Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1901-07-12
BECAUSE OF A
BOX OF TOOLS
By JANE ELLIS JOY.
4, 'lEs7vsEM~wM~wMM'

NE sign IN the WINDOW, furnl-
ture Neatly Repaired" was all
that distinguished Max Hombach's
home and place of business from the
other narrow-fronted tenement
houses in the row.
While Mr.. Hombach's shop on the
ground floor was full of odds and
ends suggesting his occupation,
magazines indicated that the man
of the glue-pot and hammer was o
man of some mental culture.
Evidently the magnetic influence OF
Mr.. Hombach was considerable; many
were the friends and admirers that
called to see him in order to hear his
"views" on the questions of the day.
In summer time the talk was car
ried on at the front door steps; but
during the cold weather the little
meetings took place in the work
room, where Mr.. Hombach's ringing
voice not unfrequently kept the ten.
ants of the house, as well as those in
the houses adjoining, awake until
midnight.
of course Mr.. Hombach was nui-
sance, but his neighbors bore with
him on account of the little boy
whom he had adopted. "Max must
have good heart" they reasoned
ito take in a strange child and be SO
kind to him."
Little Randolph Hombach was the
waif of steamboat disaster of some
ten years ago. Max, then about &c
years of age, had been one of the
passengers. In the panic baby was
handed to him to save. The mother
never reached shore. Failing to find
any relatives for the child, the man
who had no relatives of his own, con.
Guided to keep it.
At present Mr.. Hombach was at
work mending a broken table. The
fierce frown on his forehead indicat'
ed that he was also occupied with
some mental problem. When, pres.
emily, he heard the sound of light
footsteps in the hall, the frown dis.
appeared.
The boy was coming home from
school He stopped a few moments
to talk to n woman in the entry;
then he came into the workroom with
his customary: Hello, father" add.
ing: "Niiss Elizabeth Bradley wants
the loan of your chisel. May 1 take
it up to her now?"
Mr. Hombach started as if he had
been struck, his countenance chang
ing with the quickness of lightning
Although generous to a fault, he had
drawn the line of generosity and
neighborliness at his tool box, the
contents of which were almost sacred
in his eyes.
"Lend my chisel-to a woman! a
womanl As if a woman could touch
tool without spelling it! My
gracious. Randolph, do you think
am mad?"
Haven't you an old chisel some
where, father?" asked the boy. Il
don't like to tell Miss Elizabeth that
you won't lend her tool because
she's a woman. She can't help that
Mr.. Hombach threw back his bushy
head. while a smile that he tried tc
hide shot out of his eyes. Nervous
and tempestuous in manner himself
of all things he admired calmness in
others. Randolph's quiet dignity quite
delighted him.
"The boy is a diplomat" he thought
to himself "What a cool head! All
some day he will sit with the great
men of the world. Well, guess yol
may take that chisel to Miss Brad
ley" he said, presently, and began ia
work.
Miss Elizabeth Bradley, who was a
dressmaker in a small way, lived in
the back wing of the second floor OF
the house She might have been 20
or IS. She did not look old, but was
still not what would be called "a
young lady" Randolph felt that he
would not have liked her so well il
that title had fitted her exactly.
"Thank you," she said, admitting
the little Bismarck into her apart
ment. She was trying with some i'll.
assorted tools to make n cabinet out
of a grocery box. The boy looked on
the work with interest, and the two
began chatting.
Perhaps few things in Miss Brad.
ley's monotonous life gave her SO
much pleasure as listening to Ran
dolph's talk about the discussions
that were carried on nightly down
stairs. He was still so small and
childish-looking that the fluent
phrases he repeated so glibly savored
to her of "cuteness." She liked to
"draw him out" as she said, and fire.
quently asked what pa" thought
about this or that.
'Well, guess your pas got lots OF
nice sensible IDEAS" she remarked as
a rejoinder to Randolph's elucidation
of what his father believed in regard
to territorial expansion"
Miss Elizabeth herself did not
know what the term meant, but she
had some excellent ideas about max
ing gingerbread. She had fragrant