The Dakota chief. (Gann Valley, Buffalo County, S.D.) 18??-1913, 1894-06-14

can take EN- messages ter the night.
edltor's room as well as Jim kin. IF
yo please, Mr.. IIawley. Jim said he'd
De 'bllged it yo' woulu let Inc fill his
place till he got round"
Every we'll" replied Hawley but.
.on'lS up ms coat' "If you think.
you can do it all right, you can come.
But l don't like girls in an Office"
lie knew ThcO was n of the MANY
thousand wee girls in the great citv
or Chicago who were street gammies.
IL was nothing new to him to see Il
half.starved girls face. clothed in
thin garments in the dead of winter.
lie had seen them every night as he
went to his work, shivcring in the
cold blast from off the lake. There
were scores of Just such waits as
IheO IN the city, but he never
stopped to ask them how they lived,
or even cared. He had seen girls
who should have been in bed hurryinr
along the crowded streets, selling
their papers and singing in saloons.
1t was an everyday sight for him to
see wee girls huddled up under some
iron stairway selling matches, but
he never paid any attention to them,
no nor than did thousands of Others
who had plenty.
1t may have been the thought Of
his W wee ones safely tucked AZ in
their warm bed, with their rosy
cheeks and plump bodies, that caused
him to ask Theo where she lived.
'Jim and me live down on Polk
street near Canal. faint far from
here"
I'm that wretched part of the
city," came from Hawley, with a
shudder, as he again thought of his
W wee ones
"'Taint SO bad. Jim says it is a
palace ter what some have. He
knows some kids what haint got no
home at all. Jim'll be much obliged
ter yo' fer lettin' me come till he
gifts we'll"
With this she darted out of the
room. down the stairs, then hurried
along Madison street I'VE the bridge
till she struck Canal. which she
turned down with the swiftness of IA
nignt-bird cutting the air with its
wings, until she came to Polk street,
where she entered a low, tumbled-
down tenement house.
'See, Jim, what I've brought yo',"
she said, bursting into the
''The'r oranges. Mr.. Hawlcy give
me a nickel, an l thought yo' would
like 'em, seem yO'r' sick. Say, amt
they butes? I'm tere keep yo'r job
fer yo'. Hawley said So"
"Dld he?:"
"l aw. He said he didn't like
girls, but / told him l could do it as
we'll as yo' could, Jim, an he let ME
stay"
"Yo' are awful tired, l reckon,
ain't yO9" said jim, munching his
orange.
"Naw. l amt a bit tired. 1t is
just fun ter take them messages. l
say, Jim, when yO' get we'll, 70 just
ask Hawley ter let me be yo'r 'sist-
ant"
"All right. My, but them oranges
are fine"
II thought yo' would like them.
Sick folks always must have things
nice. Did yo' have yo'r supper"
II thought I'd wait fer yO'," said
Jim, sitting up in bed. lit wouldn't
taste good alone"
The truth was, a cat had gotten
into the oom and eaten the bread
she had left on the table for him.
did yo' JIM" she said. gently.
Il didn't think yo' would miss me
So"
She hustled about getting a piece
of bread for each Of them and a cup
of water. They didn't have any but
ter, but they didn't seem to mind it
in the least, the way they ate their
dry bread, and thought themselves
lucky when they had It.
1t was Il wee room. like the wee
boy and girl who sat munching their
dry bread. and chattering as gay as
two magpieS, over a ncst or newly
Matched young UneS-Just a cot with
scant covering, which made them
snuggle closer together in the cold
Nights to keep warm. a 0 which
did for table and chair, and Il broken
down stove that filed the room with
smoke when there was fire IN IT. But
they didn't have Il fire very often. SO
the smoke didn't bother them much
But one to have seen these two
gammies. as they sat there in the
cold, bare room, talking ovcr their
prospects, would have thought them
miilionaircs instead of waits without
father or mOther.s
Night after night 1.-THE wee glrf'
opened the door of Hawley's room
precisely at : o'clock, never one min
ute late. always on time. until
Hawlcy began to speak of her as the
autOmatUn. She was so bright. SO
willing, never complaining, Hawley