The Van Buren press., 1898-10-22


the boy, a little anXiously.
"Well, l was goin' to tell you that.
About supper time Mrs-Mrs. Reagan
comes down, an she says: Have you
seen that noaccount boy of mine, Mr..
Connolly?' An l says: 'Yes'm; he
ohalked up the walls with my chalk
an l t'rowed him in the furnace. |
guess he's about burnt up by this time.
An she says, says she; 'You done quite
right, Mr.. Connolly-thank you, Mr..
Connolly"
The janitor paused and looked at
the little boy steadfastly, his hands
resting on his knees. The boy looked
back searchingly at him, and at last
smiled broadly and incredulously.
81 don't b'lieve it." he said with an
air of decision. "You wouldn't hurt
anybody. My ma said you was too easy
with the children, an she wouldn't
have said that if you burnt them up.
| think you jes' made up that story.
Lemme go, August; l want to play
three-old-cat with Willie"
As he broke away the janitor caught
him and held him for moment. "Now,
look here" he said, "if you get up to
any more mischief down here III speak
to Officer Noonan about you. I'm not
joshin' you now"
This time the boy looked impressed
and went out of the basement with his
head hanging; but he recovered in
time to whoop at the janitor's cat as he
passed her on the stairs, and August,
peering through the smoky window a
few moments later saw him with a
mite of his own age throwing coal at
a banana vender from the vantage
ground of the courtyard.
You can't bluff that kid" remarked
the janitor. "All the same, his dad will
have to put up for new mop fer Au-
gust. He does it pretty easy, though,
as a general thing. He's all the kid
they've got, an they was about IL years
waitin' for him. reckon if he set fire
to the buldin' he'd say: oh, well, we
was all young wanst, an then would
ask if we had estimated the loss so he
could draw his check.
There was a time when they didn't
allow no children here, an the place
was as well ordered as a millionaire s
family vault; but, quiet as it was, ii
KEEP tn agent hustlin' to get tenants.
They was all right what he got, but
there wasn't enough of them, an there
was half a dozen scots empty as dago's
dinner bucket half-afternoon most of
tn time. 1t used to break the agents
heart when some swell guy would say:
We'll, | like the apartments an
guess I'll take them. Here's my gilt
edge references. Make out my lease
an here's my check. l presume you've
no objection TO children 1t KEEP get
tin worse an worse, until at last the
agent took a trip to New Hampshire,
where the owners live, an when he
come back he let down the bars"
"Well, yes, on the whole, l like it
better. OF course, it isn't as quiet as
it was before, but then it's not as mo-
notonous.. You can expect something
about all the time, an it's generally a
surprise. AS a usual thing keep them
out of the basement, but they break in
once in awhile this feller's about the
worst of them for that.
I've felt sometimes like pickin' him
up an beatin' tn dust out of his little
breeches for him. I've got sort of an
idea that ii would do him good; but
I've been kind of easy with him for the
last few weeks. He got to maxim trips
up an down the little parcel elevator,
pullin' himself up by the rope an
knockin' at the panels on the different
floors as he passed. He nearly scared
two girls to death one evenin'. l
caught him finally an gave him a song
an dance about skinnin' him an b'ilin'
him in oil, an l thought he'd quit it,
but it wasn't a week after when went
to send basket of peaches up to 80. |
found the elevator gone.
81 was just goin' to whistle up, when
l heard a scream that made my blood
run cold, an the elevator come whiz-
zin' down the shaft an smashed all to
smithereens at the foot. | knew what
had happened in fash, an felt sick
to my stomach. | would have given
S1OO to have been anywhere else but
where l was; but, seem | was there,
| stepped up an made a grab at some
thin that showed white through tn
dust. 1t was tn kid all right, an he
wasn't as limp as l expected. In a
minute he had got breath enough TO
howl. an it seemed to me that | never
heard a pleasanter sound in my life,
That brought his mother down, an
when she seen what had happened she
dropped in a dead faint. Then the old
man come an half a dozen other peo-
pie who had heard the yell an the
smash, an we had a circus down there
for ten minutes.
"Well, his hands was burnt by the
rope a little where II had slipped
through his fingers, but you might say
there wasn't a scratch on him. When
it was all over l went out an bought
myself a drink an let the kid loaf
with me at the bench all next mornin'
I had a little paintin' to do in the after
noon, an he upset a lot of the paint
over himself, and then went drippin'
upstairs without consultin' me about
it. August put in four hours on the
carpet afterward."
As the janitor spoke leather-bound
ball crashed through the window, scat
tering glass all over he workbench,
and pair of small panic-stricken legs
twinkled in hot haste for the court
yard gate.
ITS what I looked for" said the JAM
itor, philosophically.-Chicago Daily
Record.
Deposed Statues in Paris.