News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1920-12-15

j |
Va Of disaster of all th(
neighbors. Even his ia
, ther and mother, with past
years Of toll rapidly be
ginning to tell upon them, were pes
simistic Of his chances Of success, nor
could they resist expressing their fore
OodingS
1 The old folks loved their boy toe
we'll to rcproach him for his desertion
now 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, y
his Old father told him. "And when
you DO | 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~s but it's
more the sort that the good Lord in
| tended YOU for. Ma and | are hoping
| the best for you, son, but-When you
| do find out that your. fortunes not
| away off there-just pocket your pride
and come back here to US who love
you"
So yourg Tom left the farm with
shining eyes and 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 disappointment that repeatedly
overlook him during that year of alb
sence would be a long and narrowing
story to tell. He chased his rainbow
to its 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 linz
"Well, anyway, I'm young and hus-
ky and used to hard manual labor"
Tom consoled himself. Il can at least
get a job with a contracting gang, as
IA painter, or plumbers assistant, or
teamster That will suffice to keep me
going for a while until the sort of po-
sition I want turns up"
But even in those lines of work the
green country boy found himself sud
denly brought up short against 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 overcoat on
q street corner in the squalid section
of the city-the icy wind wnistling |
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, |
in the chill wind on the |
street corner-bitterness against the |
did not know. He was |
startled from his moody reverie by |
hearing a hoarse, wheedling voice at
his very elbow, saying what was in
tended as confidential tone:
How'd y'like a nice hot feed and
oolIC SOlh W JlhSiC III yCI pants, Do9
Amt hungry, are yaT
Whirling about, Tom saw that his
lccoster was an understood burly fell |
low with a tough, truculent visage and
hands showed deep into the side peck
cts of his coat. He wore a battered
zap with the visor pulled low down
over his eyes and spat inadvertently
Upon the sidewalk each time before he
spoke.
How'd y'lke the idea, huh?" he re-
terated in his raucous, grating voice,
siding closer as he spoke and casting
/ wary eye up and down the nearly
gloomy, wind-swept street.
Tom regarded him with diStaste and
lndisguised mistrust. He looked like
| typical thug. But misery cannot be
90 fastidious about the company it
,eeps Finally Tom scOwled blackly
md answered:
whats that to you, anyway"
"Well, you're outta luck, amt cha,
,al? Yer on yer uppers, stony broke
nd maybe with an empty belly, too,
Iuh, DO? Well, l guessed that much.
amt blind yet, l amt! Well, /
iced a pal for a little job tonight and
1e both can make a lotta jack out of
t, seeT"
"YOu-yOu mean-burglary?" Tom
1uttered hesitantly, with an involun- :
airy contraction of his heart.
"Humph Not anything like safe
racking or breaking into a house /
ont. Too many people staying up .
nth the kids over Christmas trees to-
light. ] amt keen on takin' fool
hances Ike that I'm tellin' va! Nav,
his / wantcha for is something soft;
afe and easy as falling off a log. You
now the big prices people are willing
} pay for real booze since the coun-
y went dry, don't cha? Well, right
ear here | know a certain warehouse !
lat's got 20 cases of whisky stored in I
re basement. Real bonded stuff
he Waterman is an Old pal o mine >
lH e wiiiuV 10 let MS swim II II 1