Show J FICTION THE ION UTilE LITTLE BOY t NEXT EXT DOOR CORNER By J. J Knowles NEW MEW PEOPLE were moving in inthe inthe I the old house across the fence and Molly went about her ber sewing n near e ear a r the window complacent with the certainty that the couple with the tenI ten ten- I year-old year b boy o y Minute I with wh whom m shed she'd 3 Fiction I talked just the theother theother other day were j I. I 01 11 nu un moving in today Molly Turner had never liked children and through all these twenty-five twenty years she had been fortunate for that none had moved nex next door She felt in a way that telling prospective tenants with children the bad features about the old house had spared her an association she couldn't have endured There hadn't hadn been anything wrong in fri speaking the truth Molly put her sewing on a table got up from her chair with difficulty culty and hobbled over to the coa coal stove to shake It down and put in ina a scuttle of coal She had told the woman the truth about the house being drafty and needing repair and about Frank Overton being so tight hed he'd never do a anything about it She straightened and turned toward toward toward to to- ward the window and that was when she saw him Ronnie the year ten-year-old boy belonging to the woman shed she'd talked to the other day He was standing against the fenc fence looking toward her house Planning up his conquests of deviltry deviltry dev dev- she thought and she groaned in sick d disappointment She hobbled back to her chair So they had taken the house after all Well someway Well someway she had 0 o keep the brat out of her yard There were her ber flowers Inthe Inthe in inthe the spring and summer Hed He'd rummage In her sheds and break brcak up things She glanced out of the window and saw Ronnie climbing the fence She pulled herself out of the chair H I Ie 1 e r rr r i L thought she had bad Honnie Ron Hon nb nio nie settled but the next afternoon afternoon afternoon after after- noon there he was at her door and waddled hastily to the door Here here she called to the the- child Get back in your own yard Ronnie looked at her a second ther theD climbed back over the fence TV rOLLY JOLLY Y THOUGHT she had Ronnie Ronnie Ron- Ron MOLL LI nie settled but the next afternoon afternoon afternoon after after- noon when she went out to the shed for a bucket of coal he came to the the- thedoor door Ill get your coal in he said Molly wouldn't look at him I dont don't need you to get my coal in she said Get back in hi your ow own OWl yard Go on now It was the way Molly looked that caused the kid to scamper down the walk and climb over the fence rence- as if she had actually shot at his hi feet The unpleasant incident didn't keep Ronnie away Every day Molly had to chase him out of her hel yard Every day she vowed shed she'd skin him him alive What kind of mother did Ronnie have that she allowed him to pester a crippled old woman woman wom worn an like her But one night a blizzard came and the town of Hanover was covered covered covered cover cover- ed with ice Molly just had one bucket of coal by bY her stove and she dared not venture out on the ice to get more She used the coa coal sparingly and when she got down downto to the last a lost desperate desperate desperate des des- kind of feeling went over her What would she do Late that afternoon a knock sounded on h her r door and when sh she opened it Ronnie smiled u up at her hel uncertainly Ill get your coal in in Miss Turner Turn Turn- er he said Its slick n you might fall Molly couldn't speak for a moment She felt almost humble with shame and gratitude that be had come Well I well J well that would be sweet of you she said finally and for or the first time In all aU these twenty five years of ot not wanting children next door she saw the injustice of ot her prejudice toward them What queer quirk In h her r mind had blinded her to the happiness a child could bring her Maybe it was because she had never looked at one one not not as she was Vas looking now a at t Ronnie and seeing the clear innocence of his eyes A smile broke across her old face Thank you Ronnie p she said Strange how good she felt sayIng saying saying say say- ing It The feeling was beautiful beautiful- ul- ul one that she had waited much too lon lone to experience |