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Show I; Maw Horn I IFoTLHimdl ,1 1- Vf" URRY up, Tommy, it Is a1-! a1-! . most time for the whistle A. to blow." y Tommy turned over in ' J J A J bed and went to sleep again, but in a minute or "-4, two his mother was back ( J again, and this time sho lifted Tommy out of bed and set him on hl3 feet, and with a push said, "There, go wash yourself." Tommy dabbed his face with water from the , ' tin basin and ran his fingers through his hair, i by which time he was nearly wide awake. ' Then ho' put his poor little bits of clothes on, j most of which he had slept in. His breakfast j consisted of some tea, hard bread and molasses '( and was eaten very quickly. Tommy, 0 ycar3 old, then started for the fac- tory, while it was yot.dark, and hl3 little heart j -was In his mouth all the way, for ho was not , f at all a brave boy and moro afraid In the half ' light than he would havo been at night, Arrived at the factory, he was soon at work, J. I sitting at a tahlc and catching paper bags that had to be passed to a girl sitting near him, ! and this kept up for hours at a- tlmo. Often ij he did not catch tho bags on time and then ' there was trouble which would mean that he , -would bo fined, and when he came home -with i less than the right amount of money ho was whipped by his stepfather. Once tho boss' daughter camo through the room, and, seeing Tommy, she stopped. "How old are you, little boy?" sho said. Tommy was about to say 0, and then he remembered re-membered that ho must not say It, and so he replied, "Fourteen." "I don't bollcve it," said the young lady. "You tell your mother to como hore tomorrow at 10 o'clock, I want to talk with her." When Tommy told his mother that night, she declared that ho had boon telling his right age, and when ho denied it sho slapped him and whon his stepfather camo in ho hit him with a whip. Poor Tommy went to bed with his mind made up to run away the next day, but when he go( to the factory ho thought he would stay all day and run away at night, although he hac no idea whore to run to. His mother went to the factory prepared tc prove that ho was 14 years of age, but the young lady was too sharp for her and Informed her that sho must sond Tommy to school or go to prison for not obeying tho law. When work was over at 6 o'clock, Tommy fook the opposite way from home and found himself very soon in a part of town that he had never seen. Thcro wcro beautiful, front yards, with tho hose spraying the flowers that grew In abundance, and many nicely dressed womon and girls walking about. Tommy kept on walking, and presently was passing the home of his "boss," although he did not know it. "Why, Ihore Is tho boy, now," said tho young lady. "Como In here, Tommy." He went In and sho wanted to know where ho was going, and, whon ho would not tell, guessed that he was running away. She sent him to tho garage with the man who was sprinkling the lawn, and Tommy was washed and fed and put to bed In tho. only clean place he had ever known. He became assistant to tho man who sprinkled sprin-kled the lawn, and his work was to pull weeds for an hour each morning and ovonlng and to go to school tho rest of the time. Ho enjoyed the school as much aa a boy could who was behind be-hind all the boys of his age, but ho tried so hard that ho soon caught up, and every one was proud of him, and In time ho went back tc the factory to work as a clerk In the ofllco and was very careful that no boy under age was allowed to ruin-his health by working at tasks not meant for children. |