| Show h 1 7 is 0 galahad 0 A story with witha a blessing ts t by PHOEBE GRAY copyright by small Irla maynard Cora company pany SYNOPSIS 2 while trundling the clean washing up clipper hill mary la is set upon U by sonio MIS chev ous boys who spill ali the washing into the tha dirt she Is re rescued sched and taken to her home in calvert street by F francis willett Wll lett a galahad Oala hafl knight do you think that a wife and mother does wro wrong ng it if she gets a divorce after she learns that the father of her children Is a 5 brute undeserving of any sort of cons consideration ide ratio n even though 2 it means breaking the promise until death do you part CHAPTER I 1 continued iff uhry paid no attention to her father but went ta afra brown and said something in a low tone that the man demanded none of that secret talk now you better bring lem eca up dear said uie the mother ill do em cm jo tonight janight mary alice took a clothes basket and went out ailt wheres the money asked lem she mrs travers pay ifer her none of that now that aint so conra holding out oat on ma me lem its the truth said mrs brown mary alice staggered up the stairs w a load qt clothes cloth es from the wagon and ur mrs s ii brown rown tell to sorting them them dirty ones asked lem say wheres that money you corn come through now orill or ill show you j at this moment the IV bald in the crib awoke and cried fretfully sirs mrs brown drew A a cup of water at the sink and over the little thing soothing it and offering cool drink say 11 roared lem how long you gonter keep me walt walten ln ile he arose and strode to his cifes side the sick child looked up and seeing its father began to cry olt git away sald said lem pushing mrs brown violently ill tell you what you gilme that money quick or ill wring the kids neck 11 it was an inspiration of oc cruelty of undoubted effectiveness it mrs had noss essed a penny on earth ahe would have yielded it up with all uste baste but bu lacking the resources of ransom there was only one thing to do and she did it IL with a cry the mother snot lier threw herself upon her ho tormentor I 1 dont touch him lemp leml she cried 1 I a cent bent I 1 tell you if I 1 had id give it to you oh lem hes so please please tho the drunkard struck her heavily upon the mouth so BO that she tell fell against the wall she returned to tho encounter but at this moment mary alice ascending with the last of the soiled travers linen dropped her big load and attacked the man fiercely ile he turned upon her wolfishly his bis heavy hand bund closing upon her thin little shoulder butt in will you he bo said butt jn in oh ill teach you he stooped and picked up from the near the range a stick not large jare enough to be called a club but beav heavy y enough to be extremely formidable in the hands of lem brown with it he be aimed a blow at mary alice throwing up her hands she received the stroke crushingly upon her fingers oh ohl she moaned mrs brown screamed and would have defended mary alice but in doing so was herself cruelly beaten again and again the weapon fell each time crushing bruising lacerating only mary alices alfees thick black hair saved her skull she had never taken such a beating before afore b when it was yi sove over she cowered in a corner sobbing with the horror herror and phin pain of it mary alice would have bave prayed but it looked like a hopeless procedure for it if god know knew all about it and let it go on want w was as the good of asking him to help her he either cither meant these dreadful things to happen or he care ilem lcm acm convinced that thai it if money anoney existed in that house so BO much punishment would have brought it from its hiding place stumped off 00 cursing and weeping ing with maudlin pity for a man whose home was thus barren of oc financial cial resource he might come back later he might bo be gone ft a week he be might be arrested before another hour and sent away for a good long sentence mary alice hoped the tha last narjes jnue 1 avent would occur and it did althou gli mary alary alice and her mother were several days th in finding it out mrs afro brown locked the door leading into the hall ball come dear she said bald 11 undress and let me look at you I 1 wish I 1 had bad some witch hazel baze poor little girl poor latue girl mothers so BO sorry mary alice winced every time her fingers touched her flesh mrs brown brawn wept when she viewed those ayls ayad imprints upon the th e meager body ot of her child for every bruise she suffered an agony ot of sympathy sim pathy which ber own pain itself no small rhe be sick baby slept quietly and mrs brown browa pulled his bla C crib rl 0 into tile the other room she tried to make mary alary alice comfortable in her own bed and presently having turned out the gas crept in beside her daughter daugh tei then she slept for the sick child had stolen many hou hours rs of her rest and her handa danils had not known an adlo moment for many days little MaryAh mary alice ce twelve years old beaten aten aching in every fiber lay a long time in adums n dumb agony fearful blest lest auy any movement of hers should wake her mother after a while she tell fell to sob bink but this soon ceased and she gho gazed into iao the shadows with eyes that smarted A 4 groat longing tor for the open air came upon her the night was hot and no breeze blow blew in at the open window far away mary alice heard a church clock strike the hour was nine she slipped out of bed slowly and with exquisite pain with mary alice dressing was waa not so complicated a procedure that it required a maids assistance orla or a long time t to 0 accomplish when sh she turn turned ed the liepin key in the door to let iet herself out she thought she might be b back ack in half an hour she was slightly feverish and if she walked as far as the park and then ps as mary alice crept down the front steps something shining in the gutter caught her eye etwas it was francis Is willetts Wll letts half dollar CHAPTER 11 II A trolley ride mary alice hobbled down to the cornor corner of calvert street stooping and limping like a very tery old weman she felt as if she were in a sort of envelope of pain which oppressed her from head bend to foot hardly any part of her ached worse than another the evening was waa still quite young and the crowds of unkempt children rioted in calvert st street while their elders squatted on front stoops and gasped awaiting a bentson of breeze and chatting meager futilities as they waited all along the walks lights shone and as mary alice threaded her herway way she was assailed by pungent volatile seeming odors odora from basement windows or swinging doors mary alice had bad been bora bom in the country she abe remembered what trees r 1 I I 1 my good ness thought mary alice dont I 1 wish I 1 had 1 I and fields and flowers looked like she never let go of that picture the though ugh it was wag growing more more and more blurred in her mind As the picture faded her longing to re renew newIt it increased in tho the center of sheffield lay a broad square or park a fine furred plaza overlooked by the municipal bulldis buildings 98 and primped drimped with rows of subdued citified trees this breathing spot was mary alices aliens objective she wanted more than anything else she mhd thought fresh air but as the child emerged from the purlieus purlie us of calvert st street beet into the more elegant thoroughfares of the town she came into the zone of brighter lights presently she camo came to a window with a character of its oali own it was a very Tery large window set laa in a frame of snowy enamel beyond a glass blazed the porcelain glories ofa of a quick lunch mary alices mouth began to water but the chief attraction of that win dow the feature that suddenly glued mary alary alices shabby little feet to the bricks and fixed her large black eyes in n a stereos stare stere of longing fascination was the griddlecake griddle cake hot plate its shining black surface disked with Wi tilt yeasty moons of pure gold behind the hot plate stood a tat fat young man cased starch lly in a sheath of w white bite duck and crowned with a rakish cap tipped over one moody brow on a thin bladed turner ho he manipulated the delicacies and tossed them with skilled indifference upon a plate which a beautiful lady came and removed swiftly my illy goodues goodness thought mary blary alice dout dont I 1 wish I 1 had she checked suddenly cud denly for cpr the ft con il of that coin of francis WU wil letts tightly hild bald in a moist palm palin dawned upon hy her mary Alary alice Allce turned and sought the eu entrance trance to this paradise 1 I want some of them she said to ta the beautiful lady when she bad seated herself at a table with fa a top whiter than alabaster the beautiful lady was a pronoun pronounced oed blonde with ii a pug nose she wore abu abundant ud ant and crackly white that stuck out daintily all alla around and at her belt curried carried a little punch such as railway conductors use she had brought mary alice a glass of Ic aco water awater the pronounced blonde hesitated eying mary alice speculatively you got any money she asked mary alice displayed her half balf dollar all right dearle dearie sal sald d t the beaucl ful fui lady and then ln in a much loudel tone taie he commanded 1113 brown rown the gr iddles A mild form of physical ex or eillon t ion actuated the hot plate prince mary Hary alice Allce in a stiff backed chair that was too high for her bee ached and ana waited here you go said the beautiful fui lady cheerfully lill hungry you like saru I 1 brought you axi an extra pitcher and tw two P pats of butter want a glass or of m milk JI 1 I have to pay for it dont IV I 1 asked mary alice looking up welli well you dont think we P began the waitress 1 then she made a quick shift with an eye to deceit never mind be all right mary alice busy with her cakes and did not see that tha the beautiful lady fumbled in her apron poc pocket ketas as she approached the service counter it ii was very gratifying to mary alice ic brown eBrown to find when she had bad eaten aate n as mua much as she could hold and this I 1 was a very respectable quantity ity considering side si ring her years and growth that she had nothing at all to pay when she left the palace of tile and smiled a wry good night at the plump hatter batter baron in the window she I 1 thought she would go home bom e and handshe she was a little cheered cheesed by the continued possession slow of her half dollar and by the kindness which utter strangers had heaped upon her her bruises still ached but a full stomach was was not without soothing effects the air in city park seemed very sweet and cool the little girl wan wanted ted more of it aw board fr gleasondale Gleason dale It Rox oxfOrd foid 1 peppers ep p ers mill canterbury Manter bury and hillside falls aw board A 4 gong clanged mary alice looked up at the trolley about to begin its ita suburban journey as audibly catalogued cataloguer catalo gued by the conductor that car would slide elide along through an endless supply of air air even cooler and fresher and sweeter than this of city park and mary alice harmoney had money she could pay her fare out and back she opined opened that the round trip would occupy halt half an hour and cost her not over ten or twenty cents so she climbed aboard the conductor repeated his list of suburban towns yanked briskly at the bell cord and the car bar slid bumping and teetering out of the zone of pale lights and took its ita twisting way into aldom mary allee alce smelled the odors of meadow and grove as the car sped she closed her eyes opened them closed them again the car passed a tiny station where it stopped and let off a dozen tired looking country folk evidently glad to be at the end of a day in the city mary alice was infinitely soothed she kept closing her eyes opening them blissfully and closing them again the car rocked and hummed bummed the breezes blew the childs tangled black hair she was no longer in pain she forgot to open her eyes the calm sweet stars in a velvet summer sky shy saw a little girl get off a suburban street car at the end of the line no said the conductor we dont make no return trip till morri ln we leave her stand herrall here all night he reached up and turned a switch immediately the cafcas car was in darkness where you coln kid asked the man did you think wed be coln back bacar R TI T I thought so I 1 do she asked plaintively her bruised body ached the rideout ride out from the city had ad been refreshing but now a tear fear of the groll great t silence clutch clutched led her you cant stay in this open car all night said the conductor heys heyl biml he heres Ws a little girl that thought wes wea coln back tonight what abt we better do with her 1 I cant take her to my house doubted the motorman the beds la is all fu full 11 you try sam thomas look theys a light in his bis house come along sister said the conductor he spoke very kindly at homa bamo his own little girl wag nasf now snugly tucked into bed and devould bev he would steal into the room and kiss hiss her before he ho turned in himself it was always the last thing to do at night no matter how tired he felt come along sister isam sam thomas in his bis stocking feet and carrying i a kerosene lamp in his big had opened the door he grunted a 4 little when he be learned the nature of the petition but you know sam me and jims both full up we got small houses bouses and big fa fam mIlles lles it if twant T for that id take her home in a minute may do it anyhow it if you dont want her B g I 1 what sort of future do you s think aw awalda altaMary mary alice at the tha home of sam thomas wilt will the thea a farmer help her family or Is g he the kind who will wear out the childs life in gr grinding indino drudgery H affa abao aa a TO br BD I 1 CONTINUED |
