Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1907-04-03
GIVE THE FELLOWS ON THE LUCY MY BEST"
had halted and was gazing down on the

nad matted and was gazing down on the
pathetic figure
No, amt" returned the boy fierce
". An maybe you'd cry If yer dad
walloped yer every day in the week an
twice on Sunday an after he got
through yer mother took crack at
yer just for luck. I'm done with the
whole kit an caboodle an I've run
away an I'm goin' to stay away II 1
starve an I'm most starved now, If
anybody should ask YER" The torrent
Of words had poured forth without
pause.
The mate still stood staring down ut
the small face, which, as he finished,
took on a pitiful look of listless resig-
nation. The big soft heart of the man
stirred within him. He was amused,
too, by the promptness with which his
glbe had been repudiated.
After a square meal, during which
the boy had nianfully tried to mind
his manners and not fall to and tear
at the thick roast beef, floating In
gravy as divine as 1t was greasy, he
told his story simply and honestly to
his new friend There was large farm
somewhere back there, grimy thumb
had indicated vaguely, about twenty
miles from town. The boy, whose con-
vtitutlon was none too hardy, could not
do the work his father required of him.
For the cities are not the only places
where merciless child-labor thrives. The
sweatshop presses out the joy of youth
more rapidly, saps the intelligence and
ambition more swiftly, but there are
many little boys and girls brought up
on farms who work early and late at
chores that are never done year in,
year out, to save the hire Of extra
help"
The boy of this story had stolen away
two nights before the mate found him.
after day of thrashing peas. He had
stood for hours In the CRIME and heat
and choking dust feeding the nav of
the machine, his back breaking under
the incessant strain, for the appetite
Of the clanking monster was insatia-
Bile. AT noon he had dropped into a
sleep of exhaustion and his father, bru.
tai, Ignorant and overworked, falling
to rouse him by shouting, had adopted
rougher means, waking him with a
heavy blow. After dark, worn out and
aching in evory bone, the resentful 12-
year-old had stolen to the barn of a
neighbor and Immediately dropped
asleep in far corner Of the hayloft,
But before dawn he was on his way
anywhere that was far from the merci-
less grind and the grim circumstances
Of his home life. Forlorn, weary, un-
utterably hungry, not daring to ask for
food for fear of detection, making wide
detours through the fields and woods to
avoid the Travelled roads, he had at last
reached tile water front.
The mate obtained permission to add
his charge to the crew in the capacity
of cabin boy. The runaway's duties
now were many and varied, from wash
Ing dishes to brushing the captains
shore clothes. The lake winds, whole
some amount Of work and, above all,
the love in his hitherto starved little
heart for his friend the mate, soon
developed him wonderfully.
So he gayly sprang off the Lucy B.
that evening In the early winter, his
one sorrow being that 1t was the last
trip Of the year, aud followed the mate
up the hill. He knew 1t was the mates
customary journey to the postoaice,
where perhaps letter from his girl
would be waiting. This girl was sec
ond In the boys affection. He had
often studied her tintype that was
tucked into the side OF the mates small
mirror. She had dimples and row Of
wonderful little teeth, for she was smil-
Ing In the picture. But there was no
letter and the boys heart ached. The
lovers disappointment was not even as