Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1884-11-20
A STOLEN THANKSGIVING DIN
NER.

The Story of New York yagrant-How
he Found a Happy Home.
i A dinner-that is a regular dinner-a
.'good square meal WAS rarity to
Tony, a luxury in which he seldom in
dulged, poor little ssstreet Arab that
he was, and yet he managed to get
considerable enjoyment out of life in his
own queer fashion. Very independent
he was: not at all tied to hours or re
| stricted by rules, for the very good rea-
son that he had neither home, parents
nor guardians. 1t is true that this in
dependent condition had its disadvan-
| tages. For instance, there were times
have been more desirable than nest in
a barrel, or packing box, or some corner
of the wharves along West street. for
Tony was that very common character,
a New York vagrant. Probably he had
parents once, but it was so long ago that
he could remember nothing about them.
His earliest recollections were of being
| kicked or cuffed out of dark cellar,
| the only home he had ever known.
How did he liFe2 Well, he could not
have told you himself, for two reasons.
In the first place it was a queer, shift
ing. shiftless sort of life, hard to de-
| scribe; and in the second place, in adj
dition to his other misfortunes, Tony
| was born dumb, and so lived more
lonely life than the other little vaga-
| bonds who could at least talk and swear
and quarrel with one another.
Perhaps Tony was rather inclined to
be lazy. At any rate he never seemed
to think of such a thing as working for
his living; but neither did he beg, unless
it could be called begging to stand
around Washington Market and peer
hungrily at the meat and fish, the butt
ter and cheese and poultry there dis
played; or to creep halfway down the
steps of some underground restaurant
and sniff the odors of clam chowder or
beefsteak. / dare not say that he
would not have snatched sandwich or
sausage had the opportunity offered,
but he was so little and puny that he
never dared venture. Now and then
him stale tart or moldy crust, or q
about it, and so he managed to keep
LILO LII LID 1IeClO ShCICboA Va ~ DOdy.
But Thanksgiving time was the hard
est of all to Tony, for, really, the smell
of turkey and chicken is not particularly
'.filling," however appetizing it may be;
to see others feeding, or preparing to
feed on the fat of the land, always made
Tony more hungry than ever. On this
particular Thanksgiving Day he felt
even more empty than usual, for, not
I. L II /,
of the previous day in sunny spot on
top of a big woodpile near the wharf.
and, of course, had eaten nothing; and
not having DR.. Tanner strength of will,
he thought that he was in a starving
condition. He hung around the mar
ket until it closed about noon, but all
the dealers were too busy to notice him;
and as for the buyers swell suppose
that they had spent all their spare cash.
for the contents of the basket they.
carried, so Tony Jared badly indeed.
After the market closed he loitered
about the street stands and restaurants
for awhile, but no one noticed the pit
iful little face with its hungry eyes,
except brutal policeman who gave
him rap with his stick when he crept
suspiciously near corner pie-stand. So
Tony wandered on up Vesey to Green
witch street, and strolled along, sinking
into doorways when the elevated rail-
road cars Numbered by, for he could
never get over the idea that the huge,
Gathering train was going to tumble
into the street. BY and by he turned
into a cross-street where there were no
shops, and strolled along, peeping into
basement windows. Oh what delicious
odors came from those kitchens. 1t
made Tony almost ravenous to smell
them, and at last he made up his mind
to beg for something to eat. But at
one place the cook was scolding, at an
other the kitchen maid looked SO for
bidding, and at the next two spoiled
children began to boot at him, so he
hurried by as fast as he could.
At last he came to neat-looking
block, and the first door in it stood
open, for the grocer's boy had just car
ried in a big basket. Tony summoned
ND all his cOurage-there WASH much
of it at most-and ventured in. He
found himself in a pretty little dining
room with table in the middle, all
ready for dinner, too; for at one end he
saw big turkey, and at the other
pair of Acknowledgement chickens.
Not soul was in the room; the cook
was chatting with the grocer's :. young
man . in the back kitchen. Alas! for
poor Tony's principles, if he had any.
The temptation was too strong to be
resisted. Without leave or license he
snatched one of the chickens from the
platter and rushed out of the house at
full speed. He dared not be seen
on the street with his booty, but in
stinctively scuttled down the first base
ment steps he came to; and there, am
sorry to say, without the slightest twinge
OF conscience, he Toasted on his stolen
goods No words can do justice to his
enjoyment of that meal. Hunger is
said to be the best sauce, and of that
Tony had plenty. He stripped the
bones clean. More than that, he ate
the smaller ones, and wished we'll I
am afraid he wished that he had grabbed
the other chicken for his breakfast.
His dinner eaten, he curlei himself
up in a corner of the area and went to
sleep-his unusually hearty meal had
made him sleepy, you see. And what
do you think was the next thing he
heard? Why, a sweet, girlish voice
saying. eagerly:
20 mamma! may keep himp I
want to so much, and he opened his
eyes to find himself held fast In ten-