The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1907-01-09
THE EVENING STORY
HOW Pietro Paid ELS Debt.
(By Sada B. Cushman.)

shoes that passed him on the dry
pavements. Business was slack and
Pietro's heart sank as low as the
hoard of silver in his tattered purse. IL
| 1t would only rain. then the gentlemen
hurting by might need his services
but the blinking stars. half hidden py
the smoke of the great city, found not
cloud behind which to retire, ana
Pietro concluded that he might as Wen
close up for the night. The process OF
closing Up consisted of packing ms
brushes. backing and various lmple-
ments into a small box. and singing
the same by a strap from his shoulder
One watching Pietros closing up
could determine the proceeds OF me
days business. If he moved with
alacrity. the Jingling silver in his purse
promised well for the necessities OF
liie; if he moved reluctantly. pausins
now and then to see If perchance
there might yet be patron for MIN,
the purse was lamentably light ana
Pietros supper must be likewise. ID
night he knew that the persistent
craving in his stomach must go entire
ly unappeased, for there was no more
than enough silver to SATISFY the
vera ciousness of Isenberg, the money
shark, OF Water street, into whose
clutches the lad had fallen and VINO
found means of exacting his dues even
though there were lao money lert Tor
food.
PIetro philosophically as he slowed
away his last brush; i've seed worser
luck dan dis here. Anyhow mother
amt cold nor hungry"
His philosophy deserted him as the
poignant memory of the great soft
eyes or his mother, wistful with long
ing for the sunshine of her own .and,
returned to him. His own eyes hlied
with unwonted tears shutting out for
a moment the sight of the stream of
gay humanity that thronged past on
It's way to the opera. He did not see
the tall young fellow with the de-
bcnair air and shabby coat who
paused for an instant beside him, nor
did he notice the evident struggle that
went OH in the young mans mind as
with Il glance at the dirty face of the
urchin. and another at the brilliantly
lighted entrance to the opera house,
he hurried on. He must be quick or
there would be left not even standing
room, which was all that he could af-
ford to pay for. At the ticket window.
fat old gentleman was wrangling
ever his tickets.
The enforced delay gave the young
man time to think, and the face of the
street child, pathetic through all its
dirt would not be banished When the
old gentlemena had relieved his mind
and turned away, the ticket-seller look
ed at GraySon expectantly but with a
muttered malediction at his chicken
heart, as he chose to term it. Grayson
YEARLY down the street toward that
part of the city from which the rich flee
and where the poor and the wicked find
refuge. Revolving in his mind the
weary question of finances, he did not
heed the approaching footsteps, I'M
til hand grasped him unceremonious-
ly and voice asked gruffly:
What were you crying for, kid?'
"Aw. what yer givin US, dude?
warn't cryin'."
"All right, but what's wrong? Bank
rupt?" with a quizzical glance at the
others stock-in-trade.
Nope" replied Pfetro. Got my out
fit left That's about all though. Bus
mess is pretty dead now. Be better
after election"
Grayson laugherd.
That's right 1 find it so myself.
What do you say to god hot steak
in here?"
They were passing a little restaurant
and the aroma of hot coffee and fS<cng
meat fioated out to them, reminding
Grayson that his evening meal had
been dispensed with to make up the
amount necessary for his admittance
to the land of hearts desire, and caus-
ing the nostrils of his companion to
twitch like a rabbits.
Sure but dis is a bum joint Come
to Maginty's. It's swell there"
They went to Maginty's and over a
cup of strong coffee and their steak and
potatoes Pietro became confidential and
told Grayson the story of his struggles,
first to provide necessities for his dy-
ing mother, and then to escape the
Clutches of Isenberg, from whom he
had borrowed money that his mother
might have a burial fit for a human
being.
When Grayson, familiar with the
ways of the willy money-lenders, dis |
covered that the amount had been re-
turned with triple interest, he took the |
matter into his own hands. and Isen-
at ufr~
clenched hands, admitted that he had |
asked PietrD to call again only that he
might give him a receipt for the full |
amount of his debt.
panion, Grayson invited him to share
his dingy lodgings for the night, and |
Grayson's comrades significantly tapped |
their foreheads at this latest eccen- |
were possessed of numerous eccentrici- |
ties of their own, as men of genius must |
ever be, surely even they might deem 1t |
the hallmark of insanity to take from |
the street ragged youngster and give !
him glimpse of better things through |
the medium of a mode of life that to /
seemed drearily poverty-stricken.
From the point of view of the man on |
the pile of straw, the Shoddy mattress |
seems luxurious, while to the man on
the shoddy, nothing seems worth while |
but one of floss. Added to Grayson's |
treatment of the dago kid, |
they told the story of his hallucinations. |
How in tie still nights he claimed to
hear bursts of exquisite melody such |
as only the great masters of music
might dream, and dreaming, reproduce.
Grayson was only humble student, and
try as he might he could not reproduce
those haunting melodies that would |
give him no rest. With his awakening,
the melodies were stilled and only their
echoes, like the half-remembered taste
Of some childish delight, the name and
substance. color and form of which we
have long forgotten, remained. He
haunted the opera and concerts but he
could never hear them save in mis-,
dreams. Because he dreamed these