Rock Island Argus., 1905-12-30
DAILY SHORT STORY
A eUReLAR's STORY.
IOriginall

LOT a UP IIlaI an Olu ulSeF .iNlu dt
30 street had fine lot o. swag in
his chimbley. Them miser duffers is
Jist the kind I likes to handle. seein'
their money don't do 'em nor nobody
else no good, ms better in circulation.
/ goes TO 80 N finds il a trap. l only
had 10 shake the back door TO open
up. n went into the kitchen. There
wasn't nothin' there but an old cook
stove. chair n a few cookin' pans
hangin' on the wall II it hadn't been
miser's place. I'd "a went away. i
drops my boots. N with my lantern in
my left hand II my gun i'll my right
them misers II die for their money
mounted the stairs. what didn't have
/ no carpet on to 'em. / got halfway up.
when l heered the softest leetle voice
say:
Mamma
''Y' didn't never hear a child call to
its mother in the middle OF the night,
did y: Waal. it's jist like Il voice COM
in outen the blessed regions the min
lister used to talk about when 1 was Il
boy.
"'I want Il drink o. water, the little
thing said. | heered the mother git up.
l s'pecte,i them kind o people didn't
have no water upstairs II that she'd
come right down. But she didn't. She
went to the winder. / spect N must
a got some water. for the next l
heere,i was "a child drinkin' with the
noise they makes-sort o. gulpin' il
DOWN. the mother said:
There, 90 To sleep. sweetheart
Aud instead o sayin' it like one o us
she said it like lady l knowed she
was IL lady. got run down.
There wasn't much To- this, but il
happened in the middle o the night,
and. you know. at that time things is
impressin'. specially Il revolver muZ-
zle at fellers ear. and | couldn't git
the little un's soft voice outen my
mind. nor the mothers. neither. Any
way, sOmep'n ratified me. for / stepped
back. then up, not knowin' which way
to 90. and the stairs creaked.
Mamma said the little voice, did
you hear that nOisek'
"'NO, darlin' Go to sleep; there was
no noise
"'Is IL a burglar:'
"'No. of course not
"'What is Il burglarY
a man who takes things from other
people. Now go TO sleep
But the child insisted on It's mother
goin' tn see what the noise was about
so she got up and stood a moment at
the head o. the stairs. The little III
must "A ratified Inc terrible, cause In
i.ls NV 10 m tor 7 lot
out a ray o. light The woman saw
ii. In the coolest way in the world she
said:
"'You are welcome to anything you
can find here Heaven knows if there
We're anything in the house that l could
pawn for a breakfast for my little one
l would pawn it,
Madam l said, bringin' out the
light. do you and your child live here
aloneY
Yes
"'No old manr
"'No'
Il believed her and. biddin' her good
night, went outen the house the same
way l come In. The next day / learn
ed from the feller as put me on to the
miser business that in layin' down the
number he intended to make it ~. but
his bloOmin' figures was so bad that
TUX his l for Z.
Il couldn't git the soft voice of the
child outen my ears somehow. nor the
pale. sufferin' face Of its mother as she
stood there at the head o the stairs
lighted by my lantern. I'd had big
streak o luck lately, and II was about
time got run In agin. 1t wasn't long
before the cops had me cornered. and
knew 1t was matter Of n few days
before they'd git me. Course when
they got me il meant at least another
ten years time. What 'ud / do with
| the plunder ] had on hand? There was
two ways come up to me how To use II.
One was to lessen my time by givin' II
up to the owners. the other to hand IL
over to the woman with the child
WAL. / made up my mind TO give II
to her l turned il all into cash.
knowed II left il with her without a
deceivin' story as TO her comm by il
honestly she'd try and find the owner.
I went to her house the night before
was TUX. lifted the kitchen h'arth and
put the swag under. In the mornin' I
posted letter to her tellin' her that
Onct miser INeu IN tnat mouse ana
had left a heap o. stuff under the
kitchen h'arth. He was dead long ago
and hadn't got no relations
'I hadn't more'n got the letter posted
before cop put his hand on my shoul-
der"
The narrator paused TO relight his
pipe. that had gone out
They Offered 10 knock five years
of-n my time" he resumed. IF I'd tell
where 10 find the stuff but il wouldn't
done me no good anyway. Twenty
years was same as fifteen To me. Be
sides, broke Jail in three
Did the woman fad the swagT"
-" "'Spect she did. ! met her on the
street one day with a boy about seven
years old She was well dressed. and
4 I f..Il..,.-..i L..r I.,I..I