Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1907-05-25
gentleman and she's a lady, oh, SO

gentleman and she's q lady, oh, so
fine"
Before Meyer had taken his fingers
from his lips, having kissed their tips
in tribute to the "fineness'' of Becky,
the crowd had shifted it's point of To-
Gus to him.
Hello, there, Sheeny!' "Hey, give
us little loose chewing out O. them
whiskers O. your'n.' Get onto his
nibs' hat! and other ordinations
told Meyer, who had spent the major
part OF his sojourn in America in the
streets, that many moments of most
decided Strenuousness were before
him. His immediate action was wrong
ly interpreted by the witty and humor-
Gus ruff1ans. Meyer could not rid
himself of the belief that the carriage
was waiting for Becky and her sweet
heart. To let the rowdies abuse him
there, in front of the house, would
never do; should fine gentleman, a
lawyer clever and smart, marry a girl
whose father he had seen kicked about
in the street? So Meyer ran, and the
crowd, seeing him run, ascribed his
flight to fear.
But all the toughs in the city could
not have driven Meyer from the street.
1t was the one chance to see his
Becky in all her glory and-well, let
them beat him! His permission was
not asked. His hat was flung into the
middle of the street; his coat, that old
Prince Albert, was torn into shreds;
his hair, his face, his beard suffered,
but through it all Meyer, working with
shrewdness and unsupported strength,
managed to keep his face in the di-
rection of BeckY's house.
He had been right; the carriage was
for Becky and the sOp-in-law Just as
Meyer almost despaired the two, his
two children, had come down the
steps, had entered the carriage and
driven away to where it was gay and
bright, where all the people went to
theaters and ate in restaurants with
white damask on the tables, and
where Becky was sure to be the finest
among all the fine ladies.
AS the carriage turned the corner
and the proud vision vanished, Meyer
gave up his little resistance, not even
deigning to cry for help. But that is
not sport, without resistance there
cannot be sport, and the brave citi-
zens of the commonwealth, having
with parting kick and cuff sent Meyer
into compassionate oblivion, left for
their homes, the birthplaces of their
citizenship, but poorly satisfied with
their harmless frolic of the evening.
The friendly policeman helped Mey-
er to his feet when consciousness re-
turned and wanted him to go to the
hospital. No, Meyer insisted on going
home. In his present state of general
dilapidation to ride home on a car
was out of the question. The bones
ached and the muscles were sore; but
even so Meyer reached Chrystie street
in the course of several hours tramp.
He was glad of the darkness which.
masked his bloody hideousness and
covered his entrance to the tenement.
Once in the little room it all did not
matter very much.
The looking glass over the dresser
showed the damages, the bleeding
eyes, the swollen nose and the torn
cheeks; the coat, the Prince Albert,
and the hat, both bought in Wilma,
long, long ago, when Meyer Rabino-
Wiz was not beate9, but was treated
with fine respect, were ruined and
battered, and
But what was the use? From it's
place Of honor came the long-neglect-
ed book, and Meyer turned to it's
pages for the solace of wisdom. He
was not given to much smiling, and
tonight in particular there seemed to
be no good reason for hilarity, yet, be-
fore turning the next page, he took
the glasses from his nose, and, smil-
ing, murmured to himself: Meyer,
you're fool! This is all different.
This is a new world. This is for
Becky, who's a lady-and teacher.
What do you want, Meyer? Amt you
had yours home, in Wilma? Do you
want to be everything every time? Go
ahead and read your book. You're a
fool Meyer, believe me, you're a
fool"
And Meyer read way into the night.
Copyright. 1907 by Joseph B. Bowles)
! irr10n Rueinacc