The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1909-04-10


learned to nutter down regularly from
Moreue." to the suite Second Floor
Right Front. there to cheer the Crippled Hero
with tho daintiness of her presence and the tnkle
Of her chatter, the "Muck-Raker" took discreet
He had a habit anyhow, this Muck Raker. of
taking delight in situations. Also habit of nick
naming people and things which is what ails the
Arst of this very faithful recital OF very
1t was he who had given The Pallid Child. her
name. She the "Pallid Child" because, be-
meath her very black and MARCHED hair, she had
wistful little face which very white and which
was in piquant contrast to the huttering vivacity
Of her movements. and because. perhaps (this
Muck-Raker being wicked at times), he thought
her. maybe, not quite as much of child as she
seemed.
which they lived Tor had rooms, not to exaggerated
It was 1.-The Morgue' because it was ali marble.
The Joke about this leach of the Muck-Rakers
the marble was not marble.
: The 'Crippled Hero was the "Crippled Hero
because he was not hero: When first the Muck
Raker had met him, and plying his loneliness had
invited him to share his suite, he had been on the
trail Of STORY" The elevator boy mysteriously
life by shot through both hips on the charge up
San Juan HILL few questions had spoiled the
"story."' The gray-eyed. handsome lad had been
merely in the battle of life. cadet at West Point.
three months before graduation while practcing
difficult horseback feat at monkey drill he had been
Well, anyway, when the Pallid Child began to
visit the Crippled Hero the Muck-Raker was de-
lighted.
And in the front half Of the double parlors. the
Pallid Child sat upon the couch, her little shoes
cigarette (gold tipped), and talked and talked
Ooh, how she did talk, that Pallid Child) in
tinuous chirping warbling stream, with little side
And the Crippled Hero, erect in his wheeled
chair, gazed at her, in half-amused, halfapprov-
ing manner, as one looks at child playing, or at
sun-gleam in dark waters; at times he laughed
deep. bass laugh; there came into his eyes grav-
ity which was almost concern.
After while change would come in the per-
The typewriter would stop with clang. he would
gather up the written sheets lying loose about the
table and, humping them into compact whole.
would place them in the drawer above his knees,
then. putting a clean white legal-size upon the
cylinder of the machine, he would sit there listen
ing, his hands inert upon the keys listening to the
words fitting in winged, through the curtains
separating the two Par1ors .>..-..
Then "click-aty-click, click-aty-click the type
''click-aty-bang' it went on with growing :assur-
(and shameessness); "b-r-r-r- bang, bang;
a1d Ssne the
into his bedroom at the rear OF the apartment and
there, all by himself would read the page whisked
of the cylinder, and there, all by himself, would
laugh his fool head of.
What he read was something like this:
DO you swim? I'D just love to. I always want
Atlantic City last Year. Frank Halton was teach
Ing me. Do you know him? From Washington.
He's awfully sweet. But my feet wouldn't stay up;
they Just wouldn't. My sister Eva, she swim.
She can do anything-swim, play on the piano. any
thing. She's sweet girl. You ought to know her.
Doesn't smoke; Nope Couldn't get her to. She
atey fond of music: Passionately. Good music,
Of course-1 don't like ragtime and such cheap
%ae But love- I'm rSs Sea m dd sS 81 seea
play The Sash Dance, too, with all the
variations. Eight sharps, or flats, forget which,
candy in the world? It's in Washington. It's the
BENJAMIN Franklin candy. Frank Halton sends
me some every week: We're engaged. Oh, yes;
most. Well, that candy is awfully rich. Once
ate some and 1t made me ILL., it's rich My sister
eats it.. She can do anything, that girl You should
know her. She's awfully pretty-oh, much pref
tier than am. Nope, she doesn't dance. show
girl 1 wear long skirts. Chorus girls wear short
skirts Or tights l5 They're horrid No. the tights
The Muck-Raker, a-tiptoe, returned to his type
writer again he listened to the words floating in
and clicked and whirred beneath his enthusiastic
nn gers ve. no.. dear how 7,vss IN WASHINGTON
No, Frank Halton, that's his name. You saw his
picture the other day. Yes. in the locket. Oh.
yes we correspond regularly. Oh, of course, for
get sometimes: You must have heard Of his father.
works in the bank: He hates it, too, poor boy.
mobile, all his own. A big red one carries-oh,
sixteen people, think Mother thinks he's great.
She's just in love with him, mother. Funny thing
happened once: He was in Florida, and he wrote
ton and invited to come down. wrote back
I would 90 down with mother. And he never said
another word about it. Wasn't that funny? I won
der II he didn't want mother to come. This sum-
mer, he's going on his fathers ranch, in Texas He
has lots of horses. Mamma wants me to go. I
just love horses, don't your"
He was having beautiful time, this Muck-Rak
or, and a useful time too For this Muck-Raker
didn't mean to be Muck-Raker all his Nfe He
had dreams. He dreamed sometimes of writing
Novel. And very slyly, all of the time, he
gathering Material Human material, which he
labeled Documents No. 1. II, and III.
Anyway, as has been already set forth, the
Muck-Raker delighted with the situation.
But when, after seven weeks tour along the
watersheds of the United States lit had been dis