The Holly chieftain., 1897-08-06
JACKIE'S BURGLAR.
BY A. o. BRAZlER.

l.
THE garret was squahd to a degree.
1t was dark. dirty and wretchrd.
aud the thin strcuks Of light which ill
tered in through the tiny, dust-Chukrd
skvIighr only seemed 10 heighteu the
darkness and increase the misery Of the
place. II was a small, square room,
with no furuitur" except d couple Of
broken chairs. "a grimy tnblf and
broken packing cast and it seemed
place scarcely fl for habitation. Yet
on the floor there were coarse straw
mattresses. and on one OF them, with
his weary face turned up TO the dismal
skylight above, lay a boy. He was only
Ii small boy. but his face was like a u old
mans, and his limbs were shruukcn
aud dwarfcd and thin He lay looking
up into the face Of a man who bent over
him.
81 shall be all right by and by dad,
he said, in a weak voice, Il shall be
all righ; as soon as the sun creeps up
BIT and can get out. Don't worry,
dad. p'r'aps l shal, be able to do some
thing soon. Praps could make some
boxes or something II could sit up
bin"
Two big tears came down the mans
cheek and fell on 10 the boys hand.
He turned away hurricdly and began
walking 10 and fro across the garret.
81 must get the doctor to you some
how" he said. more to himself than to
the boy on the bed; ii ! fetch him by
force he must come. Its no good put
ting it off any longer"
He looked at his son and shuddered
MS he thought of the change a year of
misfortune had made in him.
NO, no." said the boy, with the
thoughtfulness OF an old man. wait
bit | 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 starye?
John Endleton was man who had
cnce been in a good position. Only a
year ago he had believed himself to be
ont OF the reach of want. but misfortune
had overtakeu him, his bank had failed.
he had lost money in a hundred differ
ent ways. i'll luck had followed him and
he had fallen from bad TO worse. until
at last he found himself with his ten
year-old son in an East end slum. penni-
less, heart-sick. hopeless. with sickness
overtaking them. with no prospect of
anything better than hand-to-mOuth
existence and with criminai-u gaol
bird-a common convict for com
paniou.
John Endleton was proud man. 1t
was his pride, perhaps, that had led him
to refuse good berths that he would
have been thankful for now, and he
hated the man who shared their gar
ret. II he could have afforded tiff he
could only have made sure of the ueces
sary pence-he would have rented tht
entire room in order to keep his boy
from contact with the man; but he haC
reached such a 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 IL
tolerate him. although his very pres
ence seemed poison. He hated hi
coarse ways, his bad face, his evi
breath. and the thought that he wa
within almost a yard of his son mad,
him shudder.
Jem Brooker was the leader of gang
There was no better known criminal il
the whole of London than he, and h.
was proud of his reputation. proud o
his wickedness, and proud even of TIL
time he had done" in Portland prison
He was foul-mouthed, Dad-temperet
and had been convicted Of uumberle
crimes; but for some reason little Jacki
Endletou interested him.
In the early morning when he stag
gered up to the garret half drunk tn
sight of the thin. white face on tn
dirty mattress sobered him. The toucI
of the boys hand dragged back HI
memory through thousand dirty by
ways TO the fresh country where. whe
he was small lad, he had played witt
his sister in green fields under blu
skies. Something in the boys eyes re
called his mother. Something. too. Il
the droop of the little lips reminde
him of her as he had seen them last
when she had been dying with sham
for her son. And the big. gaunt man
whose heart was black with crime, VIII
had resisted the overtures of mission
aries and sneered at prison chaplains
found himself suddenly overcome by
little ten-year-old boy who was dyin,
of starvation in a misera Bile garret. ii
scoffed and swore at himself as he di,
II. but II became a regular thing for hin