The evening tribune. (Pawtucket, R.I.) 189?-190?, 1897-04-20
LOST in NEW YORK.
DEHAvlOR OF THE POLICEMAN, THE
BOY AND THE SPECTATORS.


came the Indifference Of Crowds In the
streets-Eneot sf . Little ftray Upon
women Shopping.
"As general thing" said the western
womnn. ~ would cross the street rather
man ass ore of your New York crowds.
mean those crowds that seem to gather
as II by magic when there is an accident,
or fight, or horse down, or en- arrest,
Sr any ore of a dozen things which arc al
ways harpening here.
ASo'nehow it always makes me miser-
able think about Oshkosh, and Of how
we have neighhors out there and cure what
hapI ems TO each other Did you ever look
at the people In these groupsf They are as
unmo, ed az the old granite blocks with
which you lave your streets. They make
me shiver, those men and boys, pushing
and Caring In curious circle at some one
who has just been man2led by q cable car.
They are as coldly obseryant as II they
were secondhand dealers sizing up your
old furniture II there Is good deal Of
blood, their eyes shine. II it's just q case
sf heart disease. or a simple illness, they
90 on, as apathetio as ever. Generally they
mako grim joke and then forget the
whole affair.
"A fight produces a different sort of
crowd But don't like it any better The
men are more attentive then. They smile
too. Laugh II things get hot enough; arc
vtsibly sorry when the policeman arrives,
and then-go on, as apatbetic as ever.
1.-The women, too, haunt me. They
don't always stop and join the crowd, but
paS with a look Of indifferent curiosity,
tnn t, in t, l,<.t i'm
pressed. hate themi" said the western
woman vigorously.
but the other day." she went on, her
expression softening, "I saw different
crowd, and suppose it was as typically q
Now York one as any Of the others 10
was ut the corner of Fifth avenue and
Fourteenth street. saw this gathering of
people an I came down the avenue, and my
first impulse was to cross the street and
avoid 1t. But, do you know there was
something queer about it-something that
Impressed mo when ] was almost block
awayf
1T wasn's q compact crowd, such as
you generally see. It was more indecisive
ard, wavering. People would 60 a few
steps. then turn to look back. Sometimes
they went fully 90 feet and then went back
again. As got nearer / saw that most of
them were women. That In itself distin-
suished it from the ordinary crowd Peo-
pie were looking down toward the side
walk, and at first thought that the at
traction was merely some amusing me-
shnnical toy. But when saw the faces,
knew ! was wrong. Many of them were
smiling, but mot with amusement. Ten
derDees, pity, gentleness, reinsurance, that
was what 1 read in the faces, and IL pug
sio1 me tremendously until saw police
man standing In the center Of the crowd.
"Then IL dawned on me In q fash
There was lost child. That explained ev-
Uything-the consideration Of the crowd.
which forbore 70 press too closely about
The frightened little stray; the sympathy
which dragged them back tO 1t as II by
strong undercurrent the smiles, half
tender and half reassuring, with which
some Of them had spoken TO 1t enoourag-
ingly. watched the faces In the crowd,
and for once I found human nature the
same as have known IL where you don't
have TO scrape of the varnish Of indiffer-
ence in order TO see what n underneath.
The eyes Of the women softened Some Of
them pushed their hands up under their
spotted wells and brushed the tears away.
Their mouths, those tired, irritated, un-
loving and unlovable mouths, which I call
the shopping district mouth, relaxed and
curved into softer lines. Their whole face
seemed to he remolded by the force of some
inner feeling, and different soul than
that of the bargain hunter looked out Of
their eyes.
II don't think that half OF them saw
the child who really stood there his little
grimy hand in the policeman's protecting
palm. That child wore n blue and white
sailor suit, and his hair was red. But I
looked into the women's eyes and / saw
far different things. / saw a toddling
3-year-ol In q sheer white muslin frock,
and its hair wasn't red, but golden. And
1 saw sturdy little chap in trousers-
such tight trousers and such fat little legs
and his hair was soft and brown. I saw
y curly head lying on pillow and two
tiny hands crossed on the little breast, and
they were strangely still. But then 1
looked into that woman eyes only through
the tears which blinded her.
"Well," said the western woman, with
an apparent mental shake, "you SEQ how
different it was. hadn't happened To see
. lost child before, and 1t was a revelation
to me The little fellow himself made my
heart big with admiration. He was so
plucky, so reserved In his trouble, so dig
nified under the most trying scrutiny. He
did not wall as most children would have
done. 1 don't think he ever shed tear.
He kept his little lips pressed grimly to-
gether and said never a word except when
some one spoke TO him. Then he answered
briefly, and his eyes pathcfically searched
the face before him for a ray of hope.
When they gave him candy instead of
hope, he accepted it with a grave Thank
you'll but he did not cat it, and hc showed
shat he found the denoucment disappoint-
ing. W
1.-The policeman was not the least inter
csting person In the group. have always
found the New York policemen kind
enough, but in blasc and cynical fashion.
If I were analyxing their character, take
10 ON the average, shouldn't think Of In.
cluding sympathy among their preiomi-
nant qualities They accept most events
with the stolldity OF long custom. They arc
~ little affected by any ordinary accident
ss hard .drinker would be by thimble-
rul of beer. And that Il the reason why
this policeman interested me almost as
mnroh snr Nho rroxud did Ha xvas orantle