Pullman herald. [volume] (Pullman, W.T. [Wash.]) 1888-1989, 1891-09-11
A NIGHTS LODGINGS,

"neh sue started she didn't know she would
Iall In company like this.
NO matter Who was she, anywayg
Ohly moving vertebra in the disorderIv
column dragging its wretched length to OaI
street station house. An ugly beldame
hudged her, with a leering glance
Nv hat you goin' this way for. We po,ses
oeCter looglns Tor face like yours. girl y
one shFank a little, drawing her head
covering more closely over her face Tho
PelCilg storm was excuse enough for that
Ihefe was kind of protection in the ola
noiiie shawl that she would not have ex-
Ihaheed Ior the smart hat which went for
Mst nights lodgings. In view of the
IaC'ered' tawdry tinery of some of her COM
Ptihlohs, she was not sorry that the cocks
PluiiieS from the Old farmyard were not
dropping over her disgrace.
What bleared british wrecks of bnr,o,,;+-,
We're these on either side of the wayI BETTER
to have found bed in the river-in tho r.i,To,.
alone. But, then, there would have been tho
terrors of the Judgment after such q wator1,
sleep. She remembered still, with a sbndder
the picture painted on her childish imagina'
ton of the dreadful day of Judgment.
Yet, oh, heaven! how like the Damned
these creatures looked! but there was no
smell of fire and birthstone like that which
Parson Adams had blown from his yarnino,
trumpet In the village church at home
AT the gate she glanced up at the long line
OF men filing in-blear eyed, vicious looking
yet not, after all, SO repellent as the women
She even marked one, with face close muffled
from the storm like her own, who bore an air
OF rough responsibility. To her benumbed
fancy-though she could have given express
sion 10 no conscious thou IL OF this kind-he
was like one of the dead russell leaves that
She had seen driven on the wild winter wind
But the press of the crowd bore her within
the station, and, sinking in a dark corner,
she waited stolidly the disposition to be made
of her by the authorities in charge
Groans, lamentS, profane and vulgar eiacu-
lations smote her dull ears, but she had
thought of little beyond her own misery.
Evenin', miss. Seen ye when We was
comm in, an I've got leaf to speak to ye."
The voice was hoarse and gruff as with
cold, and she did not see the speaker clearly
in her dim corner, but she thought this the
man she had noticed at the gate
Somehow t seems t me yer in the wrong
place. IaIn't no nights lodgin' fer a likely
young gal sech as take you to be. What
dye come here fer 2'
Because She turned away from the
Hey 2" he insisted.
Because | amt got nowhere else to go,n
$50! Well-well-nor | nuther.n was the
cheering response. But yew-why, yew
hadn't orto be comm to sech place S this
Why don't ye try t git in the country where
folks S respectable! Nothn' but wick'dniss
III this dretful, turrybul, bad city. | came
here tother day arter my carter-yew make
me think on her, some way 'nother-an' [
run a-foul of blasted pickpocket the very
fust thing, an he took every blest cent had.
luther wallet an all. / tore round like mad
when | foun' It out, an knocked down the
Teller that | reckOned tux it-knOcked him
hard, too! But 'twan't him tall, an | got
rested for Whence an marched off down here
an tried fer reg'ler salt an battry, an was
cast int Jaime, deacon of the church in
Mapletaown an a respectable, likely man till
l come daown to this dumb heather city an
got robbed an cast int Jail, instid o. the
thief that's prancin' round somers havin a
good time with my money"
The deacon stamped his heavy foot upon
the floor with religious zeal that would
have sunk the modern Gomorrah had the
fire of his wrath possessed a sufficiently
consuming power.
"When | sarved out my ten days" he re-
L u
got kind O quainted with the place come
back to sleep nights while I'm kind O. pickin'
up odd jobs to arm some money to git back
hum agin. This ERE snow II make power
o shovelin' t. du. It's N i'll wind t don't blow
nobody emmy good"
"And-and your girlE' suggested his list
ener, in breathleSs way
''Oh, that's the worst on t." was the de-
spairing response; Il dunno nothin' what to
do. Ye see, feel jist like tellin' We bout it
some way. 1t may be kind o. warnin' to
ye. Sary Lizy-thats my darter-was bout
as sweet, purity gal as We often see She
was jist TIL apple o my eye since her ma died.
an we KEEP haouse together all hunkadorv,
with John Sampson a COMM in, every
evenin' putty nigh, to talk over the news
John-I don't mind tellin' ye-was Sary
LiZys beau ever sence they was boy
and gal, an d sort O growed up with
tn understandin' that they'd be man n
wife arter while. But bout this time there
come TO taOwn dashin' kind O feller-no-
body knowed who he was-but he he'd things
t sell raound t the stores, and Sary Lily, she
happened to meet him t her Cousin Hiram's
who's a storekeeper in Mapletaown-an' he
TUX after her like a houn' after hare, an
she jist let him. declare, the cretur acted
Jest as eff she was bewitched an hadn't no
sense nur reason. 1t made me mad The
fust sharp words l ever spoke Il Sary Lily
spoke then But 'twa'n't no arthly use. The
Teller hung raound, an hung raound, an
went way, an come back agin, an she man.
aged t. see him N spite o me- As fer John,
she'd treated him so shameful he didn't come
nigh her more At last | RELY thought the
rascal d gone way fur good IL all, but fust
knew one mornin' Sary Lily had Hoped off
with him. Declare fort It most broke my
heart dunno but in my unsettled state o
mind | might a tux up with tn Widder
Jones who come in t look arter the haouse;
but couldn't forget Mellissy-Melhssys my
dear dead wife, We know"
The speaker paused to blow his nose.
$50 L got along good spell th'out hearin'
from Sary Lily. But finely there come
letter from Cousin Mirandy in Jersey, sayin
as how't she'd got a line from Sary Lily IN
New York, a-askin' her to send jest money
huff to get Sary Lily to her haouse, where
she'd work her fingers t the bones to pay IL.
Said she was all lone n a great city, n
didn't know what t do, but she'd ruther die
than write to pa, an wouldn't Cousin MI
randy Jest help her t. git away from the city.
an she'd try to git good enough t go BACK Z
Mapletaown some day. But Cousin Mlrandy
said there WANT no street nor number IN
Sary Lizy's letter, an she didn't know bout
sendin' money loose to a great city like New
York, SO she thought she'd jest let me know
bout it. Gracious goodness! to think the
child should ha' been 'fraid to write to her
pa! l didn't know nothin' bout streets an
numbers nuther, but | knew | could lind
Sary Lily, in her great trouble, anywhere IN
New York So jest went an asked John to
look arter the cattle for while, an the very
next mornin' l put on my Sunday suit
wouldn't know it naow-an' packed the
greenhacks I'd lest tux for my Durham steers