Evening journal., 1912-05-02
How Tommy Was
Found by His
Old Mummy
By F. A. Mitchell

couldn't get on without his mother,
and his mother couldn't get on without
him. was always afraid of losing
him, for when a man with a grind
organ and a monkey came along Tom
would follow him. and many times l
thought / had lost my boy for good.
Once he was brought home by a po-
liceman and once l had to go to the
station for him.
Tommy's father died when he was
seven, and my boy said, Mummy,
you'll have me with you always, won't
youT' And l said: Il wish l might.
Tommy, but you'll grow up to be
man and have a wife and children Of
your own. oh. dearie me, ] wish you
could always remain little boy~ But
/ Tom said he hated girls and would
never have anything to do with any
of them: he would always stick to his
dear old mum.
But nature requires that boys and
/ girls should break away from their
parents and become parents them
selves. Tom stuck to me as long as he
could, but he was a manly boy and
grew into a manly man. He could
never content himself in the little
town where we lived, and when he
came to be eighteen years old saw
that he was chafing to get away. He
wouldn't leave me for a long while,
but finally consented to do so for a few
months. I bid him go and not come
back so long as it was TO his interest to
stay away.
Tom went. but he didn't come back.
He wrote to me from different places,
though, telling me what he was doing.
He made one voyage on liner as deck
steward. but he didn't like the sea and
gave it up. Then he served one enlist
ment term in the army and was sent
to the Philippines. While he was there
was obliged to move TO another town.
left my new address with the post
master, but new man took his place
soon after that. and the address must
have been lost. At any rate, / didn't
get any more letters from my Tommy.
Two years passed, and / was get
ting older every day. 1 lived by my
self and had no one to comfort me
l didn't know whether my boy was
alive or dead. If l could know that
he lived and I could get a letter from
} him even but once a year it would
make very different woman OF me.
1 went back once to where Tommy
and I had lived together and where
had brought him up. wanted to learr
IL he had been there looking for me
1 found that he had A number Of the
neighbors told me that he had asked
them where / was. / had told onl.
one or two where I was going. but
was so long ago that they had forgot
ten. Besides, 1 had moved again tw
or three times. They told me that Ton
was awfully disappointed not to I'M
me. After asking everybody and gel
ting no information that would enabl
him to find me he went away, but di
not say where he was going.
That was the great disappointmen
Of my life. To think that bee
trying to find his old mum AM
couldn't! And now that he'd gon
again into the great world there wa
far less hope of his ever finding me o
finding him than there was before.
1 found place to take care of ricl
lady's children. One afternoon I wa
told to take them to a moving picture
show. Among the pieces they exhibi
ted was one a real scene OF a building
burning. 1t was in New York and wa
very large and costly. wondered hov
they happened to have the photograph
ic apparatus in position at the time
but there are a great many Of thes
machines now. and after the alarm
they would have a good deal of time u
get one of them on the ground.
OF course they gave the most reals
} tic and exciting parts. One was a VIC
man standing at an upper window wilt
with terror. She had been cut of ant
was likely to perish. Then a ladde
was raised against the wall. smok
pouring out of most of the window
and fame out Of some, and a younI
fireman ran nimbly up the rounds
! was scared to death for him making
such a perilous ascent. When he go
to the top the ladder was a bit to-
short. He wound his legs around tn
rungs and one arm around the side o
+ the ladder and motioned the womai
to let herself fall toward him. 1t wa
| either obey or death. She fell agains
his loose arm, but as she struck him
couldn't stand it to look any longe
and shut my eyes.
When / opened them the young res
cuer stood facing the crowd which wa
cheering him. I could see him in tn
4 glare as plain as at MONDAY.
Heaven be praised, he was my Tom
my.
AS soon as could get the childre
home wrote a letter to the chief o
- the FIRE department OF New York ash
e ing If the young man who had save
the woman at the fire wasn't my Ton
u my, and If he was to give him his ol
e mummy's address. A couple Of day
! after that was leaving the house wit
the children when a pair of stron
4 arms were thrown about me and lool
e ing up into a mans face, there wa
y my Tommy.
+ "oh, mummy" he cried. "ain't l gla
d to find your'
]. "Oh. Tommy" I said, this is tn
bappiest moment Of my life"
I went 70 New York with Tomm
and am living with him nouU II