Prescott journal. [volume] (Prescott, Wis.) 1861-1871, 1867-10-05
A Good Story.

There were but three persons in the
car; merchant, deep in the income list
of the IfGrelter, an old lady, with two
bandboxes, and man IN the corner with
his hat pulled over his eyes.
Tommy opened the door, peeped in,
hesitatcd, looked into another car, came
back, gave his little fiddle shove on his
shoulder, and walked in.
Hi, little Tommy Tucker
Plays for his supper"
shouted n young exquisite Longing on
the platform in tan colOred coat and law
endCr kid gloves.
80, kids, you're there, are you q
Well, I'D rather play for it than loaf for
il, | had. said Tommy, stoutly.
The merchant shot a careless glance
over the top Of his paper, at the sound
Of this petit dialogue. and the old lady
smiled benignly; the man in the corner
neither looked nor smiled.
Nobody would have thought, to look
at that man in The corner, that he was
at that very moment deserving n wife
aul five children. Yet that is precisely
what lie was doing.
\ villain D, 10, that Is not the
word. A brute Not by any means.
Weak, unfortunate, discouraged. and sell
fish-as weak, unfortunate, and d;scour-
'ged people are apt to be; that was the
amount of it. His panoramas never
paid him for the use of his halls. His
travelling tintype saloon had trundled
him into sherifs hands. His petrole
um speculations had crashed like a bub-
bic. His black and gold sign, J. "Har
mon, Photographer" he'd swung now
for ne arly q year over the dentists rooms,
and he had had the patronage Of pre-
cisely six old women and three babies.
He had drifted to the theatre in the
evenings,-he did not care now to Ie-
member how many times,-the fellows
asked him, and It made him forget his
troubles; the next morning his empty
purse would cape at him. and Annie's
mouth would culver. 4 man must have
lis glass, too. on Sundays, and-well
perhaps little ofteuer. He had not
always been fit TO work after it, and
Annie's mouth would culver. 1t will
be seen at once that 1t was exceedingly
hard on man that his wife's mouth
should quiver. "Confouud it ! why
couldn't she scold, or cry These still
women aggravate a fellow beyond rea-
son."
Well, then, the children h I'd been sick,
measles, whOoping cough, scarIetina,
mumps, he was sure he did not know
what not; every one of them, from the
baby up. There was medicine, and
there were doctors bills, and there was
sitting up with them at night-their
mother usually did that. Then she must
needs pale down herself like poorly
finished photograph; all her color, and
roundness and sparkle gone; and if ever
man liked to have petty wife about
it was he. Moreover, she had a cough,
aud her shoulders had grown round,
STOPPING so much over the heavy baby.
aud her breath came short, aud she had
n way of being tired. Then she never
stirred out of the house-he found out
about that one day; she had no bonnet,
and her shaw had been cut up into blan-
kets for the crib. The children had
stopped going to school; "they could
not buy the new arithmetic" their moth
er said, half under her breath. Yester-
day there was nothing for dinner but
johnnycEke, and not large one at that.
Tomorrow ,lie saloon rents were due
Annie talked about pawning one of Der
bureaus. Auuie had had great purple
rings under The eyes for SIX weeks.
He would not bear tie purple rings
AID quiyering mouth any longer. lie
hated the sight of her, for the sight
siuns him lie hated the corn-cake and
the naughty children. lie hated the
whole dreary, dragging, needy home
The ruin of ii dogged him like n ghost.
and he should be in the ruin of il rs long
rs lie stayed in It. Once fairly rid Of
him, his scoldine aud drinking, LIS vast
ing AMI failing, Annie would send the
children To woIk. anil find way TO i've
She hal energy AMI invention, a plenty
Ol i, IN her young, fresh days, before
he came across her life to drag her down.
Perhaps hc should make a golden for
tune and come back to her some sum-
mer day with silk dress and servants,
and make it al up; in theory this was
about what lie expected to 10. But If
his luck went Westward with him, and
the six dress never turned up, why, she
would forget him, and be better Of, and
that would lIc the last of it.
So here he was, ticketed and start.
ell, fairly bound for Colorado, sitting
with his bat over his eyes, and thinking
about It.
"Hm-m. Asleep" pronounced Tom
my, with his keen glance into the cor
Her. Guess LII wake him up"
lie laid his cheek down on his little
fiddle-you don't know how Tommy
loved that little fiddle-and struck up a
gay, roilicking tune
Il care for nobody and nobody cares for
me-"
The man in the corner sat quite still i.
When it was over he shrugged his shout
ders.
When folks are asleep they don't
hist their shouIders-not as a general
thing" observed Tommy. "We'll try
another" Tommy tried another. No
body knows what possessed the little fell
low, the little fellow himself least of all {;