Evening star., 1909-06-06
Around the City

| He was a lank youngster. with the bones
of future athlete. the freckles of
street kid and the blush of a girl. And
he was escorting a chubby baldheaded
man into a downtown cafe. When they
| were seated at a table with waiter
girl on the side, the youngster grabbed
the typewriter menu list and passed it
to the man with an air of tremendous
! Importance:
"Order anything you want. dad, ex-
cept rorterhouse and mushrooms. Wen
have to save that till 1 get my first
raise. Hows cold ham and lettuce
with pot that holds coffee for two?"
| Dad beamed in favor of the cold ham
layout. and the boy penciled the order
in extra big letters on yellow pad
/ When he had handed the slip to the
| waiter girl. he resumed his explanation
| with a carefulness that showed for seri-
Gus study of conditions
| You see. dad. I've got to set up ice
| cream for nom and Mabel, and be pro-
| vided in case they ask for cake-and l
! promised Bob soda and two nickels
and | thought I'd like to take Nellie
| Blank TO the moving pictures and treat
her afterward to a trolley ride. with
soda at the end, and-you've got to have
| a cigar on me-
i
and dad must have known that he
was taking the whole thing in, he said
TO him confdentially while the boy
walked toward the cash register holding
cstentatiously the most valuable five-dol
! lar bill he will ever own in all his life:
! MY hoy got his first wages this morn
4 ing, and he's bound to give all treat
I'm proud of the youngster. because it
shows he loves US and has the making
of man in him. but, someway, a fell
| low hates TO lose his little boy
An uncomfortable fat man bough, a
! paper from tush-toothed boy. As he
was putting the change in his vest pocket
| dime fell on the bricks and the boy
| dived for it. But the man covered the
| coin with his foot.
! Hold on. YOU little rascal. | don't like
| your precipitance. Take off your hat sir
and lets the shape of your head"
| The boy took off his cap with a grin
that showed every white tush in his
mouth-clear back
We'll. sir. your Uranium is all right
and like that blue twinkle In your eyes
| But I've got my doubts about your fin
| gers. Now. son. I'm going to make a
practical demonstration of Your feet. I'm
so stout couldn't stoop to pick up a for
tune, so III just move my foot off this
money and watch results. If you live up
to your head you will hand me the dime
like gentleman. If you hike off with it
you will probably call it taking advantage
OF the market and grow up into mil
| lonaire trust corporation Now then:
One for the money. two for the show
three to make ready and four for to-
| He moved his foot. the kiddie swooped
down for the coin and flew around the
corner.
You blanked little rascal, You blankety
blank young scalawag. You blinkety
blan nix little"
And by that time the boy was back
with the same sort of grim only more
ND 1,n, 10 IL,
dime.
There is an old house downtown that
has been closed for many years. Its
double-front is gray with age; fallen
plaster shows patches Of brick, and its
| woodwork is warped and paint-peeled.
| A woman who passed by one morn ing
noticed that the door stood open and that
| a man was cleaning a window. Maybe
she was an Eskimo in her belief that in
| animate things have feeling, for she said
| to the ancient house:
4 am glad for you. old friend. 1t will
be a blessed thing 10 feel the breeZes
and sunshine again. Good luck to you"'
At dusk The Eskimo woman. in re-
turning, found the pavement cluttered
with rickety stoves and job lot Of
tables and chairs. 1t seemed an occasion
| for consolation.
I'm afraid YOU are going to be tene-
ment. and I'm sorry. Still. it will he
the beginning of new life"
Who wants to begin a new life with
old furniture.' protested the house. in
a voice that only an Eskimo woman could
possibly have heard, MY dear. I'm a
secondhand shop. could have taken
kindly to dodgers. Oh I'm not foolish
| in my pride. l knew what Ii was to
keep boarders after my people passed
on-hut junk MY old parlors, my proud
old parlors where there used to be state
ly mahogany and great mirrors"
/ II remember. l saw myself in one of
1 hav hon 7 1r-aS oh lny,ty
| time ago"
Stacked. my dear. with worn mattings
and faded rugs and bed things-and up in
my beautiful chambers where my people
were born and where they left me for
other houses not made by hands-there
is more mating and rugs and bed things
ah. my dear, it is better to die with ones
kind than to live by grace o. the sans
culotte."
And so. last night, when the woman
found the pavement free of truck the
house closed and the signs taken away.
she said TO herself-or, maybe, she said
expect from an Eskimo woman:
Il am glad God is good to me. For 1
am like you. I would rather he dead
with my kind than TO live by grace of
| the sans culotte.'
| A man on the front bench Of an open
| car moved up to give the end seat to
a woman. When the car stopped for an
l
| front the woman who had been given
| the end seat made her pass over. Then
| the man who had moved up said to the
man his other side:
| This thing happens nearly every time
| move up for a gentle sister,"
Ever notice?
Two young men got in car One
| had weak eyes. a high. twangy voice
| and cotton In his ears. The other was
more wholesome looking. but nothing to
| brag of The weak eyed one fumbed In
| his pocket and then said to the other:
| You pay my fare and don't keep the
con waiting. I'll get the change in
| a minute
| The other gave the conductor two tick
| cts, whereupon the weak eyed one ceased
| fumblng. to remark:
| Now. we are even You owed me a
| nickel
"Owe you nothing. When did you ever
| have nickel to lend anybody?"
| The weak eyed one figured with his
| fingers until he brought worry lines
| between his eyes. Then he got piece of
| paper and a stub Of yellow pencil. Then
! he said.
i FOIL