Show tg haae ea 47 AW AND COMPAN SYNOPSIS 7 while trundling tile the clean washing up clipper hill mary alice brown Is set upon by some mischievous boys who spill the washing into the dirt she Is 9 rescued and taken to her home in calvert street by francis willett Wll lett a galahad knight she la Is punished by tier her drunken father tor for returning without the wash money mary alice wanders away from home takes a trolley ride into the countie find and spends the night nt fit the farmhouse ol of sa sam in th thomas orn in the morning she meets tile little if charlie thomas a cripple sam takes mary alice home and finds findo that he and mrs airs brown are old acquaintances sam take her and mary alice to his home for or a visit while lern lem brown the drunken father Is serving a workhouse sentence charlie Is made a galahad knight francis visits the farm a id Is saved from drowning by mary alice one of the b burdens urd ens of ex S poverty Is th that at the poor must live in surroundings un dings which drag body and a soul ou I 1 to greater X misery A person of true re can endure shabby i clothing bad food bare necess X allies but crass associations ati ugly environment I 1 brutality X these make a headpiece 0 of e X thorns X CHAPTER V continued well then be goin to sta beys once in a while and ill be there every day doln doin up bundles I 1 wonder if you would come and see me just a minute once in a while you you been awful nice to to charlie thomas thomaa I 1 never knew a boy just like you the boys in our neighborhood are nasty oh mary alice said francis feeling ing the red creep into his hia face lie he became suddenly very awkward he lost all his swagger all his complacence oh ob mary diary alice he said you quit I 1 never did anything any thin dont you go makin tun fun of me now if you dont stop guying gaylong me I 1 wont come to see you at the store they had turned into sirs mrs travers side yard francis willett suddenly remembered that he might be late to supper lie ile dropped the wagon tongue and dashed hurriedly out of the gate and disappeared in tile the heavy shadows cast by the street arcs mary alice collected her dollar and seventy five cents and started down clipper hill with her empty rattling wagon gods coln to make me well charlie thomas had bad said suppose no it happen but charlie was sure of it better be like charlie and believe that somehow the thing that you wanted to happen must happen 1 I guess she thought gods oil all right when he aben he be gets around to you mary alice did not know that a great many people who are always making excuses tor for god always trying to explain away the apparent discrepancies or contradictions in gods procedure would have been deeply shocked to hear her guess that god was all right and would no more than mary alice herself have realized that she was perfectly reverent and entirely prayerful staceys stachys Stace ys paid mary alice four dollars et a week and set her up in a sort of lookout box back of the glove counter where she inserted the purchases of customers in envelopes and manipulated one end of a pneumatic tube which completed the analogy between her perch and a small armed turret the he girls pay and mrs browns earnings from her few laundry customers made the little family more comfortable for table than it had been tor for many months sam thomas came to sheffield two or three times a week and frequently went out of his way to see mrs brown and little dick if thrifty sam was no plutocrat yot yet he hardly ever called without bringing some small gift halt half a barrel of assorted vegetables a little butter some eggs once martha sent three pairs of knitted mittens large medium and small the deserve luck mary alice said mrs brown always and forever th chinkin inkin up bo methin to do for someone I 1 guess maybe tile reason were so poor Is because were seLLIS selfish 11 did you bring home the shinbone SI bm it cost ten centea cents a pound it used to be eight ill put it right on oil to stew when its done you can take a bowl of it in to mrs bloomer ashes kind of allin mary alice had bad not told anybody about francis willetts Wll letts doctor uncle she dared not for fear of disappointment francis said uncle billy jackson was away in europe and be back until midwinter he know whether his father had told sam thomas about doctor jackson he rather thought not francis devel developed eved an extraordinary fancy for gloves mrs willett marveled and mr willett chuckled he had bad seen mary alice brown she was it nice little girl she bad saved fared his tobys we life lie he approved of francis friendship for her and of the common interests that drew them together he wanted his bis boy to be both democratic and chivalrous francis was the apple of bis bs eye john willett had bad a soft heart wherever suffering was concerned it pleased him to see his bis boy display signs of a similar tenderness it if the galahad knights was francis idea john willetts pocketbook was an essential of its success for the latter chure and incidental expenses more than ate up the twenty five cent fees willett was delighted to help for he was pretty well to do and prided himself that lie had never been selfish with his money from the first dar he had ever earned a dollar there was now but one cloud upon the immediate horizon of the brown family farol lv this cloud would woud grow bigger for the rest of the alree months of lem Br brains Broni is stay in the workhouse and then goodness knew what would happen sirs mrs brown and mary alary alice contemplated the possibilities with dread men are not no ef ormed in jail lem would emerge sober but with will the determination to remedy that undesired condition at the first opportunity lie ile would have no job even if lie he kept sober for a while he would be a burden upon the family that he should keep away from drink more than a very few days was inconceivable the two room tenement in the house off calvert street was almost cozy now it was a home clean and warm the browns ate quite regularly little dick was fat and rosy always there was an atmosphere of goof good cheer and comfort the thought gnipp i them what would lem drown brown do to it all sam thomas came as usual and one day he broached the subject 1 I hate to get personal lottle lottie he be qaid it aint any of my business props but I 1 been wonder ln about lem mrs brown looked up at him but sold said nothing there was nothing to say why dont you move away from here so he wont find you tina is a pretty big town you could go clear way over on the east side your rent be no higher 1 I know 1 I 1 know said mrs bown B own town but but im lem browns ali e well ill be switched the queerest of all human beins said sam wily why say you dont for a minute think theres a chance of re formin lem do you youve tried that long enough aint you iles hes my husband said lottle lottie hopelessly she went about her work absently squeezing the sudsy water from a succession of white garments sam sat I 1 K f so long lottle lottie come on lem helplessly by studying her face lie he could remember aben it had been a mighty pretty face too a good deal like little mary All alices ces only alary y alice so sparkling as her mother r had been not much sparkle left now poor thing goldart Gol darn it said sam and arose 1 I got to be goin next time I 1 come in ill bring you ft a couple of cab cabbages boges we got moren we need lie he stumped off down the stairs urs airs brown cried a little into her washtub on the day of his release lem brown came home in rold afternoon As he turned into the alley oft off calvert street a man stepped out of the grocery store on the opposite corner and took up a post across the alley from the brown tenement where he waited ten or fifteen minutes 1 I guess its time enough now the man said to himself and climbed the stairs mrs airs brown was occupied with her I 1 customary business when lem came in he was quite a different lem I 1 from the dominant brute she had bad seen been us ta mal distressing night she pitied him this was what lem wanted hullo lot lie he said seating sealine himself near the tubs illow how you gettin along hullo lem she replied aud kepl kepi her eyes on her work aint you glad to see me of course have you hail had a hard time fretful so methin awful work work work from mornen til night and half starved all the time that workhouse Is a torture hole if there ever was one he was working up a fine case cace of self pity lie he had bad been very badly treated mrs irs brown noticed that he was clean that hla his hair was trimmed and he was the least thin but on the contrary looked very well fed 1 I spose I 1 got to io go look for a job said lem 1 I got to have a little cat cal tare fare I 1 mrs brown looked up do you mean that lem she asked do you really want money tor for car fare how much do you want where are you going to look for a job the pale light of hope burned in her eyes long years of experience seemed to have taught her nothing this thing had happened oh so BO many times before lem drew a very long woe be gone face its night work he be said over at the docks steve stevedoring dorin the hardest kind of work cargo in ships but I 1 spose I 1 got to sport my camly I 1 always have managed to except when I 1 when I 1 bad one 0 my slip ups but that aint goin to happen no more im through im a reformed man all I 1 want is three dollars to get me some overalls sin an a dinner pall an pay my fare to tile the docks men and I 1 can go right on tonight 11 wait a minute said his wife she wet into the bedroom lem looked after her and treated himself to a wink the door from the hall opened and a man mail stepped into the brown kitchen it was sam thomas hullo lem brown he be said lem looked up startled when a man has been in jail one cant tell I 1 nhat may happen you been away I 1 hear bear said sam pointedly youre eoln away again aint you what me coln away again oh no I 1 was just tellin lottle lottie I 1 lie ile stopped for his wife had come in she held three one dollar bills in it her hand which she hastily thrust behind her looking very guilty its as if sam thomas had caught her stealing the money hullo lottle lottie said sam 1 I see lems back yes said sirs mrs brown hes got a job over at the docks hes hei gola right over there now arent you lem M ani im coln right over there this afternoon after I 1 get me some overalls and a dinner pall and and a half bait a dozen drinks of whisky put in sam thomas coldly oh no no sam certainly not protested lem certainly not never again for me no sir im goin to work I 1 got a good job night work you know cargo in you lie lem that lems artificial look ing eyes stared with dull surprise eat at sam you lie persisted sam you got a job they aint leadin no vessels over at the docks now and they hardly ever work nights when they do aw sam whined lem so help me I 1 coln to help you but he be aint goin to help you to no drinks but sam I 1 got to have sone overalls if I 1 go to work git overalls all right all right git so methin else too come on now well be on our way what ayou d you mean sam ive got you a job lem A good job a right swell job like it lem cause I 1 know you love hard work I 1 but sam im not very strong I 1 been sick you been sick and youre a big lazy hog fat liar lem brown you give me another word of your sass and ill hand you the grandest whalan you ever had in your life sam shook it a fist as big as a chicago ham under the nose of the astonished and affrighted lem then he be turned to the wife who had stood mutely and uncomprehendingly by lottle lottie this big hulk of a husband of yours has got to go tz to work and im goin to see that he be does ive been help on the place for a long time lem wont make first class help but I 1 aint coln to pay him much it if he cant be handled im goin to have him sent back to jail and this time be the penitentiary for assaulting ass aultin you and mary alice that night and listen lottle I maybe he be dont look it but somehow ive got a sus aidon that there may be the makins of a mau man la in that mis able carcass yet anyhow im goin to undertake the job so long lottle lottie see you next nest week come on lem lWft do you believe there ther la 0 enough iron in lems soul g X enough manhood buried away if in him to stick at this jo job and y make good TO BK BE CONTINUED D |