The Republican journal., 1871-05-04

Alter that little Ben stood by her side q
long time, very silent, very quiet, Che was
always quiet boy,) trying to get it
through his childish head that there was
truly no more angels, with their white
| dresses and shining wings, such Us he had
seen in Il picture his mother used to have
The angels all looked like his mother,
| somehow, it seemed to him, and she would
make beautiful angel herself, if she only
had broad white wings. But he wanted
his supper awfully, and some supper for
mamma, too, the child thought.
| BY and by, after thinking while longer.
Ben went quietly out doors and into the
streets, stole so softly out the back way
that his mother did not sec him at all He
went to the lady who lived next door and
said:
Mrs. Gray, will you lend NE ten
cents?"
The lady, hearing the timid. trembling
voice beside her, looked down and saw a
small face gazing up into hers, with its
childish faith and its childish beauty; saw
! two large blue eyes, with the tears quiver-
ing in them already, as if the sensitive ex-
pected refusal. Something, Il tleeting
| recollection, maybe, or Il wandering ten
der thought, floating about like thistle
| down, seeking some place to rest upon,
touched Mrs. Gray's heart at the moment ;
she remembered the strange feeling long
atterward, and she patted little Ben's
bright hair, as she gave him the money
and said he was good child
| Then little Ben went into the newspa-
| per office, to wait for the 5 o'clock edition
1t would have Jared badly with him then,
though, only for Pat Hagans, for the young
ruffians of newsboys, seeing he was new
boy and a green one, fell upon the poor
child and began to beat and cuff him
savagely. But another wandering tender
thought, floating about like thistle
down, must have touched and rested upon
the heart of Pat Hagans at that moment.
For just as Il big bad boy had struck poor
Ben and made him cry, burly Pat Hagans
roared out:
DRY that up, rot yer! Yer dassent
| lick q boy of yer size, nowhow -
From that time big Pat Hagans was the
champion Of little Ben. He educated him
to be newsboy, as told you; taught him
how to make change, how to ''iaw back"
| when the boys 'tsassed" him, and also how
to ''sllde off on his ear" at proper times,
| too.
That very first night Pats "baby" sold
| w
little Ben and his mother had some sup
per; though Ben wandered what made his
mother cry again, as they sat down to eat,
and hold him SO tight in her arms, and
kiss him again and again. He thought it
was a little unreasonable in woman to
cry when she had plenty of bread and
milk.
Maybe the angels had brought little Ben
and his mother their supper after all
| But Patsey Hagans was the only angel
directly visible in the case, and l am
| doubtful he was rather dirty looking
angel, chewing tobacco. and smoking u
| stump pipe as he did And I'm positively
certain nobody would have let him into
q Sunday-school tableau as an angel
Nevertheless, for all his patched trowsers
and toes sticking out Of his boots, he was
just as much of 4 protecting spirit to little
Ben as if he had worn the orthodox white
cotton gown and goose wings. Under
wing of this guardian angel, then, little
Ben had almost no trouble. Only once
after the first week was he tormented at
| all, and that was when an envious news
boy began to beat him, because Ben hal
sold out all his papers, while the other
boy had not. But angel Pat was at hand
in less than no time and made the spitetul
Journal boy see such stars that he didn't
dare say boo to Ben after that. That was
the last that ever the boys troubled him.
He was little, SO helpless and harmless,
that by and by his spirit of pity and gentle
ness toward him began to develop ITSELF
even among the merciless, outcast news
boys. They came to be SO kind and
chivalrous toward him that not boy of
them all would 90 near little Ben's beat,
not q boy of them would take q customer
from him. l am glad to write that of
them. They were glad to remember it,
too, after that happened which did hap
pen.
So for months that weak little boy earn
ed supper for himself and his mother.
People were very kind to him mostly.
Ladies and gentlemen bought papers of
the pretty golaen-haired child, even when
they did not want them. Car-drivers Of
ten Stacked up a little when they saw him
coming, SO he might climb on safely, and
the big policemen used to watch him
carefully across the street. Little Ben
learned more of the big world than he
ever thought was to be known; more
: than was good for child to know, per-
haps. He used to look at the fine car
riages and wonder whether he could ever
sell papers enough to buya carriage. He
wondered what he could do when he was
q man. He would not be newspaper edi-
|, tor, he thought, because editors were all
, SO cross, and in such a hurry, and didn't
seem to have much money, he noticed.
May be he would be street car driver.
| He liked that better, Or may be he
: would even have to go and be a Legisla-
} tor, and have to be hauled about in a
hack and gaped at He would not like
that at all. On the whole, he thought he
: would be milkman, he told his mother,
J because milkman could ride all day in
a wagon, and seemed to get more money
f than anybody else And little Ben learn
, ed some bad words and rough ways from
!! the other boys, too. But he never sale
the bad words before his mother, never
j And he always gave her every penny o
!. his earnings, not even keeping enough tt
J. buy pocket knife with two blades, tho
l he wanted it more than any thing else il
: the world.
e At last terrible thing happened.
!, hardly know how to write it down, 70
n when 60 to write Of that my hand shake
], and the tears come in spite of me, an,
: somehow seem te be writing of one wh'
v was very near kin to me.
q One afternoon little Ben went out mer
it rily to sell his papers, his slender, deli
10 cate hands and pale face very clean, an
J. his long, bright curls shining in the sun
n His mother watched him out of sight fror
II her window, Just as always. That wa
8 the last time she ever curled little Ben
3 long bright hair; the last time she wa
ever to watch her darling from the wir
L, dow, Poor little Ben!