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Show f CONDENSED f CLASSICS I THE LITTLE $ MINISTER By J. M. BARRIE Condensation by V M. E. Alley, Drlghton X SS":"Xw,"J"M,,''":":"5":',:'' , Jntnm Mnthew laflmM, Ilnrrlc In uuf of SUHSjftSi ,n rrnt nrmr jHHHlRVgPJR of .Scotchmen wlm prwH-WJsw tnke Reuernl Wr chiirftr of Ktuc- 7 land. Ur nan born nt Kirriemuir, Mnr 0, 1S00. lie viau i rilurnlril nt Bam- LaftL4 i$ttpt& frl' ncmlriuy nnd PSR - FtS created flrnt linro- LsW- $ nel ,n H"3' but bjjkiwj- ') Hong before tbnt iN&ififet, V f"le, r unlremal wCHHMm& enffMKe lir hnd BMF" nequlred the title 5Wteyv&ij of 1'rlnct of TKT Kai tt'hlnilei nnd Ws. jjf rirnt I-ord of All JttHM IlenrtH. Unlike fKB other IBiLtfi '"lee, tbeae Int- H""! trr nre perfectly Tulld In the United Stnte ni well nn In Great llrllnla nnd the Ilomlnloox beyond the ncit. After the uaunl klrmlahr of a pen man to find hlmaelf by nr of the nempapera, Ilnrrle publUhed "Iletter Dead" In 1HH7. Then nt Inter nU of n jrear or lra came "Auld I.lcht IdylU," "When n Mnn'a Slnulc," "A Wlniloir In Thrnma," "My I.ndy Nicotine," "The Little MlnUter," folloned by "Sentimental "Senti-mental Tommy," ".Mnrjtnret Ogllvy" (the Infinitely tender atory of hla nnn mother), and the Immortal "Peter 1'nn." Ife aoon fonnd hla wny to the tune (n nnr nil hU nnn) vrlth "The Profeaaor'a I.otc Story," "The Utile Mlnlater," "duality Street." "The Ad-nilrable Ad-nilrable Crlehton," "Peter rnn," "Wlint Kvery Woman Knoura," "A Klaa for Cinderella," nnd "Denr Ilrutua," nnd baa been moat aucceaaful with plnya, or rather playleta, of the rrnr, ancli na "The Old I.ndy Shorra Her Meilnla." Ill appeal to public Imagination rcaa nlmoat Inatnntnneoua, nnd he hna rontlnnonaly held n rrnrni place In the heart of the nhnle KnclUh-apenklne race Trhrrever a tender fancy npprala to lovlnir Imaclnntlon. Probably more people knoir more of the Tiorka of Ilnrrle than of any other IItIdb- writer. GAVIN DISHAItT wns borely twenty-one when ho ond his mtwher enme to Thrums. All Thrums wns out In Its wyndes nnd closes a few of the weavers still in knee breeches, to look nt the new Auld Llcht minister. I wns there, the dominie of Glen Quhnrlty, four miles from Thrums, nnd heavy wns my heart na I stood nfnr off so that Oavln's mother might not hnve tho lain of seeing me. I nione of the crowd looked more nt her than nt her son. Eighteen yenrs hnd passed since we pnrted, and nlrendy her hair hnd lost Its brightness, nnd Mnrgaret was nn old woman nt forty-three, nnd I, who hnd loved her since I wns a hobbledehoy hobblede-hoy and shall till I die, am the man who made her old. Many scenes In tho little minister's llfo come back to me. Tho first time I ever thought of writing his love story nn old man's gift to n little maid since grown tail, wns ono night In thp old schoolhouse, when my gate crenked tho first time I ever saw Gavin nnd the Egyptian together. Gnvlrt wns brought up to bo n minister min-ister from hla enrllest dnys, nnd took to tho idea enthusiastically. It hnd been tho drenm of tho two of a mnnsc, of which Margaret was mistress, nnd Gavin tho minister, nnd now It wns fulfilled. Gavin nt onco became populnr ln Thrums, nnd though short of stature he enst n grent shadow. lie converted convert-ed a drunknrd. Rob Dow, who adored him, nnd would do nnything In tho world for him. On tho fateful evening of October 17, Gavin was returning from Rob Dow's and going home through Cnddam woods, when he heard singing. Tho singer camo dnnclng up Windy-ghoul. Windy-ghoul. Only when she passed him did uavin seo her ns n gypsy elf, bnro feet flashing benenth n short green skirt, n twig of rownn berries In her blnck hair. Sho wns polo with nn angel loveliness. A diamond on her finger shot a thrend of flro over n pool ns sho dnnced by. Undoubtedly sho wns tho devil. Gavin leaped after her, but as sho saw him she beckoned mockingly, then kl&sed her hand, nnd wns gone. A moment Inter came tho sound of n horn. The minister was on the alert nt once, nnd hurried to tho Square. That horn wns a signal that soldiers were marchbr q the vlllago folk to arrest somo malofuctors among the weavers, who would re-sont re-sont It. In the Squaro wns nn uproar. It was tho gypsy wro had given tho warning. warn-ing. Gavin tried to persuade the people peo-ple to dlsperso to snvo bloodshed, but the Egyptian cried: "Do not heed this llttlo man I Save yoursolves," ond they obeyed her. Tho soldiers came, but caught only n fow, the real culprits escaping. Tho Egyptian Egyp-tian was ennght. but csenped tho onicers, first through n clever rose, nnd again through impudently pretending sho wns Gavin's wifol Ho was furious, and yet felt his nn-per nn-per die as ho looked nt tho benutiful jjlrl with tho nppenllnir eyes, nnd coaxing, coax-ing, laughing mouth. He even told her to hide ln tho mnnsn i-nntan ... .- ...mv i mo manse garuen in tho summer seat, till the soldiers had rone, I Gavin was In two minds nfter that, angry at himself becnuse of tho Egyp-tlnn, Egyp-tlnn, nr.o yet he constantly thought of her, and wondered. Ho preached sermons against women, those duys-tlielr duys-tlielr witching ways were the devil. One winter day, the Egyptian's timely time-ly appearance saved old Nanny Webster Web-ster from tho poorhouse. The gypsy Impulsively offered five pounds to support sup-port Nnnnv till her brother came back from jail. Thro was tbnt Gnvlii llrst believed In her, and said bed trust her word. The happy Nanny persuaded the minister to stay to tea. That ten-drinking ten-drinking bewitched the little minister, for the fusclnntlng Rabble teased him and lie liked It. Rabble brought him Hie money to Cntldain Woods next day, und guve Gavin it holly spray that lie secretly treasured. Again nnd ngnln ho wnt drawn to Nntiny's cottage where Dnb-hie Dnb-hie frequently cntne, nnd he didn't understand un-derstand at llrst that he was in lovo with the mysterious girl with her many caprices all of which clmrmod him. He little knew that Rob Dow bad discovered him with Rabble In their trysts, nnd wondered why Rob avoided him, nnd wns drinking ngnln. Hob's grcntest fear was that the kirk elders should learn of tho Egyptian and the minister, and stone him out of Thrums. One night, Rubble flashed n lantern In at the manse window to attract Gavin's nttentlon. He wnlted brcnth-lessly brcnth-lessly till the mnnse was quiet In slumber, slum-ber, then stole out to meet Rabble nt the summer sent. Thero in the darkness dark-ness Gavin kissed her, and Rnbblo realized re-alized for the llrst time his love for her. She had been playing with him, nnd felt nshamed. Sho wnnted to run away, and she wanted to stay nnd have him put his kiss into words. Hut It wns lnte, nnd It wns tbnt night ns Gavin took her back to Nanny's that I saw them together for tho first time. Love dawned In Rabble's heart that night, and nil the world looked new to her, nnd she longed for Gnvln to come. Then she met Rob Dow's llttlo son wqeplng bitterly, who told her of what sorrow tho "wooman who'd bewitched be-witched the meenlster" would bring everyone, and Rabble, touched to tho heart, went away. Months passed, nnd the little minister looked In vnln iur tier. i Then came the fourth of August, the eve of Lord Rlntonl's marriage, nn old carj stoylng nt tho Splttnl, whoso brldo wns reported ns young nnd bonny. nut nenrly all of Thrums were concerned con-cerned over the long drought that had become n calamity, nnd tbnt night there was to be n special prayer meeting meet-ing for rain. Then suddenly Rabble came to rao In tho schoolhouse, saying that Gavin had been killed by n dnlnken Highland High-land piper. It was not true a rumor, but I found Gavin, nnd told him where. ho would find Rnbble, though I felt I wns doing wrong. Rnbble told Gavin her story then that she" wns to be Lord Illntoul's brldo on tho morrow. Ho had found her when n mite, fnllen from n gyry wngon, nnd for her beauty had reared nnd cducnted her. Rnbblo and Gavin tried to give ench othf r up, then Babble Bab-ble heard Lord RIntoul's voice, nnd In terror clung to Gnvln, nnd tho two ran off In the darkness to tho gypsy camp on the hill to bo married over tho tongs of the gypsy king. That terrible night, with tho storm coming, Hie curl seeking his lost bride, Oio dour elders relentlessly following fol-lowing their errant minister and drunken Rob madly bound to savo his friend. Then enme the flood, when the heav. cis opened, nnd lochs seemed to fnIL Rabble, separated from Gnvln nfter tho gypsy marriage, fell Into Rob's hands, but mercifully escaped, and reached tho manse. Gnvln wandered all night through the storm nfter Rnbble, and I found him exhausted near my house next morning. Ho told me all that had pnssed, nnd my anxiety for Margaret Mar-garet nt tho consequences of his rush net led mo to- nttempt to rench Thrums. Rut before I left I felt It wns nccessnry to tell Gavin my ctory, that he wns my son, nnd Margaret was my wife. Mnrgaret hnd mnrricd Adam DIshart first, and he hnd gone to sen, nnd nfter two years nil thought hlra liot n,,.l bI.a a.n.l..l .. mi. . "'"1 - "" iiiuuii-u mi.-, xiien wiien Gavin wns three yenrs old, Adnm sad ilenly returned, nnd I pnssed out ol Mnrgnrct's llfo forever. Gnvln sought to lenrn If Unbbio had been carried off by Lord Rlntoul, und found tho earl on an Island In tho midst of floods. Gnvln Jumped to his nid, but nothing could bo done, nnd It wns thought both must perish. His congregation, gnthered by tho precipice, preci-pice, forgot they had meant to expel him nnd listening with dim eyes to his brave Inst words knew only that thoy loved him. Then Rob Dow threw his life awny to snvo his friend, und Hie ropo with which ho sprang Into the flood withdrew minister nnd earl to snfety. So Gnvln nnd Rnbble were mnrned, and no one seeing Rabble going demurely de-murely to church on Gavin's arm would guess her history. Yet sometimes some-times nt night, Rnbble slips Into her Kypsy frock, with rownn berries In her hnlr, nnd Gnvln nlwnys kisses her. My llttlo maid knows this story ns well ns I do. Sho wns nnmed for Mnr-gnret, Mnr-gnret, nnd has been my denrest comfort com-fort slnco my Mnrgaret died; but I hnvo lived to rejolco In tho happiness of Gavin nnd Rnbblo nnd thoir children. chil-dren. CC0yrrTh!:T,19 b?,lh8 Poat Publishing Eni tP0,ton P?8t)' cPJ"l8ht In the United Kingdom, the Dominions. 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