fields, and with .less effort. They left the boys and the women to do what they could with the crops. Naturally the latter were smnll. So the local sources of supply had little to offer and the demand upon up-on the stores steadily Increased. Cer-tnln Cer-tnln of the merchants had been, In a way. spoiled by prosperity. They were rather Indifferent to complaints and demnnds. Many of the storekeepers, Irritated, doubtless, by overwork, had lost their former politeness. There were days when supplies failed to arrive. ar-rive. The railroad service hnd been bad enough In times of pence. Now, It wns worse than ever. Those who had plenty of money found it difficult to get n sufllelent quantity of good food, Hlngvllle being be-ing rather ent off from other centers of life by distance and a poor railroad. Some drew slty miles to Hnzelmond to do marketing for themselves and their neighbors, Mr. and Mrs. J. Patterson Hlng. however, In their luxurious apartment nt the Waldorf-Astoria hotel In New York, knew little of these conditions until Mr. Hlng enme up late In Mareli for a tnlk with the mll superintendent. superintend-ent. Many of the sink and poor suf-fered suf-fered extreme privation. Father O'Nell and the Reverend Otis Singleton of the Congregational church went among tho people, ministering to the sick, of whom there were many, and giving counsel to men and women who were unaccustomed to prosperity ami Ill-qualified wisely to enjoy It. One dny, Father O'Nell saw tho Wld-' ow Moran coming luto town with o great bundle of fagots on her back. "This looks a little like the old country." coun-try." ho remarked. She stopped and swung her fagots to tho ground nnd announced: "If: do that an' may God help us! It's hard times, Father. In spite o' all the money, mon-ey, It's hard times. It looks like there wasn't enough to go 'round the ships be takln' so many things to tho old country." "How Is my beloved Shepherd V" the good Father asked. "Mother o' God I Tho house Is that cold, bo's been layln' abed for 11 week an Judge Crooker has been away ow tho circuit." "Too bad!" snld tho priest. "I've been so busy with tho sick und tho dying and the dead I have hardly had time to think of you." Against her protest he picked up tho fagots and carried them on his own back to her kitchen. IIo found tho Shepherd In n sweator Kitting up In bed and knitting socks, "How Is my dear boy?" the good Father Fa-ther asked. "Very ind," said the Shepherd. "I want to do something to help and my logs nre useless," t "Courage 1" Mr. Hloggs seemed to shout from his shelf at the window-side window-side nnd just then he assumed n most valiant and determined look ns he added: "Forward! march!" Father O'Nell did what he could to help In that moment of peril by saying: say-ing: "Cheer up, boy. ' I'm going out to Dan Mulllu's this afternoon and I'll mako him bring you u big load of Wood. I'll have you at your work tomorrow. to-morrow. The spring will bo coming soon nnd your Hock will be back In the garden." It was not easy to bring a smile to the face of the little Shepherd those days. A number of his .friends had died and others were sick and he wns helpless. Moreover, his mother hnd told him of the disappearance of Paulino Pau-lino nnd that her parents feared she was In great trouble. This had worried wor-ried him, nnd the more because his mother hnd declared that the girl was probably worse than dead. He could not quite understnnd it and his happy spirit was clouded. The good Father cheered him with merry Jests. Near the end of their talk the boy said: "There's one thing In this room that mnkes me unhappy. It's that gold piece In the drawer. It docs nothing but He there and shiver and talk to me. Seems as If It-complained of the cold. It snys that It wants to move around nud get warm. Every time I hear of some poor person that needs food or fuel, It calls out to me there In the little drawer and says, 'Hoc "How Is My Dear Boy?" the Good Father Asked. coldlnm! How cold I nm!' My mother moth-er wishes me to keep It for some time of trouble that muy come to ns, but I can't. It makes me unhappy. Please take It away and let It do what It can to keep the poor people warm." "Well done, boys!" Mr. Itlogg seemed to say with a look of Joy as If he now perceived that the enemy was In full retreat. "There's no worse company, these lays, than a hoarded coin," said the priest. ''I won't let It plague you any more." Father O'Nell took the coin from the drawer. It fell from his fingers with a merry laugh as It bounded on tho door and whirled toward the doorway door-way like ono overjoyed and eager to bo o'ff. "God bless you, my boy! May It buy for you the dearest wish of your heart." "Hu! ha!" laughed the llttlo tin soldier, for ho knew tho dearest wish of tho boy far better than the prjest knew It. Mr. Singleton called soon after Fa-ther Fa-ther O'Nell hnd gone away. "The top of tho morning to you!" he shouted, as ho enmo Into Hob's room. "It's nil right top nnd bottom," Hob answered cheerfully. "Is there anything I can do for you?" the minister went on. "I'm n regular Santn Clans this morning. I've got a thousand dollnrs that Mr. Hlng sent me. It's for nny one that needs lielp," "We'll ho all right ns soon as our load of wood comes. It will bo here tomorrow morning," said tho Shop, herd. "I'll come and cut and split It with you," tho minister proposed. "The eloquenco of tho nx Is better than that of tho tongue theso days. Meanwhile Mean-while I'm going to bring you a lfttlo Jag In my wheelbarrow. How about beefsteak and bacon and eggs and all that?" 1 r "I guess we've got enough to ent thank you." This was not quite true, for Hob, thinking of the sick, whose people could not go to market, was Inclined to hide his own hunger. "Ho. hoi" exclaimed Mr. Hloggs, foi ho knew very well that the boy was hiding his hunger. "Do you call that a lie?" the Shepherd Shep-herd asked as soon as the minister had gone. "A little one! Hut In my opinion It don't count," said Mr. Hloggs. "You were thinking of those who need food more than you and that ctrns it square around. I call It n golrtin lie 1 do." The minister had scarcely turned the corner of the street, when he met Hiram Hlenklnsop, who wns shivering along without an overcoat", tho dog Christmas at his heels. Mr. Slngleron stopped him. "Why, man! llnven't you an overcoat?" over-coat?" he asked. "No, slrl It's hnngln'.on a peg In n pawnshop over In Hnzclmcnd. It ain't loin' the peg any good nor me neither 1" "Well, sir, you come with me," said tlk minister. "It's about dinner time, anyway, and I guess you need lining as well us coveting." The drunkard looked Into the face of the minister. "Say It ng'ln," he muttered. "I wouldn't wonder If a little food would make you feel better," Mr. Sin-gleton Sin-gleton added. "A little, did you say?" Hlenklnsop asked. "Mike It n lot as much ns you can nccoinmodnte." "And do you mean that ye want me to go an' eat In yer house?" "Yes, at my table why not?" "It wouldn't be respectable. I don't want to be too particular, but a tramp must draw tho line somewhere." "I'll be on my best bchnvlor. Como on," said the minister. The two men hastened up the street followed by the dejected little yellow dog, Christmas. Mrs. Singleton nnd her dnughtor were out with a committee of tho children's helpers and the minister wns dining alone that day and, ns usunl, at one o'clock, that being tho hour for dinner In the village of Hlngvllle. Hlng-vllle. "Tell ite about yourself," said tho minister as they sat down nt tho tn-ble. tn-ble. "Myself did you say?" Hiram Hlenklnsop Hlen-klnsop asked as one of his feet crept under his chair to conceal Its disreputable disrepu-table appearance, while his dog hud partly hidden himself umlvr n serving" table where he seemed to bo shivering with apprehension ns he peered out. with raised haekles, at tbo stag's head over the mantel. "Yes." $ "I ain't got nny Self, sir; It's nil gone," said Hlenklnsop, as ho took n swallow of water. "A man without any Self Is a curious curi-ous creature," the minister remarked. "I'm. us empty as n woodpecker's hors In the winter time. Tho bird has Ilown. 1 belong to this 'ere dog. He's a poor dog. I'm nil he's got. If ho had to pay a license on mo I'd havo to be killed. He's kind to me. He's the only friend I've got." Hiram Hlenklnsop riveted his attention atten-tion upon mi old warming-pan that hung by the tlroplueo. He hardly looked at tho face of the minister. "How did you come to lose your Self?" the latter asked. "Murrled a bad woman and took to drink. A man's Self can stand cold an' hunger an' shipwreck an' loss ' friends an' money nu any quantity o' bad luck, take It as It comes, but it bad woman breaks the works In him an" stops his clock dead,, Leastways, It donu that to me!" "She Is like an arrow In his liver," tho minister quoted. "Mr. Hlenklnsop, where do you stay nights." "I've a shake-down In the little loft over the ol' blacksmith shop on Water street. There are cracks In the gable, ga-ble, an' the snow an' the wind blows In, an' the place Is dark, an' smells '' coal gas an' horses' feet, but Christmas Christ-mas an I snug up together an' manage to lle through the winter. In but weather we sleep under a tree In tho ol' graveyard an' study astronomy. Sometimes I wish I wns there for good." "Wouldn't j on like a bed In a coin-fortnblo coin-fortnblo house?" "No. I couldn't toko the dog there an' I'd have to glt up like other folks." "Would you think that a hardship?" "Well, ye see. sir. If yo're layln' down ye ain't huiigij Then, too, I likes to dilly-dally In bed." "What may that mean?" the minister min-ister asked. "I likes to lay an' think an' build air castles." "What kind of castles?" "Well, sir. I'm ihlnkln' often o' a time when I'll have a grand suit o' clothes, and n shiny silk tllo on my head, an' a roll t,' bills in my pocket, big enough to choke u dogJaV I'll bo goln' back to the town where I was brought up un I'll hlro a team an' take my ol' mother out for a ride. An' when we pass by, people will bf snyln': 'That's Hiram Hlenklnsop! Don't you remember him? Horn on the top floor o tho ol' sash mill on tho Island, He's a multl-mlllloualro an' n great man. He gives a thousand to the poor every day. Sure, ho does !' " Hiram Blenkiniop meets hit Old Self. (TO BE CONTINUED.) |