The Saline County journal. [volume] (Salina, Kan.) 1871-1893, 1879-01-02
StllsfeAang:
A LITTLE BROWN DOG.

Il don't mean the the brown dog, but Har-
~ Jacklowl, and he earned just two dol
lars week.
Sixty cents of this went for car fare
he lived so far from the store that he was
obliged to ride to and from it-and the
rest to his mother, who, with that and the
eight dollars a week she received from the
cloak factory where she worked, support
ed herself, her children-HarTy, twelve
years of age, Eddie, seven, and Jenaie,
two-and Mr.. Jacklow.
Mr.. Jacklow was her husband. and the
less said about him the better. I'll mere
" state that he could sit in a rocking
chair and smoke and think longer than
any man ! ever knew.
But besides this two dollars a week,
Harry, who was bright-eyed, willing,
whistling chap, sometimes got two or
five cent piece, or, more rarely, dime,
from his employers customers when, the
grocers wagons being overloaded or the
customers in a great hurry, he carried
home their purchase for them. And it
was this money he had been saving ever
since the first of January, for the purpose
OF having a good time on the next holi-
day.
On Christmas day they had a real nice
time at his house. His ''boss" had given
HIM two dollars, and the superintendent
of the place where his mother worked had
given her one, and somebody they had
never found out who) had sent them a
large turkey, and the dressmaker down
stairs had put large box of tools in Ed
dies stocking-dear me! what am | say
ing? she couldn't have done that; Imeant
to say she had given Ned box of tools,
and Jennie doll, in the name of Santa
Claus-and Harry had presented his man.
ma with a new coffee-pot, and his mamma
presented him with wooden comforter
and pair of wooden gloves, and Mr. jack
low had bought himself new pipe; and
when Harry saw how happy they all were,
he quickly made up his mind to give them
aparty on the very next holiday, which
would be the Fourth of July
1t was the third of July when my story
commences, and Harry had kept his reso-
luton OF saving every penny outside Of his
wages. He had had to pass many a heap
Of rosy apples without glancing at them,
run away from many peanut stands, force
himself not to look into the tempting
windows of the candy stores, and go by
on the other side when he knew him
self near well-known bakery, to do so;
but he had done so, and now his reward
was near.
The house in which he lived was an old
fashioned one in an uptown street. A
quarter Of a century ago it had been a
small farmhouse, surrounded 10y mead
Ows, but now it had large tenement
house on each side, and whole row OF
brick buildings in front of it. But one
tr.ln nj all IL Al 4 I. r..
door-"Bully to tack pin-wheels on, said
Harry to himself, and there was any num-
Der of children around to cry ''Oh!" and
''Ah! as the fireworks went Oft. have
always noticed that when boy is setting
off fireworks. the more ah-ing
and oh ing there Is, the brighter the fire.
works look to that boy. Well, Harry had
laid on; the supper in his mind as follows:
Ice cream, whole quart. twelve cent
sponge cake, five sticks of molasses candy,
pitcher Of lemonade, apple pie, half a
pound of cheese and some baked potatoes
Mr.. Jacklow liked baked potatoes. And
Re meant to get his mother and the rest of
them ont of the room and send them down
to VISIT the dressmaker. (who at the last
moment was to be let into the secrctl, set
the table himself, and then, when all was
ready, call them up again. Wouldn't it
befunto look at their faces when they saw
the ice cream and the sponge cake, and
the molasses candy, and the lemonade,
and the apple PIE, and the cheese.
and the baked potatoes! 1t would
be almost as good as the circus. Harry
had been there once, and had never for
gotten how delightful it was. And then
after the supper was over, and they thought
the entertainment was at an end, wouldn t
1t be fun again to see faces when he invit-
vlted them down on the front stoop to see
the pyrotechnic look in your dictionaries)
display!
SO Harry had been saving. and saving,
until he found himself on the evening OF
the 3rd of July with one dollar and eighty
two cents In his iight-han trowsers
pockets. Times had been hard, very hard,
since the new year began. and people had
looked very sharply after their small
change. or it Is likely he would nave had
double that amount. But" he said to
himself, "a dollar will get the feast and the
rest will buy at least dozen nice fire
works.
He got home from the store that even
ing too late and too tired to go out for the
things he wanted, but the next morning
he was up before the sun rose-and the sun
rises pretty early during tine summer
months-and dressed and out in the street
as the first sunbeams told the eastern sky
morning had come. The streets were al
most deserted, and no fire-crackers or pis-
tol-shots yet broke the silence. But before
he had walked block some cannons
doomed IN the distance. and peal of bells
rearer by began ringing ~ ankee Doodle
very merrily. Whistling, and jingling the
CONS in his pockets in tune and time with
the bells, and wishing the stores where he
meant TO buy the materials for his party
would open, he sauntered slowly along un-
til he reached the dog pound-a place
where all stray dogs are taken in hot wealth
er and kept day or two, so that their
owners may, If they choose, seek and re-
claim them. If found to be friendess at
the end of that time. the poor things are
put In large tank prepared for that pur-
pose and drowned
Harry heard the imprisoned dogs bark
ing and yelping; and stopping moment
to listen to them with pltying look ON his
face-tor, like all kind hearted boys. he
dearly loved auimals-he saw, sitting up
on the doorstep. a very pretty little girl
She wore faded calico dress and blue
checked gingham apron; the apron she
held gathered up in her hand. as though
it he'd something of value. and her head
and feet were bare. Her large eyes were
of a soft brown. and her hair. Of the same
color, hung IN Struggling curls about her
face. There wasn't another creature man
woman, or child, with the exception of a
milk man on the next block, in sight, and
Harry looked at her with surprise At
last he said, with smile, Il thought got
mp early, bat YOU must have got up much
earlier than did"