The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1905-11-09

7so~ OF the applicant and decid-
ed that this boy, at least.
would not Skylark, AMI he saw a
chance of clearing i good three dollars
on the weekly payroll. So lie offered
Ccrny half dollar day. and the lat
ter took the place of the 'dollar-a-day
man," who drank too much to hold his
job, and accepted the offer and the
red flag with an eagerness that almost
made Mahoney wish he had knocked
off an additional half dollar.
Corny's place was at the narrcw "
crossing at Blank street, where plat
form of heavy planks had been built
over the deep ditch of the subway
works. At one end of the excavation
was the hosting engine house., and
overhead the heavy wire cables carried
the trolley car" of earth or broken
stone from the further end of the ditch
to the dumping platform near the en-
gine.
Beside the engineer was a window,
and through this aperture he could
see the boy with the flag at the cross
ing. a long block away. He governed
the speed and the raising and lowering
Of the car according to the signal of
that flag.
Corny received his signals from the
man who stood directly above the spot
where the men Were eXcavaiing, and
who guided the swinging box among
the great pipes and drains and condu;ts
which seemed to hang in perfect
network above the heads Of the labor
ers below.
Besides keeping a sharp eye on the
man, Corny was expected to be on the
lookout for vehicles that wished to
cross the ditch and to allow none to
cross while the loaded trolley was run
ming overhead. A bit of rock might
fall from the cal, or horse might
become frightened by the rattle of the
trolley.
The fiagboy certainly earned his half
dollar. There WAS no time for sky
larking, even had Corny been so ill.,
clined. But Mahoney had been quite
correct in his Judgment of Corny's
face; life was altogether too serious
to him for the fiagboy to enjoy him.
self rs did other boys.
When person of fifteen feels The
responsibility of forty five resting on
his shoulders skylarking is 4 long way
from his thoughts. The pitiab!e three
dollars week Mahoney allowed him
was expected. with what johnny could
earn doing chores for the local store
keepers and Ben could rake selling
papers to clothe, feed and house seven
ravenously hungry, active growing
boys and girls.
It had not always been so. Six
months Of trial aud prisation had made
a very "old-fashioneu" boy indeed of
Cornelius Harvey.
The Harneys had only lived year
and half in the city before the father
died They had come from tine old
country" and after ''her man" was
taken, the mother pinned more and more
for the old English village where she
had been born. She eou,,. do but little
70 help support the fanny, aud soon
the orphaned children saw her laid
away also.
Cornelius was the oldest boy. Mary.
who was two years his senior. Kept
house for them and tried to keep the
garments of the younger children de-
Gently patched. No's'y seemed to
want boy of Cornelius age until he
had drawn the attention of Ross Ma
honey at the underground works.
Those three dollars looked biz indeed
to Corny until he began to try to ap-
portion them out-So much toward the
rent. SO much for food. and sIch n
very little for clothing, and nothing
at all for extras. Johhny's and Ben S
incomes were not to be depended upon.
for they varied according to the NUM-
ber of errands Johnny could run and
the number Of papers Ben sold.
And to make sure Of those three to!-
lars Corney had to be up at 6 every
morning. rain or shine. warm or ccld.
ana he did not get back until 6 TT
night. There certainly was no thought
of play in the flagboy's mind. Tie re-
sponsbilities resting on his youEg
shoulders spurned Corny to do his best
He quickly learned the signals by
which the engine was governed. and
he was never inattentive when the
trolley was in motion. Mahoney adj
mitted that the kid' was good ind
for him; but he still appropriated the
other three dollars in Corny's envelope
on pay day.
The timekeeper. who came up from
the contractors office every afternoon
to get the details of the days work
from Mahoney, gave poor Corny seri'
Gus fright the very first day.
"Where's McAdo?" asked the 4me'
keeper, briskly. He was lively young