The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1919-06-26
EVENING STORY
Elsie Takes Command.
BY WILL T. AMES.

men piled peil-meu over the wharf
across the railroad tracks and onto
the main thorofare of the town. at the
foot of which lay the rr1akeshift slip
| They were roughly clad and grimy
and strong. and many of them, hard
| looking.
boat coming over and it had not gone
smoothly. Three of the men among
| the thousand showed the marks OF 1t,
| for they were more or less bloody
and still white with anger.
The three, each with friend or
| two, stopped at the saloon at the foot
of the street to wash off the stains OF
| the row. The rest of the workers
| paid no heed but hurried on home
ward. There was little laughter or
| joking. What conversation there was
among them was unsmiling and it was
plain to be seen that the yeast OF
discomfort was at work.
At the street corner two blocks
from the wharf a girl stood by the
| curb. watching the passing throng
and looking for some one. By ana
by she caught sight of him, a tail,
| toughly fashioned young fellow with
thick hair that looked flaxen by con-
trast with his sunburned skin.
| He spied the girl at the same in
| slant, said a brief word to the com
panions of the moment and stopped
beside her automatically reaching out
| for bundles she carried.
The girls eyes were shining. what
do you know, Billy? I found a place!
An honest-to- goodness apartment
| Mrs. Ellis heard about a couple that
are going out of town-somebody she
knows. She's good old thing, after
all, Billy, and she went right down
there and got them to keep still about
| it till we could get a chance at the
PLACE. onaaaad
it. It's an old house, Billy, but there's
| three rooms and a bath-and only one
| ether family, the folks that own it;
they live downstairs. I guess they're
| boosting the rent two or three dol
| lars. But we should worry-with
your pay. It's our lucky day, isn't it,
| Billy?"
! But Billy Noxon didn't respond to
| the happy mood of his young wife
nearly as she had anticipated. While
Elsie lay in wait for him there-she had
expected that he would throw up his
hat and shout. Places to live-to
| really live and keep house like regular
civilized peop1e-were simply unob-
tainable in the town. The Noxons had
been light housekeeping in a single
room for four months, like hundreds
of others.
Don't know as there's any use in
fussing about il, Chick" the boy final
ly replied, somberly. Were likely to
have to get to blazes out of this mans
town any time now. The gangs pref
ty sore, and they're likely to tie can,
any time at all. to the bunch of graft
ers that are running the tea kettle fac
tory over the river"
i What do you mean, Billy NoXon-
a strike?''
'It'n be heap sight more than
just one strike. when the blowoft
comes. The working man has been
carrying the tar end of the stick about
as long as he's going.to in this coun-
try. Here's you and me living like a
couple of buns in a coop of a room
and me sweating my hide off over
there on those hu1ls-and a lot of loaf
ers that don't hit ship a lick from
the day she's doped out till she's over
board, and haven't even got a dollar
of their own money in the plant, pull
ing down millions.
Living in palaces and dressing their
wives in thousand dollar furs and
swelling around in limousines and
playing golf while we play on a rivet
gun-and all off us! All stolen from
the working man and his family! And
: then, when we hit them up for a lousy
dollar day raise, to help pay for the
profiteering prices on the grub we
eat, they give US the hoot!'
Elsie was looking very Oily and
studiously at her big husband well p
i she said. as he ran out of breath.
We'll" Billy resumed 'it's abou
thing doing, and that right quick.
!. dunno's it's worth while for us t.
change from one room to three. May
be We'll be in the middle of hare
| boiled shindy in a week or two-ant
either have some kind of a decen
, share in things or nothing at all
: Deaths better than slavery" The boy
) stared gloomily at passing touring
| car.
: The girl was about an inch above
r..
] above six. Her eyes had been grow
ing bigger and bigger as she listened
, to his dour speech. Now she seized
! him by the arm and said: "Billy
Noxon, you come home with me
straight.
And don't you speaker ever
think--a word till tell you to-" TIL,
somber face of the boy thawed into
sheepish grin as he permitted himsel
to be marshaled along six city block
to the place where they lived in Mrs
Ellis furnished second floor back.
Not until they were-in their room
with the door closed behind them, die
Elsie speak again. NOW she de
clared, taking the bundles from Bill,
and putting them on the table, "I'v,
got something to say to you. you biz
boobL You've been listening to thos,
darned Bolsheviks again! You ST
down there and answer me coupI
of questions;" and she pushed he
husband into the limpy-legged morri
chair. "First-How much money dit
we have after two years when we qui
Roxbury and came here? We hat
$140, didn't we? We've been her,
four months. and how much have w,
got? We've got $3.50 of new money
that's what we've got. And it's clear
money, Billy, honestly earned. II
rather have that thar a million tina
was grated. We're not getting alons
> so badly. Maybe somebody else i
getting whole lot more that dom
deserve it half as much. But 1 CUES
those things will be Strengthened out i
4 fellows like you don't go loony ant
spoil everything. Anyhow, you neve
r had so much money ahead in your life
Billy Noxon, and I know it.
Now, who's the head devil owe