The Washington times., 1911-05-11
BIZ WILLIAM CARLETON

AnQ Wnen II was over d ask mySelL
why in the devil pulled that way.
When I told myself that 1t was be-
cause l was pulling with Dan Rafferty,
1 said all 1 knew about it.
1t seemed to me that ANY man who
secured Dan as boss would already
have the backbone of his gang.
didn't ever expect to use him in this
way, but I wanted the man for a.
friend, and wanted to learn the secret
or his power If 1 could But / may
as well confess right now that l never
fully fathomed that.
In the meanwhile l had not neglected
the other men. At every opportunity
talked with them. At the beginning
made II point to learn their names
my book.
learned something from them of the
padrone system and the unfair con-
tracts into which they were trapped.
learned their likes and dislikes, their
ambitions, and as much as possible
about their families.
1t all came hard at first, but little by
little as / worked with them I found
fidences.
passed. Both Ruth and the boy in the
meanwhile were just as. busy about their
respective tasks as was. &.
The latter took to the gymnasium work
like duck to water, and in his en-
thusiasm for this tackled his lessons
with renewed interest. He put on FIVE
pounds of weight and what with the
daily ocean swim which we both en-
joyed, his cheeks took on color and he
became as brown as an Indian.
If he had passed the summer at the
White Mountains he. could not have
looked harder. He made many friends
at the Y. NJ. c. A. -
They were all ambitious boys and they
woke him up wonderfully, i was care
full to follow him closely in this new
life and made it a point to see the, boys
myself and make him tell me at the
end of each day just what he had
been about. --.---
Dick was boy 1 could trust to tell
truthful and he wasn't afraid to open
his heart to me with whatever new
questions might be bothering him.
AS far as possible l tried to point out
to him what to me seemed the good
points in his new friends tnd to warn
him against any. little weaknesses
among them which from time to time
l might detect Ruth did the rest.
A father, however much a comrade
he may be with his boy. can go only so
far. There IS always plenty left which
belongs to the mother-if she is such
mother as Ruth.
As for Ruth. herself i watched her
anxiously in fear lest the new life
might wear her down, but honestly,
as far as the house was concerned,
she didn't seem to have as much to
bother her as she had before.
She was slowly getting the buying and
the cooking down. to science. Many
a week now our food bill went as low
as little over $3.
We bought In large quantities and this
off tod cav -foD hnIiChf
a barrel of -four and half a barrel OF
sugar for one thing. Then as the new
potatoes came into the market we
bought half a barrel of those and half
a barrel of apples.
She did wonders with those apples and
they added a big variety to our menus.
Another saving was effected by buying
suet which cost but a few cents pound,
trying this out and mixing II with the
lard for shortening.
AS the weather became cooler we had
baked beans twice week instead OF
once These made for us four and
sometimes five or six meals.
We figured out that we could bake
quart pot of beans, using half a pound
of pork to a pot. for less than 20 cents.
This gave the three of US two meals
with some left over for lunch. making
the cost per man about 3 cents. And
they made hearty meal, too.
That was a trick she had learned ir
staple article of diet. liked them cold
for my lunch.
As for clothes neither Ruth nor myself
needed much more than we had. bought
nothing but one pair of heavy boots
which Ruth picked UP at bankrupt
sale for two dollars. On herself she
didn't spend a cent. She brought down
here with her winter and summer
street suit, several house dresses and
three or four petticoats and a goo6ly
supply of under things.
She knew how to care for them and
they lasted her. / brought down, in
addition to my business suit, Sunday
suit of blue serge and a dress suit
and a Prince Albert.
I sold the last two to a secondhand
dealer for eleven dollars and this
helped toward the boys outfit in the
fall. She bought for him a pair of
three dollar shoes for a dollar and
a half at this same Sold Out sale. a
dollars worth of stockings and about
a dollars worth of underclothes.
He had winter oVercoat and hat,
though / could have picked up these
in either a pawnshop or secondhand
store for a couple of dollars. 1t was
what you could get at these
places, especially If. anyone had the
knack which Ruth hSd Of making |
over things.
Continuation of This Story Will Be
Found I'm TOIuOrrOw's Issue