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Show OLD WILLIE'S QUEST. A Hun-rey character Wlinie Knperlene Denoii'ratcs Itowery Sympathy. "There's ch traeter," said the clerk of a twenty-It cent Uowery hotel, iteli-c.itintc iteli-c.itintc sh ilihily dressed old man who (, i, Moiiil with iiis back to tho st e, "Wil lie, come oi er hero a minute." Tin; old man by tlio stovo evidently ii'isuered to the diminutive namo. for ho I'kine 'd u;'. to see who called, and then ' t; ill iptu'kly over to the desk. "T'-ll the gentleman alxu'.t yourself, ViUie," Kihl the clerk. Willie took oil his dilapidated hat to tho sti ,-niij'T, and said: "Ttventy-livo yeai-s u c'i 1 had it ih.nhter, One day alio went ,ivay and left me. She was jiihjhty pretty, and not inore'u fifteen years old. Whorj had slie gone? No o.irtcoiild s.-ty. I be.ui my search one Jii'lit i:i March, twenty-live years ao. 1 hnut-'d f.ir ten jea:s an 1 nev.'r found li"r. Then one ui.ht iu winter I av a l:iau and i woman crusMne; this very I nverv. 1 looked closer, and there was inv child. 1 called, Julia! Julia!' ISlu turned her h-ad and looked at me. . I was hurrying up to take her hands, when 1 satv that she was lenviuif me. She and tho man went fast through tho crowd, and 1 followed, cullinj,', 'Julia! Julia!' A pjli.v.'uau stoppi-d me, and tu;.' they nil laughed. I h i I lost her a;,'in. That was fifteen years a;:o. I've never wn her sisuv, but I'm still l(Hk-;;,'. l(Hk-;;,'. and I'll hnd her yet." "Vell. life has liono hard with you, "isi 1 '" ft'.'sfft it?" .:id the stranger. " Vou hsik cold." Thank you. I'm not so very cold. The trouble is my kind friends j;ivo mo a thin coat to wear in th winter and a thick one to wear in the summer. That's the way it was with tho Italian that L'ceps tho fruit xtand out ou tho corner here. Ho gave tiiis little blue coat, to Die, and I pawned t lie old thick one that the ciyrar man save me, because it had the most holes in it." "Arc you very poor?" "Not as long as I atay riht in this neighborhood. Tho ciar man lets mo sleep on tho flinir iu his shop, and this trood young man lets nte have tho use of the hotel ofiice." "Where do you get your food'.1" "It comes to me from various directions. direc-tions. I have the same trouble with that, though, that I do with my coals. I get n piece of sweet rice pudding for breakfast as a rule, and buckwheat cakes for dinner, when, of course, tho order should be reversed. It is left over in that way." I "Well, you expect to find your dau;rh- 1 ter some day?" l "Yes. I'm seventy-six now, and I think 1 will live ten years longer. In that time I shall meet he:' again. I am ' always an the street, except when I step j in her-3 or at the eiif.tr store to pet warm. 1 I will bid you good day, s r. and start out j again on my hunt." The old man hurried out into tho Bow- ' try and diappeared,in the crowd. "The worst of it is," remarked the hotel ho-tel clerk after ho had gone, "Old Willie's daajlUter has been dead for ten years ; and he's never been told of it." New J York Sun. j |