Brown-haired Dorothy, with ear-rings in her ears, hid her face behind the skirts of a neighbor. She thought the man who came was going to take her away somewhere, and she hung her head.
“Louis put the baby in the water,” she said. That was all she seemed to know about it. Louis laughed and went back to his album. He could not understand why his mother was crying so in the next room. Wasn’t the baby on the bed just as she had left it?
Elgin, Ill., Oct. 28--[Special.]--Walter Black, 17 year old son of August Black of 416 Carroll street, came home from a hunting trip at 7 o’clock tonight and stood his single barrel shotgun up in a corner of the kitchen.
“Big bruvver’s a sojer,” lisped Harold Black, 5 years old.
“Naw, there ain’t any war in Elgin,” replied August, aged 11.
Walter went upstairs to change his clothing. Harold went to the corner and attempted to drag the heavy gun along.
“You ain’t big enough to carry the gun,” retorted August. “Let me take it.”
August took the gun, swung it across his shoulder, and marched around the kitchen shouting “Hep! Hep!” with Harold composing the rear guard of the army.
“Now we’re at the war,” sang out August. He turned suddenly and pointed the weapon at Harold, his finger on the trigger. There was a roar and a spit of flame. The muzzle was only a few inches from the head of the younger boy. He fell dead with the whole charge in his head.
Mrs. Black ran to the kitchen and fainted when she saw what had happened. An inquest will be held tomorrow morning at 9 o’clock.
NOTE--_The following three stories published in Milwaukee evening papers should be compared as different versions of the same incident in a suburb._
WEST ALLIS, Oct. 21.--After 2000 residents of West Allis had spent an entire night searching for Walter, the 18-months’-old son of Mr. and Mrs. Ernest Strong, 5402 Fargo avenue, the little fellow was found sleeping in a coal bin in the basement of the home of Mrs. Johanna Bitter, Fifty-fourth and Fargo avenues.
The little lad had wandered away from his father’s yard on Friday afternoon and reached the yard of Mrs. Bitter. While at play near a basement window he probably tumbled through to the coal below.
There he slept soundly until early this morning, when he was found by Mrs. Bitter when she went to the basement to clean out the bin. She picked the child up and carried him in her arms to the home of the distracted mother, who had been waiting and watching all through the night for the return of her baby.