Warrensburg Latham High School - Cardinal Yearbook (Warrensburg, IL)

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great wreck on the railroad, which was about a mile away from the house. She said it had been caused by a collision, and that many were killed or badly hurt, altho some had escaped uninjured. Miss Mary left little Alice in the care of a neighbor and went with the woman to the scene of the wreck to assist in caring for the injured. Then, and several days later, she made inquiries, and tried to find the child’s father, but failing, she concluded that he must be among the unidentified dead. She determined that if no one came to claim little Alice, she would keep her. The little girl said she was six years old. She was a very attractive child, with dark brown, bobbed hair and blue eyes. Miss Mary lavished all a mother’s care on her, and she became happy and contented, altho at first she missed her father greatly. Six months passed swiftly. One afternoon Miss Mary heard a knock at the door. Going to open it, she saw a tramp, who asked if she could give a hungry man a bite to eat. “Yes, poor fellow; come in. I never refuse a meal to anyone who needs it, and I think you do,” she replied. She soon had a good meal before the tramp. He ate carefully and politely, but could not conceal the fact that he had been nearly famished. His clothes looked as if they had once been an expensive suit, but were now very ragged and dirty. He had evidently not shaved for at least two months, and had a luxuriant growth of whiskers. When he had finished eating, he thanked her, saying it was the best meal he had had for a long time. Then he asked if she had any wood to chop, or other piece of work that he could do to repay her. “No, I don’t believe I have,” she replied. “But thank you for the offer. Why don’t you get work on a farm this winter? There are many farmers now needing a hand, for instance, there’s my nearest neighbor, Mr. Kennedy. I think he would hire you.” “I believe I will ask him,” said the tramp. “It would give me a place to stay this winter, and I’m getting tired of tramping. Where does he live?” Miss Mary pointed out the house to the man and he walked off toward it. She returned to her work and thought no more about the incident. But about two weeks later she again heard a knock. She peeped out a window to see who it was before answering, and almost fainted, for she recognized Dick Taylor. Conquering her emotion, she opened the door. But the man did not appear to recognize her, and to her amazement spoke as follows: “Madam, I am the tramp whom you befriended some time ago. I got the job at Mr. Kennedy’s we were talking about, and since I have earned some money, I wish to repay you.” 21

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+ f LITERARY Miss Mary and the Tramp Erma Rau, ’22. Miss Mary Blake was what is commonly termed an “old maid.” But in spite of a few touches of gray in her wavy, brown hair, she was very comely still, with her smooth, clear skin and bright, brown eyes. She lived alone, hiring a man to work on her farm, who lived with his wife in a tenant house nearby. Since the death of her father, several years ago, she had been very lonely. She was very fond of children, and had often thought of adopting a little girl, but dreaded the thought of going to an orphan asylum and choosing one. The time was when Miss Mary had been young and carefree, and had a lover. His name was Dick Taylor, and they were engaged, but just a month before the day set for the wedding, they had quarreled over a matter which now seemed very trivial to her, but then had appeared a real and vital affair. In the impetuosity of youth she had returned his ring and sent him away. Ever since, for fifteen long years, she had repented of her rash act, but had finally come to be resigned to her lot, and bore it patiently, contented, but not happy. One day in April, Miss Mary saw a little girl wandering in her yard. Thinking it one of the neighbor’s children, who often came to visit her, she went to call her to come in and have some of the cookies she had just baked. But looking closer, she saw that it was a strange child whom she had never before seen. Questioning her, she discovered that her name was Alice Taylor. “But where did you come from, and how did you get here in my yard?” asked Miss Mary. “Oh, I was riding with my papa on a big train and all at once the train went bang! and turned over. I got out, and tried to find my papa, but I couldn’t. They was people all yelling around and all bloody and hurt. I didn’t like it there, an’ so I come off down the road, an’—an’—I want my papa!” cried the child, bursting into tears. “There, there, don’t cry; I’ll take care of you,” said Miss Mary, soothing the little girl. “See, here are some nice cookies.” She soon had her quiet. Just then the hired man’s wife rushed in with the news of a :r,

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“No, I couldn’t think of accepting money for a little act of human kindness. But how you have changed. You don’t look like the same man.” “Well, I have tried to make myself look a little more presentable, and am glad if I have succeeded. But I wish you would take this money,” the man answered, offering her a dollar bill. “Oh, I couldn’t think of it, and besides, it wasn’t worth that much,” said Miss Mary. “At least allow me to thank you. I believe you saved me from starving, that day. But I won’t bother you any longer; good day,” and he started toward the road. Miss Mary turned away, thinking to herself: “How like Dick he looked, and yet, it couldn’t be he, for surely I haven’t changed so much that he wouldn’t recognize me.” Puzzling over this, she failed to notice that the man met at the gate with Alice, who had just come home from school, which she was now regularly attending. The child gave one look at the man, and then threw herself upon him, crying “Papa, papa!” He looked at her in perplexity and said, “Oh, no; I’m not your papa. I haven’t any little girl.” “Oh, yes, you are. Don’t you remember how we were riding on a train and it turned over?” He pressed his hand over his forehead and stood silent for a moment, lost in thought. Then he said, “Oh, yes, it all comes back to me now. Oh, my dear little Alice! to think I had forgotten all about you!” “Come into the house and let’s tell Aunt Mary all about it,” said she, taking him by the hand and leading him in. What a scene there was then! Explanations were made, forgiveness established on both sides and time was forgotten. Dick, in answer to Miss Mary’s question as to what he had been doing for the last fifteen years, told his story: “When I left you I was very angry, for I thought you were in the wrong. I went to Chicago and tried to lose myself in that great city and forget you. In a fit of resentment I married a girl whom I met there. I never really loved her, but she was a good wife to me. Our first child, a boy, died, and three years ago she died, leaving me little Alice, then about three and a half. But the thot of you haunted me continually. I wanted to come back, but feared you would still be angry and unforgiving. “But at last I could stand it no longer, and was on my way when, as you know, the train was wrecked. I received a blow on the head which destroyed my memoiy. I could remember nothing of my past life. I became a tramp, roaming about the country, and doing odd jobs to pay for my meals. You know the rest, how my memory came back with the sight of Alice.” The couple were married soon after, and their happiness was all the sweeter for the delay. 28