The National tribune., 1894-11-01
l. HEREW4R0

She was little, prim and pious. She was
also distractingly pretty
| Three of these qualities are an unusual
combination. Therefore worthy of note.
She came up to New York to study book
keeping and shorthand. Her name was
Alice Pearson, and she had mania for
converting people.
The house at which she boarded was kept
| by a stout Irish-American woman, Mrs
| Brown. She looked the essence of good
nature, but she let the boarders freeze all
the Winter by never having fire in the
furnace, and she fed them with pork and
| beans until life became burden. She had
a daughter Matte, tall, rather we'll -favored,
| though running to bone, who was much IN
| love with q man whom / may term the
"head boarder." That is, person who
| having q magnificent constitution, had been
able to stand the ravages of Mrs. Browns
pork and beans the longest. He was a
medical student, and his name was Caldwell.
He was very good-looking, by-the-by.
There were 16 boarders in Mrs. Browns
establishment the first night Miss Pearson
came down to dinner. Two weeks after
ward there were q, and within month
Mrs Browns limit-30-had been reached.
The -comers, it was noticed, were all
men, and, curiously enough, men who in
|
| time to worry about their sous The fact
was that before the lovely Miss Pearson had
been in the house five weeks she had nearly
ruined the surrounding boarding houses,
and had turned Mrs. Browns erstwhile
peacefully wicked establishment into three
| opposing revival meetings rolled into one
aud let loose.
Fab Chung, laundryman, late of Peking,
| subsequently of San Francisco, then of the
Bowery, New York, fell as madly and jeal-
| ously in love with her as if he had been q
| Christian.
| Miss Pearson affected demure little gray
| frocks, with a wide Eton collar and cuffs of
white, and Fab Chung-oh, bliss-Fah
Chung washed and ironed them for her. 1t
was noticed that while no fault could be
| found with the Chinaman's ordinary work
| there was not in the whole of Sixth street
any linen that could be compared for white
ness and gloss with Miss Pearson's little
| collars and cuffs
| 1t has been remarked that Miss Pearson
| had mania for converting people She
| tried her hand on Millie, the waitress, first !;
but Mrs. Brown made strong objections to
| having her servants talked to, so she turned
! her attention to Fab Chung.
How do you do, Mr.. Chung?" she
greeted him with one morning when he
came for the laundry work.
mi cha" replied the Celestial.
| Miss Pearson started.
| 81 guess he means Howdy,' Miss Pear
son." struck in Mile, who was sweeping
| the room.
-"Oh. Nj cha, Mr. Chung"
| The Chinaman did not change facial
muscle He didsnot want to look sad, and
he could not gria any harder than he was
already doing. The left side of the six
| padded coats gave a great beat outward.
That was getting on.
| The loved one coald now converse as flu
emily in his native Pngue as he in hers.
| That was getting on.
| The next time he came he brought one Of
those little reeds with bunch of hair fas-
| tened in one end, which the Chinese use for
pens, and presented it with his immoyable
grin. That gentle smile OF his was so fix
edly wide that Caldwell declared the top Of
his head to be an island surrounded by
mouth. A somewhat exaggerated metaphor.
! Still, it was what one might call a generous
| smile.
The following week he laid on her shrine
a packet of Chinese frecrackers, and had
! learned to count up to five lii English. She
| had eight articles In the washing, but he be-
gan over again at lone" when he reached
| the place where six y ought to be, so that
was all right.
| Miss Pearson never got beyond Nj cha
| in her study of the Chinese tongue, but Fab
Chung applied himself with ardor to the
mastery of English, and went about his
| laundry practicing-"O collee, one collee
| two cuff, two cuff, one collee, two cuff"
| When he got so that he could say, Alice
! lightee, washee soon, done Slatteday," Miss
| Pearson thought it time to begin her spirit
ual ministrations. Accordingly she took
him down to the boarding house drawing
room one Saturday sat him on stiff horse
| hair chair just where he got the draughts
| between the fireless crate and the door
beautifully, and discoursed to him.
! The girl was sincerely in earnest, and it
was something of shock when he turned
| toward her that Interchangeable smile and af-
| fably remarked:
| Me likee Mclean gal"
Fab Chung slept in tiny box of room
at the back OF his laundry. Presently he
took TO bunking on his ironing-table and
/ let the box to a lodger. Fab Chung seemed
| to desire larger income He began vast
| ing his substance on riotouS" green jade
boxes and Chinese hairpins, which he pre-
sented to his spiritual sponsor when he took
her washing home. The recipient thought
| he was setting up as an Oriental dealer, and
| gave him half dollar for one of the pins.
When he laid the money on the table and
would none of it, she took it that it was
| below the price, so returned the pin and
| pocketed the coin herself. Finally it
dawned on her that he was making her a
present. She promptly declined the gift
| but the next week it turned up again. At
! last she became so tired of seeing the much
refused article "bob up serenely" every
Saturday that she took it to get rid of it,
and Fab Chung grinned harder, worked
later, and ate less. The fever of the New
World had seized him. He longed to amass
riches.
With all her primness Miss Pearson was
of somewhat adventurous nature. The
great town, to her country mind, was full of
wonders; and leading, as n woman, even a
| yOung and pretty woman, can, if she choose,
in New York, as Independent life as if she
were her own brother, she indulged her pas
sion for exploring frequently. Her studies
usually occupied the day, but on those even
| ings when she was not engaged in setting
the boarding house by the ears by catechs-
| ing one or another fortunate young mas
culine sinner, she donned trig little gray
bonnet and cloak and wandered out into
the bewitching, brilliant night world.
She was not sure just why, but she found
she felt little uncomfortable in walking
by herself up Broadway, Fifth avenue or
Madison Square in the evening" but the