Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1902-12-24

When he reused himself from his
thoughtful quest he fancied, from the
turn of the hand and its situation in
reference to himself, that the unseen
eyes We're looking at him keenly. II
made him shudder, and feel very cold.
| They left the busy scene, and went
into an obscure part of the town, where
Scrooge had never penetrated before,
i altho he recognized it's situation, and its
bad repute. The ways were foul and
narrow; the shops and houses wretch
ed; the people half naked, drunken,
\ slipshod, ugly. Alleys and archways,
like so many cesspools, disgorged their
offenses of small, and dirt, and life upon
the struggling streets; and the whole
quarter reeked with crime, with filth
and misery.
Far in this den of Infamous resort
there was a low browed, beetling shop,
below a penthouse roof, where iron, old
rags, bottles, bones and greasy offal
were bought. Upon the floor within
were piled UP heaps of rusty keys, nails,
chains. hinges, files, scales, weights and
refuse iron of all kinds. Secrets that
few would like to scrutinize were bred
and hidden in mountains of unseemly
Ilags, masses of corrupted fat and sep
ulchres of bones. Sitting in among the
wares he dealt in, by charcoal stove,
made of old bricks, was a gray-haired
rascal, nearly 70 years of age; who had
screened himself from the cold air
without by frowzy curtaining of mis-
cellaneous tatters, hung upon line,
and smoked his pipe in all the luxury of
calm retirement.
/ Scrooge and the Phantom came into
the presence of this man just as a
woman with a heavy bundle skunk into
the shop. But she had scarcely entered
when another woman, similarly laden,
Icame in, too; and she was closely fol-
/ lowed by man in faded black, who
was no less startled by the sight of
4 them than they had been upon the rec
| ignition of each other. After short
period of blank establishment, in which
the old man with the pipe had Joined
them, they all three burst into laugh.
Let the charwoman alone to be the
first!" cried she who had entered first.
Let the laundress alone to be the Sec
ond; and let the undertaker's man alone
to be the third. Look here, old Joe,
|
| met here without meaning 1t!
/ "You couldn't have met in a better
! place." said old Joe. removing his pipe
from his mouth. "Come into the parlor.
You were made free of it long ago. you
| know; and the other two arn't strang-
! ers. Stop till I shut the door of the
| shop. All! How it skreeks! There
ant such rusty bit of metal in the
place as it's own hinges, l believe; and
I'm sure there's no such old bones here
as mine. Ha, ha! We're all suitable to
our calling, we're well matched. Come
| into the parlor. Come into the parlor.
| The parlor was the space behind the
screen of rags. The old man raked the
| fire together with an old stair-rod, and
having trimmed his smoky lamp for 1t
was night, with the stem of his pipe,
put in into his mouth again.
| While he did this, the woman who
had already spoken threw her bundle on
/ the floor, and sat down in a Haunting
manner on a stool; crossing her elbows
on her knees, and looking with bold
| defiance at the other two
What odds, then? What odds, Mrs.
Dilber?" said the woman. Every per-
son has a right to take care OF them
selves. He always did,
That's true, indeed" said the laun-
dress. mo man more So
"Why, then, don't stand staring as If
you was afraid, woman! Who's the
wiser? We're not going to pick holes
| in each others coats, I SUPPOSE"
| mo, indeed" said Mrs. Dilber and
| the man together. I'VE should hope
not"
"Very well, then!" cried the woman.
"Thats enough. Who's the worse for
the loss of few things like these? Not
a dead man, I suppose?
| "No, indeed" said Mrs. Dilber, laugh
| ing.
'If he wanted to keep 'em after he
was dead, wicked old screw" pursued
| the woman, why wasn't he natural IN
his lifetime? If he had been, he'd have
| had somebody to look after him Wnen
| he was struck with death, instead or
| lying gasping out his last there, alone
| by himself"
| cts the truest word that ever was
spoke" said Mrs. Dilber. It's a 5udg-
ment on him."
81 wish it was a little heavier judg-
ment," replied the woman; ana II
should have been, you may depend upon
| it, if I could have laid my hands on any
thing else. Open that bundle, old Joe,
and let me know the value OF 1t. Speak
out plain. I'm not afraid to be the
first. nor afraid for them to see IL. we
knew pretty well that we We're helping
ourselves, before we met here, believe.
It's no sin. Open the bundle, Joe.
But the gallantry of her friends
would not allow of this; and the man In
faded black, mounting the breach nrst'
produced his plumber. 1t was not ex-
tensiye. A seal or two, a pencil-case,
pair of sleeve-buttons and oroocn OF
no great value were ALL They were sew
erally examined and appraised by OLD
Toe who chalked the sums he was dis
nosed to give for each upon the wall.
and added them up into total When ne
found that there was nothing more 10
come.
"rhat's your account" said Joe, and
wouldn't give another sixPence II l
was to be boiled for not doing 1t. who's
next?"
Mrs. Dilber was next. Sheets and
towels, a little wearing-apparei, two
old fashioned silver teaspoons, pair OF
sugar-tongs and a few boots. Her ac-
count was stated on the wall in the
same manner.
81 always give too much to ladies. It's
a weakness of mine, and that's the way
! ruin mlself," said old Joe. That's
your account If you asked me for an
other penny, and made it an open ques-