The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1909-08-05
CHAPTER ].

CHAPTER I.
THE LAKE FRONT IN CHICAGO.
/ sleep out-A companion = Hunting q
job - Eres lunch and a bad friend.
Steele's store and tChat happened there.
A postttUe young sCon,0n - Number
tsUslve.
n T was q raw, clustering Septem-
Der night when l rounded up
for the first time at the lake
- front In Chicago. There was
just q strip Of waste land in those
days between the great avenue and
the railroad tracks that skirted the
lake. In 1876 there were no large ho-
tells or skyscrapers fronting q tidy park;
nothing but some wooden or brick
houses, and across the tracks the
waves Tapped away at the railroad
embankment. was something more
than twenty. old enough. at any rate.
to have earned a better bed than 4
few feet Of sand and sooty grass in a
vacant lot It was the first night I
had ever slept out-at least, because
there was no place had right to go
to. All that day had been on the
tramp from Indiana and reached the
city with only few cents in my
pockets. f@
l was not the only homeless wan
derer by any means. Early in the
evening a lot Of buns began to drop
in. sinking down the avenue or COM
ing over from the city through the
81 in,
son. but tonight the east wind raked
the park and shook gusts Of rain from
the low clouds, making it comfortable
to keep moving So we wandered up
and down that sandy strip, footing 1t
like dogs ON the hunt for q hole and
eying each other gloomily when we
passed.
Early in the evening a big wooden
building at the north end was lighted
up, aud some Of Us gathered around
the windows and hung there under tie
caves watching the carriages drive up
to the door to leave their freight
There was a concert in the hall. and
after It began l crawled up into the
arch Of q window where / was out OF
the rain and could hear the music
Before the concert was over watch
man caught sight of me and snaked me
to the ground. He was making q
round Of the building, stirring up the
buns who had found any hole out OF
the reach Of the wind. So we began
once more that dreary. purposeless
tramp to keep from freezing.
kind Of chilly" a young fellow
called out to me.
"Chillier before morning. al right. u
I growled back. glad enough to hear q
voice speaking to me as II 1t expected
an answer.
First night?" he inquired. coming ul
close to me in friendly way. "'Taint
SO bad-when it's warm and the wind
don't blow"
We walked on together slowly. a
though we were looking for something
When we came under the light of the
lamps in the avenue. we eyed each
other. My tramp companion was q
stout. honest looking young fellow
about my age. His loose fitting blaci
clothes and collarlsss shirt made me
think that he too had come from the
country recently.
Been farmingr' ventured.
"Pine Lake. across there In Mich
gan; that's where l come from. Hos
tetter-Ed Hostetter-that's my name. ;
We faced about and headed toward
the lake without any purpose. He told
me his story while we dragged our
selves back and forth along the high
board fence that guarded the railroad
property. He had got tired Of working
on his fathers farm for nothing and
had struck out for the big city. Hos
letter had a married aunt. 50 he told
me. living somewhere in Chicago. and
he had thought to stay with her until
he could get q start on fortunes road.
But she had moved from her old ad
dress. and his money had given out be
fore he knew 1t. For the last week he
had been wandering about the streets
hunting q job and looking sharp fol
that aunt.
I'VE can't keep this mp all night-'
observed when his story had run ont
Last night found an empty over
there In the yards, but some of the
railroad fslleFs got hold of ne toward