, 1889-12-19
A o Ex-sLAve.
How He Secured Employment for the
Daughter of HIS Old Master.


How He Secured Employment for the
Daughter OF His Old Master.
The superintendent of census comes
nearer the throbbing heart of poor hui
mainly than any other official in
Washington. OF all the departments
his alone is not governed by civil ser
vice laws, and consequently that class
of people whom Victor Hugo sweep
ingly described as Les Miserables"
turn to the census bureau. Some who
apply are gentlewomen of middle z
who cannot pass q civil service ex-
animation, because, when they were
young, girls were taught TO be house
wives, and no provision was made for
a widowhood or adverse circumstan-
ces when they would be forced to earn
their own and their children's bread.
Mr.. Porter, the superintendent, says
there is always question that he is
forced TO put to applicants that goes
through them like a knife. II is the
simple and legitimate question,
What al you dol" Marvellous it is
the number of people in the world
who have no definite idea Of their own
capabilities. When the question does
not bring tears, it is usually followed
by a wringing of the hands and o
helpless Il cannot tell" but rarely by
a direct confident answer. One Of
these cases is unmatched in pathos.
Mr.. Porter boarded for a time after
coming to the capital at a hotel where
he noticed that his waiter was unusu-
ally attentive. The man did not seem
TO care for fees, nor did he ask any
thing for himself. For a month or
two this dumb admiration was carried
on until finally Mr.. Porter said:
What is it, Wallace7 You seem
to have something on your mind"
Yes, sab; Ise been studyin', sab,
as how like huff dey mout be some
place in the census for my young
missis- She's desarvin', but is too
proud to ask fob anything. Ise been
studyin' nigh a yeah how Wallace
could get somethin' foh de missis, and
when de head waitah, sab, put you to
my table, 1 jest said, de Lawd will
provide"
who is the woman, Wallacef" Mr..
Porter asked.
She's de only chile OF my ole n
50 10 de wah. Massa was killed and
missis an de chile came norf when dey
los all. Dey lib above Great Falls, an
doan tell it, sab, but dey's very poah."
As Wallace finished, some one came
up to talk with Mr.. Porter, and the
matter was forgotten. Wallace knew
how to wait, and il was not until an
other fortnight that he said, hope
fully:
MY young missis, sab, 1 forgot to
say dat she YER intellectual an do
everything consciously
Wallace had the darky's aptitude
for sounding words and passed among
his colleagues as that mysterious II
tan, a college graduate" There was
a ludicrous pedantry about him that
made one think he must have been
born a college graduate. 1t was his
elect destiny. Mr.. Porter received
further condolences from the honest
fellow, who could do what few white
people would do in this selfish world
ask a favor for some one else before
himself, and, in this case, for the
daughter of the man under whom he
had suffered bondage.
Promising to remember the young
missis," Mr.. Porter left and might
have forgotten her had it not been Tor
the faithful, ever watchful Wallace.
Finally one Saturday night he said:
well, Wallace, / have something
for your young mistress. Tell her to
come around to the census bureau
next week and there will be some work
for her"
Later he learned from the lips of the
young missis" that Wallace had
walked fourteen miles through the
rain that Saturday night after his work
was done to tell her the good news OF
her appointment. She had not known
that he was seeking the place for her,
although for some weeks he had re-
marked mysteriously: DE Lawd am
providin' Cor. New York Tribune.