Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1900-01-21
an orphan in hard luck"

/ am OrOldu III udlQ luSh'
Mr.. Bowser WINGED at the familiarity,
but invited the man to sit down. n
invitation was not only promptly &C
cepted, but the tramp pulled a pipe
from his pocket and looked inquirinsJy
about in search of tobacco ana a light.
"You need money. OF course" said
Mr.. Bowser after a while. but you
| also need something else. IL you could
feel that the world sympathized with
you it would give you encouragement
and ambition to make Il new start.
ct would, sir. Yes, Uncle Joe, you
have struck it dead right. Whar I'm
after is sympathy and money"
'sThe want of kind words must hard
en- your heart"
at do sir. Yes, sir, when I'm turned
away from a door I feel like killing
some one."
ct is not your fault that you are
| down."
Not at all, old pard. I held three
aces and bet all my money on 'em, but
| ought to have 0 on them three aces"
"You would like to make a new sEarr
in life, wouldn't your" asked Mr..
| Bowser, but without much interest in
his voice.
you bet! Yes, sir, you just sympa-
thize with me for about four weeks
| and put up a hundred in cash and I'll
| make a new start. I'll blossom out in
! some sort of game to skin the public
! and divide the profits with you. Give
me your hand, old cock-a-doodle. You
are a trump, you are. Well work to-
gether and make a team hard to beat"
Look here, but I don't like your
way of talking!" said Mr.. Bowser as
he rose up; you evidently need man
ners more than sympathy"
"And what's manners got to do with
it," impudently queried the man. "You
invite me in here to sympathize with
me and pony up. I'm not doing the So
ciety act"
! I'm afraid you are not in need of
sympathy. If you are I've got none to
give you"
ooh, you hain't? What's your little
game, grandpa? Did you call me in
! here to make a fool of me?"
who are you addressing as grand
| pa?" demanded Mr.. Bowser as he bris-
tied up.
well, I'm sorry if you don't like it.
Come down with a PUNK and I'll 60"
I'll come down with nothing, sir!
l find that I've been mistaken in you.
You are evidently an old bum instead
of an unfortunate man"
"And you invited me in here to say
so, did you? Your wife turns me away
cool as ice, and then you invite me in
to hurt my feelings. Old cock-a-doodle,
don't monkey with Tom the Tourist"
"Ill see you out" replied Mr.. Bowser
as he proceeded him to the door.
"And no plunk?"
Mot a penny"
"And I'm an old bum?"
"You are"
Then smell of that"
The that" was the tramp's fist, and
it smashed against Mr.. Bowser's nose
with such force as to land him on the
floor in a sitting position and brought
blood pouring out over his chin. 1t was
a couple OF minutes before he could
struggle up and figure out what had
happened, and then the tramp had dis
appeared. Mrs. Bowser hadn't, though.
From her position on the stairs she had
seen and heard all. AS Mr.. Bowser
stood with his hands to his nose she
called down:
did you speak kindly to him, dear?"
Mr.. Bowser locked up at her and
gasped, but he couldn't say a word.
"He seemed to have new aims and
ambitions as he went out" she said, as
she sat down on the stairs.
Mr.. Bowser began jumping UP and
down, but the cuss-words wouldn't
come.
I'm sorry about my frozen heart .
she went on. "and you'd better go down
to the kitchen and wash the blood off.
When you come up"
He didn't wait to hear any more. She
had been in bed two hours when he
cam softly up stairs and undressed in
the darkness and without uttering a
word. He wanted to say thousands of
things. and yell them out at the top of
his voice, but his nose was swelled to
three times it's usual size, his back