The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1900-01-29

WIN a suspicious growl as if he
feared some appeal might be made u
MN after all, Con led the way through
4 narrow hall into little room which
connected with the bar. Well" said
ne, what Is it, if IT'S anythin'9 Pm not
up to amy larries, and 81 1 tells yOu
straight"
Shorty seated himself at the further
side of d table. brought out the pocket
book holding it Close TO his breast. and
! displayed itS bulging compartments.
LOOK al That, and al that, and at that
row. said he. and see whether if 1
wants fTee-a1un house on the ayenOO
1 needs to hang it up
Lard Almighty, Shortly" whispered
Con, beT9iiTlS forward with eager hand.
his red neck all swollen from the neces-
atty Of speaking low, and have you
come on the turf after all? Didn't
aiius say as how a man of your material
talcns had no license 70 be a low-dOwn
panhandler? Well. you did touch it up
70 onct for fair. What's your lay, my
daddy buck? Is it sneakin on the in
side. or pickfn' on the Out2 You kin
trust me, you know. Lard, when l
think Of the pile of swag I've handled
for the boys meatin' down plate and
eEippin' off the supers and Sparklers to
Chcagy or N'YOrk. and never wantin'
morn a reasonable Dragon, I feel I've
sacrificed myself for the good OF man
kind. Now. hadn't l better jest put
that roll in the safe for the night ?
Change In o'Rsilly's Sentiments.
Not on your life replied Shorty.
Slowing away his treasure. L may be
dead easy, Con, but you can't work the
same plant twice. you know This burnt
child breads your fire, and he's goin' TO
| do the finanCeeIin' this time lIisself.
| Never think it," exclaimed Con with
/ a complicated oath. Shorty the bum
was better off in the pig, and it was q
/ Kindness to ship him there; but for
/ Shorty the crook, the lOl-lOlly boy, that
gathers them in by the big bunch, has
1 the deepest respect, and my humble
sarvices; and so iii prove it by blow
in to a bottle of sham. wishin' you the
same luck agin, and with honest Con
! O'Reilly to tell you how best to invest
your hard-earned sugar" And Con
made as if he would go to the bar and
/ bring out the deeoction to which he
/ had given SO appropriate a name.
I'm not drinkin' the night" said
Shorty, with a wave of his hand I've
! got my pipes to lay and my schames to
/ revolve, and what 1 needs is sObriety
/ and solitOOd. Nit for yours truly. I'll
go upstairs and turn in, and tomorrow
/ I'll see you furder"
/ And Shorty straightway betook him
/ self up into the second story, to a little
space set off with wooden partitions
which only reached half way to the
ceiling and in which there was q stool
and q canvas bunk. hung like a ham
mock. Having bOlted the door and put
out the light and placed the wallet on
| the stool and then sat upon it, he re-
manned with folded arms and eyes alert
until the light, shame-faced and
shrinking, stole through the dirty end
windows, and the sound of groans and
imprecaLiOnS from the other hutCheS
told that another day had come.
At 5 o'clock on this New Years |
morning there was a mournful sight in |
the main corridor OF the prison IN I
der the direction of the deputy the /
shOrt-time men, whose terms had Just |
expired, most of them old, shrunken. !
broken down and diseased, and all of /
them the waits of humanity, were /
drawn up in line to be discharged. !
With their filthy rags assumed again. 4
this one with a bundle of old umbrel- /
las, that one with a bag of paper, and /
a third With d hand organ. out from
the heat and shelter and the vision of 4
feaSting, penniless and soon to be /
hungry. they were going on New Years /
day. All, with what piteOus signs, with /
what enviOus glances, did they take the /
lOck-step for the last time. and shut 1
Office to an unwelcome freedom! The
cOnvaiescents ran around the second
gallery 10 watch them in the street.
Banquet For the Ex-convicts.
What are they dom, scatterin'?"
cried a voice from the tagging. Not |
going over to the Ball and Chain?"
the price of a drink in the hull kit"
Nope" came back the excited an
swer. BLOW me- if there amt Shorty
a meetin' them: and after a few words
there he is marchin' the gang down
the street, like Coxey's army inwadin
the natural capitol. What dye s'pose
he means to do with them? This amt
election day."
And for the next twenty-fOur hours
the prison had problem which even
concentrated convict ingenuity could
not satisfactory solve.
It was 10 o'clock when Shorty with
his ragged contingent arrived at Con
O'Reilly's joint. Ushering the grin
ming array into the baTrOOm, he called
the proprietor into the inner sanctuary.
Dye see them boys?" he asked Il
do that" answered Con. with a lower
ing look at the shivering group around
the stove. and if they wasn't friends
of yours, it's necked they'd be in about
two shakes"
'All the samee," said Shorty dog
gedly, I'm agOin' to give them as
bang-up a spread as the house affords
All the luXiries of the season, and
everythin' in profusion. Outside of ex-
trys and sech, I wants every man jack
to have a hull choking. two tins of
lister soup, a dozen oranges, a dozen ap-
pies and a bucket of nuts and raj
sins, and l guess the deputy won't be
in it as a pervider. l wants bottles of
the slickeSt lush up and down the table
on bot sides. and a kag at each end. !
/ wants d orchistry, with a Siperate kag !
on stand afore them. IF you know
amy distinguished farmer residents of
the pig on the hIil, with more appetite ,
than grub, l wants them invited Brace !
yourself, Con, and show what you kin J
do when put to your best licks."
DO you want to pay for it nOw?" !
asked Con.
Cash arter delivery is my inwariable
rule with you. answered Shorty.
OWN to circumstances which shall
be nameless."
I'm have to hit you up then consid-
cradle said the man, ''as much as 200 I
Dlunks and risin'" +
Hit and be damned, replied Shorty. .
so long as the Entertainment is resher- f
chy and keyed up to O." i
The Awakening of Shorty. q
There was revelry that night in Con q
o Reillys ball room, with the table a t
litter of fragments, and the floor all C
lfiOat with beer, when the proprietor Y
'aine in from the barroom and whis- a
eered something to Shorty, triumphant |,
n the seat of honor I
Happy Jack Gillespie outside" cried Y
shorty Show him in. man, show him C
n. It's a pity if there's not d well h
,ome left for the fiyest crook in the O
null push" T
And moment later dapper young L