Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1891-12-24
SCOTTY'S FAITH.

II,
open the gates at Thirty-third street
''I'll bet there amt a passenger gets on.
No sensible man, woman or child would
be out at this time of night in a storm,
and Christmas Eve, too"
He was about to close the gates again
and seek the protection of the interior Of
the car, when small form emerged
through the binding snow and passed in
side. It was the form of very small ana
very ragged boy, with small bundle of
evening papers under his arm. lie had
protected them, apparently, for time by
covering them win piece of brown
wrapping-paper but they were wet
through and through now and valueless,
even though it were earlier than mid
night. He was a very tired and sleepy lit
tie fellow, and he was sound asleep almost
as soon as he touched the cane seat of the
car.
HE hasn't been long at the business"
said the guard to himself, with plying
smile. "Most of EN- get along without
any sleep at all, so far as ! can see"
The boy, beyond his extreme youth and
the absence of the characteristic tough
facial expression of the New York gamin,
was merely conventional specimen of the
army of boys who make living by selling
the daily papers.
As The train pulled up at Park place the
knowing guard gave him hearty shake
and shouted in his ear:
Say, kid, you want to get off here, don t
you?"
The boy yawned, opened his eyes, grab
bed his wet papers, and with comicaI
sigh prepared to get out.
DO you live at the Newsboy's Lodging
House?' asked the guard.
Nope" he answered.
"Where?" asked the guard.
I'm partners with Blinks," replied the
boy.
who's Blinks?" asked the guard; bat
the sleepy boy was on the platform by this
time, and he did not hear the answer. De-
scending the steps of the station, he struck
off in the manipulating snow for News
paper Row. He was just opposite the
post Office when he heard, some yards
away, the peculiar falsetto You hou!''
by which boys signal to each other. He
answered it by similar call, and made
in the direction of the sound he had
heard. At the corner of Park Row he
met the other boy who was standing
storm.
Hello, Blinks!' said the little boy (for
the other was, perhaps, four or FIVE years
the elder)
"Wot's the iuck?''
Not much, BIinks-de storm was too
bad"
How much chink yer got, Scotty?"
''Only II cents, Blinks.
"Deys no coffee and doughnuts tonight,
then, Scotty, and no breakfast tomorrow
till we earn it, for / N busted"
''0h, Blinks!' said Scotty. And dis
is Christmas Eve"
Oats all de luckier. Tomorrow we
gets Il big dinner fur nuthin' don't we?
OATS de only good Christmas is to us,
anyway
But there were counle of big tears in
Scotty's eyes. He made no reply, but put
hishand atfectionately in the great, rough,
and regret to say, dirty hand of Biinks,
and walked on with him. The fact was
that this was the first Christmas since the
death of his mother, and poor though she
was, she rad always been able to make
Christmas happy day for her little boy.
The two boys walked short way down
the street and turned into Theater alley.
1t was evidently q familiar locality to-
them, for they made almost Unconsclously
for the red glare that came from the
engine room of one of the great Office
buildings not far from the intersection of
Theater alley and Ann street. Here they
suddenly disappeared from view. A close
observer might have discovered, had he
been watching them, that they had crawl
ed into one of the air-shafts of the office
building, and would not have been wrong
10 Il 1l,A l,sr 10 ,t
their habitual sleeping-place- 1t was not
an uncomfortable place for couple Of
gamins either. But next to the engine
room, it was always quite warm enough,
there was plenty of ventilation, and what
most commended it to the boys, there was
no one to say when they should come in
and when they should leave.
Blinks had no sooner gained his accus-
toned place alongside the Warm wall than
he began to go to sleep, but 1t was not so
with Scotty. The smaller boy could not
forget even in misery the fact that it was
Christmas Eve He sighed little and,
perhaps he cried. Grey-haired boys have
done that when they thought Of their
mothers-so it would not have been at all
etfeminate. At any rate. just as Blinks
was about to dream of happy land.
where every one always won at craps,
scotty put his hand confdingy in Blinks'
and asked:
"Binksey, do you believe there is a
Santa ClausY'
"Naw!" responded Blinks, sleepily.
&c course dey amt. | don't believe in
non O dem things. You won't elder
when you know as much as | do.
'Mudder said dere wuz," continued
Scotty.
'Aw! de wimmen likes to make de kid:
believe der is, grewled Blinks but
faint SO, just de samey.''
st nd be awfuliy nice if IL was So
said the smaller boy, with great sigh.
"Twouldn't DO US no good, said the
larger, very cynically. "Ye don't sup
pose he'd be shopping around in teatel
Alley looking fur kids. do yer? Sides
ne only gives kids paythings and candy
and dey woudn't do us no good. Wo
we wants, Scotty, is chink, and we want i
badly"
Here Blinks, having settled the question
beyond doubt, turned over and wen
promptly to sleep. But Scotty- Well
Scotty couldn't sleep for a long time.
X.
The presses were just beginning to whll
In the pressroom of the great daily. anc
the night editor, copy readers and fore
men were rebuilding their efforts to ge
the paper out on time "a race with time
that occurs 365 nights in every year IL