Richmond daily palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1876-1904, 1902-01-25


Passengers nreath.e=S mad Proved
.Iss~nt NeungsEer-
When this small boy on the Ninth
street ca went Into lis clothing after
i.is ear fare. the other passengers he
irayed l.ttlt or no Interest ia him. He
was an ordinary. snub uoSs.d frecklt.
faced boy of nine or ten. aud Il seemed
pr,atif SAFE II assume that he had the
nje.-.l necessary Tor a ride or ht would
not naVe Swung aboard. and 50 the
passan.., pad little or no attention 10
him Lac men. as usual. occupied
themselves in pretending that they
weren't looking: III all ut the good look
ing women in the opposite seats. and
the women also as usual. endea vored
to convey the impression that they
didn't know there was such a creature
as a man within a hundred miles OF
them.
But when this small boy began 10
have his troubles all hands got To look
ipg him over Every body. it would ap-
pear likes to see small boy in trouble
anyhow.
The boy plowed around in the lining
OF the right hand pocket of his shabby
little overcoat. screwing himself into
many possible attitudes as he stood
and wriggled in the aisle and finally.
after terrific ex nrtion he brought forth
a penny. half buried in a lot OF woody
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 il looked as If the boy
might gel himself wrapped around an
invisible axis several times in such II
manner thai he could never get right
again he produced another penny. also
plentfuIly wadded in wooden lint be
longing To the ovpr-oat
y couple of elderly men who were
reading papers side by side AT the end
of the ear began 10 get nervous They
pushed back their spectacles and stud
led the boys movements anxiously-
Fare. there. som said the conduct
The boy eHzed reproachfully 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 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
IL like cat clawing for the exit Of a
bag. At length he got TO the end of IL,
and an expression of acute relief cross
ed his freckIed features. The hand was
in D a
as much trouble in getting it out as he
had had in getting it in. but il clutched
another cent when 1t finally made its
appearance This went into his mouth
10 join the other two. At this point the
two elderly men coughed violently and
scowled at the boy as il to say that
they wished the Internal business We're
done with, but the others who were
watching the boys moves looked sym
pathetic.
The boy next began a laborfous ex-
pIoration of his right hand knicker-
booker pocket from which he pro
duced and bestowed in his overcoat
pocket many articles peculiar TO boys
marbles. a piece of wax. a rusty look
ing knife. two or three printed ceilu
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 or
not
Fare now 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 oyercoat sleeve.
and he said. with a very boyish grin:
Il got the other one somewhe
Wait a 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 ferocious.
rooted for him with al their might.
The boy felt tentatively at his left
hand knickerbockers pocket. but If was
plain to see that he knew that was no
go For about half a minute be looked
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 feverish attention Then the
boy reached into a back pocket of his
knickerbockers, brought forth one of
those celIuioid travelling soap boxes.
somewhat battered. took of the lid.
aud there. buried in a 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
seats and smiled AT the boy. and two or
three of them looked as if they wanted
to jump up and suggest cheers The
two elderly men coughed violently
dir1s the.sr sr.o1.ts ii. nd