Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1878-07-24
POOR JIMMY.
By OLIVE THORNE.

One morning was walking down c 1T
Street, which at that hour was full Of
fnelv-dressed ladies and bright little
children. when came upon so woeful
a sight that stopped as thought was
struck "a poor, little, white-faced boy,
with deformed back, no taller than a
healthy child of five years old, but look
ing much older in his pinched and wan
face. He was sitting on the bare stones,
his thin little legs drawn up with cold,
and basket. containing half a dozen
miserable appleso beside him. aln He
made not the least effort to attract the
attention of the gay passers; but his
white little hands were meekly clasped
on his knee, and his eyes fixed on the
crowd with hopeless, staring look, as
though his bewildered mind was strug-
Cling with the problem why so many
were warm, well-fed, and happy, and he
was so wretched. s gErs.a#- ,.,. ga.-
''Poor child" I said, going up to him;
for could not help it, though [ have
not much sympathy with, common
street-beggars. : Can [ doanything for
your"
you can buy. an apple" he sal J,
quietly, hardly looking at me, though
he took up his basket, as he spoke.
"You shouldn'tsit on the coldstones,"
said |. 1t is very bad for you"
9" can't stand up" he said, simply.
"But it's shame that you should be
out this cold day.. anyway said /,
warmly. "You don't look able to sit
up -.,sf .55#jEA -
He flushed up. 81 have to. Joe
can't leave Baby, and somebody must. -
But where are your parents? Have
you no one to care for you, poor child?'
His dark, sad eyes looked squarely at
me now and his poor little mouth quiv-
cred, as he replied: ,..'-.
".Joe takes care of me. Father and
mother are dead. Mrs. Wilson used to
take care of us; but she's dead too
"And where do YOU live?" [ asked
next, for | could not bear the sight of
that unfortunate child, who ught to
be in a hospital, sitting on the cold
stones.
He told me where he lived, and, after
giving him some pennies, Invent direct
~ there. With some trouble, | found
ia wretched room, so poor and IN
comfortable that [ shall not describe it
to you. And | found 10, ragged,
pleasant-faced girl, about twelve years
old, taking loving care Of the most
Wretched, puny, fretful boy you ever
saw. ...-+ ..- .
From 10 [ learned their story Their
parents were respectable, well-to-do
people, and they had always lived in
comfort till these parents died, about
three years ago, and left them COM
Portable home and some other property
The man who took care of their prop
erty their guardian) had given them
INTO the hands of Mrs Wilson, kind
friend, who had taken good care of
them; and every few months 10 sadly
Mrs. Wilson used to go and get money
from the man who had the house.
But about year ago their kind friend
died, and left them in the hands Of her
husband, an idle, drink loving man,
who cared only for the money and
nothing for them. He had sold most
of the furniture, moved them into this
wretched room. threatened to do some
thing awful to them if they complained
and abandoned them. What they could
pick up and what had been given to
them by kind-hearted though very poor
neighbors was all they had had since.
now these many months. Q.
But who is your guardian !" I
asked. 10 didn't know. She knew
neither his name nor how to find him;
and, besides, she was afraid of Mr..
Wilson. She (Jo) couldn't leave the
ailing babe, who, though three or four
years old, looked not more than one
and could not stand yet; SO poor, little,
deformed Jimmy had to sit on the stones
to get few cents to keep them from
starving. ss.e-r go - " ETi-Ffgo'
When the baby slept, 10 would steal
out and pick up a few sticks if she
could, for a small fire., And she also
had TO carry Jimmy back and forth, for
he could walk but few steps at time.
Oh! what a tale OF misery! What did
1 do? Well, going down those rickety
stairs, pondered on what to do; how
to find that careless or wicked guardian
and bring him to an account. #5a
| could think of but one way-the
newspapers. So [ hurried off to the
office Of a large daily, told my pitiful
story, enlisted the, sympathy of the
kind-hearted editor, and the next paper
brought out the whole story. Hr.. t1e
An hour or two after the paper was
out red faced, honest-looking work
man walked into the office and asked
to see the man who wrote about the
starving children. He was taken into
the editors room, where he announced
hlmsel as the guardian of those chill
dren, and said he came in to explain.
!" | hore you can explain" said the
editor; for [ must say it looks very
strange, the poor little ones starving,
and owning property enough, as UNI
derstand, to take care of them" sfs
Deed, sir, and that's true. It's a
tidy bit of property, and brings in about
five hundred dollars year / have
been paying four hundred of it 10 Mrs
Wilson to take care of them and the
other hundred l put in the bank for
them, against they were old enough TO