Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1900-06-17
H BOY.

NCopyllSuls lSt, Dy@I. D. 16WiS-J
Three weeks ago, when Mr.. Skidmore
moved into room 40. he called me up to
his office and began:
"Sammis. / wanted to make your ac-
quaintance and find out what sort Of a
boy were We're. There are boys and boys,
you know"
Yes, sir. but I am a good boy I re-
piled.
Il hope you are, Sammis. Yesterday,
when / saw you smoking a cigarette and
Ginning with a typewriter on the fourth
floor, 1 was inclined to regard you as
fresh and impudent, but now that / come
to look at you more closely observe that
you have a guiIeless countenance and an
innocent eye. Yes, 1 think you are a good
boy, Sammis, and / am pleased"
And my mother is a widow I said.
"Ah, she is. ell, there must be widows
as well as wives"
And I am trying TO pay off the mort
age OF our little home.''
That's right. Sammis. like to see a
boy have an aim in life. If you are saw
ing and ambitious, you will succeed in
paying off the mortgage in time. l al
most wish that / were a boy with some
thing of hat sort to encourage me-"
l had expected that Mr.. Skidmore would
that mortgage, but he made no motion.
He chewed at the end of a penholder for
awhile and then said:
"Sammis, an elevator boy and a tenant
should work in harmony. l want to work
in harmony with you. You need some one
to give you fatherly counsel and 10 keep
you out of the pitfalls of life. Almost any
day when you come up here / will advise
you to the best of my ability. In return
you can help me. AS you go up and down
you will hear people asking for a lawyer.
You can direct them to me-
Eyes, SIR
81 make collections, secure divorces,
smooth over family quarrels and hunt
up the next of kin. l shall advertise in
the papers to some extent. sammis, but in
a general way my work is on the quiet
S as to avoid a rush, sir?'
That's it, Sammis. 1 don't like rushes.
A quiet, steady business is the one that
pays. You can help me to bufld it up.
People will be looking about the build
ing for some one to collect a debt, start a
lawsuit, secure a divorce or what not,
and you can steer them to me-"
For a whack?'' 1 asked.
II know nothing about whacks, Sam
mis-" he replied. THAT sounds like a
slang word to me. In return for what
you do for me 1 shall, as 1 said a moment
ago, be delighted to give you fatherly adj
vice and counsel. l may be the means Of
saving you from the gallows. Heed my
advice, boy, and you can't so wrong"
/ got up to go, wondering if he thought
he had found a soft mark. when he pat.
ted me on the back and continued:
"'Rememoer the name, Sannmis-Skid-
more. If any inquirer should be 50 over
particular as to inquire what sort OF a
looking man l am, you need not 50 into
particulars. l should noe care for the
patronage of such people. And It would
be well to intimate that l have been here
for years and years, instead Of two or
three weeks"
Mr. Skidmore smiled and pattcd me
some more and said my mother should be
proud OF me, but l wasn't taking his soft
soap. l didn't believe he was sailing un-
der his right name, and | made up my
min that he was a stick, sleek old
dodger, and that L would have an eye on
him. After that day, whenever he rode
up or down he patted me on the mead or
pulled my ear and put on 4 tatherly
smile. One afternoon ! sent a man to
him who wanted a oi l Of sale made out,
and an noun later I called at his office to
see if he wouldn't offer me 10 cents. He
wasn't on the offer. He simply laid his
hand on ny head and said:
.'Sammis, you sent me a client, and in
return III give you some fatherly advice.
How much is that m~ortgage?'
Seven hundred dollars, SIR l replied
as i%nnocently as possible.
well, my fatherly advice to you is to
stop buying peanuts and popcorn and pay
it up."
1t was only a day or two later then a
woman came in and asked If there was a
tenant in the building named Higgins.
She was followed by a mar who asked the
same question, and during the day about
six people came looking after Higgins.
Next day the crowd increased, and finally
along came a tall, gaunt woman with
gray eyes and two front teeth gone, who
said:
It's Higgins I'm after, but he nay
have changed his name. I'll tell you
what sort Of a looking man ne is"
She described Skidmore to a dot. and
then l saw my way clear. l told every
body to come at a certain hour two days
later, and when the hour arrived there
were Il of EN-. There were landladies,
~tailors, shoemakers, hatters, grocers and
land knows who else. and all of EN- had
their fists doubled up. / got 'em up TO
No. 14o. 1t was a race bewteen EN- down
the hall to see who should get to Skid
more's room first. They reached his door
in a body and banged it open. For ten
! seconds there was a silence that smelled
like a kerosene lamp dying out, and then
Is yells arose on the air. Mr.. Higgins
had been found. If there had been only
one creditor. he might have tried a bluff,
but when II of EN- rushed in on him he
was Knocked out. He might have jumped
out of the window if they hadn't laid hold
of him.. They piled on TO him hk 50
many tons of brick, and within three
minutes he was a dusty wreck. Then
they went to scrapping among them
selves. and by the time l could get a
policeman the whole building was in an
uproar. When quiet had been restored, d
doctor felt of Mr.. Skidmore's head and
arms and legs and body and said he was
not fatally injured, though he wouldn't
be able to play golf for six months to