The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1920-12-16

could they resist expressing their fore
bodings.
The old folks loved their boy too
well to reproach him for his desertion
In the first flush Of his young
manhood, but their hearts did ache at
thought of the separation.
you'll soon get tired Of all that
hurly-burly there in the city, Tom,"
his old father told him. "And when
you do, l want you always to remem-
Der that we've still got a place for you
back here at the old homestead. 1t
mayn't be as fine and snowy as lots
you'll see there in the city, but it's
more the sort that the good Lord in
tended you for. Ma and I are hoping
the best for you, son, but-when you
do find out that your fortunes MOI
away off there-just pocket your pride
and come back here to us who love
you"
s" young Tom left the farm with
shining eyes and a high heart and adj
ventured into the great, far-away city
in quest of fame and fortune.
How he Jared there and all the sor-
ry disappointments that repeatedly
overlook him during that year of alb
sence would be a long and narrowing
story to tell. He chased his. rainbow
to it's end, yet found the tabled pot Of
gold not there as he had so confidently
and blatantly expected.
Tom made applications for all sorts
of office positions only to find himself
quickly rejected because of. his lack
of experience in those specific Ii"
"Well, anyway, I'm young and hus-
ky and used to hard manual labor"
Tom consoled himself. II can at least
get a job with a contracting gang. as
a painter, Or plumbers assistant, or
teamster.- That will suffice to keep me
going for a while until the sort of po-
sition l want turns up"
But ever in those lines Of work the
green country boy found himself sud-
denly brought up short against a blank
wall. He had no references as to past
city employment and nobody would
hire him after once finding out that he
had no union card.
Huddled in his shabby >o%vercOat on
a street corner in the sQualid section
of the city--the icy wind whistling
around him and biting through his
%threadbare garments-poor Tom stood
on the evening before, Christmas, Won
dering where ne might find a shelter
in which to sleep that night without
freezing.
Just how long he had stood there,
shivering in the chill wind on the
street corner-bitterness against the
great, unfeeling city ranking in his
heart-Tom did not know. He was
startled from his. moody reverie by
hearing a hoarse, %wtreedling voice at
his very elbow. saying what was in
tended as a confidential tone:
How'd y'like, a nice hot feed and
. some coin to Jingle in yer pants. bo?
Amt hungry, are va"
Whirling about, Tom saw that his
Accoster was an understood, burly fell
low with a tough, %truculent visage and
hands showed deep into the side p0ck-
cts OF his coat. He wor a battered
cap with. the visor pulled low down,
over hts eyes. and spat malevolently
Z upon the sidewalk each time before he
spoke. g.
How'd y'1ike the idea, huh?" he re-
iterated in his raucous, grating voice,
Siding closer as he spoke and casting
a wary eye up and down the nearly
deserted, gloomy, wind-sWept street.
Tom regarded him with distaste. and
u~ndisguised mistrust. He~4eoked like
a typical thug. But misery cannot be
too fastidious about the company it
keeps. Finally Tom scowled blackly
and answered:
whats that to you, anyway
"Well, you're outtas luck, ain't cha
pal? Yer on yer uppers, stony broke
and maybe with an empty belly, too,
huh, DO? Well, l guessed that much.
I amt blind yet, I amt Well, 4
need a pal for a little job tonight and
we both can make a lotta jack out of
1t, seer
"You-you mean-burglaryf" Tom
muttered hesitantly, with an involun-
tary contraction Of his heart.
"Humph! Not anything like safe
cracking OF breaking into a house, I
don't. Too many people staying up
with the kids over Christmas trees to-
night. I amt keen on takin' fool
chances like that, I'm tellin' va. Nav:
this ! wantcha for ID. something soft;
safe and easy as falling OF a log. You
knew the big prices people are willing