Squatter sovereign., 1857-11-14
NELLY
The Rag Gatherer.
By MRS. c. H. surLEn.


gings, youth and beau:y trip SO feetly,
and the din of omnibus, car. and cab, is
unceasingTthere stood, about the year
1906, q low. dark. dismal stone building,
which had more the air Of prison than
any less equiyocar residence. Upon the
ground floor there were but two windows.
and they were boarded over, excepting one
row of cracked and dirty panes at the top.
The windows on the second floor were al
ways tightly closed by heavy wooden shut
ters, once black, but now discolored by
time and rain TO hue even more dismal.
The house stood a few rods back from the
street, and was enclosed by broad fence
A. iAssi. 40 rss.ir-iy prevent any one
| from looking into the yard. which @as
one mass of tangled weeds and filthy rub
bish, where at every step the miry soil
yieIdeth beneath the foot. or after rain
becomes al loathsome, stagnant pool.
This part of New York was called the
Collect 1t was then almost a swamp
and SO remained for many years. of
course, it was deemed unheaithy-the
hot.bed of fevers and agues; and for that
reason. probably, while both above and
below and on each side, the hand of i'm
provemept and wealth was rapidly extend
ing streets End erecting noble buildings,
this, the Collect remained almost an iso-
lated spot-the rendezvous of thieves and
assassins-and rendered also even more
famous by many idle tales of superstition;
so that this building stood year after year
apparently untenanted. growing more and
more gloomy as time wore on. But it was
not so. Every day there might be seen
issuing from the narrow gateway an old,
miserable looking woman, In perfect keep
| ing with the abode. Her dress, although
clean, was of the coarsest and most scantf
materials eked out with shreds and PATCH
es of every shape and hue. An. old tat
tered shawl was thrown over her bosom,
her arms were nearly bare. she wore no
stockings, and her slip-shod. ragged shoes
were fastened around her ankles oy twine
or bits of rags. A straw bonne, of most
unseemly shape and color. was pinched
down over her face and tied under the chin
| by an old dingy white handkerchief
Over her shoulders she always bore grea-
sy brown bag, and in her hand one of
those long wooden poles with an iron hook
attached to either end, denotiug her occu-
parton as Rag-gatherer.
Lorlg used to STOPPING amid the DIRT and
rubbish, Rssr, form had become bent nearly
double, and lay after day she might be
seen nras- round the .==s.ssss
er Connection, be dry goods stores.sor
q. iittle rag and refuse from
-e LL"elnlllps Lenllrps and drains near the residence
Of the more wealthy citizens. So lnisera.
Bile was her appearance that frequently
some charitable person, touched by her
decrepitude and poverty, would drop at
her feet few peanies, and even silver
coin, which Nelly, as she was called by
the shop boys and servants, would greedily
pick up, mumbling as she did SO few al
most uninteiIigibIe words of thanks.
Only few hours of each day did Nell
ly denote TO her strolls /; she would then
return to that wretehed. dreary dwelling,
and inspect and arrange her filthy store.
The rags she would wash and hang over
the tall rank weeds, meet to bear such
fruit; and if. perchance, anything OF more
value had fallen to her luck, as was often
the case, it was carefully boarded away
walls; yet sometimes a heggar would
waylay even this poor wretch as she en-
tered her gate, nor were they refused aid;
if bu. penny or crust, the Rag-gather-
er would bestow her mite.
Had she lived in the days of Salem
witchcraft, Nelly would assuredly have
been hung for witch, nor did she even
now escape suspicion of belonging to that
worthy ss.erhood. AS no light, however
dim, was ever seen cleaning from its walls
it was averred by certain knowing ones
that the nights of poor Nelly were passed
in the society of the 81 Old Scratch :"
and more than one person testified that
she had been seen sitting upon the top
of the fence in the shape of a large black
cat. glaring so frightfuHy that the whole
marsh became illuminated by her fiery
eye- balls. Others said the .Od Scratch
with proper politeness occasionally returned
these visits incog., and might be heard in
dark stormy nights. when the wind howled
and the thunder rolled. growing around
the gate. That she had made league
with this same respectable gentleman.
there was no doubt her rags assaredly
Transmitted to gold and silver. for the chink
of the hard dollars and guineas was said
to be heard as plainly as the ten-pin
balls of neighboring alley. Sportsmen
affirmed that frequently. when they had
come snipe-shoo,ing In the vicinity OF the
Rag-gatherer's house, the snipes had acted
as if they were Notwithstanding no re-
gard whatever to their shot, but merely
turning tail. with hit me if-you-can air.
flew iazily over the old fence,
As guilt is always more or less super
stitious, these very reports rendered the
Rag-gatherer propably more secure IL her
castle for even If she had the luck of
| changing rags to gold, the thief preferred
knocking gentleman geEteeIly upon the
head in Broadway or the Bowery, to ven-
turing into the den Of one so near to the
devil for although performing his busi-
ness in the most faithful manner, he seemed
to have strong repugnanoe to facing his
employer.
| 1, was chilly day in Autumn that. as
Nelly was returning from her daily toll,
| her attention was attracted by a young
Il