The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-09-15
s7Ss<3sEteGtsVs<tsV-s<}sSsVsCs THE STORY OF A BOY
 WHO MADE GOOD
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 MATTHEW


I derstand that he could not reform the
 world, and that his hands were full as
 it was. He finished his note, sent the
 boy away. and lighted his grimy fac
 tory pipe.
 As a matter of fact, his hands were very full indeed.
 ] They had put him there, the Burn 1 sides, for more than one reason. As | a chemist he was young and modern 1 his hand was strong, and his judgment i wonderfully accurate, and for him lati- | tude did not signify danger. Further | more he had won his spurs as an able l executive in the old Fannet works in
 Southern Jersey. where. for some req
 son, only the toughest and most in- I tra actable labor element obtainable. ] And that was qualification here, for | they had set Hanford a nasty task | the cutting of expenses. which means | the cutting of wages. It was inevita-
 ble. as business conditions stood; he | went about it firmly, and the result | was clear-cut
 l One or two of the Irishmen left on
 the spot. They were not indispensable, and tn cir places were filled readily. But when the Hibernian element began to | drop away in lots of ten or a dozen | a new consideration arose. The replace ment seemed inevitably to be German and Hanford was far from pleased. The ! with explosive interruptions and go back to work-or quit. With the new men 1t was otherwise. They accepted direction silently; they remained silent | when he was about; did they object to | this or that, it was in a grumbling, un- der-the-breath manner. Gradually the feeling grew upon Hanford that all was lnot as well as might have been. l Indeed. he took to speculat1ng so con stantly on the state of affairs, that IL
 was rather considerate of Matty to pre- sent a diversion in the shape Of his | injured hand.
 | For three long days the junior gem eral utility boy had been manipulat-
 ing ammonia with an old brass meas
 ure of jagged edges. His hands were 1 raw and blistered, and torn here and these One of them took to swelling, | and his mother applied such remeolai 1agents as tradition and immeasuraole | Ignorance suggested. The hand sweleo | on, and another day or two later was
 discerned by Hanford from his Win dow. He sent for the boy, and looked | at the puffed palm. He saw an abscess that would have sent a f1ner-gralned young person to bed. He found the | hospital card rather hurriedly and dls- patched Matthew to St. Stephens. l In the course of two or three hours the | boy returned, white and weak, and wine lSs . l the free ispensary-creditably firm In the ] knowledge that carpolic acid is excellent | for pyogenc conditions and applied It | strong and sent him forth to await cure l There was angry white blisters now, ana
 the pain was brinng tears to eyes WHICH usually admitted their utter futihty. | Hanford shut his teeth, telephoned his l own physician that patient was comlng' | and sent Matty scurrying up town. | It was a sad call, for the doctor did | things that hurt, and said things that al | most frightened. In the gentlest way ne 1 told the boy that the hand would naee 1 to be poulticed hourly all night; that | if it were not the whole arm might nave | to go: that he must impress particularly | upon his mother to give the Work most | minute attention.
 Matty's mother was housekeeping for a l lady she wouldn't be at home until to- | morrow night Relatives? So far as he | knew. he had none But he guessed he | could do the poulticing himself all right. | The doctor guessed not and rubbed his l bearded chin as he groped for solution Failing finally, he called up Hanford and
 asked what he had to suggest. l And To, at the other end of the wire l Material Angel was waiting to save Mat | tvs arm.
 The Material Angel was going to marry | Hanford She was young and good, and 1 beautiful as only an angel can be. She | lived In a big house; she owned a
 wealthy papa; she drove about In shiny | carriage. On rare occasions she dropped | in at the factory: this was one of them.
 She had listened with real sympathy to the tale of Matthew's misfortune; the | telephone call from the doctor came as | a sequel, and Hanford told her over his l shoulder of the situation.
 The Material Angel rose characteristics ly.
 | ssNait Dick Don't ring off '
 Hanford paused; the Material Angel l picked up her furs.
 l Why"
 Because Pm going to get the poor lit- tie chap and take him home with me. Tell | the doctor to keep him there.' | At the first of the week Matty re- turned, healed. clean, freshly clad and In | a mental haze.
 For six days he had been waited upon | bv A lady in a black dress and a white | apron and cap; and six days he had re- clined on a couch in wonderfully little | rose e-and- cream room, taking his meals | from a funny, smiling. noiseless Chinee, | who hailed by the way, from Japan. 1 Vauguely he had come to understand that | some people have even more than three
 rooms to live in; that some people eat | things of which the ordinary mortal may | not even dream.
 The Material Angel capped 1t by bring | | she was gone, Matthew stood for many minutes in wide-eyed contemplation Of | his superintendent.
 "Say-l guess I got lot more t make
 good for now"
 "Eh? Oh. I guess not" Hanford re-
 sponded.
 Matty took a deep breath. | Say boss. you're white. But she's | shes-she's-
 1 "She Is, every bit of it." the superin- | tendent laughed. "Trot along to work | After the lunch hour the boy appeared again, bearing brown package of many | and mysterious transparent stains. He de- | posted it solemnly on Hanford's desk and stood away. The paper fell back with | theatrical slowness and revealed one of these huge, sinister apple dumpings Han | ford had so often noted in the window | of the bakery two blocks above. | The superintendent turned an almost | frightened gaze of Interrogation. The