The Brookhaven ledger. (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1875-1883, 1879-01-02

IN Wnlch was ioVeH sullinS cnilu,
= standing in the middle Of the street.
, jim dashed forward as he took in the
situation, caught the back Of the wag-
on and pushed it from him pit of harms
way, the plunging, rearing horses just
; grazing his back and ankles as he fol-
lowed it. 1t was done in second.
The child was safe, the. carriage had
passed by, and jim stood alone on the
sidewalk looking after the departing
nurse, whose ''merct, merct," was
puzzlng his returning sensea IL, q
The door of the house behind him
was now opened, and lady called to
him in a very light voice: Come he.e,
little boy! -. -
Jim antered the fresooea%yestibnle,
end was .apked q perfect catechlsm of
questions, ell Of which he answered
simply enough.
II can not go to see your mother this
week, because. l have all my time en-
gagged, but nezt week l will try to find
your room. Now. as / know who owns
the child you saved, l want you to
come back here tomorrow and see its
father and mother. They will help you.
But will give you some money now so
that you can get your poor mother what
che needs.
The lady gave jim e little card with
her name and address on IT, and rolled
five dollar bill IL paper and put it in
and old purse Hhch she gave him.
Ji.a felt dazed. He walked off retrac-
ing LIS steps,, from time to time feeling
tile purse IN his brest- pocket, afraid to
look at it lest it might take vinge or
some one might steal it.
After a while, hunger again assailea
| him, and Jim thought of Fulton Mar
ket, and its stores of good things.
The long, weary walk was mysteri
ously shortened by the plaJ of irnag
ination, and Jim reached the market,
&Id boldly approached colossal butch
eg who eyed Jim sideways as If expect
ing to see him run off with one Of his
teIhpting cuts.
"How iauch is potter house steaks?"
asked jim; staring at the tneat on the
block. 60 =, ...., 80, .,.
'Thirty i've cents poind. WHO sent
you here?'
mo one, I want steak and piece
for soup, and hurry mp, will you?'
Come, get out, I'm too busy FOR
fun"
"Won't you give me them? I've got
the money here;' and Jim touched his
pocket.
- ct re see it,
Jim took out his purse, and exhibited
his prize. /
II guess you can have the beef. saie
the butcher, proceeding. to cut the
steak, while Jirt Watched admiringly. |
Tie knife went straight through the
firm, red flesh, and solid, yellow fat,
then piece was chopped small for
| soap, the whole was wrapped i'll coarse
brown paper, and Jim put it carefully
under his arm. vh:le the butcher chang
ed the bill, He gave Jim several half
dollars and quarters in silver, which
bulged out tie sides of the worn pock-
et>book, and threatened to burst it in.
pieces. Jim started ont of the build
ing, passing quickly along the narrow,
dirty streets which led to his home. i
He was quite unconscious of having
been watched while in the market by
several boys as ragged as himself but
much older. While thinking of the !
price of coal BY the pgil, and the capac-
ity o. The old one that had gone many
times too often to the corner grocery,
Jim's hat was knocked forward over
his ewes, and his arms were held to his
sides, while hand sought to reach his
inner pocket, where safe and warm re-
posed his little mine. E..
Jim kicked and screamed, and free
ing himself by desperate effort, drop
ped his beef, and fought to defend his
more valuable treasure. -.
The struggle vas too tinefual to last
long. and by the time Jim's strength
gave out, and he stood painting, bleed>
ing and more ragged than ever, trying
to keep the tears from running down
his pale cheeks, policeman had seen
the crowd and was bearing down upon
it. ,f n. mar.
Jim hardly felt the rough grasp on
| his poor, old Jacket, or the jerk that
accompanied it. The boy whom he
had fought was much worse off than
himself, for Jim had the most to lose,
and babel of voices was. telling some
remarkable stories to the policeman.
What Jim realized was that his money
had disappeared. and that he and his
antagonist, followed by crowd of boys,
wefe being led off to the station-honse.
There. Invention reached a climax.
One boy had seen, him steal a pocket.
book from and old mans pocket, and
get bill changed in the market, and
with virtuous indignation he followed
and stopped him. He had been rough
ly handled for his pains, and worse than
all he could not prove his story, for the
pocket book had disappeared, perhaps
Jim had passed it to a confederate in
the crowd, who had made off with it
during the fight.
This sounded Tely plausible. and
Jim's story, rendered incoherent by
grief and fear, was laughed at as an
absurdity.
The butcher testified to receiving
from Jim five dollar bill, and went
back to his stall quite satisfied with
having done good thing for society in
10 a