Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1877-01-19
A RAT.
BY A. DE ~FoNBLANQUE.

He was a levee ssRat," and his name was
Dick. Dick what? Nothing F.; and | do
rot think that he even got Dick through
Richard given to him by godfathers and
godmothers in the usual way. AS a child
he managed somehow or other to escape
the massacres which those modern IIerods
Want, Neglect and Disease are allowed to
hold in our great cities; and we find HIM
a small wild animal in the shape of a boy
Of 70 years old, living where he may eat
ing what he can get; his hand against
everything (that will sell at the junk shop
and everyone's hand against him. A hui
man rata thing to hide itself in dark
places, and to be chased and worried when
it dares venture into the light.
His costume is a pair of old blue cotton
pants, kept up over a faded flannel shirt
by a wonderful continuance of old braces
and Irvine. His feet are bare. On his head
is a felt hat, which whatever was it's orig
inal COLOR has now the hue of a Well-soak-
ed tea-leaf, and (whatever was it's original
shape) has long taken that of a jelly bag.
Perhaps if he were washed, he would be a
good looking Rat, under his CRIME for his
eyes are very bright. He does not know
what school means. No one has ever told
him it is wrong to steal. though the incon-
veniences of being caught stealing have
been made manifest to him ing1nany ways
His last lair-dresser was a policeman, as
you might perceive, if his ~jelly-bag hat did
not come down SO low. Experience is not
thrown away upon him, and he becomes
rather hard to catch.
"Why doesn't he work." He does work
in his way.
How do all young animals work for a
living a? By picking up what they can get,
to be sure and keeping out of the way of
bigger things who want to pick them up.
That is the Natural Law of Life, and
Dick the "Rat" has been taught no other.
| He lives as other RATS" liye-on what he
can scrape out Of a barrel of sugar, Or
draw from a bale of cotton, or cut mo one
looking on) from the rigging Of a ship.
| He does this just as a blackbird eats a
CI6II Y. VI d IdUUlU illUUlcS UullllpSs
The levee which Dick infests is that of
New Orleans; down by the foot of jack
son street, where the English steamers lie.
is his happy hunting ground, and IN the
day when we make his acquaintance it has
not been productive. The hunting has
been all on one side, and Dick discovered
hiding between two bales of %cotton) is the
quarry. He is kicked, pushed, dragged,
jostled backward and forward by the steve
dore's men, like a ragged shuttlecock.
| Everyone has a curse and a blow for the
"Rat," with whom things are going hard
when
"Ohl how shameful to beat that poor
child so ~ exclaims a soft voice, with a
ring of genuine Indignation in it.
The speaker is a lady clad in crisp, cool
muslin, elegantly draped-a lady, beauti-
full in face and form, and assisted by every
accessory that can heighten female charms.
From her dainty little bottines, which fit
| her like gloves, to the soft curls of her
hair, which the river breeze caresses. she
is stamped with the Hall-marks of rich
ness, simplicity and good taste. She is
halfway up the stage which leads to the
English steamer, when the cries Of our
hunted Rat attract her attention, and
"Oh !" she exclaims, 'how shameful to
beat that poor child SO! Do, please Captain
| Gilbert, make them leave him alone"
Captain Gilbert, whose guest she is, and
who leads her up the stage, shouts
"Halloa! quit that! Let the boy go, and
get on with your work" For you see,
one cannot beat "Rats" and roll cotton at
the Saline time; and the former occupation,
though perhaps the more exciting, is the
less profitable of the two.
Dick-who. unable to dodge his tormen-
tors, has emulated the example of a hedge
hog, and made himself as nearly spherical
as possible against a cotton bale-does not
rise. The foe has not sufficiently retreated,
but he keeps a bright lookout from the cor
ner of one eye, so as to be ready for jump.
"They have hurt him. says the lady.
''He can't get up, poor little fellow!' and.
before anyone could interfere, she trips
down the stage, and is STOPPING over the
'Rat,' who is so taken aback by the ap-
partition that he forgets to jump and rolls
over straight. His plight-when it appears
that no bones are broken-makes the lady
smile. He has been kicked into a coal
heap, and is black. He has been cuffed
against a lot of oil-cake, and is russell
brown. He is fluffy all over with cotton
waste. His mouth is open and his eyes
are wild with establishment. He has never
been so near to a lady, and he don't know
what will be done to him.
sCome, get up" says the captain:
! "there's nothing the matter with you"