Los Angeles herald., 1906-12-23

that he paid no attention to the cry until ii
was repeated.
he asked himself as he turned slowly around
not disposed to, waste time, by going back tc
! that gloomy old place when he could go
home and look at Bessie.
There could be no question as to who was
called, for Jimmie saw one of the officers
beckonng to him impatiently from the WIN
dow.
Il don't think very much of EN-; but l
s'pose III have ter go back-fur they kin cun
faster n | can"
left he saw there middle-aged gentleman,
who asked him, almost before he was fairly
insde
'Are you the boy who just reported having
found little. girl who gave her name as Bes-
sic Bartlett?"
eyes, sir" replied Jimmie, in faint voice,
wondering what i'll fortune was about to be-
fall him.
where is she now?"
Down home with granny"
Then come with me at once, and show me
the way said the gentleman, looking, SO ex-
cited that Jimmie Immediately decided he
must be some relative, and all his fine air
castles tumbled down at the thought.
The gentleman led the way to the very car
riage Jimmie had been looking at as pat
tern of the one he was to buy for Bessie, and,
beckoning the boy to enter 1T, followed nm,
after having given some instructions to the
driver.
"Where did you find Bessie?" asked the
gentleman, as they drove along.
Cup to Fourteenth street. She said she
wanted to go home with me, an | took her
along; but she was tired before we got there,
an | carried her part of the way, Then
granny told me to 20 over an tell ther po-
licemen what I'd found"
The gentleman made no reply to this, and
Jimmie looked at him from the corners OF his
eyes awhile before he yentured to ask:
Are you her grandfather
"No; I'm her father"
There was a pause of several moments, and
then, after coughing two or three times nerv,
ously, Jimmie said, in what he intended
should be careless tone:
81 spose you think pretty considerable OF
her, don't you"
'Of course / do. What made you ask that
question"
ooh, nothing perticerlar. L only wanted
WELL it wasn't anything, for yer see-say, mis-,
ter, eff yer don't care very much bout havln
of her back, she could live with us, an gran
buy her lots of things when | was man
an'-an'- why, we'd give her a high old
time every day"
Jimmie was highly excited as he concluded,
and he looked up at Bessie's father earnestly,
his eyes sparkling, and every feature Of his
handsome little face showing the anxiety he
felt to keep the girl he had found
"Why, what makes you so anxious to have
herr" asked the gentleman, with an amused
smile on his face. "You don't look as if
your granny, as you call her, had even enough
for YOU to say nothing about taking another
child"
"She don't have much, that's a fact" re-
piled Jimmie, speaking slowly, as he began
to fear that his poverty was the only cause
which prevented Mr.. Bartlett from making
him present of Bessie. 81 s'pose granny is
poor, fur she said that even Santa Claus
wouldn't come ter see us ter-morrer; but eff
you'd let your little girl stay, I'd scurry round
SOS ter buy her somethin' nice. An eff j
couldn't earn money ter-day, Pm most sure
Bill Riley would lend me as much as five
cents, eff I'd promise ter pay him back the
first money got"
And what do you suppose your granny
would say If you were to go home and tell
her that had given Bessie to you?"
"Im sure she'd be glad" replied Jimmie,
eagerly, thinking it was almost certain that
he was to keep Bessie. 81 didn't want ter
tell anybody we'd got her, but she made me-
cause she said somebody loved her, an would
be awful sorry ef they didn't ever see her
again"
"And your granny. was right, my boy" said
tne gentleman, speaking quite as earnestly as
Jimmie had. '"That little girl is all / have
to love, the only one who loves me, and YOU
wouldn't be 50 cruel as to take her from me
even if you could-would your
"No-well-well- / don't spose I
would" stammered Jimmie; "but yer see. /
was thinkin' that ef yer didn't want her, we
could keep her"
Mr.. Bartlett made no reply to this, and