The Tucson citizen., 1902-01-28
JUST ONE BOYS WAY
THE DRAMA THAT WAS ENACTED ON
A STREET CAR.

slstcnt YOunKstcr.
When this small boy on the Ninth
street car went into his clothing after
his ear fare, the other passengers be-
trayed little or no interest in him. lie
was nm ordinary, snuh noscd, frecklr
faced hoy of nine or ten. and ii seemed
pretty safe 10 asSumr that he had the
nickel necessary for Il ride or he would
not have swung aboard, and SO the
passengers paid little or no attention 10
him. The men. rs usual occupied
themselves In pretending that they
weren't locking ut all at the good look
ing women In the opposite seats, ana
the women, also as usual, cndcaVorcd
to convey the impression that they
didn't know there was such II creature"
rs a man within n hundred miles OF
them
But when this small boy began to
have lis troubles all hands got to look,
ing him over. Everybody, ii would ap.
pear likes to see Il small boy in tYouhIa
anyhow.
The boy plowcd around In the lining
Of the right hand pocket of his shabby
little oycrcoat, scrcWinG himself into
many possible attitudes as he stood
and wrgglcd ia the aisle. and finally,
after terrific cXertion, lie brought forth
n penny, half buried in lot of woo,ly
stuff from the coat. Then hc turned
lis attention to the lining of the lett
hand pocket OF his ovcrcoat. After al
most Superhuman difficulties. In the
process of which it looked rs If the boy
might get himself wrapped around IN
invisible axis several times In such
manner that he could never get right
again. he produced another penny. also
pleutifuily wadded in WOODEN lint be
longing to the Oyercoat.
\ couple OF elderly men who were
Of the ear began to get nervous. They
pushed back their spcctacles and stud
led the boys movements anxously.
Fare. there, SON. said the conduct
or
The boy gazed reproachfully at the
in his mouth and continued his weird
excrtions to assemble his fare.
He unbuttoncd his overcoat by the
simple process of giving it a yank from
bottom 10 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
it like a cat clawing for the exit of Il
bag. At length he got to the end OF 1t.
and an expression of acute relief 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 cIutched
another cent when 1t finally made its
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 that
they wished the Internal business were
done with. but the others who were
watching the boys moves looked sym
pathetic.
The boy next began laborious ex
2ioration Of his right hand knicker-
booker pocket, from which he pro /
tuccd and bestowed In his oyercoat .
rocket many articles peculiar to boys
a piece of wax. Il rusty look
Ing knife. two or three printed celIu
old buttons, and SO on-and at the
: cry bottom OF this salvage was yet
mother penny. All the other passen-
81, al,
yrca thed sighs OF relief. but they want
7d 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 or
not.
Fare now there. kid"' said the con-
1uctor. once more tackling the boy. !
The boy handed him the four pennies !
rom his mouth after very politely rub |
bling them off on his overcOat sleeve, |
and he said. with n very boyish grin;
II got the other one somewheres.
Wait minute. mister"
Then the boy gazed up at the ceiling |
Of the car and studied for moment.
while the other passengers except the |
two elderly men, who looked ferocous. |
rooted for him with all their might.
The boy felt tentatively at his left |
hand knickerbockers pocket. but 1t was
plain to see that he knew that was no
20. For about half minute he looked
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 feverlsh attention. Then the
boy reached into back pocket Of his
knickerbockcrs. brought forth one of
those celluloid travelling soap boxes.
somewhat battered. took off the lid.
md there, buried in Il lot Of junk. was
the other cent.
The sigh of relief that ran around
that car was distinctly audible. The
sympathetic passengers. men and wo'
men, settled themselves back In their
Eeats and smiled Mt the boy, and two or
three of them looked as If they wanted
10 jump up and suggest cheers. The
two elderly men coughed violently
again. readiusted their spectacles and