The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-12-26


the fact that it is cold outside and that
other people are suffering does not seem
to affect one as it should. y, So, when she
said that Celestine wanted to speak to me,
1 looked cross, felt irritated,N and 1 got
up with no outward show of arniability,
for there was no inward feeling Of that
sort And / never was a good actress.
Celestine is our laundress. She is large.
Indeed, she seems to be one huge smile
that weighs nearly 800 pounds. In de
scribing herself she invariably says that
she is duff" and though that may be
the color of Celestine's skin, she has the
whitest heart that was ever made. When
she saw me, she put up her hands and
said ITS Jo." 1 looked annoyed, and
Celestine looked apologetic and then, after
a moments silence, during which 1 got
back to my normal good nature, she said,
1T does seem as if there weren't no place
for him." Then l felt a pain right in my
heart Christmas week and no place for
a boy II years old! A city full of million
aires and not a human being but poor
colored laundress to care for this boy.
This as the story of 10. He's just 10. If
he ever had another name, it has been
forgotten He was boy who always SEEM
ed all corners; who never looked comfort
"a able. In winter time his hands were chap
ped, and his feet were frostbitten. In the
summer time he had the ehills, and he had
The hives. Originally 10 came from the
poorest part of North Carolina. He was
the son of a colored preacher who was
great on telling his congregation about
oh and good Will ana
who beat 10 so dreadfully that when he
was years old the elders of the church
complained to the justice of the peace 10
was put on a baggage train and stole ms
way 10 New York, and then some society
took care of him, and finding that he mad
more aches and pains and was more ami
able than the average boy the society
boarded him out, paying the muhlnceht
sum of 81 per week for his keep Dollars
being scarce, Celestine took him, ana
through my acquaintance with her met
him. For several years, in the intervals
of his various ills, he ran our errands ana
was recommended by us TO anybody VINO
wished a handy boy. But, alas! for poor
10. Whenever he got what might be called
a permanent situation, his PROSTITUTES over
came him, or his hives got the better OF
him, according TO the season, and he would
return to Celestine as an undesirable piece
of goods Then, through another society,
farmer took him, and for once in his life,
10 was happy. He not only had enough
to eat but he absolutely had |
time to play. He grew to know every
bird and every flower in that county, and
he sent me a snake skin for present,
while Celestines little boy had a box or
fresh eggs come to him, laid. especially
TO order by a small black hen that the
farmers wife had given 10 for his, very
own. But Celestine and l felt that ms
couldn't last. 1t was too good. so after
ten months of absolute happiness 10 was
returned to us. He had trod on. a rusty
nail and it had gone into his bare foot
and the farmer was afraid that lockJaw
would result Then 10 got into hospi- |
tai He liked ii pretty well there, but
having tasted the delights of country life
YOU cannot blame him for not wanting to |
stay in bed with one foot tied up, could
you? He was declared better and put
out.
Poor 10 was not strong enough to work. |
The farmer refused to take him back, |
still fearing lockjaw, and up TO this time
he has been living with Celestine, and |
my church money has gone toward sup |
porting him My church money, by the |
i've IS a fction-that is, so far as church |
Is concerned At the Friends meeting |
they do not take up a collection, and so |
l keep my church money for whoever |
NAV need it, And you would be surprised |
to know the number of demands there |
are for It. little as il is Now, Celestlne |
had come to tell me that it seemed as il |
JOS foot was getting bad again, and scill |
they would not take him at the hospital. |
The church money was got out, ana Ce- |
lestine was given note TO the most fash |
ionable and the most cynical man know. |
He responded to it by bank note and |
some other things and to-day | went to |
see 10 10 is not buff. He is distinctly |
blank and when he laughs, and for all |
his troubles, he does laugh once in aWhlle, |
he shows the Whitest teeth you ever saw |
I had DaSSpd the |
compliments of the day with him he said, |
missy, that there gentleman sent me the |
most comfy nightgown you ever seed. L |
looked at him then, and saw that 10 |
was robed in a soft flannel gown, win /
the collars and cuffs embroidered IN pale |
blue, and l realized that my fashionable |
and cynical friend had responded in more |
than one way to my request.
Then 10 went on to talk, for he was |
pretty sick, and his brain was wandering. |
After little bit he asked: "Ain't il queer. |
Missy, that all over this we're big world |
there don't never seem to be any place |
for 10? What is the matter with me? |
I amt like the lepers in the Bible l
amt got anything the matter with me |
cent a nail in my foot but just as shore |
as / go to a place just so shore there |
something happens to me, and people say.
10 you've got to git some place else
Out there in the country II did seem as II |
il was big enough for the other people |
and for me- too. But, no, that tnete nan
had TO go and get in my foot, and that |
there farmer gentleman said, 10, Ise
afeard you might get something wrong |
with YOU And here ] comes back to Ce-
lestine, and Celestine's got plenty of her i
own to keep, and there don't so many peo-
pie give out washing nowadays. Celes-
tine teached me to iron, and could help |
her on the rough pieces. But, no, there
had to come a dull sort of feeling in my /
hand, and can't hold the iron, and I'm
afeard will drop it on some of the chill
len. and Missy Celestine, she's put me
in her bed. It's mighty pleasant being
here, but it don't seem right. L seems /
place and as If there wasn't no place In
the world for Jo."
The doctor came in then, and he looked
at Celestine and he looked at me, and he /
asked me If the boy had any relatives, |
and i told him none by the ties Of blood, /
but one by the grace of God-the woman |
IN whose house he was staying-and |
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