The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-07-23
MULcAREY AND All SIN.
4 Brief Conversation With Interest
ip.- CnD,nnniouS.
qrom the New York Commercial AdvertiserO


Brief Conversation With interest
ing Companions.
Q7rom the New York Commercial Adverii'er)
Alb Sin was ironing collars when Null
cahey walked into the laundry. The TWO
other coolies were busy. too so none
locked up to greet Their ca customer.
All there, SIN" said Mulcahey cheer
fully. rs it all coming out in the wa -
The Cinnamon thuuped with their ions
inst as if they were alone. MuiCuAey
glinred. lie knew his friend An SIN "yeIiy
well" as he often told the iaundrymau.
Yer manners is iEsuitin," said Null
cahey, but III fergive ye them. What l
draw the line at meself however" he add
ed as he sat up on the ironing board is
the terrible crueiUes ye Be aftleT prGCtlcln'
in the old country. / used to tell ye, ye
know, that l thought your mother agreed
with me about your ugly mug when she
called ye by bad names at birth, but now
/ see by the papers that she knew what she
was taikiH' about and picked out yer name
fer ye with a mothers sJrrowful sense OF
dsUoncy. An Sin. say, is Sin common
name in the old country"
All sin bent over his bowl, sucked in the
water till his cheeks bulged, then he bew
it out in the form of mist upon the collars
before him.
Alice same Mulcahey," he said, and he
thunPed collar and lTCued it. No smi e
lightened his countenance, no twinkle
frightened his eye.
That's what thought" said Mulcahey,
only it ought to be as common as Smith.
But have ye heard the news? All about
the Boxers. Say, l didn't know a monk
had de nerve to put up his fist. Guess
these pugilists must be from a different
part Of China than the kind yer country
sends over here to represent her in the
land of the free and all that. Nit!'
The three coolies ironed.
Say. Sin, amt that right? Amt the
Boxers different from you and them"
Mulcahey nodded with his chin at the
two other laundrymen. All Sin drew in
more water, blew it out, and pressed
collar ready for the iron, but he left the
hot thing on the little stand and turned to
Mulcahey.
Him Boxer no good man. You sabbee.
Alice same Mclean tough. ALE same
uish boy. no good
This was solemnly said, and. once
spoken, the man pro ceeded to lay the collar
even.
IF We said that ter me wit one lutter
of either wan O them two shaved eyelids
on yer dirty yeller face I'd break yer
head! See?" said Mulcahey. "Or if /
fought Ter wan fatal mint that ye had it
in the insides o yer peeled nut O. head
TO be afther givin' me steer I'd wreck
yer place O. business. That's wat ia do.
But ! vindicate We, All Sin, me boy, from
any allecusations of intelligence, though l
do dream sometimes in me sleep that
yer on"
Mulcahey studied his friend Sin for a
minute or two. He wondered. But limo
cence was plainly written On the coun-
tahanee Of the Chinaman. All Sin spoke in
the pause to his associates, in Chinese,
and Mulcahey watched them to see if they
smiled or winked, but they didn't even look
at each other or at All Sin. One of them
answered and ali of them ironed damp
linen
Say" said Mulcahey. treasured, ''the
papers says that China IS a rotten country
no dac;nt religion, no dacint army-and
that US whites is got to go in there to
ciyilize ye up bit. Is that straight"
All Sin made no comment though Null
cahey waited.
They say" said the white man, that
yer a corrupt an un-Christian Govern
ment an that we got ter reform ye Every
thing is bribes and that yer kings take
tips like waiter, and that yer in bad
way generally. How about that?"
All Sin took hack to his red hot stove
the iron he had been using and he wet his
finger to test the other irons, choosing one.
Before he had seized it, however, he an
sFered Mulcahey.
-Pekin belly bad. Pekin alice same Wash
ington. Pekin alice samee New York.
Calcium Tammany New York. Pekin
calcium Tammany. too. You sabbee? Tam
many. him velly bad. Tammany man yelIy
bad. New York heap good. You sabbee me?
Tammany hin not New York. Tammany
Ilish. Alice samee Pekin. Pekin catchee
Tammaay. Mclean man him catchee Tam
many man, send him Tammany man. Pc
kin; aXem Pekin. Maybe; maybe not Ne
no know. Maybe Mclean better China. May
be not. No can tell"
Mulcahey studied the blank face Of his
laundryman for awhile, then gave him up.
Say. here's my wash. And say he
said. don't you shove no more buttons of,
or I'll take ye fer Boxer and do ye up in
one round. I got a good mind TO do it
anyway. I don't believe any man could
be so sLOopid as you look, All Sin. but as
you say yourself. maybe, I-4aybe not But
If I thought"
Mulcahey went out, and the ironing pro-
ceeded without remark, as Mulcahey knew,
for he peeped through the blinds watching
to see if the Cinnamon spoke, or smiled,
or exchanged giances. They didn't. They
caught Mulcahey peekiRg once before. long