The Celina Democrat. (Celina, O. [Ohio]) 1895-1921, 1917-12-21

|
hisecting his freckled face. "W'ot d
yer think of dat, now? Merry Christ
mus! Sounded like cuckoo clock
dats what she did Dem guys is swells
too, bet yer life, an der oil un stacks
dem sacks of dough down under hl'
trotters like dey was common as driet
apples, Been shOppin' fer Christmas
and de kids lost one of her new socks
w'ot she was goln' to hold up SANITY
wild"
Whlstllng Dick folded the stocking
carefully and stuffed it into his pocket
1t was nearly two hours later wher
he came upon signs Of habitatlon. The
buildings of an extensive plantation
came into view.
The road was inclosed ON each side
by fence, and presently as Whistlinl
Dick drew nearer the houses he sud
denly stopped and shifted the air.
"If derc amt hobo stew cookin
somewhere in dis immediate precinct,
he said TO himself, "me nose has quit
tellin' de trut."
Without hesitation he climbed the
fence to windward He found himself
in an apparently disused lot, where
piles of old bricks were stacked and
rejected, decaying lumber. In corner
he saw the faint glow Of fire that
had become little more than bed OF
living Goals, and he thought he could
see some dim human forms sitting OF
| lying about ii. He drew nearer, and
by the light of little blaze that sud
denly flared up he saw plainly the fat
| figure of Il ragged man in an old brown
sweater and cap.
"Dat man." said Whistling Dick to
himself softly, "ls a dead ringer for
Boston Harry. I'll try him wit de
high sign"
He visited one or two bars of a rag
time melody, and the air was imme-
diately taken up and then quickly end
ed with Il peculiar run. The first whiS'
tier walked confidently up to the FIRE
The fat man looked up and spake in a
loud, asthmatic wheeze:
Gents, the unexpected but welcome
addition to our circle is Mr.. Whistling
Dick. an old friend of mine for whom
l fully vouches. The waiter will lay
another cover at once. Mr.. w. d. will
join us at supper, during which func-
ton he will enlighten us in regard to
the circumstances that give us the
/ Y,lno Si1rn pf his pOmD1DV"
For the next ten minutes the gang
of rOadsters, six in all, paid their undi-
vided attention to the supper In an
old five-gallon kerosene can they had
cooked a stew of potatoes, meat and
onions, which they partook Of from
| smaller cans.
Whisting Dick had known Boston
Harry of old and knew him to be one
of the shrewdest and most successful
of his brotherhood. He looked like a
prosperous stock drOver or a solid mer-
chant from some country village. He
was stout and hale, with a ruddy, al
ways smoothly shaved face. The four
other men were fair specimens of the
sinking, ill-clad, noisome genus.
After the bottom of the large can
had been scraped and pipes lit at the
Goals two of the men called Boston
aside and spake with him lowly and
mysteriously. He nodded decisively
and then said aloud to Whistling Dick /:
Listen, sonny, to some plain talky
| talk. We five are on a lay. I've guar
Gnteed you to be square and you're to
come in on the profits equal with the
boys, and you've got to help. Two hun
dred hands on this plantation are ex-
pecting to be paid a weeks wages to-
morrow morning. TomOrrow's Christ
mas and they want to lay off. Says
| the boss, Work from five to nine in
the morning to get trainload of sugar
off and I'll pay every man cash down
for the week and day extra They
say: Hooray for the boss! 1t goes.
He drives to Moo Orleans today and
fetches back the cold dollars. Two
thousand and seventy-four fifty is the
amount. I got the figures from man
who talks too much, who got 'em from
the bookkeeper. Now, half of this
haul goes to me and the other half the