Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1902-02-10
JUST ONE BOYS WAY
THE DRAMA THAT WAS ENACTED ON
A STREET CAR.

4 Pocket Exploration That Held the
Passengers Breathlcss and Proved
Eminently Satisfactory to the Per-.
d sistent Youngsters. s
When this small boy,son the Ninth,
street car went into his clothing after
his a fare. the other passengers be-
trayed little or no interest in him. He
was an ordinary, snub nosed, freckle,
faced boy of nine or ten, and it seemed
pretty safe to assume that he had the
nickel necessary for a ride or he would
not have swung aboard, and so the
passengers paid little or no attention to
him. The men, as usual, occupied
themselves in pretending that they
weren't looking at all at the good look
Ing women in the opposite seats, and
the women, also as usual, endeavored
to convey the impression that. they
didn't know there was such a creature
as q man within a hundred miles Of
them.
But when this small boy began to
have his troubles all hands got to look
ing him over. Everybody, it would APP
pear, likes to see q small boy in trouble
anyhow. ..-I
The boy plowed around in the lining
Of the right hand pocket Of his shabby
little o%vercoat, screwing himself into
many possible attitudes as he stood
and wriggled in the aisle, and finally.
after terrific exertion, he brought forth
a penny, half buried in a lot of woolly
stuff from the coat. Then he turned
his attention to the lining of the left
hand pocket of his overcoat. After al
most superhuman difficulties, in the
process of which it looked as if the boy
might get himself wrapped around an
Invisible axis several times in such a
that he could never get right
again, he produced another penny, also
plentifully wadded in wooden lint be-
longing to the overcoat.
A couple Of elderly men who were
reading papers side by side at the end
Of the car began to get nervous. They
pushed back their spectacles and stud
fed the boys movements %anxiously.
"Fare, there. son!" said the conduct
} or. @
The boy gaxed re%proachfully at the
conductor, stuck the two found pennies
in his mouth and continued his weird
exertions to assemble his fare.
He unbuttoned his overcoat by the
simple process of giving it a yank from
bottom to top, and then he dug into
the right hand pocket of his jacket.
That pocket, too, seemed to be lining
less, and the boy had to grope through
1t like a a clawing for the exit OF, a
bag. At length he got to the end of it,
and an expression Of acute Keller cross
ed his freckled features. The hand was
wedged in SO tightly that he had about
rs much trouble in getting it out as he
had had in getting it in, but it clutched
another cent when it finally made ita
appearance. This went into his mouth
to join the other two. At this point the
two elderly men coughed violently and
scowled at the boy as If to say tina,
they wished the internal business were
done with, but the others who were
watching the boys moves looked sym,
pathetic.
The boy next began a laborious ex-
ploration Of his right hand knicker.
booker pocket, from which he pro.
duced and bestowed in his oyercoat
pocket many articles peculiar to boys
marbles, a piece of wax, a rusty look.
Ing knife. two or three printed cellu.
loid buttons, and SO on-and at the
very bottom of this salvage was yet
another penny. All the other passen.
gers except the two elderly men
breathed signs of relief. but they want
ed to read their papers. and yet they
couldn't while this boy was engaged in
his eventful search, with the chances
about even whether he'd win out OF
not.
"Fare nov there, kid. said the con.
ductor. once more tackling the boy,
The boy handed him the four pennies
from his mouth after very politely rub.
bling them off on his overcoat sleeve,
and he said, with a very boyish grin:
II got the, other one somewheres.
Wait a minute, mister"
Then the boy gazed up at the ceiling
of the a and studied for a moment,
while the other passengers except the
two elderly men, who looked ferocious,
rooted for him with all their might.
The boy felt tentatively at his left
hand knickerbockers pocket, but it was
plain to see that he knew that was no
go. For about half a minute he locked
worried. and the sympathetic passen.
gers worried along with him. as could
be seen by the tense expression on
their faces as they regarded every
movement Of the boy with strained,
almost feverisb attention. Then the
boy reached into a back pocket Of his
knickerbockers, brought forth one of
those celluloid travelling soap boxes,
somewhat battered, took off the lid,
and there, buried in a lot Of junk, was
the other cent.
The sigh of relief that ran around
that a was distinctly audible. The
sympathetic passengers, men and wo-
men. settled themselves back in their
seats and smiled at the bow. and two or