Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1912-09-25
How Tommy Was
Found by His
Old Mummy
BY F. A. Mitchell

most loving little boy in the world. He
couldn't get on without his mother,
and his mother couldn't get on without
him. was always afraid of losing
him, for when man with a grind
organ and a monkey came along Tom
would follow him, and many times
thought had lost my boy for good.
Once he was brought home by po-
uceman and once I 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
you?' And I said: Il wish I might,
Tommy, but you'll grow up to be a
man and have. 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 manly boy and
grew into manly man. He could
never content himself in the little
town where we lived, and when he
came to be eighteen years old 1 saw
that he was chatting to get away: he
wouldn't leave me for long while,
but finally consented to do so for 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
I was obliged to move to another town.
I 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, l didn't
get any more letters from my Tommy.
Two years passed, and 1 was get
ting older every day. l lived by my.
self and had no one to comfort me-
I didn't know whether my boy was
alive or dead. If l could know that
he lived and 1 could get a letter from
him even but once year it would
make very different woman Of me.
went back once to where Tommy
and l had lived together and where
had brought him up. l wanted to learn
If he had been there looking for me-
found that he had. A number of the
neighbors told me that he had asked
them where was. had told only
one or two where was going, but it
was so long ago that they had forgot
ten. Besides, 1 had moved again two
or three times. They told me that Tom
was awfully disappointed not to find
me. After asking everybody and get
ting no information that would enable
him to find me he went away. but did
not say where he was going.
That was the great disappointment
Of my life. To think that he'd been
trying to find his old mummy and
couldn't! And now that he'd gone
again into the great world there was
far less hope of his ever finding me or
l finding him than there was before.
I found place to take care Of rich
lady's children. One afternoon I was
told to take them to a moving picture
show. Among the pieces they exhibit
ted was one a real scene Of a building
burning. 1t was in New York and was
very large and costly. l wondered how
they happened to have the photograph
ic apparatus in position at the time,
but there are great many of these
machines now, and after the alarm
they would have good deal Of time to
get one of them on the ground.
OF course they gave the most realis-
tic and exciting parts. One was wo-
man standing at an upper window wild
with terror. She had been cut off and
was likely to perish. Then a ladder
was raised against the wall, smoke
pouring out Of most of the windows
and fame out of some, and a young
fireman ran nimbly up the rounds. l
was scared to death for him making
such a perilous ascent. When he got
to the top the ladder was a bit too
short. He wound his legs around the
rungs and one arm around the side of
the ladder and motioned the woman
to let herself fall toward him. It was
either obey or death. She fell against
his loose arm, but as she struck him l
couldn't stand it to look any longer
and shut my eyes.
When l opened them the young res
cuer stood facing the crowd which was
cheering him. I could see him in the
glare as plain as at MONDAY.
Heaven be praised, he was my Tom
my.
AS soon as l could get the children
home wrote letter to the chief of
the fire department Of New York ask
ing If the young man who had saved
the woman at the fire wasn't my Tom
my, and If he was to give him his old
mummy's address. A couple of days
after that was leaving the house with
the children when a pair of strong
arms were thrown about me and look
ing up into a mans face, there was
my Tommy.
"Oh, mummy" he cried, "ain't glad
to find your
"Oh, Tommy" said, this is the
happiest moment Of my life"
went to New York with Tommy
and am living with him now. He