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Page 42
They all piled in, the horses stepped off, the wheels grated on the
stones. And just at that moment a dismal sound of sobbing wails reached
them from the woodshed back of the schoolhouse. The children tumbled out
as fast as they had tumbled in, and ran back, Betsy and Ralph at their
head. There in the woodshed was little 'Lias, huddled in the corner
behind some wood, crying and crying and crying, digging his fists into
his eyes, his face all smeared with tears and dirt. And he was dressed
again in his filthy, torn old overalls and ragged shirt. His poor little
bare feet shone with a piteous cleanliness in that dark place.
"What's the matter? What's the matter?" the children asked him all at
once. He flung himself on Ralph, burying his face in the other boy's
coat, and sobbed out some disjointed story which only Ralph could
hear ... and then as last and final climax of the disaster, who should
come looking over the shoulders of the children but Uncle Henry AND Mr.
Pond! And 'Lias all ragged and dirty again! Betsy sat down weakly on a
pile of wood, utterly disheartened. What was the use of anything!
"What's the matter?" asked the two men together.
Ralph turned, with an angry toss of his dark head, and told them
bitterly, over the heads of the children: "He just had some decent
clothes. ... First ones he's EVER had! And he was plotting on going to
the exercises in the Town Hall. And that darned old skunk of a
stepfather has gone and taken 'em and sold 'em to get whiskey. I'd like
to KILL him!"
Betsy could have flung her arms around Ralph, he looked so exactly the
way she felt. "Yes, he is a darned old skunk!" she said to herself,
rejoicing in the bad words she did not know before. It TOOK bad words to
qualify what had happened.
She saw an electric spark pass from Ralph's blazing eyes to Mr. Pond's
broad face, now grim and fierce. She saw Mr. Pond step forward, brushing
the children out of his way, like a giant among dwarfs. She saw him
stoop and pick little 'Lias up in his great, strong arms, and, holding
him close, stride furiously out of the woodshed, across the playground
to the buggy which was waiting for him.
"He'll go to the exercises all right!" he called back over his shoulder
in a great roar. "He'll go, if I have to buy out the whole town to get
him an outfit! And that whelp won't get these clothes, either; you hear
me say so!"
He sprang into the buggy and, holding 'Lias on his lap, took up the
reins and drove rapidly forward.
They saw little 'Lias again, entering the Town Hall, holding fast to Mr.
Pond's hand. He was magnificent in a whole suit of store clothes, coat
and all, and he wore white stockings and neat, low shoes, like a city
child!
They saw him later, up on the platform, squeaking out his little
patriotic poem, his eyes, shining like stars, fixed on one broad,
smiling face in the audience. When he finished he was overcome with
shyness by the applause, and for a moment forgot to turn and leave the
platform. He hung his head, and, looking out from under his eyebrows,
gave a quaint, shy little smile at the audience. Betsy saw Mr. Pond's
great smile waver and grow dim. His eyes filled so full that he had to
take out his handkerchief and blow his nose loudly.
And they saw little 'Lias once more, for the last time. Mr. Pond's buggy
drove rapidly past their slow-moving hay-wagon, Mr. Pond holding the
reins masterfully in one hand. Beside him, very close, sat 'Lias with
his lap full of toys, oh, FULL--like Christmas! In that fleeting glimpse
they saw a toy train, a stuffed dog, a candy-box, a pile of picture-
books, tops, paper-bags, and even the swinging crane of the big
mechanical toy dredge that everybody said the store-keeper could never
sell to anybody because it cost so much!
As they passed swiftly, 'Lias looked out at them and waved his little
hand flutteringly. His other hand was tightly clasped in Mr. Pond's big
one. He was smiling at them all. His eyes looked dazed and radiant. He
turned his head as the buggy flashed by to call out, in a shrill,
exulting little shout, "Good-bye! Good-bye! I'm going to live with ..."
They could hear no more. He was gone, only his little hand still waving
at them over the back of the buggy seat.
Betsy drew a long, long breath. She found that Ralph was looking at her.
For a moment she couldn't think what made him look so different. Then
she saw that he was smiling. She had never seen him smile before. He
smiled at her as though he were sure she would understand, and never
said a word. Betsy looked forward again and saw the gleaming buggy
vanishing over the hill in front of them. She smiled back at Ralph
silently.
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