The Liberal democrat. [volume] (Liberal, Kan.) 1911-1924, 1913-06-27
Their COSTLY MEAL
What Happened to Two Tramps
Who Ate Exhibits for
County Fan.
BY GEORGE ABE.

He was a journeyman Of the rest
less kind. When he had been three
weeks in Milwaukee, then st. Paul
seemed a more desirable place of res
idence. When In st. Paul, he had
tired laundering to see the Narcissus
lodging house in Chicago After he
had arrived at the Narcissus, he began
to watch the trains starting for Gin
clnnati and longed to curl himself on
truck and jolt away to where the
muddy stream fronts the sloping ware
houses.
Once he was away from the Mar
cissus for a whole year. On the day of
his return to the Narclssus (the prison
pallor on his face and his head
cropped to show white scars) six in
mates were sitting near the windows
reading a morning newspaper. They
had torn the paper into sheets and
| divided it. The man who had drawn
the small lads" was discontinued.
He could find nothing on his sheet
except Help Wanted" He lowered
his paper and before him sat "Gon-
dola" Wilson, seemingly yellow in the
filtered light.
Where's the committee?" asked
"Gondola" Where's the triumphal
arch, Welcome Homer"
You're alive, them"
ALIVE and kicking"
IF you're alive, 1t follows that
you're kicking. How long has it been?'
"A year, next month"
You had to go crooked at last, did
your"
We'll, that's what they called 1t.
I'm lucky they didn't hang me. Some
Of 'em wanted to-"
Tell me what you done. l amt the
court"
Say, listen, an see If you ever
heard the likes before. 1t was in Oc-
tober, a year ago last October. I'd
walked from Loueyville to Terry Hut
with a niger that played the mouth
harp. We hid in the yards at Terry
Hut an got into an empty stock car
that we thot we thought was bound
for Danville. Some time in the night
brakeman seen us an fired us out,
I'd been asleep an the first thing re-
member was fallin' out o. the car an
lightin' hard, with the coon comm
after me. We didn't know where we
was, but we could make out a side
track and chute for loadin' hogs.
About a mile off we could see some
lights an we judged as we was near
purity good-sized town. Me- an the
coon started to walk toward town an
then stopped him an SEES:
Here, IL we go to drillin' around
town at this time of night an one of
them country coppers catches a peep
at us, he'll shoot us first and then ask
us our names after. Let's crawl In
somewheres an sleep till mornin' an
then we'll go in town an try to round
up a handout.'
We'll, just as was sayin' this, we
happened to be walkin' along past tall
fence. l looked through the cracks
an could see one or two lights quite
a distance off an right near us was
long buildin' that looked something
like barn. 1t was gettin' chilly an
ses to this pardner of mine:
Coon, gimme boost over the fence
an l think we can find warm place
here
80 we skinned over the fence an
come to the building. 1t was a long
one. | still thought it was a barn. We
walled around lookin' for a door or
window, so we could crawl in. At
last this pardner of mine-his name is
Jeff an I'll kill him If ever | lay eyes
on him again-Jeff found little door
that wasn't locked an we went in,
feelin' our way along, thinkin', you
know, that we might find some hay
or straw to sleep on. Purity soon Jeff
fell over somethin' an landed on top
of him. We felt around us an dis
covered that we'd run into lot OF
watermelons layin' on the floor. |
s'pose the coon was sorry to meet
them melons, huh? The first thing
knew he'd split one of 'em open an
could hear him chompin' in the dark.
Well, got up an felt my way along
an purity soon l reached out, an
what do you suppose l took hold of
there in the pitch dark? This amt no
dream I'm tellin' you. What do you
think l took holt Of? A plate with
about a dozen biscuits on it. Now,
amt no crook an never broke into
a house to steal anything, but I'll
leave this to you. If you hadn't had
anything to eat for eighteen hours an
should happen to crawl into barn at
night an reach out into the dark an
find a dozen light biscuits, would you
eat 'em or throw 'em away?"
I'D prob'ly eat EN-" was the re-
ply.
That's what done, except what
give to Jeff. He found a match in his
close an struck it, and we saw in
front of US a wooden shelf covered
with pies and cakes an all kinds O.
cooked stuff The match only burned
for minute, but we made out that
much. Jeff found plate of butter,
an we ct the biscuit with butter an
amt tasted anything like it since
run away from home in Lowell thirty