Tazewell Republican. [volume] (Tazewell, Va.) 1892-1919, 1897-07-29
JHCKlE'S BuRGkHR.
BY A. o. BRAZIER.

1t was dark, dirty and wretched,
and lie thin streaks of light which i'll
tered in through the tiny, dust-choked
skylight only seemed TO heighten the
darkness and increase the misery Of the
place. 1T was q small, square room,
with no furniture eNcep; couple OF
broken chairs, a grimy table and o
broken packing case, and it seemed
place scarcely lit for habitation. Yet
on the floor there were coarse straw
mattresses, and or one Of them, with
his weary face turned up TO the dismal
skylight above, lay boy. lie was only
Il small boy, but his face was like an old
mans, and his limbs were shrunken
and dwarfed and thin. lie lay looking
I'D into the face of a man who bent over
him.
y shall be all right by and by, dad"
he said, in weak voice. Il shall be
all right as soon as the sun creeps up
BIT and I can get out. Don't worry
dad. Pr'aps shall be able to do some
thing soon. P'r'aps could make some
boxes or something if 1 could sit up
bit"
Two big tears came down the mans
check and fell on to the boys hand.
lie burned away hurriedly and began
walking to and fro across the garnet.
u must get the doctor to you some
how" he said, more to himself than to
the boy on The bed; eff fetch him by
force he must come. It's no good put
ting it off any longer"
lie locked at his son and shuddered
ms he thought of the change year Of
misfortune had made in him.
no, TO-" said the boy, with the
thoughtfulness of an old man; wait
bit. l may be all right tomorrow"
The man plunged his hand into his
pocket and sighed. With twopence be.
tween them and starvation, what was
the use Of fetching doctor who would
order eggs and milk for his boy? What
was the use Of anything except to sit
and stare at the skylight and starve?
John Endleton was man who had
once been in a good position. Only
year ago he had believed himself to be
out of the reach Of want, but misfortune
had overtallen him, his bank had failed,
ne had lost money in a hundred differ
ent WAYS, i'll luck had followed him and
he had fallen from bad 10 worse, until
nj last he found himself with his ten
vear-old son in On East end slum, penni-
less, heart-sicli, hopeless, with sickness
eyertaRing them, with no prospect Of
ANYTHING better than hand-to-mouth
existence and with a criminal-a gaol
bird-a common convict for com
panion.
John EndIeton was q proud man. 1t
was his pride, perhaps, that had led him
10 refuse good berths that he would
have been thankful for now, and he
hated the man who shared their gar
yet. If he could have afforded tiff he
could only have made sure of the neces-
sary pence-he would have rented the
entire room in order to keep his boy
from contact with the man; but he had
reached such hopeless stage Of his
existence that he was thankful if he
found himself able to provide one de-
cent meal day, and he was obliged to
tolerate him, although his very pres
ence seemed poison. lie hated his
coarse ways, his bad face, his evil
breath, and the thought that he was
within almost a yard Of his son made
him shudder.
Jem Brooler was the leader OF gang.
There was no better known criminal in
the whole OF London than he, and lie
was proud of his reputation, proud Of
his wickedness, and proud even of the
lime he had ''done" in Portland prison.
lie was foul-mouthed, bad-tempered
End had been convicted of numberless
crimes; but for some reason little Jackie
ErdleGon interested him.
In the early morning when he stag
gered up to the garnet half drunk the
sight of the thin, white face on the
dirty mattress sobered him. The touch
of the boys hand dragged back his
memory through q thousand dirty by
ways to the fresh country where, when
he aas a small lad, he had played with
his sister in green fields under blue
skies. Something in the boys eyes re-
called his mother. Something, too, in
the droop of the little lips reminded
him OF her as he had seen them last,
when she had been dying with shame
for her son. And the. big, gaunt man,
whose heart was black with crime who
siad resisted the overtures Of mission
cries and sneered at prison chaplains
found himself suddenly overcome by G
.ittle ten-year-old boy who was dying
!of starvation in miserable garnet. He
iscoffed and swore at himself as he die
1T, but it became 4 regular thing for him
10 bring oranges and sometimes grapes
,on his return to the garnet at night.
And John Endleton hated it. He re-
rented it fercely and shrank back whef
Yen Brooker approached the bed and
looked down at Jacllie's face.
As the winter passed the spring
Jackie seemed to grow weaker instead
lof stronger, ard at last, with solitary
shilling in his pocket, John EndletoI
SCI of in desperation for doctor. i
anything happened to the boy he would
have nothing to live for, and the
, ifbonobt seemed 10 choke him. But he
knocked Mt the doctors door without
success. The doctor was busy-too bgss
to attend TO him until night, and wher
night came he had forgotten all about
it. and Jackie lay in half fever, moan
ing ard tossing restlessly from side tt
side. while Endleton sat over him with
rage at his heart.
when, towards morning, Jem mount
ed the. creaking stairs in his usual hall
drunken fashion and staggered into the
garret. he found Eudleton sitting bs