Mexico Missouri message., 1906-09-13
Copyright, by LothrOp Publishing Company
CHAPTER XIv.-CoNTINUED.

CHAPTER XIV.-CONTINUED
you know it's so, ma" the daughter
went on, accusingly. zone night last
winter when you were away we dined
at the Balldridge's, in Eighty-sixth
street, and the pavements were so
,sleety the horses couldn't stand, so
Col Balldridge brought us home in the
Elevated, about II o'clock. Well, at
one of the stations a big policeman
got ON with a little baby all wrapped
UP in red flannel. He'd found it in an
areaway, nearly covered with snow
where some one had left it, and he was
taking it down to police headquarters,
he said. Well, ma went crazy right
away. She made him undo it, and then
she insisted on holding it all the way
down to Thirty-third street. One man
said it might be president Of the
United States, some day; and Col.
Balldridge said: Yes, it has unknown
possibilities-it may even be a presi-
dents wife'--just like that. But 1
thought ma would be demented. It
was all fat and so warm and sleepy 1t
could hardly hold its eyes open, and
1 believe she'd have kept 1t then and
there If the policeman would have let
her. She made him promise to get it
a bottle of warm milk the first thing,
and borrowed 500 of the colonel to give
to the policeman to get it things with,
and then all the way down she talked
against the authorities for allowing
such things-as If they could help it
and when we got home she cried-you
know you did, ma-and you pretended
it was toothache-and ever since then
she's been perfectly daft about babies.
Why, whenever she sees a woman go
ing along with one she thinks the poor
thing is going to leave it some place;
and now she's in with those charity
workers and says she won't leave New
York at all this summer"
81 don't care" protested the guilty
mother, sit would have frozen to death
in just a little while, and it's done so
often. Why, UP at the Catholic Pro-
tectory they put out a basket at the
side door, so body can leave their
baby In it and ring the Lell and run
away; and they get one twice week
sometimes; and this was such a sweet,
fat little baby with big blue eyes, and
its forehead wrinkled, and it was all
puckered up around its little nose"
"And that isn't the worst Of it," the
relentless daughter broke in. 'She
gets begging letters by the score and
gives money to all sorts of people, and
q man from the Charities organlza-
ton, who had heard about It, came
and warned her that they were i'm
postors-only she doesn't care. Do you
know, there was poor old blind wOm-
an with a dismal, wheezy organ down
at Broadway and Twenty-third street
the organ would hardly play at all,
and Just one wretched tune-only the
woman wasn't Lind at ALL we found
out--and ma bought her nice new
organ that cost $50 and had it taken
up to her. Well, she found out through
this man from the Organization that
the woman had pawned the new organ
for 500 and was still playing on the
old one. She didn't want a new one
because it was too cheerful; it didn't
make people sad when they heard It,
like her old one did. And yesterday
INA bought an indian"
"A what?" asked her brother, in
Amazement.
can Indiana tobacco sign"
"You don't mean ht2 One Of those
lads that stand out 1n front and peer
under their hands 10 see what pale
faces are moving into the house across
the street? Say, ms, what you going
20 do with himf There iHn't much
room here, you know"
II didn't buy him for myself" re-
piled Mrs. Binea, with dignity; II
fgou!dnt want such an object"