The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1920-07-16

You got that one from the hired
lgirl.' finishes.
The old squint comes into his eyes
again.
Il didn't have to come back with the
boys that fall" he mumbles. 81
guess / showed her and everybody
that l guess l proved to her that
wasn't quite so easy"
After a while he looks over the
edge of the bank, an when he did SO
he sort O. stared. l guess it had
shrunk for him again back into a
dinky little crick. He was just tired
again-just tired and disguised.
81 hope the place the old man left
me brings enough to buy that share
in the pool hail." he says. Come on,
want to see old man Harlow"
By the time we got to the edge Of
town and into his old neighborhood
the sun had pretty near gone down.
We makes sure we amt watched, and
sneaks around back and pulls open
one of the closed green blinds on the
place his old man had left.
| Peekin' in, could see the rag car
pets tackled close to the edge of the
imitation oak straked wainscotin'. 7
carrying in coal and carryin' out
ashes for, and the organ against the
wall with a crayon portrait above it
some agent had sold. On the whatnot
was stereopticon views Of the Chicago
worlds fair, an a glass globe full Of
sand that some relation on a visit
from back east had brought as relic
from Niagara Falls.
| There was a lounge that sagged
where the springs was broken, an n
crocheted tidy was coverin' a place
where the upholstery had been worn
through.
Some fancy place in it's day."
comments. do we go in and Jungle
here for the night?"
I'm takin no chances" answers
Eard-Faced Mike. 81 want to drop
down and see old man Harlow about
settlin' the thing up for me, and be
gone. He lives in that implanted
shack under the poplar trees at the
bottom of the hill. The tallest pop
lars the one l shot the crow out Of
with catapult. It's just the kind OF
a deal that'll appeal to old man Har-
low. He'll still be Twin alone, and
let him see little extra in it and he'll
be willin' to keep as mum as a clam
about my bein' here"
| There was half block of vacant
lots that was bein' used for pasture
On the side of the hill that we walked
along by on the way down to old man
Harlow's. 1 reckon Hard-Faced Mike
had walked down that old plank side
walk a thousand and one times
hurrying out after supper to join the
gang; pickin' his way along, barefoot,
on some errand to the five blocks be.
You'd Main street; saunterin' along it
of an evenin' when he had become biz
and sassy enough to be a loafer in
front of the restaurant; takin' it that
morning on the way to the depot ir
his blue first-sergeant uniform.
| We got to the row of poplars an
walked through the vegetable garden,
to knock at old man Harlow's door.
While we was waitin' for him to come
to the door-and we had to wait a
long time-I see that the swimmip'
hole gang had come out on the vacant
block for an evenin' of "work-up,"
Teller bein' allowed to stay at bat
till he was caught out and then the
next Teller gettin a whack at the ball.
When the kitchen door finally opens
it wasn't no old man who opened it
it was woman with whitish hair AMI
pale-blue eyes.
All in a glance l could see she had
|
steerage as young girl, and had hi
straight for her acquaintances in the
middle west, where she'd pitched in
right away washin' other folks dishes.
She was robust-lookin person, but
the pink goes out of her cheeks when
she sees who's at the door.
Hard-Faced Mike stammers around
for while and then he explains that
he wants to see Mr.. Harlow.
The woman looks down at the
freshly scrubbed floor. The room back
of her was dark. There was a clock
tickin on the mantel.