The broad ax. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1895-19??, 1905-12-23

Christmas money, will
you? l got to have
some. you know"
His father, the senior Boggs, looked
at him severely. How much dye
WANT" he inquired.
Bout ten dollars" responded the
youth.
What" yelled the old man, ten
dollars? A boy like you? Never Here,
take this and run along. That's all
you can have"
He handed out q silver dollar.
Boggs, junior, bit 1t to see IL 1t was
good, expectorated upon 1t slightly for
tuck, and secreted 1t somewhere in his
clothes. Then, with a vicious kick at
the legs of the table he made his exit.
Five minutes later he stood in Coop
er's Alley interviewing a bosom friend
Of his, whose euphonious name was
Mickey Flynn.
Mickey Flynn was clothed In rags
from head, to foot, he was the real
thing in the rag line. Say, sport"
began Ar. Boggs genislly. I'm doin'
q turn, understand. want yer clothes.
How'll you trader"
Mickey surveyed the clothes worn by
the youthful Boggs with a critical air,
and his face broadened into q smile.
"Geei Quince!" he returned. "Pu
trade. Yours is as good as new. Sure!
Here goesI"
Il was q cold, bleak day. Half an
hour later q ragged, shivering urchin
stood alone. with staring eyes and gap
ing mouth, drinking in all the glory
Of new sleds as they were effectively
displayed in the windows Of q depart
ment store.
Gee, it's rotten cold" exclaimed
this youngster to himself Wonder
how long l got to keep this up?"
Not long, for At that moment q car
rage drawn by q pair OF richly capari-
soned horses drew up At the curb. At
the window Of the carriage appeared
the face OF Q woman Of wealth The
footman jumped down, and In response
TO her signal approached the boy. The
boy, holding his rags together, fol-
lowed the footman to the carriage.
He looked with wistful, soulful eyes
In the eyes Of the woman.
"Gee!" he thought to himself a. he
looked at her. For he knew her. She
was Mrs. John Y. Pierson, q friend Of
his mothers and q woman well known
for her charitable deeds. But she did
NOS know him She was saying some
thing about Santa Claus.
"Yes'm," be found himself replying,
for he was q bit ratified; ''yes'm, I've
heard Of him In foreign countries"
he added, as though quoting from q
book, hes called sometimes St Nicho-
las and sometimes Kriss Kringle. He's
the patron saint Of children"
And then he stopped. for he had
overreached himself. "Why-why," in
CURED the woman, do you go to
school?
We'll, ma'am," he returned, curing |
his unfortunate slip, 81 do when have |
clothes to wear and-and when I've
had something to eat. I don't know |
as can now, though, fer the man wot |
owns our room is going to put rs out
they's only my sister and myself" he
added, to round the thing out The
woman looked at the angelic face and
the ragged clothes, and then her heart |
overflowed-and her purse also, which !
is more to the purpose.
81 can't be bothered going around to
his home-a dirty place. likely. Ill
just give the money to the boy him
SELF" she thought to herself 81 guess
I can trust him" II she had said this
aloud. Boggs Junior would have as
sured her that she could AS II was,
he took the money. thrust 1t deep in
his pocket. touched his hat. and strobe,
shivering. toward-home? oh, no,
merely toward a large shop around the
corner. Once there, he examined the
bill which the woman had given him.
II was a ten-dollar one.
And so Boggs Junior went from store
to store. always the same poor. shiv-
ering, angelic specimen Of humanity:
q perfect Christmas carol, an idyIl In /
rags, so to speak. But there was one
thing he was careful about He kept |
a wary eye on the police.
Christmas morning at the Boggses.
All the family and several relatives
congregated about a huge tree in the ]
library.
where's Quincy?" they all asked.
They were soon answered, for immedi-
ately there burst into the room q very
small boy graphing with q huge pyra-
mid OF paper bundles. which he
dropped upon the floor.
Here, pop" he began, handing that
gentleman one Of the packages, this
IL for you, and this for nom, and here's
something for the cook, and here's
and % on, ad innnltum. In other
words, he was the hero End benefactor
Of the occasion.
why, where did you get the money
for all these things?" they gasped.
Boggs Junior smiled. Worked for Il"
he replied.
You must have worked hard, /" they
suggested. Nav" he returned, at