The Farmington times and herald. (Farmington, St. Francois Co., Mo.) 1902-1905, 1903-04-16
BUSTER" AND KID"

He was small and dirty. and his attire was
fragmeniary; indeed. - much so, that the
casual observer wondered now he managed |
o keep inside Of It. His appearance was
egaiust him, and his language rcplete |
with adjeclycs of a kind not used IN polite
society open TO Improvement; hut ne
had ne rirtue--thst one wn!cn N sad by
prc'-, newspaper and coBsetsaiionalists
generally, to be a tang Of the past chival.
~, He WAS only ten, hut III la short lie
mad seen and suffered As much a. :nsny thrice
ME age His parents were dead, watch was
.oraaps good thing, hls !at'tr !avine
hccn more in than out OF prison, and ms
mothcr-Ncll, the ieSs raid OF Crr ,ec bet
'cr: Over .indU ger cc IN stlmu,aut~ having
been tire least ~ uer numerous weaknesses.
L should he mcutiunoa for the benefit OF
the umnitiatcd, tas, he took his ,ohrquet
II Buster" from a fondness for that deli.
clcy GALES! "a buster namely, a haHpenny
rnll in which kc INDUCED wGen IN funds.
"Bustcr" had TO relations worth men.
tiouug, hut he Lad taken under hi pro.
lection young lady aged six, who-e pa.
rent, were much the same ns his OWL, except
that A. they still adorned this world, she
nad. in addition to starvation, to endure
Cuui ~f bl IlbNS hllN 'HlftH " it'HfNtI WV
parents aforc,ali happened to be in a bad
temper. whitn wla always In fact but for
"Bu,tcr's" protection, the child must have
aucrumbod 10 this treatment: but she flew
to him whenever things got too bad, and
though he could not Gght for her like
knight OF old. he kept her away from her
mother, and fear the means he sometimes
took were such as would be condemned by
L T. A.. tltHt
brat o. mine. 'Bu.trr':" the mother would
say. and Buster" would reply-wcll know.
ing .hat the child was slowed away beneath
a coster's harrow close hy-"Nus ~scd her
coin long the Cnt. bout ten minutes age -
and when tAe mother had departed. vowlne
vengeance on the little unfortunate,
Buster" would haul the child out Now
kid come on. shes of. and 'ope she'll get
run in, that's all Come on, young I'm, now
for supper supper being in aiiusnt time-
fried fish and potatoes which they took on
the nearest doorstep.
But there came a time when "Bustcr's'
luck seemed to desert him, competition IN
the match and newspaper trade lott him
behind and both he and the kid, a. he
called her, grew thin, and, II possible. more
ragged than ever. Now, poor Buster,
though hi. religions training was .canty.
had decided notions OF right and wrong,
particularly rs TO the rights OF property,
for. as he said, 1T nin't fair for anybody
to collar my whites, and |'po-c It am
fair for m" 20 collar their.
+ "Ru.tcr" and "thr kid" were wandering
. about hand in hand one night. raw fog
seeming to penetrate their very bones, ind
buster" Wa, gloomy, for there would be
a no fish and taters" tonight, for he wa'
broke" a. he expressed it. tie hid" was
n CRYING too, and altogether thing, were not
8 cheerful. but at last buster grew des
J. perate Cheer up, kid, laid he and Wal,
q ere" and placing htr on a convenient door
/. step. he ran of 20 the fish shop lie patron
zcd. and demanded the usual Where,
g the money" demanded the proprietor.
e Amt got none. youll have to chalk ii
up, replied buster"
J. Not me" said the man, mo tick here
:, 50 on. YOU co.
n And ont buster" went. back to his lit
n tie charge, expressing his opinion % The
% fsh-mnn in uucompliucntary terms
l., nut he couldn't let "tbc kid" g,
e hungry. and he wouldn't, either; h
returned to the shop and as the maj
/. placed a tempting helping Of Fish and
). ratcr~"- in ucwSpaper-on the counter
Z! Buster" snatchcd it up, and holtcd
: "Slop i'm" yelled the man. and tn,
50 crowded shop WAS empty in n moment
everything forgotten but the chase
buster" ran his hardest and had al
,e most reached the kid, whcn-a chou
y and horse pulled up suddenly Too late
IN "Bu~tcr" wa4 under the horses feet, bu
with his prize in hi, hands unchanged; be-
scrambled to hi, feet. only TO he colarcd b,
r. the fsn man, who bawled for the police
q but ju.t then "thc kid" struggled throug
A, the crowd in time to see the boy handle,
over to the policeman. who took him w.
- the arm in tine usual stolil way, and march
in ed him of They had not gone dogc
n, wards before "Buster" dropped "lIulloa
~ what. the game" said the policeman. hu
- hi- face changed when he looked at the boy
rs ard picking INN NJ. he carried him wit
It rapid strides TO the nearest surgery tn
doctor after a quick examination, shoe
,c hi. head The isa-mnn, who had pushed hi
~, way in. remarked. Come on. take i'm al
III to the office. | can't stay ere all night"
p "Ncry well. my friend, Il yhu can't stay
&c, ont. the boy is dyiug--what Is the b.
to he taken to the station for"
Stealing from my shop rcioined III
- other
"Hem never steal again" ,aid the do
tor
"Nor never did. nforC." said Buster.
Il. fccbly ~ say. mister. am goin' to die
-. The doctor looked kecnly at the boy, an
" then .ail gently. "Ycs. my boy"
Is Soon" asked Buster"
a. "Ycs"
Il. "Wcll, it don't matter much, " said N
boy, but, say mister, who'll look aft,
sc the kid when I'm gone" and the doctC
,ir snid hc.itatiugly "God will take care
lc. her"
"a "Nh." said the boy. 81 'opc He will, b,
'' shc's had rough time If it. .ay. II
rs narson what comes down our court used I,
OF say somcthin' bout stealing being sin vi
my prisging that bit O fish be scor,
against me- Yer see. | didn't take it f
w myself it WAS fer tho kid ! couldn
an let her 60 ungrv- and she amt got no OF
RS clsc-guod bye" and the hoy turned ov
re- IN his face and with SILVER Buster
- spirit took wing,
hn "Bloomin little thief" said the fsh.ma
rs "Takc yourself of. " said the doctor. ~
N. less YOU wish to be put outside"
-, "Who's agoin' to do IT," sneercd II
w., man. "ynu touch me. that's ALL an III gi'
=" you in charge for aesault"-hut there Il
,s representative Of law and order bore dow
~, npon the fsh.man. and before that wortl
w s quite realized what was happening he W
-" out in the street with the definite promi
iu;s Of summons for "heing drunk and disc
I' DERBY and ob4tructing the police"
!" And the doctor locking down at the !
%. lie form with H. pinched face. said soft
~ 10 himself. "Will tha, be scored up again
ID him. WONDER Temple Magazine.