The daily morning journal and courier., 1901-04-22

loose. That made more bad feeling
 and, as Sid's father was an influentia
 man, several boys failed to get his in fluence in start in life because ht l thought Sid had been treated unfairly 1 and they had to come here to begir l their careers.
 | T remember, too, one night when we l initiated Sid into the Weasel Hunters l It was that same old trick of starting ] out on a mysterious hunt on misera- ble, stormy night about midnight You know how it is worked. The green l horn is set to hold bag in a hole in a wall while the rest of the party go off l to round up the game and drive it in l The game is supposed to run straight l for the hole in the wall and to jump
 into the bag. The trick is to get man
 holding that bag until daylight appears while the rest of the party sneak home and go to bed. Sid held the bag all right, but when his father heard of it some more young men had to leave town to find an opening in business life. | Then I remember Sid's first experi- ence in going down to pier to see a
 steamship leave for Europe. A pretty young woman came down the gang plank just before the lines were cast
 off. There were tears in her eyes after
 kissing her husband, according to her story, good-by She carried sweet little baby about six weeks old in her
 arms and moved to the rear of the
 throng so that her husband could easily
 pick her out as the ship moved off and
 kiss his hand to her.
 Suddenly she uttered slight scream
 and said she had left her pocketbook on
 board. Would Sid who was the nearest amiable looking fellow about, kindly
 hold her baby while she rushed back
 after it? Sid said he didn't know much
 about babies, but as this one wasn't t
 crying and the mother would be back in three minutes, of course he would
 oblige her. Just as the young woman
 rushed up the gang plank the pier hands began pulling it away, and Sid to
 his amazement saw the boat backing out.
 "Sid rushed over to the plank and shouted for the man to stop the boat. The superintendent of the pier waved him aside and motioned to the police man to take him away. Sid grew fran tic.
 This ain't my baby!' he shouted. Tt belongs to woman on the boat! She wants to get off Stop the boat! Stop the boat! Stop her. I say!'
 Well, they just laughed at Sid. And finally one woman, peeping at the ba- bys face and knowing a thing or two about babies declared that it wasn't Sid's baby. She could tell at a glance simply by looking at both. Then she accused Sid of being a baby stealer and there was an awful row. Sid was ar the police station it dawned on him that he had been solding something he should have let go and that neat game had been worked on him.
 "Well, they were for naming the kid. after Sid, but he put up such an awful howl about it. declaring that it would damage his reputation, that the baby was taken up to Randall's Island and one of those fancy names like Aban- doned Pier Jones was given to it. Sid had bad luck in holding things, but on this occasion his father could not vent his rage on any of us, and no one had to leave town to find a start in life.
 For a few years Sid got on very we'll and his frailty had been almost forgot ten. He fell in love after several other with Mary Johnson, as pretty schoolmarm as Connecticut ever raised, and there was common talk that at last Sid had outgrown his un- fortunate tendencies, and we all knew the critical time had arrived. Sid and Mary knew it, too, and when Sid asked | her one day to go out seigh-riding that l night each knew that the psychical mo- ment had arrived when bliss was to en- ter their souls.
 "Sid was in a transport that after l noon. After dark he hitched up the old l gray mare. She had had rest of two 1 lays and was frisky Sid fumbed the 1 'obes into the sleigh and started to l lrive off. He heard noise under the seat and reached in his hand, He | pulled out choking old hen. He flung 1 he hen up into the loft and counted himself lucky that he had found her.
 "He noticed that the hen flew after nm Tn rage as ne drove out, but he hut the barn door in her face and hur- jed up to the house, where he got one # those old-fashioned foot warmers with live coals that they still use in the ountry. Sid knew he would be out a ong time that night and he wanted to make Mary comfortable. The air was till, the moon was bright the snow vas hard and all the conditions were