The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1871-06-16

and she would make beautiful angel
herself if she only had broad, white
wings. But he wanted his supper aw-
fully, and some supper for mamma, too,
the child thought.
BY and by, after thinking a while
longer, Ben went quietly out of doors
and into the streets, stole so softly out
the back way that his mother did not
who lived next door and said:
" Mrs. Gray, will you lend me ten
cents ?''
The lady, hearing the timid, trem-
bling voice beside her, looked down
and saw small face gazing up into
hers, with its childish faith and its child
ish beauty; saw two large blue eyes,
with the tears half quivering in them
already, as if the sensitive child expect
ed a refusal. Something-a heeting
recollection, maybe, or a wandering ten
der thought, floating about like this
tle-down, seeking some place to rest
upon-touched Mrs. Gray's heart at the
moment she remembered the strange
feeling long afterward, and she patted
little Benny's bright hair, as she gave
him the money and said he was good
child
Then little Ben went to the newspa-
per office, to wait for the o'clock edi-
ton. 1t would have Jared badly with
him then, though, only for Pat IIagans;
for the young rutiians of newsboys, see.
ing he was "a new boy, and green one,
fell upon the poor child, and began to
beat and cuff him savagely. But an
other wandering, tender thought, float
ing about like thistle-down, must
have touched and rested upon the
heart of Pat Hagans at that moment !;
for just as big bad boy had struck poor
Ben and made him cry, burly Pat Ha-
gans roared out:
"Dry that up! Yer dassent lick boy
of yer size, nohow u
From that time big Pat Hagans was
the champion of little Ben. He ed
ucated him to be a newsboy, as | told
you.
That very first night Pats " baby y
sold every one of his papers. And that
night little Ben and his mother had
some supper; though Ben wondered
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. lie thought it was q little un-
| reasonable in a 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 Pat Hagans was the only angel
| directly visible in the case, and he was
rather dirty looking angel, chewing
tobacco and smoking a stump pipe as
he did. And I'm positively certain no.
body would have let him into a Sunday
school tableau as an angel. Neverthe,
less, for all his patched trousers and
toes sticking out Of his boots, he was a
protecting spirit to little Ben. He was
so little, so helpless and harmless, that
by and by 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 a boy
of them all would 90 near Ben's beat,
not boy of them would take Gus
toner from him. | am glad to write
that of them. They were glad to remem-
Der it, too, after that happened which
did happen.
So for months that weak little boy
earned supper for himself and hi:
mother. People were kind to him most
! ly. Ladies and gentlemen bought papers
Of the pretty golden-haired child, ever
when they did not want them. Car dri
vers often Stacked up a little when they
saw him coming, so that he might climl
on safely, and even the big policeman
used to watch him carefully across tn,
street. Little Ben learned more of tn,
big world than he ever thought was t
be known more than was good for
child to know, perhaps. He used to lool
at the fine carriages and wonder wheth
er he could ever sell papers enough t
buy a carriage. He wondered what h
would do when he was a man. He wOulo
not be newspaper editor, he thought
because editors were always 50 cross, am
in such hurry. May be he would be
street car driver. He liked that better
Or may be would even have to go an,
be a Legislator, and have to be haule,
about in hack and have to be cape,
at He would not like that at all. Oh
the whole, he thought he would be
mlkman, he told his mother, because
mill<man could ride all day in n wagon
and seemed to get more money thar
anybody else. And little Ben learne,
some bad words and rough ways from
the other boys, too. But he never sal,
the bad words before his mother, never
And he always gave her every penny @
his little earnings, not even keepin
enough to buy pocket knife with tw
blades, though he wanted it more THAI
anything else in the world.
At last terrible thing happened.
hardly know how to write it down, 70
when | 90 to write of that, my hant
shakes and the tears come in spite 0
me, and somehow seem to be writing
of one who was very near kin to me
One afternoon little Ben went GU
merrily to sell his papers, his slender
delicate hands and pale face very clean
and his long, bright curls shining in tn
sun. His mother watched him out o
sight from her window, just as always
That was the last time she ever curleC
little Ben's long bright hair; the las
time she was ever to watch her darlin!
from the window. Poor little Ben