Short Story.

Bruce Herald, Volume XXX, Issue 3101, 22 September 1899, Page 6

Short Story.

tf .^.X^^^X^*^«^^^^S£sl?S f*ij:*S*3ool"~'. A REFORrVfATION' BROi-GHT ABOUT ■7.;.; : .. ;i ';;_-^YAp.OLUAR.Bi,UL.,. Tbe Thi«Ps Manner of Ltfia and Mods of ..,. Thought: as -Stated by Himself in Doorstep Talks Witli m Man Who - •BeW__idod- ; Him;'- r . o '"''' '' * . There : was nothing about '■ Wm ' that would make on-e remember him, for tut was-Tneither large. noi-7 small; : light nor dark, well hor ill-ares-ed. Possibly this was the cause of his succe.s in ohe life he had chosen — that of a common thief, says 'rhe New York Sun. He co_ld not be easily followed in a crowd, and, once lost sight of, waa - -.iff. cult.< to .trace. : A policema.n in full pursuit, when asked what kind of a man he was after came uj a dead hait. He could not tell the kind of man. At ' another time a . policeman .handed to him some™ -stolen goods to hold while he was ironing his prisoner. It is needless to -say what became bf the goods. This man was walking along one o_ the residence streets of Ne-w York one afternoon. He did not often go into those streets. There was HUle to invite his skill, aad t'*e presence of so many homes weighed upon nihil Another man sprang from the ear ait the ?nd of the block and came rapidly toward him. With true metropoliiftn naste he slid his hand into hrs p» ket, : Drought therefrom a bunch of keys, md had one ready for the la.tch by the time he had reached the flight of steps learest the Other One. This Other One looked into the man's lace. Something there stirred ane v, atrang. feeling within ham. Without a seoond thought, for all his training had been toward instant action, he said quietly : "I am hunfiTy.** The man with his foot upon the •tep9 was hungry, too, with the pi aaiit sensation of one whose day is over, and who knows that only a few feet away a pleasant board i. waiting, arouilJ which will gather bright facos belonging to himself — a hur ser of ths heart along with that of the stomach. But the Other One had no surh pro epect, and yet was hungry. The man on the steps gave him a dollar and hurried on with the feeling that perhaps by doing so he had made himself a little more worthy of the comf' rt. lust within the brown-stone wall. The Other On*! fo_ded the bill and tucked it carefully into an inner pocket. Then he went to a re^taui-an-t and ordered a good meal, but when he paid for it the dollar was not disturbed. Some days larter the maj-* who had given tt to him stood again with his foot upon the steps, and with the key between his impatient fingers, when he was again accosted. He turned with no sign of recognition in his face. He did not remenuber the Other One, but the Other One -said with a little hesitation : "I dWn' need tne dollar yo' give m« th' other day. I was'n' hungry. T do' know why I tole yo' I was. Prob'ly somethin' ln your face. I know yo*. You're a good man. An' yo'd ought to be warned. When yo' give me that dollar yo' took out a roll o' bills an' h-eld 'em careless iike In your hand. I could 'a' matched 'em an' got away 'fore yo' could a give th' Mann. I'd a done it, too, ef you was diff'rent. I'm a thief. That's my — my perfe.-.h as yo' might say. I thought I'd come 'roun-d an* tell yo'." The man stood in silent amazement while the Other One went down the street and out of sight. Then he went slowly up the atepa The Other One made sure that tlie dollar remained safely in that inner pocket. "Mebbe I'd ouprht to a give it to him." he said. "Mebbe he thought I'd ought to a give it. But "he went on down the streetAfter that he came again and again, and. by degrees, gave his manner of life to the man. "I hain't what yo' call poor. I'm a sort o' success in my— my perfesh. Make 'bout two hundred a month. Ek.metim.es I gives it 'way ; mostly I Spend 3 it. S'pose I'd oter lay by for 9. froety mornin'. Bul we hain't built that way. Easy got ; ea*y red of. But th' stiffs hain't no earthly use. W'y, .es' las" night 's I was goin' out of a restaurant with a overtxsat an' sealskin jacket on my arm that had been laid on top o' one of them little pertitions, I run right into a 'f"fiff ! I says to myself, 'Done fur !' But I tips my hat en', 'Beg your pardon!' says Ito him. An' he says— gruff as a bear, 'See here ! You want to look where you're a goin'. ' I looked an* I Ut - -_.. "No, I don* git much fer 'em. Th overcoat was a sure nuff eixty dollar; {rat there's a resk gittin' red o' such prnperty. An' th' feller what takes mino gives me only a few dollars fur It an' fifteen fur th' jacket. That was worth a good three hundred, too ! But up fellers can't set our prices. The men we deals with hain't throwtn* money away, they hain't." He wa.ndered away, and the man wont in-to his house wtth a shudder upon him as hp thought of the Other One out in the street alone. "No fambly,-' he had answered once, "not now. I used to have some folks o' my o-^-n. but that was a good white a^ro. They mostly died. I hain't 'a old s you be, but sometimes I feel a hundred." It was some time be-fore they met aeatn. The man began to look for his thi<*f. and to feel disappointed' as day after day went by w+thout bringing him. He had given tJne matter up a« a thing of the past when they met again in the old way. The m__i spoke more than usual, but the Other One was more silent and seemed to be Btu dying him carefully. It was not pleasant to be thus looked at by one who professed himself to be a common thief. At last the thief spoke: "I wonder how yo' feel — beln' a man 'mong men 's you be. I Know what they say 'bout yo' — your word's good your bond. An' I can't help wonder-in' how you feel. I — l can't never be anything but what I be — not if I stay here. Mebbe I might git f be diff'remt if I was m a new place — rubbed It ail out 'n started a4gin, sommers where nobody didn't know. Mebbe South Afriker *d be the place fer me. But I'd like to try your way an' E*e*e how it feels. It mils' seem good t' be jes* yo'. "Mebbe havhV that dollar 'round ls ketchin' — like measles ur smallpox. But I'd like t' git my money in some, other -way. Mebbe th' thing- it buys ud look better to me, an taste better, too. I do" know what's git .in t' be th' matter uv me. There was a big double watch-chain right to my hand las' night— jesFt give to me, 's yo' might say. Sort o' flyin' in th' face of Providence not to take it. But I coud'n*. I did'n' want it. Wouldn' a' touched it pf I was to go hungry. Somethin' 'a th' matter. I never ought to a knewed yo'. Been kind o' down in th* mouth ever since." Then he wandered off, leaving th? man to go into his brtght home and to foe! again that wretch**, srhudder and. nJoj**. with It, a senee of duty undone. *»-*_ds wa_ a case in which the rector shoald have been called. A sickness of the life needed its doctor as great as svn nine., of the body. Perhaps he -sould have helped the fellow away. But somehow, It wasn't easy to offe* assistance to one who seemed to be so equal unto __rn_.lf. Every night as this man thought the matter over he asked himself in a sort of despair ; "What should I have done, anyway/* One day a letter came to him bearing a Dakota postmark. And it told in broken language that the Other One had "started agin," that he was trying to live "inside and out" like the one to whom he was writing. A wTetclref little postscript added that the dollarwas sewed into his jacket, and that hrn "wasn't never goin' to j___t with it."

• ' : ji« ; «''tM : .ii^-:^'««* *,***■'*!*"■■ don't understendrtt/.; he VjjV. ■ "lj I had lectured him or even told_ him ; his. duty or ireally Wlp^.^nv^it.,i ! didn't. - I didn't do.the right thin*. It was ridiculous to hand out a dollar m : that way. -And I didn't .say tbe right t^lng. : ..." 1 7<san't understand it. . -_v yt-'outliTui', ".'error. A 'great mainy ■ things occur on the Btreet car simply because ;it is a pub:He conveyance and ' the privacy of home is made imiiossible; : This oc- ; curred on, the .Jef_er_6n r avenue- line: "Mamma," shouted the golden-hair-ed infant in knickers, "what are you wearing auntie's sealskin sacque for?" "Hu:«', Willie,". , quickly urged t.-ie mother, with' a vivid blush, while the men tried to look Unconscious aiid the women smiled delightedly. "At en' t. you glad we're going to see grandma?" "Yep. But I'll bet that she'll ask how you cewne to have auntie's sealskin sacque on." "Do keep quiet, dear. Get up here and look out the window. Ju;<t see the sleighs and the pretty hors-.e.V "Whew, don't they go it, th. ugh! But suppose auntie wants to go out, will she put on that old cape you .hat. so? And— my goodness! what do you think? Mamma Dilson— you're wearing sister Jennie's hat! Won't she just snort and tear?" "See here, my young man, you must either keep quiet or I'll punish you severely when we get to grandma's. I mean it now. How often have I told you that little boys should be seen and uot heard." " 'Bout a million times. But. I soy. mamma, I can think 'what a row ther* | will be when Jennie finds out that j you wore her hat, can't I? That hain't bein' heard, is it?" The little woman held up her finger, ani when she led Willie off at the next corner his feet did not. touch the floor twice in the whole length of that I car. "What a cruel woman!" said the thin -faced lady. I "What an annoying brat!" snorted the fat man.— Detroit Free Press. A Oood Tlmepiec-. Here is a fiah story, for ths. trut-i of which we cannot vouch, but \-shich all fish>3rmen, young or old. will enj >y. It comes from an English journal---the Northampton Daily Reporter: Last spring, while a party of tourists were fishing "up north." a w-*ll-knowtn lawyer lost his gold wat-h from the boat in which he was fitting. Last week he made another vk-it t> the lakes, and during the first day's sport caught an eight-pound tnut His astonishment can be imagin.d when he found the Wa4.cn lodged in the throat of the trout. Th • watch was running, and the time correct. It being a "stem winder," the supposition is that in masticating hi- f ••.■<_ the Ash wound up the watch daily.— Harper's Round Table.