The Washington times., 1911-01-09

out ne felt tnat MS -FOUR "dlleu
years had earned him a holiday
one day in which to reac-
quaint himself with liberty. The next
morning he crept down the dark flight
OF stairs, stepped through the doorway,
| paused in wonderment. All was as
| fresh, as marvellous as yesterday. The
narrow street was a hustle of freedom
pounding carts, school-going boys and
| girls, playing children, marketing wives
no stripes, no lockstep, no guards.
And the yellow sun! He held his
| bleached face up to it, as though ne
| would press against its sympathetic
warmth; and he sucked deeply of the
| September air. And the colors-the reds
and whites and browns of the children
| the occasional green of plant on a
| window-sill, the clear blue of the strip
| of sky at the streets top. He had al
most forgotten there were colors other
than stripes, the gray of stone walls,
| the black of steel bars.
And how calmly the streetful of peo-
pie took these marvels!
He walked away with a feeling that
all his surroundings were unreal. At
first he expected the people he passed
to look into his face, see his prison rec
ord there, draw away from him, per-
haps taunt him with thief" But no
one even noticed him, and gradually
this fear began to fade from him. AS
he was crossing the Bowery, a car
changed behind him. He frantically
leaped, with cry, to the sidewalk,
leaned against a column of the ele
waited railroad, painting, exhausted, his
known how weak and nerveless prison
had made him.
A little later. in Broadway. he
CHANGED to look into a mirror-backed
show window. He paused and. gaZed at
his full-length self for the first time in
four years. The figure was gaunt, a
mere framework for his shoddy, prison.
made suit; the skin of his face ,snugly
fitted itself to. the bones; his eyes were
sunken, large; hts hair, which he un-
covered, had here and there a line of
gray. He was startled. But he had
courage for the future, and after few
habit prison had given him: "A few
weeks and you won't know yourself"
AS he walked on. the consciousness of
freedom swelled within him. If he de-
Of him, could laugh, could stand still,
could walk where he wished, and no
guard to report him and no warden to
subtract from his good time" More
an elevated train, he shouted aloud in
pure extravaganza of feeling; and once
in Fifth avenue, forgetting himself, he
flung his arms wide and laughed joy
OuslY-to be restored suddenly to con-
vention by the hurried approach of a
policeman.
When he came to the door of his tene-
ment at the end of the day, weary from
the unaccustomed walking, a hand fell
upon his arm. Good evenin', friend"
David glanced about. Beside him was
a loose bundle of old humanity, wrapped
up in and held together by very seedy
coat and stained, baggy trousers,
frayed at the bottom. The face was
covered with gray bristles and quilted
with wrinkles. over one eye hung
greasy, green flap; the other eye was
watery and red.
Good evening" returned David.
Excuse me for stoppin' you," said
the old man with an ingradating smile
that unltpped half a dozen brown teeth,
But we're neighbors, an thought we
ought to get acquainted. Me an my
girl lives across the hall from you. Nor
gan's my name-old Jimmie Morgan"
"Aldrich is mine. / suppose III see
you again. Good evening" And David,
eager to get away from the nodding
old man, started through the door.
His neighbor steped quickly before
him, and put stubby hand against his
chest. wait q minute, Mr.. Aldrich.
I'm in little trouble. I've got to get
some groceries, and my daughter-she
carries our money-she amt IN. j won
der il you couldn't loan me 80 cents till
mornin'2''
David knew that so cents loaned to
this neighbor would be 80 cents lost. He
shook his head
''Mebbe I could get along on Is then.
Say quarter.
Il really can't spare it." said David,
and tried to press by:
s'"Well, make it a dime,' wheedled the
old man, stopping him again. you'll
never miss dime, friend Come, what
a dime to young man like you! An
It'll get me a bowl of soup and cup
I coffee ThatH help an old man like
me lot, for Katie won't be home till
= Merely to free himself, David drew
out one Of his precious Ps dimes; 1rb. d,rtv
wrinkIed hand closed tightly upon the
coin. You've saved an old man from
goin' hungry to bed"
David again turned to enter. He al
most ran against slight, neatly dressed
girl, apparently about nineteen or twen-
ty, who was just coming out OF the
doorway. Her black eyes were gleam-
ing, and there were red spots in her
cheeks. At sight of her the old man
started to hurry away.
'.Jim Morgan! You come herer she
commanded in a hard, ringing voice.
The old man stopped, and came slow
ly toward her with hangdog look.
you've been borrowing money OF
that man!'' she declared.
mo I amt We were talkin'-talkir'
politics. Honest, Katie. We were Just
taIkin' politics."
: "You were begging money!" She turn
her sharp eyes upon David. Wasn't
her. ". >,
help with his red eye, and started to
slfp the dime into his pocket. The girl,
without waiting for David's answer.
wheeled about so quickly that she
caught both the signal for help and the
move of the hand pocketward, She
pointed at the hand. stop that! Now
open 1t up"'
"Nothir' in it, KATIE whined her
father
"Open that hand"
It slowly opened, and in the center of
the dirty palm lay q dime,