The Brattleboro reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1907-1912, 1910-12-23
THE BACKSLIDER
George AIDE In ColliersD

The story came from the victim
himself. He offered IL, not as an ex'
position of wondrous facts encircled by
holly and mistletoe. but merely as an
instance of sure.enough hard luck,
The man who told IL had been a law
breaker in most of the states OF the
Mississippi valley in which laws were
being broken at the time he happened
along. He dealt largely in games OF
chance, with the element of chance re,
moved. At the old settlers reunion
he toiled carelessly above n folding
table-really sewing table, given as
premium by the fashion magazine for
one new subscriber. The properties
were three halves of the common Eng,
lish walnut and a very small sphere OF
soft rubber. At the district fair he
sold buggy whips and bought them back
AT increased prices and then sold other
whips and did not buy them back, in
volving himself in a series OF compli-
Gated transactions which left the pur'
chasers bewildered as the livery rig
disappeared up the pike.
Chicago was headquarters for the
practitioners of graft long before the
word got into politics and began TO
svmbolize a cheaper form of indirect
larceny.
The lean years came after the close
of the Columbian exposition, the long
strike by the railroad men and corn
twenty cents bushel delivered at the
elevator. Let him tell about it.
~ landed in with the first snow
storm. and my roll was lone wrapper
around an old glove. If they haven t
got it, you can I take 1t away from
;em. Clark street was bottled up-a re,
porter waitin in every hallway to spot
stud game and then write about the
carnival of crime. The pawnshops
were goin' along, but everything else
was cold.
"My one idea all the time / d been
out on the circuit had been to bring
home, over and above rent, coal and
groceries, the price of piano which
was already wearin a ticket with my
name on it. Susie was going on y,
and everybody that heard her sing said
she belonged on the stage. My wife
had picked out teacher that charged
five an hour.
"Well, instead of piano, | slipped
Susie the Swiss Family Robinson. and
my wife told the teacher that we d de-
cided to wait and take her to Paris;
Saw, do you remember that winter !
Many one that had got used to
souarin' up to a porterhouse was
holdin' blue ticket and waitin his
turn at the soup kitchen. Hunt up
friend to tap for paltry casenote and
he d beat you to it.
"About the time the chain followed
the watch, Susie began to wonder what
she d get for Christmas, and | was
wondering Just as hard as she was
We d worked up the Santa Claus thing
and it was all on the level with her.
Got home one night and wife, without
sayin' word, hands me letter ad-
dressed to Santa Claus. I'd taken the
kid along State street and showed her
the windows, and now she was putin
in an order for the big doll with the
blond hair and the lace dress that we d
stopped and looked at so long, because
it didn t cost anything. The Santa
Claus orders had always gone through,
but this doll proposition made it look
as if we have to take her aside and
do a little explaining. We talked it over
and wife started to fill up, and that set
tied it. / remembered that money
order was comm from Kansas City,
and | made the bluff that I'D bring
home the doll. =,
"Next morning / went down to the
department store. The price was four
teen dollars. / told the girl I'd look
around and come back. Say, nobody
in the world had fourteen dollars that
day. A million people iammin around
those big stores, spendin nickel at a
time. / went to everybody | knew
and the speech was all right, but-well,
you remember that winter:
"Can you see me-Christmas eve
drillin up and down in front OF doll
department-gettin ready to do my
first sneak? High class for twenty
years and windin up in the doormat
division. The twin sister of the one
in the window was standin on a table
right by the aisle. 1t was swell doll
all right. 1t was smilin' at me and
holdin' out both hands. l waited till
the girl was around the corner, and
then quick-under the coat, and started
to beat it to the street. L never had
stopped to figure out that a doll cOstin
fourteen dollars was necessarily some,
thing more than plain doll. l squeezed
it fiat against me, and it let out
6 Mama that was the humanist thing
you ever heard. People jumped to look
at me, and 1 started to run. The faster
run the harder | squeezed, and the
more I squeezed the louder it called for
help. A foorwalker headed me off at
the swingin doors, and then l took my
first ride in the blue wagon.
"We had an awful time squarln 1t
with Susie. We told her Santa Claus
broke his sleigh tryin' to get across
the Madison street bridge, and that
papa had been in Cleveland visiting his
cousin. The department store threat
ened to make trouble for a while, but
7 know a connie of aldermen. ~