d be found, got
up promptly, and, bowing first to Inspector Williams and the other
officials in the room, and next to the general, said very sweetly,
"Njeawa," and Lightfoot--that was the child's name, it appeared--said
it after her; which meant, the general explained, that they were very
much obliged. Then they went out in charge of a policeman to begin
their search, little Lightfoot hugging her doll and looking back over
her shoulder at the many gold-laced policemen who had captured her
little heart. And they kissed their hands after her.
Mulberry Street awoke from its dream of youth, of the fields and the
deep woods, to the knowledge that it was a bad day. The old doorman,
who had stood at the gate patiently answering questions for twenty
years, told the first man who came looking for a lost child, with
sudden resentment, that he ought to be locked up for losing her, and,
pushing him out in the rain, slammed the door after him.
'TWAS 'LIZA'S DOINGS
Joe drove his old gray mare along the stony road in deep thought. They
had been across the ferry to Newtown with a load of Christmas truck.
It had been a hard pull uphill for them both, for Joe had found it
necessary not a few times to get down and give old 'Liza a lift to
help her over the roughest spots; and now, going home, with the
twilight coming on and no other job a-waiting, he let her have her own
way. It was slow, but steady, and it suited Joe; for his head was full
of busy thoughts, and there were few enough of them that were
pleasant.
Business had been bad at the big stores, never worse, and what
trucking there was there were too many about. Storekeepers who never
used to look at a dollar, so long as they knew they could trust the
man who did their hauling, were counting the nickels these days. As
for chance jobs like this one, that was all over with the holidays,
and there had been little enough of it, too.
There would be less, a good deal, with the hard winter at the door,
and with 'Liza to keep and the many mouths to fill. Still, he
wouldn't have minded it so much but for mother fretting and worrying
herself sick at home, and all along o' Jim, the eldest boy, who had
gone away mad and never come back. Many were the dollars he had paid
the doctor and the druggist to fix her up, but it was no use. She was
worrying herself into a decline, it was clear to be seen.
Joe heaved a heavy sigh as he thought of the strapping lad who had
brought suc
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