The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1906-06-15

Johnny had a wonderful pair OF orbs'
big, brown, wide open and touching,
they were dumbly eloquent; bun
Johnny's appeal was entirely uncoL-
scious. nor was 1t his desire to at
tract attention He whstled. jiggcc
and looked inuoccnt-thcre was q
game of craps under the elevated
stairs, and Johnny was 'layin' fer the
cop"
Johnny felt he should not l!ngor at
the corner this morning, but If his
"frcn should win out" the order
would be coffee ana rolls for two
Johnny had t. live. SO he waited for
his breakfast. while his breakfast
waited On luci-uot an unusual stu
alton for johnny.
Come Crap-comr seven" throw
OF the dice, & cry of victory, an oath
OF defeat. ana Johnny.s whistle and jis
came 10 dead stop together. Joitnnys
"frcn' went broke.
Johnny's eyes grew wide and SOL
emn. lie looked at his "fren'." No
man could tell what johnny was think
Ing, Johnny said:
Yer Chuup,"
tits tough. said his 'lrcn'."
"Dis boiu' q sport IN couple o
cents" said Johnny. in 0ne disdail.
81 tolt cher not T. d. It on an cmp'y
stomick II yer got { gamble ye;
oughtn't never { do It If yer amt
FIRST got yer rcll--an' Il cup o coffee on
the side
At this the curbel1nc winner AMI
| loser Joined forces and sent up q howl
of derision. hurting at Johnny the
choicest bits Of their picturesque yo-
| cabulary.
'Gwan, yousc," retortcd Johnny.
Then, adhcring to his policy of "hayin'
yer say an quuin,' he suddenly re-
m,mhered-Johuny always remem
bered in the nick OF time-that lie had
urrent business with Santa Claus.
Now the big show window and the
Crotto therein had no attraction for
| johnny Johnny had an artistic ten
permanent, an imagination. The dis
| guisc of this Santa Claus was too
thin" He was not the Kris Kringle
OF johunys dream Johnny thought
there must be something queer with
the crowd that allowed itself to lie
taken in by dat wise old guy"
johnny expected no Christmas gift,
but his spirit was not discOnsolate,
neither was there rebellion in his
heart. Johnny's crying want came
from his stomach; he had to live,
so he turned his attention to the crowd
going into the store For a few mo-
mcnts he was lost In moving mass,
then he emerged on the inside Of the
great swinging doors. How dead
easy" Johnny thought The warm
air took him In its fond embrace
nice It was. But suddenly he squirmed
and almost doubled himself. He felt
a hand grab his jacket at the back OF
his neck.
what are you doing here"
johnny shot look over his shout
der and thought he saw giant stani-
tn oScr him. 1t was only a floor
walker.
81 I'm lookIn' fer a job, Don't cher
want no more cash bOys?"
The spoken word would have failed
b.r Iohunys eyes got in their fine
WORK.
"llDw old are you. anyhow
Johnny looked small tor ten. lie
mi.ht be year or two older; but
johnny had to live and with rs much
gertrude as II he had his birth cef.
tnrlte to back him up, he answered:
Fourteen"
The giant looked quiI2lcally at tbs
, midget
, We'll" he said, this Is the last dal
of the ruth, but they are taking every
q body en-. You might 30 up and SEE
! the superintendent His Office is 4
J the head of the stairs there"
, Johnny made for the stairs. Seem
h.. ingly he lost no time as he zigzagge
: through the crowd Of shoppers, bu
. in that short passage Johany sa'
a "heared counters OF riches" he sax
"pocke,books in every hand" and oil
=. Of the pocketbooks flowed streams O
4 money" When Johnny reached tn
a top of the stairs, he paused and locke
n back. then darted across the hall. No
. FIVE minutes later an employe whia
!. pcrel to the house detective:
. There's trouble up there, a woma
r had her pocket picked"
/. At the ttp oi the tirsl landing ther
n was q gathering crowd and q woma
acwaillng n lost pocketbaok, The plai
clothes man arrived on lhe scene, an
us he was listening to the complaii
u his eyes lighted on Johnny. JohnT
was sinking along the wall, his har
Oyrind him. lie certainly looked
y w.; 'gious character.