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Show . The Boy With the FJag , .AtO r was rather a responsible ! y K position for n toy, lint llw 2 1 2 Mnlioncy looked at tlic 1 J plnclicil, old-fnshloncd face "COW of tlic npiillcniit nnd docld-cd docld-cd that this boy, at loist. would not skylark, and bo paw n clianec of doming a good Up-co dollar on tlic weekly payroll. So lie offi-ied Corny half a ilullar n day, nnd tlu l.it. tcr took the place of the "ilollnrii-dny wan," who drank too mmli to lio'd 1i!h ' Job, nnd Accepted' the ofler and '.ho I red flag with an eagerness that .ilmost jnado Mnlioncy wish he hail knocked ' off an additional half do! ar. Coniy's place wns at the nam w crossing at Illank street, where a plat-form plat-form of heavy planks had been built over the deep ditch of the subway works. At one end of tlic excavation was the hoisting engine house, and overhead Ihe heavy wire cables carried the 'trolley car" nf earth or broken stone from (he further end of the ditch to tho dumping platform near the en-tine. en-tine. Ilslde the engineer was n window, nnd through lids aperture ho could ec tho boy with the ting at the cross. Ing, n long block away. Ho governed the speed and Ihe r.Hsing and lowering of the car accurdliu; to the signal of i that Hag. Corny received his signals from the man who stood directly above tho spot where the men were excavating, and .who guided the Mvlnglng bos among the great pipes and drains and conduits which seemed to limig In n perfect Jietwuik above the heads of the laborers labor-ers below. Ilcsldcs keeping a sharp eye on the man, Corny was expected to lie on the lookout for vehicles that wished to toss Ihe ditch and to allow none to cross, while the loaded trolley was run-nlnKovprlicml. run-nlnKovprlicml. A bit of rock might w-faHiprom the car, or n horse might become frightened by the rattle of the trolley. 'The flagboy certainly earned Ms half dollar. There was no time for skylarking, sky-larking, even had Corny been so Inclined. In-clined. Hut Mahoney had been quite correct In his judgment of Coniy's face; life was nltogethcr ton serious to him for the tlagboy to enjoy himself him-self as did other boys. When n person nf ilftcen feels the a responsibility of forty live resting on Jils shoulders skylarking Is n long way from Ills thoughts. The pitiable three I -dollars a week Mahout y nllowed him ' was expected, with what .lolihny could ram doing chores for tho local storekeepers store-keepers nnd Hen could irnkei selling papers to clothe, feed nnd house seven ravenously hungry, mtivo growing hoys and girls. It had not alwajs been so. lx months of trial and privation had in-tdo n very "old-fashioned" boy Indeed of f -ncllus Harney. Clio Ilarneys had only lived n year nnd a half In the city hefme the father died. They had come funn "tin old country," and after "hot man" was taken, I lie mother plued more nnd more for tho old Fngllsli village where she Jiad been horn. .She couui do but little to help support the faml'y, nnd soon the orphaned children haw her laid uway also. Cornelius was the oldest boy. Mary, 1 who was two years his senior, kept ' house for them and tried 'to keep the garments of (ho younger children decently de-cently patched. Nobody seemed to wont n hoy of Cornelius' age until he had drawn the attention of ltns Mnlioncy Mn-lioncy at the tiudergiouuil works. Thoso three dollars looked big Indeed to Corny until he began to try tn apportion ap-portion theui out so much toward the rent, so much for food, and such a very little for clothltif, and nothing nt all for e.lras. Johnny ' and Ileus Incomes were not to bi- depended upon, for they varied according to the number num-ber of errands Johnny could run and the number of papers Hen sold. And to make sure of those three en! lars Corncy had to bo up nt t every morning, rain or Milne, warm or cold, nnd he did not get hack until il nt night. There certainly was no lhnuchi of play In tho Hagboy's mind. 'J'nc responsibilities re-sponsibilities resting on his you. r shoulders spurned Corny to do his best llo quickly learned the signals by which tho engine wns governed, nnd he wns never Inattentive when the trolley was In motion. Mahoney admitted ad-mitted that "the kid" was a good und for lilm; hut he still appropriated the other three dollars In Coniy's onvelype on pay day. The timekeeper, who eanip up from the. contractor'' nlllei- every nftcrminn to got the details of the day's work from Mahoney, khvo poor Corny a serious seri-ous fright the very first day. "Where's MeAdoi" nsked Ihe tin e-keeper, e-keeper, briskly. He wa a lively youn? fellow, wh usually had a Joke for Pie men, and he wns known to be n rein-live rein-live of the contractor hlm-elf. MeAdn "as the name of the man who had ceil (lagging, nmi Corny knew It and trembled. "He's no good, an' I've fired I1I11..' .Mahoney declared, liclllgeiently. lie never seemed to like the timekeeper; prihnps because he fen led the hitter's eyes were sharply concerned In his employer's em-ployer's Interest. "I don't believe Mr. lliitterworth will stand for a boy to H.ig. Something might happen." "Now, j 011 let the lad mono," Ma-lionej Ma-lionej blustered. 'He's nit right. Il'sldes, he tells me he needs the iiluco; there's n raft of joung tins to home and no father nor mother. I'll keep my eye on him." "And who'll keen their eye on vnu, MnhoiicyV" demanded the timekeeper, with n laugh, and walked away. Ma-honpy's Ma-honpy's fondness for liquor was pretty well known among the men, nnd on several occasions tlm boss had been within a luiriow margin Indeed of losing los-ing his lucrative and responsible position. posi-tion. Thereafter, for several days, Corny shook In his broken old shois whenever tho timekeeper made his visit to this portion of the wml.s. nlt the joting flagman was not molested, ami It even seemed that the Jolly clerk took a liking lik-ing to tho solciuu-fncid boy at the crossing, "Don't you ever laugh, youngster" ho asked one day, stopping beside him for n moment. torny looked confused, nnd blushed furiously. "l-f don't see anything to laugh at," he nlntninered. "I 0.1111110," ,tald the other. "Most boys of your age would laugh If they got six dollars a week," and bo went on, leaving Corny dumbfounded, for he dlfln't know that Mahoney 'wis ex-tractljig ex-tractljig mi extra generous "comnils-slon'i "comnils-slon'i from the pay envelope of the flagman. Hilt collecting n tax upon Ihe wage of tho laborers employed on his section sec-tion of the work was not Mnhoncy's only sin. The mail was a good workman work-man when he let liquor alone, but be grew both reckless and abusive when he drank, and as the contractor himself seldom visited the piece of ditching theio was nobody to report Mahonev's. lapses unless It was the timekeeper. When that Individual was about, the boss was usually very circumspect. To oversee the various gangs of men and plan the woik a man's head should be clour all tho time. Corny was lin-piessed lin-piessed by this fact, for nt first the bustle and coufusloii-the steam drills going nt several points along the ditch where veins of rock had been found, the rattle of the trolley overhead, nnd the shouting of the underbosses and laborers-seemed quite overpowering. He began by being afraid that be should transmit the signals wrong to the engineer; but that Individual told him before bis llrst week wns np that ho was the best signal man they had had on the Job. I'crhnps tho engineer, who was a good-natured fellow, said a word In Coniy's favor to the timekeeper, time-keeper, and that Is the reasou he was nllowed to keep his position. Ktorjhndy seemed to like the timekeeper time-keeper hut the boss, and when Mn-bonny, Mn-bonny, ns the men said, "had the drink In htm," he was ugly to everybody. One iiftoriumn Hip half-tipsy overseer sent tho mail who stood 011 the platform plat-form nboP the end of the ditch where the shovellers tilled tho trolley car away on nnnlhrr Job and took Ills place for a time. At once things be-Ban be-Ban tn go wrong, for Corny not always understood the boss slgimls. and the distance was too far for audible command com-mand tn be repented. Once Mahoney walked over In the boy nnd gave hlui a tnngue-lHshliig which very nearly pnrnljed hlin. Of course the boss blamed all the mistakes upon the tlaghoy. Hut when he hud jronc back tn the further platform the timekeeper stopped beside Corny. He IiriI been lu the engine house nnd had seen the whole occurrence from the window. "Don't fret jourself over what that brute says to you," he 141 Id, seeing the tears running down Coniy's pinched cheeks. "He Isn't so big a man as lie thinks himself. If he Ims got a biother In the City Hall and a mil In Fourteenth Four-teenth street." Then he went nil to the end of the ditch. Malnmey wns bellowing st the liieu In his usual ngBrche style. The timekeeper stood nn.i-by mid watetied lilm unobserved. Just then the empty enr ran along the cable and Hopped over the pint-fouil pint-fouil em which Mahoney stood. The ltoe inotloued for "quick drop," and the enr cuing down oil the run and struck squarely on the platform Instead of eiiteiing the month of the shnft. The chains loosemd nnd fell off, and thp greHt steel hook swung loose. Instantly Mahoney leaped up, showering show-ering his curses upon the poor Hug-boy's Hug-boy's devoted head. "Hold on, Mahniipyl" Interposed the qnht lec of the timekeeper, "ghat's your fault. You signaled for n quirk drnp-nud you got It. You'd ought to send that car down steady, or you'll brenk some of the men's hpnds " "I'll break jour head!" round the boss, turning his pnslon-lu!lnmcd face upon the young man. Hut the timekeeper smiled snrcnstlc-nil)-, ami stepped gingerly down upon the plnlfoim. "You ain't lit for this place," he said, In disgust. "Let me catch that hook, If jou're not polng to; It'll do some damage to those pipes" The heavy hook was swinging to nd fro nctoss the pipes, lunging from one to nunthcr. Mnlioncy rushed nt the nervy young timekeeper.; and had the latter not stepped aside he might have been thrown from the platform. "What are you about?" he demanded, seizing the swinging chain with one hand and stopping Its pendulous motion. mo-tion. Hut Mahoney wns not to be held now. He plckid up the nearest Implement Imple-ment to his baud a heavy shovel nnd came at the other a second time. The timekeeper could not pass hlui nnd reach the street; and behind wns the shaft nearly thirty feet In depth. Hut Corny, from the crossing half n block away, saw the overseer's mad attack and realized the young man's danger. "Hang to the book!" he shrieked, nnd his shrill voice rose above the noise of tho steam drills and the rattle of the cable. At tho same Instant he'slgnnled the engineer to draw up the hook. Fortunately, the ilmckccpcr was n young innn of quick brain as well ns action. When he felt the chain tfghten under his liaiul he realized what Coniy's words meant, and slipping bis foot Into the hook he allowed himself to be literally 'snatched" up out of the range of M'lhoupj's shovel. Hut Hip enraged bos Hung the Implement Im-plement after hint, and then began throwing pieces of rock at the swinging figure In the air. Another signal from Hip watchful Corny, however, sent the timekeeper sailing along under the trolley trol-ley cables inward the pumping pint-form, pint-form, and as he whirled nbove the lhigboj's bead ho nctunliy waved his hand tn him. As for Corny himself, ho nlmost fainted from the fright nf It all. A boy who nfp ns little as he did wasn't nblp to stand many such shocks He couldn't even run when Mahoney. scrambling for the dllch, nnd still seeking seek-ing to vent his fury 011 some one, approached ap-proached him. However n couple of brawny policemen, police-men, summoned by the excited shouts of the spectators, quickly overpowered tho madman, nnd he wns marched away to the nearest station. Thnt ended end-ed his career as overseer for Contractor Hiiltorworlh, nnd In the general straightening nut of affairs the timekeeper time-keeper learned bow Corny bad been cheated out of half his pay every week by the boss. "Well, we'll Just mnke that up to you," the timekeeper declared. "I've been telling my uncle nbout you, nnd If you wnnt you can have n plnce at eight dollars n week down to the olllce. I've told you I need an assistant, and you're Just the sort nf n fellow I want." And oltliough that wns nil the timekeeper time-keeper over said about being grateful for the service Coniy's quickness had rendered lilm, the tlagboy wns tiinpry atlslled. Clnssmnte. |