"News and Mail, one cent each!"
Half a dozen Chicago newsboys, varying in age from ten to sixteen years, with piles of papers in their hands, joined in the chorus.
They were standing in front and at the sides of the Sherman House, on the corner of Clark and Randolph Streets, one of the noted buildings in the Lake City. On the opposite side of Randolph Street stands a gloomy stone structure, the Court House and City Hall. In the shadow of these buildings, at the corner, Luke Walton, one of the largest newsboys, had posted himself. There was something about his bearing and appearance which distinguished him in a noticeable way from his companions.
To begin with, he looked out of place. He was well grown, with a frank, handsome face, and was better dressed than the average newsboy. That was one reason, perhaps, why he preferred to be by himself, rather than to engage in the scramble for customers which was the habit of the boys around him.
It was half-past five. The numerous cars that passed were full of business men, clerks, and boys, returning to their homes after a busy day.
Luke had but two papers left, but these two for some unaccountable reason remained on his hands an unusual length of time. But at length a comfortable-looking gentleman of middle age, coming from the direction of La Salle Street, paused and said, "You may give me a News, my boy."
"Here you are, sir," he said, briskly.
The gentleman took the paper, and thrusting his hand into his pocket, began to feel for a penny, but apparently without success.
"I declare," he said, smiling, "I believe I am penniless. I have nothing but a five-dollar bill."
"Never mind, sir! Take the paper and pay me to morrow."
"But I may not see you."
"I am generally here about this time."
"And if I shouldn't see you, you will lose the penny."
"I will risk it, sir," said Luke, smiling.
"You appear to have confidence in me."
"Yes, sir."
"Then it is only fair that I should have confidence in you."
Luke looked puzzled, for he didn't quite understand what was in the gentleman's mind.
"I will take both of your papers. Here is a five-dollar bill. You may bring me the change to-morrow, at my office, No. 155 La Salle Street. My name is Benjamin Afton."
"But, sir," objected Luke, "there is no occasion for this. It is much better that I should trust you for two cents than that you should trust me with five dollars."
"Probably the two cents are as important to you as five dollars to me. At any rate, it is a matter of confidence, and I am quite willing to trust you."
"Thank you, sir, but——"
"I shall have to leave you, or I shall be home late to dinner."
Before Luke had a chance to protest further, he found himself alone, his stock of papers exhausted, and a five-dollar bill in his hand.
While he stood on the corner in some perplexity, a newsboy crossed Randolph Street, and accosted him.
"My eyes, if you ain't in luck, Luke Walton," he said. "Where did you get that bill? Is it a one?"
"No, it's a five."
"Where'd you get it?"
"A gentleman just bought two papers of me."
"And gave you five dollars! You don't expect me to swaller all that, do you?"
"I'm to bring him the change to-morrow," continued Luke.
The other boy nearly doubled up with merriment.
"Wasn't he jolly green, though?" he ejaculated.
"Why was he?" asked Luke, who by this time felt considerably annoyed.
"He'll have to whistle for his money."
"Why will he?"
"Cause he will."
"He won't do anything of the sort. I shall take him his change to-morrow morning."
"What?" ejaculated Tom Brooks.
"I shall carry him his change in the morning—four dollars and ninety-eight cents. Can't you understand that?"
"You ain't going to be such a fool, Luke Walton?"
"If it's being a fool to be honest, then I'm going to be that kind of a fool. Wouldn't you do the same?"
"No, I wouldn't. I'd just invite all the boys round the corner to go with me to the theayter. Come, Luke, be a good feller, and give us all a blow-out. We'll go to the theayter, and afterwards we'll have an oyster stew. I know a bully place on Clark Street, near Monroe."
"Do you take me for a thief, Tom Brooks?" exclaimed Luke, indignantly.
"The gentleman meant you to have the money. Of course he knew you wouldn't bring it back. Lemme see, there's a good play on to Hooley's. Six of us will cost a dollar and a half, and the oyster stews will be fifteen cents apiece. That'll only take half the money, and you'll have half left for yourself."
"I am ashamed of you, Tom Brooks. You want me to become a thief, and it is very evident what you would do if you were in my place. What would the gentleman think of me?"
"He don't know you. You can go on State Street to sell papers, so he won't see you."
"Suppose he should see me."
"You can tell him you lost the money. You ain't smart, Luke Walton, or you'd know how to manage."
"No, I am not smart in that way, I confess. I shan't waste any more time talking to you. I'm going home."
"I know what you're going to do. You're goin' to spend all the money on yourself."
"Don't you believe that I mean to return the change?"
"No, I don't."
"I ought not to complain of that. You merely credit me with acting as you would act yourself. How many papers have you got left?"
"Eight."
"Here, give me half, and I will sell them for you, that is, if I can do it in fifteen minutes."
"I'd rather you'd take me to the theayter," grumbled Tom.
"I've already told you I won't do it."
In ten minutes Luke had sold his extra supply of papers, and handed the money to Tom. Tom thanked him in an ungracious sort of way, and Luke started for home.
It was a long walk, for the poor cannot afford to pick and choose their localities. Luke took his way through Clark Street to the river, and then, turning in a north westerly direction, reached Milwaukee Avenue. This is not a fashionable locality, and the side streets are tenanted by those who are poor or of limited means.
Luke paused in front of a three-story frame house in Green Street. He ascended the steps and opened the door, for this was the newsboy's home.
In the entry Luke met a girl of fourteen with fiery red hair, which apparently was a stranger to the comb and brush. She was the landlady's daughter, and, though of rather fitful and uncertain temper, always had a smile and pleasant word for Luke, who was a favorite of hers.
"Well, Nancy, how's mother?" asked the newsboy, as he began to ascend the front stairs.
"She seems rather upset like, Luke," answered Nancy.
"What has happened to upset her?" asked Luke, anxiously.
"I think it's a letter she got about noon. It was a queer letter, all marked up, as if it had been travelin' round. I took it in myself, and carried it up to your ma. I stayed to see her open it, for I was kind of curious to know who writ it."
"Well?"
"As soon as your ma opened it, she turned as pale as ashes, and I thought she'd faint away. She put her hand on her heart just so," and Nancy placed a rather dirty hand of her own, on which glittered a five-cent brass ring, over that portion of her anatomy where she supposed her heart lay.
"She didn't faint away, did she?" asked Luke.
"No, not quite."
"Did she say who the letter was from?"
"No; I asked her, but she said, 'From no one that you ever saw, Nancy.' I say, Luke, if you find out who's it from, let me know."
"I won't promise, Nancy. Perhaps mother would prefer to keep it a secret."
"Oh, well, keep your secrets, if you want to."
"Don't be angry, Nancy; I will tell you if I can," and Luke hurried upstairs to the third story, which contained the three rooms occupied by his mother, his little brother, and himself.
Opening the door, he saw his mother sitting in a rocking-chair, apparently in deep thought, for the work had fallen from her hands and lay in her lap. There was an expression of sadness in her face, as if she had been thinking of the happy past, when the little family was prosperous, and undisturbed by poverty or privation.
"What's the matter, mother?" asked Luke, with solicitude.
Mrs. Walton looked up quickly.
"I have been longing to have you come back, Luke," she said. "Something strange has happened to-day."
"You received a letter, did you not?"
"Who told you, Luke?"
"Nancy. I met her as I came in. She said she brought up the letter, and that you appeared very much agitated when you opened it."
"It is true."
"From whom was the letter, then, mother?"
"From your father."
"What!" exclaimed Luke, with a start. "Is he not dead?"
"The letter was written a year ago."
"Why, then, has it arrived so late?"
"Your father on his deathbed intrusted it to someone who mislaid it, and has only just discovered and mailed it. On the envelope he explains this, and expresses his regret. It was at first mailed to our old home, and has been forwarded from there. But that is not all, Luke. I learn from the letter that we have been cruelly wronged. Your father, when he knew he could not live, intrusted to a man in whom he had confidence, ten thousand dollars to be conveyed to us. This wicked man could not resist the temptation, but kept it, thinking we should never know anything about it. You will find it all explained in the letter."
"Let me read it, mother," said Luke, in excitement.
Mrs. Walton opened a drawer of the bureau, and placed in her son's hands an envelope, brown and soiled by contact with tobacco. It was directed to her in a shaky hand. Across one end were written these words:
This letter was mislaid. I have just discovered it, and mail it, hoping it will reach you without further delay. Many apologies and regrets. J. HANSHAW.
Luke did not spend much time upon the envelope, but opened the letter.
The sight of his father's familiar handwriting brought the tears to his eyes, This was the letter:
GOLD GULCH, California.
MY DEAR WIFE: It is a solemn thought to me that when you receive this letter these trembling fingers will be cold in death. Yes, dear Mary, I know very well that I am on my deathbed, and shall never more be permitted to see your sweet face, or meet again the gaze of my dear children. Last week I contracted a severe cold while mining, partly through imprudent exposure; and have grown steadily worse, till the doctor, whom I summoned from Sacramento, informs me that there is no hope, and that my life is not likely to extend beyond two days. This is a sad end to my dreams of future happiness with my little family gathered around me. It is all the harder, because I have been successful in the errand that brought me out here. "I have struck it rich," as they say out here, and have been able to lay by ten thousand dollars. I intended to go home next month, carrying this with me. It would have enabled me to start in some business which would have yielded us a liberal living, and provided a comfortable home for you and the children. But all this is over—for me at least. For you I hope the money will bring what I anticipated. I wish I could live long enough to see it in your hands, but that cannot be.
I have intrusted it to a friend who has been connected with me here, Thomas Butler, of Chicago. He has solemnly promised to seek you out, and put the money into your hands. I think he will be true to his trust. Indeed I have no doubt on the subject, for I cannot conceive of any man being base enough to belie the confidence placed in him by a dying man, and despoil a widow and her fatherless children. No, I will not permit myself to doubt the integrity of my friend. If I should, it would make my last sickness exceedingly bitter.
Yet, as something might happen to Butler on his way home, though exceedingly improbable, I think it well to describe him to you. He is a man of nearly fifty, I should say, about five feet ten inches in height, with a dark complexion, and dark hair a little tinged with gray. He will weigh about one hundred and sixty pounds. But there is one striking mark about him which will serve to identify him. He has a wart on the upper part of his right cheek—a mark which disfigures him and mortifies him exceedingly. He has consulted a physician about its removal, but has been told that the operation would involve danger, and, moreover, would not be effectual, as the wart is believed to be of a cancerous nature, and would in all probability grow out again. For these reasons he has given up his intention of having it removed, and made up his mind, unwillingly enough, to carry it to the grave with him.
I have given you this long description, not because it seemed at all necessary, for I believe Thomas Butler to be a man of strict honesty, but because for some reason I am impelled to do so.
I am very tired, and I feel that I must close. God bless you, dear wife, and guard our children, soon to be fatherless!
Your loving husband,
FREDERICK WALTON.
P.S.—Butler has left for the East. This letter I have given to another friend to mail after my death.
As Luke read this letter his pleasant face became stern in its expression. They had indeed been cruelly wronged. The large sum of which they had been defrauded would have insured them comfort and saved them from many an anxiety. His mother would not have been obliged to take in sewing, and he himself could have carried out his cherished design of obtaining a college education.
This man in whom his father had reposed the utmost confidence had been false to his trust. He had kept in his own hands the money which should have gone to the widow and children of his dying friend. Could anything be more base?
"Mother," said Luke, "this man Thomas Butler must be a villain."
Yes, Luke; he has done us a great wrong."
"He thought, no doubt, that we should never hear of this money."
"I almost wish I had not, Luke. It is very tantalizing to think how it would have improved our condition."
"Then you are sorry to receive the letter, mother?"
"No, Luke. It seems like a message from the dead, and shows me how good and thoughtful your poor father was to the last. He meant to leave us comfortable."
"But his plans were defeated by a rascal. Mother, I should like to meet and punish this Thomas Butler."
"Even if you should meet him, Luke, you must be prudent. He is probably a rich man."
"Made so at our expense," added Luke, bitterly.
"And he would deny having received anything from your father."
"Mother," said Luke, sternly and deliberately, "I feel sure that I shall some day meet this man face to face, and if I do it will go hard if I don't force him to give up this money which he has falsely converted to his own use."
The boy spoke with calm and resolute dignity hardly to be expected in one so young, and with a deep conviction that surprised his mother.
"Luke," she said, "I hardly know you to-night. You don't seem like a boy. You speak like a man."
"I feel so. It is the thought of this man triumphant in his crime, that makes me feel older than I am. Now, mother, I feel that I have a purpose in life. It is to find this man, and punish him for what he has done, unless he will make reparation."
Mrs. Walton shook her head. It was not from her that Luke had inherited his independent spirit. She was a fond mother, of great amiability, but of a timid shrinking disposition, which led her to deprecate any aggressive steps.
"Promise me not to get yourself into any trouble, Luke," she said, "even if you do meet this man."
"I can't promise that, mother, for I may not be able to help it. Besides, I haven't met him yet, and it isn't necessary to cross a bridge till you get to it. Now let us talk of something else."
"How much did you make to-day, Luke?" asked Bennie, his young brother, seven years old.
"I didn't make my fortune, Bennie. Including the morning papers, I only made sixty cents."
"That seems a good deal to me, Luke," said his mother. "I only made twenty-five. They pay such small prices for making shirts."
"I should think they did. And yet you worked harder and more steadily than I did."
"I have worked since morning, probably about eight hours."
"Then you have made only three cents an hour. What a shame!"
"If I had a sewing-machine, I could do more, but that is beyond our means."
"I hope soon to be able to get you one, mother. I can pay something down and the rest on installments."
"That would be quite a relief, Luke."
"If you had a sewing-machine, perhaps I could help you," suggested Bennie.
"I should hardly dare to let you try, Bennie. Suppose you spoiled a shirt. It would take off two days' earnings. But I'll tell you what you can do. You can set the table and wash the dishes, and relieve me in that way."
"Or you might take in washing," said Luke, with a laugh. "That pays better than sewing. Just imagine how nice it would look in an advertisement in the daily papers: A boy of seven is prepared to wash and iron for responsible parties. Address Bennie Walton, No. 161-1/2 Green Street."
"Now you are laughing at me, Luke," said Bennie, pouting. "Why don't you let me go out with you and sell papers?"
"I hope, Bennie," said Luke, gravely, "you will never have to go into the street with papers. I know what it is, and how poor boys fare. One night last week, at the corner of Monroe and Clark Streets, I saw a poor little chap, no older than you, selling papers at eleven o'clock. He had a dozen papers which he was likely to have left on his hands, for there are not many who will buy papers at that hour."
"Did you speak to him, Luke?" asked Benny, interested.
"Yes; I told him he ought to go home. But he said that if he went home with all those papers unsold, his stepfather would whip him. There were tears in the poor boy's eyes as he spoke."
"What did you do, Luke?"
"I'll tell you what I did, Bennie. I thought of you, and I paid him the cost price on his papers. It wasn't much, for they were all penny papers, but the poor little fellow seemed so relieved."
"Did you sell them yourself, Luke?"
"I sold four of them. I went over to Madison Street, and stood in front of McVicker's Theater just as the people were coming out. It so happened that four persons bought papers, so I was only two cents out, after all. You remember, mother, that was the evening I got home so late."
"Yes, Luke, I felt worried about you. But you did right. I am always glad to have you help those who are worse off than we are. How terribly I should feel if Bennie had to be out late in the streets like that!"
"There are many newsboys as young, or at any rate not much older. I have sometimes seen gentlemen, handsomely dressed, and evidently with plenty of money, speak roughly to these young boys. It always makes me indignant. Why should they have so easy a time, while there are so many who don't know where their next meal is coming from? Why, what such a man spends for his meals in a single day would support a poor newsboy in comfort for a week."
"My dear Luke, this is a problem that has puzzled older and wiser heads than yours. There must always be poor people, but those who are more fortunate ought at least to give them sympathy. It is the least acknowledgment they can make for their own more favored lot."
"I am going out a little while this evening, mother."
"Very well, Luke. Don't be late."
"No, mother, I won't. I want to call on a friend of mine, who is sick."
"Who it is, Luke?"
"It is Jim Norman. The poor boy took cold one day, his shoes were so far gone. He has a bad cough, and I am afraid it will go hard with him.
"Is he a newsboy, too, Luke?" asked Bennie Walton.
"No; he is a bootblack."
"I shouldn't like to black boots."
"Nor I, Bennie; but if a boy is lucky there is more money to be made in that business."
"Where does he live?" asked Mrs. Walton.
"On Ohio Street, not very far from here. There's another boy I know lives on that street Tom Brooks; but he isn't a friend of mine. He wanted me to keep five dollars, and treat him and some other boys to an evening at the theater, and a supper afterwards."
"I hope you won't associate with him, Luke."
"Not more than I can help."
Luke took his hat and went downstairs into the street.
In the hall he met Nancy. She waylaid him with an eager look on her face.
"Who was the letter from, Luke?" she asked.
"From a friend of the family, who is now dead," answered Luke, gravely.
"Good gracious! How could he write it after he was dead?" ejaculated Nancy.
"It was given to a person to mail who forgot all about it, and carried it in his pocket for a year."
"My sakes alive! If I got a letter from a dead man it would make me creep all over. No wonder your ma came near faintin'."
Luke turned into Milwaukee Avenue, and a few steps took him to West Ohio Street, where his friend lived. On his way he met Tom Brooks, who was lounging in front of a cigar store, smoking a cigarette.
"Good-evening, Tom," said Luke, politely.
"Evenin'!" responded Tom, briefly. "Where you goin'?"
"To see Jim Norman. He's sick."
"What's the matter of him?"
"He's got a bad cold and is confined to the house?"
Tom shrugged his shoulders.
"I don't go much on Jim Norman," he said, "He ought to be a girl. He never smoked a cigarette in his life."
"Didn't he? All the better for him. I don't smoke myself."
"You have smoked."
"Yes, I used to, but it troubled my mother, and I promised her I wouldn't do it again."
"So you broke off?"
"Yes."
"I wouldn't be tied to a woman's apron strings."
"Wouldn't you try to oblige your mother?"
"No, I wouldn't. What does a woman know about boys? If I was a gal it would be different."
"Then we don't agree, that is all."
"I say, Luke, won't you take me to the theayter?"
"I can't afford it."
"That's all bosh! Haven't you got five dollars? I'd feel rich on five dollars."
"Perhaps I might if it were mine, but it isn't."
"You can use it all the same," said Tom, in an insinuating voice.
"Yes, I can be dishonest if I choose, but I don't choose."
"What Sunday school do you go to?" asked Tom, with a sneer.
"None at present."
"I thought you did by your talk. It makes me sick!"
"Then," said Luke, good-naturedly, "there is no need to listen to it. I am afraid you are not likely to enjoy my company, so I will walk along."
Luke kept on his way, leaving Tom smoking sullenly.
"That feller's a fool!" he muttered, in a disgusted tone.
"What feller?"
Tom turned, and saw his friend and chum, Pat O'Connor, who had just come up.
"What feller? Why, Luke Walton, of course."
"What's the matter of him?"
"He's got five dollars, and he won't pay me into the theayter."
"Where did he get such a pile of money?" asked Pat, in surprise.
"A gentleman gave it to him for a paper, tellin' him to bring the change to-morrer."
"Is he goin' to do it?"
"Yes; that's why I call him a fool."
"I wish you and I had his chance," said Pat, enviously. "We'd paint the town red, I guess."
Tom nodded. He and Pat were quite agreed on that point.
"Where's Luke goin'?" asked Pat.
"To see Jim Norman. Jim's sick with a cold."
"What time's he comin' home?"
"I don't know. Why?"
"Do you think he's got the money with him—the five-dollar bill?"
"What are you up to?" asked Tom, with a quick glance at his companion.
"I was thinkin' we might borrer the money," answered Pat, with a grin.
To Tom this was a new suggestion, but it was favorably received. He conferred with Pat in a low tone, and then the two sauntered down the street in the direction of Jim Norman's home.
Meanwhile we will follow Luke.
He kept on till he reached a shabby brick house.
Jim and his mother, with two smaller children, occupied two small rooms on the top floor. Luke had been there before, and did not stop to inquire directions, but ascended the stairs till he came to Jim's room. The door was partly open, and he walked in.
"How's Jim, Mrs. Norman?" he asked.
Mrs. Norman was wearily washing dishes at the sink.
"He's right sick, Luke," she answered, turning round, and recognizing the visitor. "Do you hear him cough?"
From a small inner room came the sound of a hard and rasping cough.
"How are you feeling, Jim?" inquired Luke, entering, and taking a chair at the bedside.
"I don't feel any better, Luke," answered the sick boy, his face lighting up with pleasure as he recognized his friend. "I'm glad you come."
"You've got a hard cough."
"Yes; it hurts my throat when I cough, and I can't get a wink of sleep."
"I've brought you a little cough medicine. It was some we had in the house."
"Thank you, Luke. You're a good friend to me. Give me some, please."
"If your mother'll give me a spoon, I'll pour some out."
When the medicine was taken, the boys began to talk.
"I ought to be at work," said Jim, sighing. "I don't know how we'll get along if I don't get out soon. Mother has some washing to do, but it isn't enough to pay all our expenses. I used to bring in seventy-five cents a day, and that, with what mother could earn, kept us along."
"I wish I was rich enough to help you, Jim, but you know how it is. All I can earn I have to carry home. My mother sews for a house on State Street, but sewing doesn't pay as well as washing."
"I know you'd help me if you could, Luke. You have helped me by bringing in the medicine, and it does me good to have you call."
"But I would like to do more. I'll tell you what I will do. I know a rich gentleman, one of my customers. I! am to call upon him to-morrow. I'll tell him about you, and perhaps he will help you."
"Any help would be acceptable, Luke, if you don't mind asking him."
"I wouldn't like to ask for myself, but I don't mind asking for you."
Luke stayed an hour, and left Jim much brighter and more cheerful for his visit.
When he went out into the street it was quite dark, although the moon now and then peeped out from behind the clouds that a brisk breeze sent scurrying across the sky.
Having a slight headache, he thought he would walk it off, so he sauntered slowly in the direction of the business portion of the city.
Walking farther than he intended, he found himself, almost before he was aware, crossing one of the numerous bridges that span the river. He was busy with thoughts of Jim, and how he could help him, and did not notice that two boys were following him stealthily. It was a complete surprise to him therefore when they rushed upon him, and, each seizing an arm, rendered him helpless.
"Hand over what money you've got, and be quick about it!" demanded one of the boys.