The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-04-01
A WOODEN LEG
. HIS CAPITAL
Diplomacy Which Won Old Timber
Toe an Income, a Home
and q Wife.
by SHAN y. BULLOCK.

~
snail's pace.
In II sat O man; right on the floor, and
with his back leaning against q side board.
He seemed asleep, The reinB hung loose
In his hand. His head hung low. Hts
hat had fellen on.
The wind RULED his long red hair. And
while We waited for him TO pun to one side,
for the road IL very narrow there, I Noticed
that he had o wooden leg.
Eli, theref Wake up, ould Timber Toe,e
shouted Mickey the driver. sD.you imagine
people have nothing TO do but wait for you
to. finish your beauty sleep2 hi, Id, hi,
wake I'D, dang your buttons, Ould Ttmbe
Toe
For all Mickey's s~tent0rian ~sloqusnoe,
old Timber TOT sat unmoved. and the
donkey kept on It's funeral pace right In
the middle Of the road, 30, his patience eI.
hausted, down leaped Mickey from his
perch, and taking the cart by fta shaft
ends, swerved 1t against the hedge, enc
wheel down, the other up on edge Of the
road.
: Such rough treatment 70 startled the
donkey that II stopped, end 90 3olted Timber
Toe that be woke, looked about him. end
caught sight Of Mickey.
aEh7' he said. "What's an thisr En-;
now"
sits a lesson IN manners I'm after giving
you,' answered Mickey. 'D'you imagine
you're the only mortal in the worldf D'you
think the road belongs to your Away
with you, for en- ould vagabondl'
But I'm drunk eaid Timber Toe the
while an inefHable sroilo erSpt n his face.
ssure I'm drunk. Cant you see I'm
drunk?'
Il see you're in tho ditoh,' retorted
Mickey, 'and IL you stay there till judgment
Dey, tie small loss Il will be. Tut, you
ould vagabondl'
aBut I'm drunk said Timber Toe, his
smile widening. sim as drunk as twenty
tailors. Can't you see I'm drmk1s
aThen 20 to sleep again, and wake up o
man, !" retorted Mickey, as he olambered TO
his perch, whipped up the gray mare and
drove on.
And as we passed him, tilted back against
the hedge, Timber Toe banged his wooden
leg against a side board, waved U hand,
and laughed.
But I'm drunk he shouted. "Cen't
you see I'm as drunk as twenty t~ailorsi'
Thereafter or u way to the ferry /
learned from Mickey, In course OF certain
disjointed remarks flung over his shoulder,
that Timber Toe was Q local character,
that he had been selling peat in Lismahee,
hat every day Of the week he oouldbe found
on the road and he's always telling the
world how drunk he is, that he\lived In q
certain house we passed on the wayside
and that the story Of how he came to live
there was worth hearing.
100 a-~;o,,a 10 haar that aforv- I,laf
then, however, business affairs occupied
my mind; but returning to Lismahee in
the evening we passed Timber Toes house
again. and sight Of him seated on a Wheel
barrow before the door, his wooden leg
cooked up and him playing on a tin whistle,
revived my interest in him, and / asked
Mickey for his story.
Sure and I'll tell you then said Mickey.
with a heart and a half. But how can I
find your ear and myself perohed up here
in the world. Wait till / get nearer you,'
said Mickey; 80 he clambered down from
the dicky to the further seat, then pulled
the mare into a Jog trot, crossed his legs,
and leaning toward me went on.
you might think by the look Of him.
said Mickey In the voluble way which fitted
30 we'll his portly figure and rudy faoei
that. himself yonder on the wheelbarrow,
with his penny whistle n his red head
and his simple oountenance, was something
Of an innocent that wouldn't know the differ
enoe between q lump Of sugar and a snow
ball. Well, you wouldn't be the first to
trip over Timber Toes wooden eg and
rise all the wiser, maybe.
"He's no fool at all, let me tell you
There's a power Of neutrality-suspicious. be-
hind that smooth face Of his. Twas no
chicken came out Of the egg when he was
Matched.
You think he was asleep yonder in the
cart? You think he meant al that blarney
about being drunk as twenty tailors? You
think he's tootling there on the whistle Just
to keep the pigs quietf
sTut, no such a thing. ALI the innocence
about Timber Toe is In the wooden leg and
sure that's the cleverest part of him. It's
made him what he Is. He has played better
tunes on 1t in his time than IN the tin
whistle.
you're laughing, are your Well, wait q
minute.
climber Toe didn't always have the
wooden leg. Up to the time he was IS
years Of age he wore two boots and he was
a kind Of handy man in the workhouse
beyond at Lismahee. Then he was foxy
enough In a laundering way, willing to pass
for a good natured fool. 80 long as people
didn't keep too olose an eye upon him.
He was well liked. He'd smuggle in tea
and tobacco for the paupers. He'd do his
best for a rogue Of a contractor. He'd
run messages for the master and matron.
He had a grin and pull at the cap for the
guardians.
"And for sake OF a trihe he was ready to
do anything, from sitting up all night in
the sick ward to lighting the fire under the
big skilly boiler. So things went well with
him, and his pocket got heavier.
zone day, however, Billy, that being his
name in thoss days, was carrying q a Q o
-four to the store room when he slipped on
the stairs, fell ten feet and broke his leg in
two places. That was bad enough; but sure
worse was to come, for the fractures didn't
mend and Inflammation set In and when
Billy came out Of the hospital he left the
leg behind him.
Done he was. Never again could he
water the milk or call nineteen hundred
weight Of coal a ton. But be was Billy,
xpt poa