The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1894-03-14


\ the gallery of cheap Bowery theater.
| Near this door was a little table with
! bits of color scattered over IL. half
| formed flowers. which the Young woman
/ had been at work on: but to the boy
| they were genuine blooms. and IL he had
| ever heard of the goddess Flora he must
have believed himself i'm her presence.
When his senses returned and me could
! look through his swollen eyes a his
] rescuer. he saw a neat, modestly attred
| woman of six and twenty, but The angels
| of which he had heard the street mis-
sionaries tell could not be more beauti-
/ full to Cripple Dick. Indeed, he was
| quite willing TO believe that she was one,
| for both she and her surroundings
| seemed entirely out of place in the
| swarming Essex street hive.
You veel plez TO sit down. poor boy;
/ veel spik 10 you. All. Z3t eez mon
ange, my leetle son. You Vait.'
The guardian angel darted Under the
| golden curtain and into the other room,
| attracted thereto by the Clapping of tiny
| palms and child's musical laughter.
Soon she emerged bearing i'm her arms
a golden-haired chubby boy Of some
| eighteen months. and Cripple Dick re-
| called picture he had seen in a CHAT
| ham-st. window of a woman With
child in her arms. and halos about the
| head OF each. and the legend below in
/ big letters. Madonna
The child had evidently just walked
up. for he yawned and dug his little fists
into his eyes. and then. catching sight of
the stranger, he chung closer 10 his
mother
Setting the child on the ground and
leading him by the hand ove~ 10 Dick.
the young woman smiled sweetly and
said:
Il sail myself Introduce. 1 am Mime.
Bertrand. and ices ees my leetle son,
mon chere Louis, yaz l call Loo-lco,"
and she stopped and lovingly kissed the
child. Then. looking more like the angel
than ever. she asked:
And ze name of my friend, of you
wat eez zat9''
the boy.
All, Greepel Deck? Greepel Deck. I
shall not forget. You do not look appe
! Now YOU tell mo all Of yourself. vile I
mex We dinaire.'' said Nine. Bertrand
as she daintily pushed back her sleeves
and with magic shake set the little
polished stove roaring in most CHEEKY
way.
Cripple Dick was not ready Of speech
| nor good at narrative. and even if he had
been he would have found It difficult to
give off-hand the bald, sad story of his
life
But when he halted the good angel
would stop in her work Of getting dinner
and kissing little Louis, help him
! through with a sympathetic question, so
that by the time the little table was set
and the boys mouth was watering with
the odor of tea. omelette and chops. not
to mention the rolls which she had dam
pened and set in the oven. she was in
possession of his biography.
NO, ma'am, I amt fit for it, said
/ Dick. with glance al his hands and
clothes when she asked him to take a
seat the table.
'Oh. / sail not see Eat poor Greepel
Dick" she said and with another an
gelic smile she led him over to the dainty
I white spread board
Hungry the boy certainly was, but the
spendor Of his surroundings somewhat
impaired his appetite When he had
finished he ignored the white napkin
beside his plate: indeed. he did not I'M
derstand it's use. and would have re-
gardcd il as sacrilege to touch it. He
picked up his hat and crutch from the
floor. wiped his Inns on his ragged coat
! sleeve. said Thanks YOU. ma am with
full heart and was about To leave
when she laid her hand on his arm and
asked:
Were sail you go. Greepel Dick?"
II don jes' know" said the boy
vaguely
You have got no friends"
Nom with a sad shake of the head.
And no mo-nee."
Nom with an upward glance. she
went true me for de las cent I he'd bout
me clothes. I'm dead broke"
1T eez near re night You wait and I
sail think" said Nine. Bertrand. and
she tapped her FOREHEAD in a pretty way
and made Dick resume his seat
And that was the beginning of Grip
pie Dicks brief story in an earthly para
disc
Nine Bertrand screened off a corner
and made him a bed in it. and there he
slept that night after romping on the
floor with the child. while the guardian
angels def fingers were busy with the
artificial flowers.
The next morning she left Dick in
charge Of the child and the apartments.
and went off with a basket Of flowers
which the boy believed to be the genu-
Inc thing. even 10 the odor
When she came back she carried
bundle of boys clothing. hut they SIC
Dick To perfection And when no had
washed. under her directions. ard put
/ on the new attire which She had begged
from her patrons. he felt that he lad
never looked so we'll in his life. and if
! his happiness had any drawback - was
/ that the boys, when thev saw him ~ the
street would Jolly" him ana call him
de Essex street dude"
Nine Bertrand's husband. chief Stew
| ard Of a French steamer. had hetn sick
in China for nearly u year. and this
| forced her. a stranger in America TO
i work for the support Of herself and child
! But of late she had good news. and he
| NdS SOpu NNlnlilE Dcfh blt dliDlneI Slednl-
| er, 10 take her home To France.
All this she told Dick. and in order
| 10 save his feelings, fnr strangely enough
| the boy was sensitive. she took him into
| her employ. and he carried her completed
! work TO the Fourteenth-st. store for her
| and brought back the raw material fer
1 flowers, in the shape of scraps many
| colored silk and coils Of delicate wire.
After a week Of his hea -en. durirg
( which Dick had never set eyes on Mrs
| Ford. Nine. Bertrand said L. him one
night:
IT sail matc all re monee I can befo'
| mon Louis he come back Eef YOU hat
no fear l sail TAX re plaz i'm ze chorus
| at re opera at night. Wat you say, eli? -
Cripple Dick understood her. She
| wished to increase her revenue by ac-
| cepting offer To sing in the chorus OF
an opera then being performed at the
| Academy Of Music, and she wanted him
| to take charge of Loo-loo in her absence
Do it, OF course he could do it II
| he could help her or add to her happi-
! ness by letting her dance on his body
! while she sang he would have been more
than eager to have her do So
They soon came TO an understanding
! Accustomed to privation all his own life
! the boy gave no thought to the terrible
/ drain the guardian angel was forcing on
! her energies by making flowers all day
and singing at night, and that she might
| prove 10 the loved husband when he
/ came that she had not wanted i'm his
| absence. Even if she had gone without
sleep Dick would have thought il an
4 othar anOolio attribute aud On f,.,ifo tho