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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/25562-8.txt b/25562-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..70bd727 --- /dev/null +++ b/25562-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5797 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, William Adolphus Turnpike, by William Banks + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: William Adolphus Turnpike + + +Author: William Banks + + + +Release Date: May 22, 2008 [eBook #25562] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WILLIAM ADOLPHUS TURNPIKE*** + + +E-text prepared by Al Haines + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustration. + See 25562-h.htm or 25562-h.zip: + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/5/5/6/25562/25562-h/25562-h.htm) + or + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/5/5/6/25562/25562-h.zip) + + + + + +WILLIAM ADOLPHUS TURNPIKE + +by + +WILLIAM BANKS + + + + + + + +[Frontispiece: Kindly hands bound up his wounds] + + + +J. M. Dent & Sons Ltd. +27 Melinda Street, Toronto +1913 + +All rights reserved + + + + +TO MY MOTHER + + + + +WILLIAM ADOLPHUS TURNPIKE + + +CHAPTER I + +"What! never been to a political meeting; an' you living in a city. +Back to the hamlet for you, boy; you're lost. + +"You're not? You know where you live, and could find your way home in +the dark? My, but you're cert'nly the quick actor when it comes to +thinking. + +"Sure I've been to more'n a dozen political meetin's. Ain't my Pa a +member er the ex-ecutive of Ward Eighteen Conservative Club? He's a +charter member, too. Don't he rent the parlor for a pollin' booth on +votin' day, hire himself for a scrooteneer, and have my uncle Henry for +constable? + +"Your father wouldn't do them things, eh! Well, maybe he ain't never +had the chance. + +"The first political meeting I went to? Well it was in the hall where +the Sons of Italy meets, and Pa he ain't got no business there really +because it's not his gang what's holding the meeting. It's all +furriners organised into the Ward Eighteen European Reform Club by +Jimmy Duggan, the coal and woodyard man. My Pa and Jimmy Duggan is +great friends. Jimmy says to Pa, he says, 'Come along, Joe, I got the +greatest bunch of murd-erers of English into the club you ever seen,' +he says, 'and tonight the Honorable Wallace Fixem, Minister of Public +Works, is going to attend our inaggeral meetin',' he says, 'and give us +a spiel.' + +"And my Pa says, 'How much are you gettin' out of it, Jimmy?' he says. + +"And Jimmy says, 'Far be it from me to bandy words with a hopeless +dyed-in-the-wool Tory,' he says, 'what's agoin' blindly to his crool +end,' he says, 'in spite of----' + +"And then Ma butts in. 'That'll do for you, Jimmy Duggan,' she says. +'Both of them political parties is rotten,' she says, 'and you know it.' + +"And Jimmy--Gee! but he's the great actor--he looks at Ma with a long +face on him, and he says, 'Madam,' he says, 'I admit that the party to +which my poor friend here belongs,' he says, 'is all to the bad. I +admit,' he says, 'that it has sunk----' + +"And Ma says, 'Get out, Jimmy,' she says, 'and take Joe with you.' + +"And Pa says, 'Ma,' he says, 'how about Willyum coming along,' and you +bet I'm listenin' hard that time. + +"And Ma says, 'I'm afraid,' she says, 'about them 'Talians. S'pose +they got to fighting, anybody might stick a steeletter into the boy,' +she says. + +"'Pardon me, madam,' says Jimmy, 'you are doing a great wrong,' he +says, 'to our noble feller citerzens----' + +"And Ma gets up like she was in a kind of a hurry and she says if Pa +don't take Jimmy away she'll throw 'em both out, and Pa can take me to +the meeting. And we went. + +"Say, you'd orter seen the bunch in that hall. I guess there was some +from every country on the map of Europe, and other places too we ain't +never dreamed of. It was a cold night, and they had the stove goin'. +Me and Pa, we sits near the door because Pa says that when the meetin' +gets agoin' they's no telling about what kind of a trouble there might +be in a hall like that, and it's us where we can slip out when we wants +to. + +"Next to my Pa was a feller with whiskers a mile long, and pop eyes, +and when Jimmy Duggan left us and starts down to the platform this +feller says to Pa, 'Ain't he the great man!' he says. + +"And my Pa says, 'He ain't so bad for a Swede.' + +"And the man says, 'He ain't no Swede. No! Sir.' + +"And my Pa says, 'Since when ain't he a Swede when he's born in +Swedeland?' + +"'There ain't no such country,' says the man, 'you mean Sweden,' he +says, and my Pa says, 'I means just what I say,' he says. + +"And the man looks at him and he says, 'Mister Duggan,' he says, 'is an +Irishman.' + +"'With er name like that,' says my Pa, 'imposserble. 'Sides I never +heard of Irishmen. What country do they come from?' and, honest, my Pa +never batted an eyelid. Gee! but he's a grand jollier. And I thought +the man's eyes would drop out; I almost felt like holdin' out my hands +to catch 'em. And he says to my Pa, he says, 'Where do you come from?' +and Pa says, 'A free country,' he says, 'where every man gets a square +deal and can say what he likes.' + +"Well, the man looked at him hard and he says, very sarkastic, he says, +'Where's that?' + +"'Russia,' says Pa, and, say, you'd orter heard that man yell. Honest, +it made me sick at the stomach. Jimmy Duggan was just giving the +committee the last orders on the platform when that yell man cut loose. +Jimmy he looks around like he'd been shot, takes a flying leap off'n +the platform, and comes rushing down towards my Pa and the man with the +whiskers and the bulging eyes. And the man was yelling all the time +like the fans do at the baseball game when the score's a tie and the +home team's heavy hitter slugs the ball on the left ear for a home run. +And he was standing up pointing at Pa with a hand the size of a shovel, +and all the rest of the bunch around us was getting restless and +cacklin' furrin' talk. + +"So when Jimmy gets up to the man with the steam whistle in his throat, +he grabs him by the whiskers, gives 'em a tug like he'd pull 'em off, +and he says pretty sharp, 'Sit down.' And the feller set, and just as +he did he opens his mouth to let out another yell, and Jimmy grabs a +cap from another man's head and sticks it in his mouth, and that +stopped him. So after he gets the cap out, Jimmy says, 'Now what's the +row?' + +"And the man points at my Pa and says, 'That man says Russia is a free +country,' he says, and starts in to give another yell, only Jimmy lifts +a finger at him and the man stops with his mouth open, and he looked +foolish I tell you. So then Jimmy bends down and whispers something in +the man's ear, and the feller smiles and pats Pa on the shoulder +gentlelike, every once in a while, and Pa lets on he never notices it, +though I seen he's kinder mad about something. + +"Just as Jimmy gets back to the platform a Dago and a Hungarian gets to +words about who's the best mus-i-cans in the ward. + +"Oh! moosicians, is it? Have it your own way. + +"You see the Hungarians was awful mad because the Dagos beat 'em out +catering to supply the music for the night, and the Dago orchestra was +playing the swellest ragtime music you ever heard. Well, them two gets +to blows, and about fifteen others are jumping around ready to pile in +when Jimmy Duggan begins to pound on the table with a wooden hammer +what they uses in lodges and club rooms. + +"A gavel, eh! Very well, me learned friend, I'll not dispute it. + +"He bangs so hard they all quits their scrapping and begins to take +notice. 'I am just informed, gentlemen,' says Jimmy, 'that the +Honorable Fixem is now on the stairs on his way into this meeting, and +I would ask the ork-estra,' he says, 'to greet him with a few bars +of----' + +"And just then the door opens, and a little procession comes in +escortin' the Honorable Fixem, and the ork-estra leader waves his hand +frantic and the ork-estra strikes up 'All Coons Look Alike to Me.' +Well, say, you'd orter heard the row. Some was cheerin' and some was +laughin', and the Honorable Fixem he was looking like a sheep outer the +meadows, and Jimmy Duggan yells out, 'Stop that tune, darn it,' he +says, and the ork-estra man leader he didn't hear what Jimmy says and +he thought that he wanted it louder, so he waves his hands like mad and +the ork-estra sails into that tune like they'd never quit it, until +Jimmy leans over and grabs the leader by the back of the neck and +nearly chokes the breath outer him, and the ork-estra is just comin' +for Jimmy en massey when the leader says something in Italian and they +sits down again looking kinder sad and strikes up 'See the Con'kring +Hero Comes,' and the Honorable Fixem gets on the platform. Gee! you'd +think that bunch'd never stop yellin'. They just cheered and cheered. +Then they begins to present illumernated addresses in every language +but Scotch, and my Pa says Scotch ain't anything but two scones on each +side of a burr. So when they gets through Jimmy Duggan calls on the +Honorable Fixem for a speech, and Fixem started in. + +"Say, I never knowed a gover'ment was so much like angels before. The +things what the gover'ment's done for this country, judging by the way +Fixem told it, is enough to make people want to keep 'em in for ever. +My Pa says it's mostly guff, but the pollertishans has gotter feed the +people with that kinder guff ev'ry once in a while, he says, they get +fat on it, he says. + +"Well, everything goes on fine 'cepting some cheers once in a while, +until the Honorable gets down to the gover'ment's plans for the +immigrants. And he says something about not stooping to bribe any man +to cast a vote for the gover'ment by promising to find work for him, +but there's a big programme of gover'ment works to be done in the +neighbourhood, which, of course, will help to make good times, he says. + +"Just then somebody gets up in the hall and yells out, 'Rotten, rotten, +what you caller dat but de bribe, eh?' and another feller shies a +pineapple at him, whatever he had it there for. Pa says mebbe he's +ripenin' it by the stove so as to sell it the next day. Anyway it +misses the man what's makin' the noise and hits the ork-estra leader on +the brain-house, and the next I knowed Pa has me downstairs--it's only +one flight--and he says to me, 'We'll wait for Jimmy,' he says, and we +did. + +"And every minute we waited there was something doing. Why there was +Greeks and Hungarians and Dagos and all kinds coming out the winders or +rolling down the stairs and rushing back again, some of them with their +noses bleeding and their clothes torn, and all the time shoutin' like +mad. Then all of a sudden everything calms down to a whisper, and men +began to fly outer that buildin' and run away like mad. + +"So when the Honorable Fixem's safely in his carriage, and Jimmy +Duggan's walking home with Pa and me. Pa says, 'What stopped it, +Jimmy?' And Jimmy says, 'Well, I just got a few of the fellers +together,' he says, 'and we hollers "Steeletters, steeletters," and +that scared 'em, you bet, for they're all afraid of their lives of them +'Talian knives.' + +"'Pretty smart hit, Jimmy,' Pa says, 'but it's almost a pity you didn't +get three inches or so of steeletter in your hide,' he says, 'after +what you said to that feller sittin' beside me.' 'Well,' says Jimmy, +'he's a Russian,' he says, 'what was mixed up in some of the Nillyist +plots, and the only way to keep him quiet,' he says, 'was to tell him +you'd been driven looney by the cruelty of the Russian gover'ment,' he +says." + +Thus William Adolphus Turnpike, office boy, to Lucien Torrance, who +held a similar exalted position. They were sitting on the front stairs +leading to the adjoining offices occupied by Mr. Whimple and his friend +Simmons, the architect, in the city of Toronto. The city was then at +the transition period; its population had just passed the 200,000 mark, +and already included a fair number of lunatics who clamored for a +million people. But it had not yet made up its mind that dumping +sewage into the Bay and believing that it would not contaminate the +adjoining lake, whence came the water supply, was a system apt to +result in a large proportion of typhoid fever cases. People had +typhoid, and either died of it or got better, and in the latter event +they resumed the drinking of the city water. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +William had engaged himself to work for Mr. Charles Whimple, +"barrister, etc.," just one week previously in response to that +gentleman's advertisement for "a bright and intelligent office boy; one +who knows the city well." When he arrived at the office on the morning +after the insertion of the advertisement, Whimple found William busily +engaged in dusting off the lone table in his room. At the back of the +office, with its small, very small, ante-room, was the office of his +friend, Simmons, and as he was usually down an hour earlier than +Whimple, he "opened up" and kept an eye on things for the barrister +until he arrived. As Whimple entered, William greeted him with a +cheery "Good-morning, Mr. Whimple." + +"Good-morning, what are you doing here?" + +"I'm your office boy." + +"You are----" + +"Sure," said William cheerily, "I sent the other bunch away." + +"The other bunch----" + +"Yep; say, Mr. Whimple----" + +"But just a minute," Mr. Whimple interrupted, "how did you know my +name? Have we met before?" + +"Search me--if we did we wasn't interduced." + +"Then how did you know?" + +William stopped dusting and regarded him thoughtfully. + +"How did you know?" Whimple repeated. + +"I always know," the boy repeated slowly, and then, as though communing +with himself, "yes, I always know," and, as to-day, there was that in +William's voice that haunted and held Whimple, as it has done many +since. But that comes later. + +William went on still dusting slowly. "Say, Mister Whimple, I mayn't +be much, but the rest of the gang was the greatest c'lection er mutts +you ever seen. Honest, I don't believe there was one of 'em could say +the alphabet without thinking ten minutes first. And I needed the job +most anyway." + +"How do you know?" + +"Because I looked 'em over good, and I heard 'em saying how many hours' +work they'd do a day and how much they wanted for it, and most of 'em +was saying about how they showed their other bosses what's what. So I +knew they didn't want a job; they just wanted a place to bum in. You +should'er heard me shooing 'em away. I told 'em you had made your +selection and I was IT." + +Whimple smiled and William returned the salute. He saw in his employer +a young man, tall, with a brown-eyed, good-looking face, and a head of +red hair. And Whimple saw a rather thin but healthy-looking lad with a +somewhat long face, a nose that William himself always referred to as +"pug," round blue eyes, freckles, and hair--well, just "mouse coloured" +William's mother always called it. + +Their acquaintanceship ripened into friendship very fast; too fast +Whimple thought, for by mid-afternoon he had told the boy a great deal +about himself and his past and his prospects. And William had +listened, asking a question occasionally, sometimes interjecting a +remark, and always, so Whimple says now, with an aptness that surprised +and delighted him. William evinced no surprise and no regret when +informed that bright as were the prospects, two dollars a week, for the +present, was the maximum salary he could hope for. + +"Don't worry about that," said William when Whimple apologised for the +smallness of the amount. "It'll help some at home, and mebbe I ain't +worth no two dollars a week anyhow." + +"Don't underestimate yourself, William," said Whimple. + +"No chance of me doing that. Say, Mr. Whimple, supposin' I'm any good +and business improves, me salary goes up too--that's right, ain't it?" + +"That's right, my boy." + +"Then," solemnly, "it's up to us to increase the business, and to make +this office too small to hold the people that want to hire you." + +And Whimple smiled again. The lad's cheeriness, the eagerness of the +keen young face, and the tone of the voice put new heart into him. The +fame he had dreamed of on the day he had been called to the bar was +still a phantom; the struggle to earn a living in the profession he had +chosen in the years when youth brooked no obstacles was keener far than +ever he had believed possible, yet there remained to him hope, courage, +and the determination to "look for the silver lining." At thirty he +had few clients, and a legacy that brought him just $6.00 a week, and +often had been his only barrier against real want. His father and +mother had died while he was just a boy; relatives had given him a home +until at eighteen he had started "clerking" in a law office, and with +his wages and his legacy had carried himself through to the day when +his name appeared among those called to the bar. Simmons he had met in +the clerking days; the young architect was financially better equipped +than the lawyer, and Whimple had not hesitated at times to accept of +his assistance--though he never felt free until the obligation had been +repaid. It was Simmons who had insisted on the arrangement for the +adjoining office, though Whimple at first had strongly demurred. But, +indeed, an office floor with a front entrance and a rear stairway that +landed you on a lane leading to a back street was not without +advantages when money was scarce and bill collectors plentiful. + +To many it may seem remarkable, to others amusing, and to the minority +a thing unbelievable, that before the end of the first week William +should have been manager of the office so far as its routine was +concerned. Every one who has had the honour of acquaintance with a +first-class office boy will understand. Those who have not had that +experience will not, and to them is added those who do not regard boys, +office or otherwise, as having the remotest bearing upon, connection +with, or part in the working of the world of to-day. Your first-class +office boy inspires fear. He knows his indispensability; he knows that +more than anything else the boss loathes the trouble of hiring an +office boy; he knows--oh! what does he not know? You who have never +had to do with him, or depend upon him, go sit at the feet of him who +has and try to grasp the outer rim of understanding as to the depth and +height and width of the wisdom and learning, the profound knowledge of +the only human being to whom the Kings of Finance and Commerce (see any +daily paper) appear as they really are--just men. + +Sometimes an office boy is beloved--and that not always--for the +virtues that tell most in actual work. Or may be a streak of +cheeriness in the otherwise inscrutable bearing; it may be a confiding, +"Oh! may I trust in you, boss?" kind of manner; it may be that in the +man who hires him there still remains--though now well controlled--that +love of fun and careless mischievousness that seems to be peculiar to +the office boy of all nationalities. What one or what combination of +any or all of these qualities Whimple found quite early in William +still remains a mystery. + +Coming back to William, it is to be observed that while he became Grand +Master of Ceremonies in full charge of the office routine, he exercised +his authority with discretion and tact. By the end of the first month, +he had won Whimple to an announcement on the outer door to the effect +that office hours were from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and he had established +his own luncheon hour as from 12 to 1. "It wouldn't do for you," he +said gravely to Whimple, "to be takin' your lunch then, because you're +a per-fession'l man. You gotter keep up with the procesh if you wanter +make good." + +Whimple laughed, but nodded his acceptance of the idea. "You're an +inspiration, William," he said. "You've so much sunshine in your +composition that you are shedding it nearly all the time, consciously +or unconsciously, on the worthy and unworthy alike." + +And he spoke truly; William exercised no discrimination in this regard. +You could take it or leave it. Unless you had just lost some one near +and dear to you, or otherwise tasted the dregs of sorrow or remorse, +you couldn't ordinarily stay within a few yards of William and grieve. +Not that he had not suffered, young as he was. Not that he could not +and did not grieve with those he knew were in sorrow or distress; you +are not to think that of William. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +Whimple early discovered that William was not a model of integrity, +diligence, and rectitude. Though an office boy he had his failings, +and William's explanations of them were as curious, but quite as +characteristic, as the lad himself. + +"When it comes to business matters, Mister Whimple," he said with a +dignity that almost upset the young lawyer's effort to appear gravely +judicial, "it's me on the level. You can trust me to tell the truth +and do the right thing. But when it comes to spinnin' yarns, nobody +don't have to b'lieve 'em. Honest, I don't know when I'm telling the +truth about 'em myself." + +"That is a curious psychological problem, William." + +"Gee! is it as bad as that? I hope it ain't fatal." + +Whimple smiled. "No," he said, slowly, "and yet, my boy, there is only +one way to build up a good reputation. Do you go to Sunday school?" + +"Well--not reg'lar. Sunday's the busy time for me." + +"Busy! Why?" + +"Sure--I take the kiddies out if it's fine, and maybe we don't have the +bully times. Say"--his eyes were shining now, and he stood a little +closer to Whimple, who was sitting on the table--"there's Pete, he's +nine and a holy terror, and Bessie, she's six, and Joey, he's about +four, And Dolly--say, Mister Whimple, you'd orter see Dolly, she's got +big brown eyes, and brown hair, and a kinder solemn little face. +She----" + +"Are you spinning yarns now, William?" + +"It's between man and man now, Mister Whimple--this ain't no yarn. My +Pa says he uster think no man could keep a buncher kids like us and be +happy, and now he thinks no man could be happy without a bunch like us, +and Ma says it's hard scrapin' sometimes, but she wouldn't be without +one of us for a thousand feeter land on the main street, and that's +going some." + +"What does your father do, William?" + +"Pa, he's an express-man, and a good one at that, Mister Whimple. He +owns two horses and rigs, and I tell you he keeps agoing all day long, +Saturdays too, an' he's a-buyin' the house we're in, an' it ain't no +cinch of a job liftin' a mortgage. Many's the time I've heard him say +he wished he could lift it as easy as he lifts some of the trunks he +carts." + +"And what are you going to be, William?" + +And William was silent. He flushed a little, toyed with a button of +his vest, and finally answered in a low tone-- + +"I know what I wanter be, and sometimes I think I know how to get +there, and sometimes I don't, and I'd rather not tell it just now." + +"I hope you'll succeed, William--if your aim is a lofty one." + +"Well," drawled William, "it's some high, and Tommy Watson says I'm +bughouse, but I tell him he's a bit that way himself." + +"Tommy Watson, the auctioneer?" + +"Sure--say, Mister Whimple, ain't he a pippin? My Pa says he can make +people buy rocks and weep with joy on the bargains they're gettin' in +diamon's." + +That day Whimple called on Tommy Watson, famed as the peer of +auctioneers. To those who counted among his friends and acquaintances, +and they were as numerous as the wise "I-told-you-so's" on the day +after an election or a prize fight, Tommy was always an inspiration and +a delight. His long rambling store, with its wonderful stock of +furniture, books, nick-nacks, pictures, all that goes to add zest to +the life of the bargain-hunters and auction regulars, was a +gathering-place for all classes. Tommy knew and was respected by the +men whose names meant power and money; he was beloved by many a +wage-earner for the help he gave in the all-important problems of home +furnishing, and he was the idol of one William Adolphus Turnpike. + +Whimple lost no time in preliminaries. "I've got an office boy, +Tommy," he said, "and----" + +"One William Adolphus Turnpike, to wit," Tommy broke in. + +"The same; he's quite a character, Tommy." + +"A good lad though," said the auctioneer, "and a friend of mine." + +"He says you know what he wants to be, and that you think he's +bughouse." + +Tommy laughed. "He spends an hour here every morning," he said. + +"What!" + +"Turns up as regular as the clock at about fifteen minutes to eight, +and stays until he has just time to get to the office on the stroke of +nine." + +There was a long pause, each man regarding the other thoughtfully. It +was Tommy who relieved the situation. + +"So far as I know," he said slowly, "he has confided in no one but +myself and one other regarding his plans. He's only a boy; he may +change his mind any day. But I don't think it. I never knew any one, +man, woman, or child, so earnest and determined." + +"You know how I'm situated, Tommy; mighty little yet but hope--and, +thank God, I've never lost that. It's really a shame, Tommy, paying +him the princely salary of two dollars per, but I need him. Tommy, if +you think it best not to tell, don't." + +Tommy understood. "It might help," he said, "and I can depend upon you +to keep silence. Come along." + +He led the way to the back of the store, where his bachelor apartments +were situated--a bedroom and a library--a most curious library, for +Tommy was an omnivorous reader and particularly given to romances. + +In one corner of the room was a small bookcase with perhaps fifty books +carefully arranged; a little desk and an arm-chair. "That's his +corner," said Tommy abruptly; "look at the books." + +Whimple looked over the titles rapidly, then more closely. "Plays," he +murmured, "the lives of actors, more plays, _The Comedian, Garrick, +Nell Gwynn_," then turning to Tommy and raising his voice, "he wants to +be an actor?" + +"Yep." + +"But many boys think that--almost every boy thinks that." + +"But not the way this boy does." + +"Yes, but can he read these, Tommy? I never heard any one murder +English like William does. Yet he does it so winningly--that's the +word, I think--that any jury would acquit him. And his slang--uh!" He +shrugged his shoulders. + +"Fierce, ain't it?" said Tommy smilingly. + +"But can he really read these books?" Whimple reiterated. + +"You should hear him and see him tackling the dictionary when he's +stuck. Besides--I'm telling you everything mind in confidence--'Chuck' +Epstein reads with him." + +"Epstein! Whew!--and in his day he was the greatest comedian of them +all. And a Jew!" + +"And a man," said Tommy Watson with a note of challenge in his voice. + +"I've heard much of his kindnesses," Whimple said, "but know him only +by sight." + +"He's a great friend of mine," said Tommy; "he spends nearly all his +mornings here; has done since he retired from the stage. He's getting +feeble, but his mind is as clear as ever, and his heart--well, his +heart has never grown old." + +"William Adolphus Turnpike, Epstein, retired comedian, Tommy Watson, +auctioneer," said Whimple softly, and then looking up he found Watson +regarding him with a whimsical smile. + +"Us three, and no more--Amen, as the Three Guardsmen used to say," +Tommy said. + +"Well, not exactly in those words," Whimple replied. + +"But meaning the same," Tommy retorted, "so what's the difference? +Believe me," he went on, "the boy is safe with us. If his ambition +sticks--why, he'll land." + +"You're a good sort, Tommy Watson," said Whimple warmly as he left the +shop, "I wish I could do more to help the boy." + +"You're doing lots," said Tommy genially, "lots, and--well, the legal +world'll take off its hat to you yet." + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +Meanwhile our hero, as Vivian de Vere de Softley, the author of one +thousand love stories, would say, was pensively leaning out of one of +the office windows and thoughtfully taking pot shots at passers-by with +a pea-shooter. Preferably he selected as his marks gentlemen who +carried weight, and considered his best shot that which stung the ear +of an elderly banker who wore a silk hat, and was detested by all who +listened to his exhaustive speeches at banquets given by associations +that could not afford to leave him off their programmes. The banker +was exceedingly wrath, but as William was an expert in concealment, his +victim was foiled in his attempts to discover the cause of the sudden +stoppage of his flow of thought on his next great speech. + +The banker finally passed on, and William was aiming for his next shot +when something struck him on the shoulder. He turned smartly to +encounter the stern gaze of a lady, an elderly lady. Her parasol was +descending for another blow, but William adroitly dodged it. Nothing +daunted, she raised it again, and this time succeeded in rapping "our +hero" smartly across the arm. + +William dropped to the floor, crawled under the table, rose again and +waited. The lady walked gravely toward him, whereupon William again +followed the under-the-table route, and finally flopped into a chair by +his own desk. The lady regarded these manoeuvres with a gleam of anger +in her fine dark eyes. + +The boy had swiftly "taken her in," to use his own expressive phrase, +and afterwards was able to say that she wore a bonnet, not a hat, that +long ringlets of grey hair hung down each side of her face, that her +dress was of silk and black, and that she held in her hand a slender +chain, to which was attached a dog of the most melancholy countenance, +and a shape that made William grin. + +"What are you laughing at?" demanded the lady. + +"The dog; if it is a dog." + +"And a very good dog it is too." + +"Well, I've seen pictures of 'em," said William politely, "but I ain't +never believed it till now." + +"Believed what?" + +"The face and the shape----" + +"There's nothing the matter with the shape," was the tart response; +"Dick's a Daschund." + +"A what! Oh! Gee! Say, my tongue always rolls around like it had no +roots when I strike a word like that." + +"No wonder; a boy of your age should be at school." + +"School! not for mine, lady. I've gotter make a livin'." + +"A living--you! What are you doing here?" + +"I'm the office boy." + +"Office boy! Whose office boy?" + +"Mister Whimple's." + +"You're a liar," the words were snapped out with a force and directness +that William afterwards declared put him "on the blinks" for a few +seconds. + +The only retort that he would have made to one of his own sex rose +swiftly to the boyish lips, and stayed there. He rose--who shall say +what freak of imagination swayed him then--and took a step toward the +lady. His hand went to his cap--in the encounter he had forgotten it +until then--and off it came with a sweeping bow. He was no longer +William, or Willie, or Bill; he was no longer an office boy; this was +not Toronto. Here was the lady of the castle, proud, imperious, +haughty; he was one who served under the banner of her lord. Beyond, +was the great old house, surrounded with stately trees and fine +driveways, and Sir William Adolphus Turnpike, in a voice he did not +know, was saying, "Fair lady, I am thine to command. If I have +offended I prithee forgive; 'twas not my intent, I do assure thee." + +And the lady--what half-forgotten dreams came surging to her mind. +Long ago, so long ago, there had been a boy with a heart of gold that +had lost none of its admiration for her when the boy gave place to the +man. But on a far-off border line of the empire he had given his life +for the flag, and out of her life there had gone the dreams of a future +with him. All through the years since then she had held her heart +against those who would have stormed it, and now--and now--she tried to +speak, but her lips were tremulous and her eyes tear-dimmed. She +courtesied low and with grace, and William, who was standing with the +ink-stained fingers of one hand clutching his cap and the other held +where he thought his heart might be, felt a thrill of sympathy. + +"Lady," he said softly, "I await your command." + +And still she did not speak. Then William, true knight, threw down his +cap, placed a chair for her, carefully laid her parasol on his desk, +and waited. + +Presently, "Boy," she said gently, "where did you learn that?" + +"I read it somewhere," he said, "some of it, and I guess I just made up +the rest. I can't help it, lady. I often have them kinder spells." + +She was looking at him thoughtfully, and William blushed under her +scrutiny. + +"Don't be ashamed, boy," she said. "'Them kinder spells'"--and she +mimicked him so well that William laughed outright, "will carry you a +long way some day. You may sit down." + +William sat, and thereupon Dick, his mistress having loosened her hold +upon the chain, ambled over and placed his solemn-faced visage as close +to the boy's knees as he could get it. William lifted the dog which +snuggled close to his breast. + +"If Dick likes you there must be some good in you," said the lady: and +her voice was again sharp and firm. "Where's Whimple?" + +"He'll be here soon, I expect." + +"Umph! Poking around the law courts I suppose. He's never been here +when I want him." + +"Mister Whimple is a busy man," said William loyally. + +"Don't lie to me," was the sharp rejoinder, "I'm a Whimple. Miss +Elizabeth Whimple, if you want to know, and I'm his aunt. He would be +a fool and enter law against my advice, and I hope he'll starve for it." + +William's eyes narrowed. "Did you ever try starving, Miss Whimple?" he +demanded. + +"Heavens, no!--what would I want to try that for?" + +"Well, I'm glad if you never have to," was the answer. "My Dad came +near to it sometimes before he got onter his feet, and I ain't very old +myself, but I've seen the day I'd walked a long way to get my teeth +into a piece of beef-steak." + +"I don't believe you." + +"Well, of course, you don't have to," said William calmly. "That's a +funny thing about grown-ups. They'll believe any old lie if it's in +print, but the minute anybody tells 'em the truth straight outen his +heart, they don't----" + +"Boy," she interrupted sharply, "don't preach to me!" + +"Preach! me preach!" + +"Yes; you may not call it that, but it's preaching just the same. Now, +where's Whimple?" + +"Honest, lady, I don't know. He----" + +And here Whimple entered by the back door. For collectors were +beginning at this time to come in with requests for payments of the +monthly bills incidental to the upkeep of an office, and it was the +part of wisdom to ascertain before entering the office whether any such +were "at anchor." + +His aunt greeted him with a fair amount of cheerfulness, and at once +informed him that she had come to ask that he look after the interests +of her estate. + +"I've been acting as my own rent collector for years," she said, "and +I'm getting tired of it. I want you to look after that and after any +legal business arising therefrom, but mind you I'll pay you only the +legal rate, no more, relative or no relative." + +They passed into Whimple's room, whence the lady emerged some time +later. William opened the office door for her, and as she passed out +she admonished him to make good use of his time, and "never, never +enter law." + +"I'm about as near to it as I'll ever get," answered William politely. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +This is a chronicle of facts, culled from the life of William Adolphus +Turnpike and other personages, as distinguished from mere history. +Everybody in this age of research and cheap books, to say nothing of +magazines and newspapers, knows that history is not true. It is +established beyond doubt, for instance, that King Richard III. was a +man of loving disposition, and that the story of his being an accessory +to the death of the little princes has no foundation. We know also +that the Scots deliberately planned the loss of the battle of Flodden +in order to pave the way for their modern invasion of England and the +capture of all the good jobs in the empire. They simply lured the +English on, because they knew that no Englishman could live north of +the Tweed and ever get enough to eat, while every Scotsman is +impervious to stomachic or climatic conditions so long as there is a +position to be filled or a bawbee to be paid out. + +Here then, sticking to facts, is to be recorded that William Adolphus +Turnpike reached the office one Monday morning, some time after the +events last chronicled, wearing a black eye, an abrased nose, and a +scratched chin. Naturally, Lucien Torrance, office boy to Simmons, the +architect, and therefore on terms of equality with William, demanded an +immediate and detailed explanation, which William proceeded to give. + +"Did yer see the lacrosse match between the Easts and the Stars on +Saturday? + +"What! yer didn't? Gee! you missed it. Say, there was somethin' doing +nearly every minute till the police broke up the game and took the +players to the Number 4 Station. + +"What's that--did I take the kiddies? Not for a minute I didn't. +Would yer wanter take your little brothers or sisters---- + +"You ain't got none. Well, nobody's blamin' you, are they? I'm just +supposin' you had. Would you wanter take 'em any place you'd thought +there was goin' to be a scrap? Not much you wouldn't. I seen them +teams play once before when I was a kid. + +"What! Well, I like that. Fourteen last birthday, and I'm taking +nothin' from any feller my age around these parts and don't you forget +it, or I might forget I promised me mother I'd try not to fight for one +day. + +"Well, anyway I piked off alone to the flats to see the game, and, say, +there was about half a millyun people there. + +"What's that! There ain't half a millyun in the whole city of Toronto? +You'd be a peach of a booster for this town, wouldn't you? Suppose +there ain't, it sounds good anyway. Besides, you know very well I'm +just trying to give you some idea about the size of the mob. And say, +maybe there wasn't some tough mugs there neither. Uh! + +"Well, the referee he gives the teams a talking to about keeping the +nation-al game clean and free from disgrace. 'The first man,' he says, +'that forgets he's playing lacrosse and begins laying the hickory on +anybody,' he says, ''ll get a good long penalty.' + +"Then Alderman McWhirter takes a whirl at 'em; him with the spongy +whiskers on each side of his face, and a jaw like the vestibul of a +street car. + +"Vestibool, is it? Where did ye learn French? You muster lived in +Montreal. + +"You never? Well, hold your hair on; hold your hair on. Kinder soured +on your food, ain't yer? What d'ye eat for breakfast anyway? Malted +soapsuds, chipped mule fritters, er any o' them fancy foods? + +"Porridge! my, but you're away behind the times. Wake up, man, wake +up, the fast express is tearin' down the track and---- + +"All right. I'll proceed. So McWhirter gives the bunch a spiel a mile +long and would be going yet, but somebody calls out to him to dry up, +an' he gets red in the face and dries up, and the game starts. + +"For about one minute they played like Sunday school was a joy to them, +and then the Easts bangs the ball into the net and the goal umpire he +ups with his hand, meanin' a goal and---- + +"What's that? You know that means a goal, eh! Feeling pretty pert +this morning, eh! Mebbe you'd like to go on an' tell the story to +yourself. + +"Oh! all right, all right. Well, anyway, up goes the goal umpire's +hand for a goal, and down goes the umpire for the count, for Tip Doolen +of the Stars cracks him a wallop on his brain factory you could hear a +mile away. And all the Easts piles on to Tip and it took the police +fifteen minutes to get 'em untied. And the police sergeant he says, +it's Tip to the station, but the goal umpire wakes up and says he +wouldn't lodge no complaint, for Tip and him's friendly, only would +they please get a new goal umpire, he says, and they did. + +"Then the police sergeant wouldn't let 'em go on playing till he'd had +a little say, and you'd oughter heard it. He says, 'It looks to me +like most er you fellers is spoilin' for a clubbin', and I'd hate,' he +says, 'to disappoint you if that's the case. But I'm willing to stay +on duty a few hours beyond me time,' he says, 'in order to please you.' + +"And the fellers swear they're ready to go on with the game and play +like kinder-gart'ners. So the sergeant says, 'Let her go,' he says. + +"So it went all right for quite a while and there wasn't much doin' +except the noise, for both sides had big gangs there and you cert'nly +could hear 'em. + +"At the end of the second quarter it was a tie--two goals each, and not +more'n half the players on the mourners' bench. + +"What! You don't know what the mourners' bench is? Say, if you'd only +study the English language 'stead of loading your think tank with them +furrin' words you wouldn't need nobody to tell you that the mourners' +bench is just another name for the penalty bench. + +"But when the third quarter gets nicely started! Well, say, the +referee he puts one of the Easts off the field for trippin', and +another one of the Easts he swings his stick on the referee's slats for +all he's worth, an' the referee just has time to kick him in the shins +before a third feller gives the referee a biff under the ear and lays +him out. About half the people made a mad rush for the Easts and the +other half rushes for the Stars, and there's only six policemen there. +But the sergeant--say, my Pa knows him well--he's the wise guy. He +lets 'em all get going and you couldn't see anything but people shovin' +and crowdin' and hittin'. And then he chases for the caretaker of the +park where the flats are an' gets two lines of hose fixed on a hydrant +and two cops a holdin' the hose. And pretty soon two streams er water +hits the crowd, and you'd oughter have seen the way it bust up. +Honest, I never thought there was so many fast runners in the whole of +Canada. And when the most of the people is outer the way, here's +nearly all the Easts and the Stars a rolling around on the ground +tearin' each other to pieces. The water never fizzed on 'em. And the +police sergeant--my Pa says he's a strat-eg-ist--he says, 'It's just +adding fuel to the flames,' he says, 'to put water on 'em,' and looks +round, and I did too, and sees the patrol wagon coming along with more +cops in it. Them lacrosse fellers is just attendin' strictly to +business same as if there wasn't anybody in the whole province of +Ontario but them. And then the cops waded right in and clubbed them +fellers good and plenty, and---- + +"That's what I'm coming to, if you'd only keep the brakes on your forty +horse power tongue a minute. + +"Yes, sir, they squeezed the whole shooting match into the wagon and +took 'em to the station. + +"Sure they gave 'em bail that night, and soaked 'em five and costs +apiece in the court Monday morning. And I was telling my Pa about it, +and I says to him, 'Now,' I says, 'in a case like that, Pa, who wins?' +Of course I meant the game. + +"And my Pa says to me, he says, 'Well,' he says, 'it looks to me like a +draw,' he says, 'with first-class honors,' he says, 'to Sergeant Mackay +and second place to the magistrate,' he says. And he never bats an +eyelid when he says it. I tell you it's a pretty wise guy that can put +one over on my Pa. + +"What's that gotter do with my face! Gee, but you oughter to be in the +law--you'd be the peach of a cross-exam'ner you would. But just so's +to have no hard feelin's I'll tell you. I'm an East-ender myself, and +I made some noise too. One of the Star rooters got kinder mad at me +making a few remarks during the game, and when the mix-up starts I'm +laying for him. But he seen me comin' and I couldn't dodge the brick +he had. It's all right to pipe off about fighting square and fair, but +that guy wasn't lettin' his brick go to waste till he could think up a +motter. Not for him. He did just what I would have done if I'd seen +that brick first." + +But when Whimple asked for the cause of the battered visage, William +merely answered that he had collided with a brick. + +"Was the brick hurt any?" + +"Well, not so's you'd notice it," retorted William smilingly. + +"Um! It's rather unfortunate that it was such a hard object--for you, +I mean," said Whimple. "You see I had intended to start you collecting +rents to-day." + +"Me!" + +"Yes. Miss Whimple, my boy, is the possessor of some twenty houses; +four of them in your district, William, to say nothing of some choice +lots that are increasing in value every month. She's a wonderful +woman, boy; her dad left her four houses to begin with, and she's done +the rest. If I had her business ability, William, I'd be on the fair +way to being wealthy now." + +"But, Mister Whimple, my face won't matter. Like as not it'll give me +a chance to talk to the people and find out whether they're good +tenants or not. Let me try it, sir." + +"All right. One of the tenants down your way owes two months' rent +now, and in the other cases the rents are due to-day. Here are the +addresses. You look after these four tenants every month; I'll take +care of the others." + +And forthwith William Adolphus Turnpike set out, as he expressed it to +Lucien Torrance, "to round up some coin for Mister Whimple's aunt." He +was proud of the trust imposed in him, and could not forbear a parting +shot at Lucien. + +"You're gotter stay here," he said importantly, "and answer fool +questions when people call. But it's me to the front, Lucien Torrance, +on a man's job." + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +William was an unconscious diplomat. His business career had already +been marked by the devotion of much time to the consideration of the +easiest methods of dealing with problems as they presented themselves +from time to time, though not always with success, and his first +perusal of the list of tenants handed him by Whimple showed him that +the job of rent collecting would be no sinecure. He knew his own +district very well; the work and conditions, the family life, and many +other details of a more or less intimate nature, were matters of +knowledge to him. He read the list over again as he turned down a +street to make his first call, and then passed the first house on his +list, and kept right on until he came to Jimmy Duggan's coal and wood +yard. Jimmy was located in his office, a wooden shack with a tin roof, +where he was laboriously engaged in the monthly task of straightening +out his books. To him William confided the errand entrusted to him, +and over the habits and the career of the first-named tenant on the +list there followed a solemn conference. At its close, William, with a +"Much obliged, Jimmy," sallied forth to the house he had passed on his +way, and knocked sharply at the door. A girl, untidy, unwashed, with a +face that might have been pretty if the coating of dirt upon it were +removed, appeared at the bay window of the ground floor. William knew +the girl and she knew William. Unabashed, he endured her calm +scrutiny, banking on his belief that she would never "tumble" to his +errand. She looked a long time, but finally came to the door and +slowly opened it. Whereupon William promptly stepped inside. + +"Is Mister Jonas in?" he asked as he closed the door behind him. + +"No," she said timidly. + +"Ah! gone out for a walk I suppose?" said William politely. + +In the dim light of the hall she looked at him with fear in her eyes. + +"He's a great walker, I believe," William went on with a tinge of +sarcasm. "Out in the mornings, out in the afternoons, takes another +stroll in the evenings. Does he ever go to sleep?" + +She made no answer, and William, who was at least a head shorter, +patted her on the shoulder. "Cheer up," he said patronisingly, "it's +all right. I've just come for the rent, that's all." + +"For what?" she gasped. + +"The rent; hadn't you better show me where he is right away?" + +"Didn't I say he wasn't in?" she answered sharply. + +"You did, my dear, but I'm willing to forget it. I believe that kinder +answer goes in polite society when the lady of the house don't want to +see anybody, and the lady what calls hopes that the lady she calls on +ain't in. But it don't go with me." + +"But he ain't in," the girl whined. + +"Then he's out for the first time in three years," was the rejoinder, +"and it's funny he'd pick rent day for a walk; him owing two months' +rent at that. P'raps he left the money with you?" + +"No." + +"H'm. Then I'll wait till he comes back." + +"But he won't be back until to-night." + +"All the same to me. I can wait; that's part of my work." + +She shifted ground uneasily, and finally burst out, "He's in the +kitchen, Will Turnpike, and you can go in yourself. He's wild today." + +William walked solemnly through to the kitchen where Jonas was sitting +by the window in a great arm-chair. A weird-looking figure he was, +muffled in an old overcoat, though it was summer and the day was warm. +A growth of untrimmed whiskers through which peered crafty eyes, and a +mass of long matted hair topping a big head, gave an uncanny appearance +to the man, who was a helpless cripple through rheumatism. He glared +at William, who cordially expressed the hope that he was feeling a +little better. + +"Is that what she let you in for?" he demanded fiercely. + +"Well, I didn't just put it to her in that way, if you mean your +daughter," said William calmly. "I'm after some money, to tell you the +truth." + +"Money!" the old man shrieked the word. + +"You heard me first time," returned William politely, "and ain't you +glad your sickness don't hinder your hearing some?" + +"Money!" shouted the old man again. "Money! What do you want money +from me for?" + +"The rent," said William calmly--"two months, due to-day. You can +read, I believe," and he held before the old man's face two receipts, +properly made out for the amounts due. "I see," he said, pointing to +an open letter on the window sill, "that you got Mister Whimple's note +about it. I'm the coll-ect-or he speaks of." + +"You!" + +"The same, Mister Jonas." + +The man glared at him savagely, and then shouted, "You--you--get +t'hades out of this." + +"Sure, I'll get out as soon as I get the rent. But as for the place +you speak of--not for mine. This is a good enough world for me, Mister +Jonas." + +The old man fumed in helpless rage. He cursed William and his family +and their antecedents, cursed his daughter, cursed everybody and +everything for a full five minutes, and ended up with the declaration, +"I haven't got any money." + +William silently regarded him for a moment, and then leaning forward a +little said, very clearly, "Well, I guess you ain't making so much as +you uster when you sold light-weight coal on the big contract from the +city, but I'm told on the best au-thor-ity, Mister Jonas, that you +ain't ever likely to know what it means to be without money." + +For a long time then they looked at each other, fear on the old man's +face, William inwardly troubled, outwardly cool and unruffled. The old +man broke the silence. + +"Mary, Mary," he screamed, and his daughter ran to him, "pay this young +ruffian two months' rent, and get the receipts from him, and if you +ever let him in again--I'll--I'll kill you." + +When the transaction was completed, William turned to Jonas. "I'll be +here to the minute when the next rent's due," he said confidently, "and +it'll be ever so much nicer for you to have it ready, else," and here +he assumed what he believed to be the correct attitude for such an +occasion, "I'll have to have you turned out." + +Then he left, the old man hurling curses at him until the door closed. + +"He's gotter great line of talk," said William to himself. "Now for +Mrs. Moriarity," that lady being the next on his list. William knew +her for a good-natured, careless woman, who nevertheless was the real +head of the Moriarity household, which included nine children of +varying ages and sizes. Nothing was ever done on time in her house; no +bill was ever paid when it was due, though Mrs. Moriarity never tried +to evade one. She was just happy-go-lucky and careless. + +William approached the house with some misgivings. A number of the +younger Moriaritys were playing around the door, and just as William +approached them a drunken man staggered up, singing loudly. He fell +over one of the children, and the youngster set up a howl that brought +the mother to the open door. She reached it just as the man, thrusting +out a long arm, brutally flung another child on one side. With an +angry cry the mother rushed for the brute, but William reached him +first. Without a word the boy stooped, grabbed one of the man's ankles +firmly, and, putting all his strength into the effort, pulled his foot +off the ground. The man lurched heavily and fell full length upon his +face, just escaping William, who stood upright, as Mrs. Moriarity, +talking volubly, plumped down on the man's back. "And here oi'll sit +till a p'licemon comes," she said; "you, William Turnpike, kape a +lukout for wan." And even as she said it a policeman came along and +took the drunken offender into custody. As the policeman marched his +prisoner away, Mrs. Moriarity turned to William, who was trying to +comfort the little Moriaritys, for those who had not been hurt were +crying as lustily from fear and sympathy as those who had. In the +short struggle with the man William's face had received a buffet that +had re-opened one of the scratches, and this was now bleeding somewhat +freely. + +"For the luv of heavin, Willyum, did that brute do that to you?" cried +Mrs. Moriarity. + +William tried to explain, but she never heard him. "It's good f'r him +Moriarity wasn't here or he'd a bruk his neck," she went on excitedly. +"Come on in," she ordered, "all ov yez; come on, Willyum." And William +went. She comforted her offspring and bathed William's face in warm +water, unheeding his protests and deaf to his explanation of the +original cause of his injuries. It was only after she had made him +drink a cup of tea and had sent the children out to their play again +that he was able to explain his errand. + +"And yu're a rint collector--a bhoy loike you! Think ov that now. +Willyum, yu're mother ought to be proud ov yez. Sure an' oi'll pay the +rint: oi'd clane forgotten this was the day, but oi've some money by +me, bhoy, an' yez can have it." She escorted him to the door after the +rent had been paid over, patting him on the head, calling him a hero, +and telling him that "the rint wud always be rady for the loikes ov +him." And at the door, in the open light of day, she flung her arms +around his neck. "God bless yez, ye darlint," she said, and kissed him +warmly. William blushed all over, but went on his way rejoicing. +Whimple had told him that the other two tenants were always on time, +and this day William found it to be so. + +It was nearly six o'clock when he started back to the office, one hand +holding the rents thrust deep into a pocket. Whimple, who had been +growing anxious at the boy's long absence, and had been blaming himself +for asking him to do the work, met him half-way to the office. "I was +a little bit worried," he said simply; "I'm afraid I made a mistake +putting so much responsibility on you, William." + +But when, in the inner room of the office, William laid down the money +he had collected with the laconic statement, "It's kinder slow work," +Whimple's misgivings fled. + +"Bully for you, William," he said enthusiastically. "You're a winner. +There's a new day dawning for me--and for you. I have had two new +clients in to-day. You've brought me luck, boy." + +And William grinned delightedly. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +For a week before the first appearance in vaudeville of "Flo Dearmore," +Tommy Watson's behaviour alarmed his friends. He ate little; it was +plain to those who met him daily that he slept little, and William +Adolphus Turnpike confided to Whimple that Tommy was "shaping up for +the asylum." "He don't know what he's sayin' half the time, and the +other half he ain't sayin' anything, he's just singing Scotch songs, +and Tommy's singing ain't much diff'rent to the hootin' of a factory +whistle," he said earnestly. + +"You sing some old country songs pretty well yourself, William." + +"Pa says so, and so does Ma, but----" he paused. + +"Well?" + +"Well--I ain't laying out to be no singer. Tommy took me to one of +them singing factories one day, and the feller what heard me says, +'Well,' he says, 'he has a sweet enough voice, but that's about all for +him.'" + +"That was encouraging though." + +"But I ain't hankering to get my living by singing. Anyway, that's not +worrying me now--it's Tommy. Mister Epstein says he can guess, but he +won't tell." + +"Guess what's troubling Tommy?" + +"Yes--and I wish I did. Maybe I could help--if I am only a boy." + +"Well, we'll have to go slowly, William; it won't do to intrude on a +man's private affairs." + +"That's what Jimmy Duggan said when he laid out the burglar what was +crackin' his safe in the coal yard office; only this is diff'rent; +nobody ain't swipin' Tommy's money. I asked him and he says to me, +'Willyum, you know what our old friend Bill Shakespeare says.' And I +says, 'What?' 'Well,' he says, 'Bill has a few lines to say it don't +matter much who swipes me purse, it's what hits me heart that counts.'" + +"Um--well, that may be Tommy's version of it: Shakespeare's was +somewhat different." + +There the conversation dropped. Whimple thought no more about it until +the following Monday night when he received from Epstein an invitation +to go to the Variety with him. He met the old comedian at the door of +the theatre, and found Watson and William with him. They had seats in +the front row of the balcony. Epstein and Whimple sat together, Watson +next to the barrister, and William next to Watson. It was a fair bill +as vaudeville bills go, with Flo Dearmore about half-way down on the +programme. Whimple noticed that Watson paid no heed to the various +turns, though William was revelling in them. But when Flo Dearmore's +number went up he saw Watson lean forward with his arms on the rail in +front of him, and even in the vague light of the semi-darkened theatre +he noticed that his face was pale and drawn. The very simplicity of +"the turn" constituted one of its greatest charms. Flo came on the +stage and sang in a pure contralto voice several old country songs. A +pretty woman she was, not tall, but gracefully formed, with dark blue +eyes and a wealth of black hair, crowning a well-shaped head. She was +a remarkably expressive singer--you saw the scenes of her songs as +clearly as though you were wandering through them with Flo by your +side. The applause was heartier with every song; it grew into an +outburst of cheering when she sang "Come Back to Erin:" and at its +close bowed and smiled her acknowledgments. She would have left the +stage then, but the audience would not have it. Again and again she +advanced and bowed her thanks, and again and again the cheering rolled +out. Finally the lights went up, once more she stepped to the front of +the stage, nodded to the orchestra leader, who waved his baton, and +began "Loch Lomond." Sweet and clear the voice rose and fell; they +cheered after the first verse; they cheered again at the close of the +second; and then--she saw Tommy Watson, who was staring straight at +her, his face brighter now, his eyes aflame, his lips slightly parted. +What was it that brought the tears to her eyes; that made her falter +and sway a little, and then stand silent and helpless while the +orchestra twice started the air for the third verse, and the audience +begin to grow restless? + +The stage manager, alarmed and worried, was about to ring down the +curtain when, from the balcony, a clear boyish voice took up the song. +All eyes were turned in that direction. Flo Dearmore herself flung out +her hands as though urging the people to listen and the orchestra to +play on. Whimple started from his seat and then sat down again on +Epstein's sharp "Leave him alone," and William, looking down on the +stage, unconscious of anything but the vision of helpless loveliness +there, sang in his sweet boyish voice:-- + + "The wild flowers spring, and the wee birdies sing, + And in sunshine the waters are gleaming, + But the broken heart, it kens nae second spring, + Though the waeful may cease frae their greetin'." + + +She joined him then in the refrain, both keeping perfect time:-- + + "Oh! you'll tak' the high road and I'll tak' the low road, + And I'll be in Scotland afore ye, + But me an' my true love will never meet again, + On the bonnie, bonnie banks o' Loch Lomond." + + +There followed a scene the like of which the Variety had never +witnessed. For long minutes the applause and cheering echoed and +re-echoed through the theatre. Everybody told everybody else what a +clever act it was; but they had been "on to it" from the first. Scores +of people confided to other scores that they had noticed the lad come +into the theatre and take the seat reserved for him. They wondered how +old he was; if he was "her brother," and between times they hoped that +there would be a repeat. + +But as a "repeater" William would not have been a success. He was +trembling and almost hysterical when he sat down, and Tommy Watson was +in almost as bad a condition. Whimple was uneasy; Epstein only seemed +to be cool. He passed the word along, and, as the curtain went up for +the next act, the four friends quietly left their seats and walked down +the stairs into the main entrance of the theatre. Here they were met +by the manager, who seized Epstein by the arm. "Say, 'Chuck," he said +excitedly, "that was a great stunt. How much will the kid take for the +week?" + +Epstein smiled and turned to William. "I wouldn't do it again for a +hundred dollars a night," said William pointedly, "and I don't know +what I did it for anyway." + +"But, see here, my boy," said the manager, "there's big money in it for +you--say----" + +William, however, was already at the door, and Whimple, not wholly +understanding what lay behind Epstein's murmured, "Sorry--but I'll have +to explain later," followed him. + +The manager was talking now to Tommy. "Flo Dearmore wants to see you, +Mr. Watson," he said. "Do you know her?" + +Tommy nodded. "Come along then--you coming too, Epstein?" + +"No." The old comedian smiled affectionately on Tommy as the latter +went off with the manager, and then walked away slowly, his lips moving +as though he was communing with himself. + +At the door of the dressing-room the manager left Tommy, who knocked +gently. The door was opened at once by a coloured maid of uncertain +age, who turned to her mistress at the sight of Tommy. "It's a gent, +honey," she said, and Flo, who was already in street attire, turned to +the door. "Come in, Tommy Watson," she said quietly. "Toots," to the +maid, "leave us a little while." + +Tommy stood near the door, his eyes sparkling, his cheeks full of +colour now, his hands rigid by his side. Flo waited, her own cheeks +burning, her heart beating fast. Tommy came a little nearer to her, +and, "It seems like a long, long time since you went on the stage, Flo +Dearmore," he said. + +She nodded, and recovering a little of her dashing self, answered, +"It's only ten years, Tommy." + +"No," said Tommy, "it's more than that--it's all of twenty." + +"Tommy!" + +"I'm forty and you're thirty--think of that, Flo, and you were ten the +first time I saw you on the stage. Don't you remember the pantomime in +the old schoolhouse? You were the Queen of the Fairies, and----" + +"Yes, but I was still a school-girl." + +"And your heart was already set upon the stage. I've never forgotten +that night, Flo; such a winsome little fairy you were." + +"But--but----" she faltered. + +"I did--I tell you," he asserted stoutly, as though she had +contradicted him--"I fell in love with you that night; I watched you +grow into young womanhood, Flo; and always--and always--you filled my +heart." + +"Don't, Tommy." + +"And when I asked you--and when you laughed----" he broke off abruptly. + +"Don't," she pleaded--"don't, Tommy. It was cruel of me----" + +He came nearer still--his arms outstretched now. She rose with a +swift, "No, no, Tommy, I cannot--not yet--wait a little longer--give me +a little time," and there was a note of appeal in her voice. She went +on rapidly. "I must feel that I can give you all that you would have, +Tommy. There is no other man--believe me--and my work--my work--well, +it is not all now. There are times when--" and again she halted. Then +looking at him bravely, she said, "Tommy, if you are of the same mind +at the end of the season, and there is no other woman," this with a +gleam of mischief in her eyes, "perhaps I'll know for sure." + +And Tommy, the silver-tongued auctioneer, the man whose eloquence +opened people's pockets and made them buy bargains they didn't want, +meekly accepted her rebuff when she refused even to allow him to kiss +her hand, and left her when she said, "It must be good-night, Tommy, +now." + +The next morning the newspapers with one accord paid tribute to the +cleverness of the Loch Lomond scene in "Flo Dearmore's turn," and at +every remaining performance it was repeated. But William had no part +in it. A choir boy from a city church got "the big money" the manager +had talked of. And Tommy Watson, who attended every performance during +the week for just so long as Flo Dearmore's act lasted, began to eat +like a man who had many slim meals to make up for. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +The truth as to William's turn at the Variety having gradually become +known among his friends, he assumed, in the opinion of various of his +youthful associates, an importance not hitherto felt for him, and this +manifested itself in the form of an invitation to take part in "Uncle +Tom's Cabin," to be presented by the Berkeley Junior Dramatic Society. +William's eager consent was somewhat dampened when he was informed by +the young and ambitious manager of the production that he would have to +take the part of a small coloured boy and that there were no lines for +him--particularly. "You'll just come in kind of incidental," said the +manager--who was not much older than William--"and sing a piece." + +"Not much. No singing for mine." + +"Pshaw! It'll be dead easy, and I bet it'll make a hit too. You know +the stunt--lights down--spotlight on the stage--you in it singing in a +low sweet voice 'Loch Lomond.'" + +"What!" + +"Sure thing." + +"What in Sam Hill has 'Loch Lomond' gotter do with 'Uncle Tom's +Cabin!'" demanded William truculently. "Them niggers never even heard +of it, I'll bet." + +"Well, this ain't no ordinary Uncle Tom's show, let me tell you that," +retorted the manager. "We've doctored it up quite a bit. It's too +slow for our bunch the way it is put on by most companies." + +"But 'Loch Lomond' in a nigger show! Gee! you're crazy. Next thing I +know you'll want me to wear kilts." + +"I never thought of that," said the manager thoughtfully; "but, say, +that would be an elegant stunt. Let's do it." + +"Not with my legs," said William. "Didjer ever see 'em? They're about +as fat as fishing rods." + +"All the better. It'll bring the house down, I tell you." + +"Well, I don't want any house falling on me the way that'll be liable +to when it sees me in kilts and me face black--'oh! mother, mother, +mother, pin some clothes on me,'" he concluded sarcastically. But in +the end William was won over, and he entered into the rehearsals with a +whole-hearted determination that gladdened the manager's heart, and +made half of the rest of the cast jealous. + +You who discriminate in the choice of plays; who talk learnedly of the +art of Irving, Mansfield, Forbes Robertson, and Miller; you should have +seen that presentation given to a packed house. There were all of +three hundred people in the Berkeley Junior Dramatic Society's club +house that night, and every one of them parted with coin of the realm +to the amount of one quarter of a dollar for admission, and never a one +complained that he or she didn't get all of it back in real value. + +The scenery and all accessories, including the costumes, were +home-made. Who can value the loving care and thoughtfulness that +mothers and sisters put into every stitch of those costumes; with what +interest they studied the play, as "doctored," in order that the +garments might be historically correct? And who shall fittingly +describe William's kilts, as made by Mrs. Turnpike from a Scottish +shawl? William appeared in the first scene, without having anything to +say, but the costume spoke for him. There was a shout of laughter as +he walked across the stage for the first time, to be renewed when a +shrill voice invited all and sundry to "pipe them legs." The audience +piped them--they were encased in black stockings--and laughed again, +whereupon William advanced to the front and, pointing an accusing +finger in the direction of the original "piper," shouted, "I'm on to +you, Tom Edwards: everybody knows you're so bow-legged you wouldn't +dare wear anything but long pants." It took the audience some time to +recover its equilibrium, but eventually the play proceeded to the scene +where Eliza made the perilous trip across the floating ice. + +Eliza, a buxom girl with a heavy tread, carrying a large rag doll, made +the flight very slowly. She didn't trust "them cakes of ice," knowing +full well that packing cases, however stoutly built, and however ably +disguised in white cheese cloth, were parlous things for a lady of her +weight. The prompter urged her in an audible voice to get a move on, +to which she retorted sharply, "Shut up, I ain't going to break any of +my legs for fun." + +But when the baying of the bloodhounds, faithfully imitated by the +entire company, only partially concealed in the wings, was joined by +the barking of the real live dog in the show, she began to move a +little faster. She moved faster still when the real dog, a fair-sized +animal of uncertain breed, wearing a stout muzzle, broke away from the +"crool slave masters" and dashed towards her, and just as she lit on +the last cake of ice it gave way. The excited and hilarious applause +of the audience, together with Eliza's frantic screams, struck panic to +the heart of the already frightened dog, which, turning towards the +foot-lights, made a flying leap into the audience. Fortunately it +landed on the stout knees of William's Pa, and that worthy, firmly +grasping it by the neck, and thus effectually stopping its barking, +carried it to the main door and threw it into the street. Whereupon +the scene proceeded, the stage carpenter and his staff of one having +meanwhile extricated Eliza from the cake of ice and started her on the +concluding portion of her journey to safety. It was then that William, +burning to distinguish himself, and having a vague notion that "Chuck" +Epstein, who was in the audience, had once declared that the actor who +could interpolate telling lines in his part was on a fair way to fame, +advanced solemnly to the front, regardless of the dropping curtain +which landed on his shoulders and flopped ungracefully around him, to +declare in his loudest voice, "And I wish to say, that the man what +hits a woman is a coward." William and the curtain were somehow parted +by the now irate manager, but the audience insisted on the "nigger +kiltie" returning to the front, while they gave him another hearty +round of applause. + +A lecture behind the curtain, in which the manager, the stage +carpenter, Eliza and Legree, and Uncle Tom combined, seared William's +soul to the centre, though he said not a word, and the play went on. + +The death-bed scene, described in the home-made programmes as the +"grand finally," included the appearance of "the sweet boy singer, +William Adolphus Turnpike, in 'Loch Lomond.'" Little Eva was dying +beautifully when the pianist, who was not at all merciful to the +uncertain age and still more uncertain tone of his instrument, began +the air. William, who was one of the group around the bed, advanced +and began to sing. The audience ceased its snickering after the first +few words to listen intently. To many it was a beloved song; they +could forget the incongruous surroundings in the sweet memories it +recalled, and to others it appealed, as many old-world songs do, by its +plaintive sweetness. William was making a hit, and he knew it. Boy +though he was, he felt to the full the bond of sympathy between himself +and the audience. There was a queer sensation in his heart as he began +the last verse, and he wondered if he could finish it. He had reached +the second line when the voice of the prompter, imploringly pitched, +begged him to "hurry it up; little Eva's bed's a falling down." +William turned sharply toward the bed and, as he turned, something gave +way at his waist. He rushed to the death-bed, snatched therefrom the +coverlet, wrapped it majestically around him, and walked off the stage, +leaving behind him a little plaid heap--the kilts. The curtain dropped +suddenly in response to the manager's frantic signals. Little Eva, the +boy who had also taken the part of Legree, jumped from the bed +hysterically crying, "You spoiled me part," grappled madly with the +manager, and while the battle raged, William Adolphus Turnpike, +coverlet and all, slipped quietly out of the back door and raced +frantically for home, only two short blocks away. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +"When I feel gloomy, I'm good and gloomy," said William to Lucien +Torrance one sunshiny afternoon in June, as they sat together in +Whimple's office, their respective "bosses" being out "on business," +another way of saying that they had gone to the baseball match. + +"This is one day when I'm gloomy, and I just gotter gloom--it ain't no +good your buttin' in and telling me to cheer up and all that kinder +rot. No, sir, I just gotter gloom till it's all over." + +"What have you got to 'gloom' for to-day?" ventured Lucien, "it's a +bright, cheery day; the sun is----" + +"The sun might be the moon for all I care," interrupted William +impatiently. "I got up gloomy, and likely as not I'll go to bed +gloomy. Gee! this is a rotten world sometimes." + +"Maybe you're ill," suggested Lucien. + +"Ill nothing--don't you ever feel gloomy?" + +"Not without good cause." + +"Well, I'd just hate to be you. Sometimes a song, or somebody humming +a tune, sets me gloomin', or something I read, or sometimes it ain't +nothing at all that I could tell. It just comes and sticks around till +I don't know whether I'd sooner be a gloomer or a merry-ha-ha feller, +with a smile for everybody and everything. I uster get that way in +school sometimes, and I hated school bad enough, except the play time, +but I sometimes wish I was back again." + +"Why?" + +"How the dickens do I know? Don't you?" + +"No--I've made up my mind to a business career, and----" + +William broke in again. "Well, you cert'nly have your mind well +trained. If I had a mind like that, I'd take it out and dump it into +the Bay every once in a while." + +"How could I do that? I'd have to commit suicide." + +"Well, you're a living suicide anyway, with a mind like yours," said +William. "It's too regular, that's what it is." + +They sat silent for a long time. Lucien was afraid to speak, and +William was just "glooming." He turned to his comrade at last, and +began, "Say, whenever I get the gloom on me, sooner or later I get to +thinkin' about the first day Pete went to school. That was two years +ago--and he's nine now, and maybe he don't like school. Say, he'd go +without a meal rather'n be late. He's got that medal bug in his brain +pan; you know the game, never late and good conduct for about seventeen +years, and you get a medal that's pretty to look at and no darn good to +help you get a job. There's one good thing about Pete though, even if +he is a kid." He paused. + +"What is it?" + +"He can fight. Say, Lucien, you'd oughter see him at it. Why, last +week he had three fights with one feller." + +"What for?" + +"Well, the guy licked him the first two times, and didn't know any +better than to go around and beef about it. So Pete tackled him again +and licked him good and plenty, and every day since then Pete asks him +does he wanter fight again, and he says, 'No.' That's the way with +some folks, they know when they've had enough, but Pete never does; he +just stays with it till he wins out, then he looks for another fight. +But he's cunning, Pete is, he don't fight around the school none--Pete +wants that medal. + +"But I was going to tell you about the first day he went to school. +One morning Pa says to Ma, 'Well, what about Pete starting school?' he +says. + +"And Ma gets kinder white and her lips is trembly, and she says, 'I +guess he'll have to go,' and she says to Pete, 'Do you wanter go to +school, Pete?' and Pete says he's crazy to go. + +"So Pa says to me, 'You'd better take him along, Willyum, I guess +there's no need for me to go tottin' up there.' + +"But Ma says to Pa, 'I'd kinder like you to take him, Joe, the first +day,' she says, 'and I'll go and meet him at noon,' she says. + +"And you bet Pa does what Ma asks him, he's that set on her. So Pa +takes him, and I seen Ma crying when they starts, so I pikes out after +'em quick, for it makes me feel kinder queer to see Ma and Pa feeling +bad about anything. + +"Pa goes to the principal, and he asks Pete the same old fool things +they ask every boy and girl what goes to school, and finds out Pete can +read and write some, so he sticks him in the first form, and, of +course, it's a lady teacher. She bends down and pats Pete on the +head--he's gotter great mop of curls--and says, 'Well, my little man,' +she says, 'I hope you'll be a good scholar.' 'Sure,' says Pete, +'anything to oblige a lady.' So she laughs and says, 'What did you say +your full name was?' And Pete shuffles around some, and then he says, +'Peter Cornelius Turnpike,' he says. + +"Well, that set some of the kids a snickerin'; and one of 'em, a boy +about Pete's size, says, 'Gee! what a name.' Pete walks over to him +and says, 'My Ma likes it, and anything she likes goes, see,' and with +that he pastes the kid one in the eye, and right there they goes for +each other fierce. + +"Sure the teacher stopped 'em. Didjer ever know a woman that wouldn't +stop boys fightin' or get somebody to stop 'em? She stops 'em all +right, and keeps Pete in after school to give him a spiel about being +good and a credit to the school and his Ma and Pa, and right there she +plants the idea in Pete about getting a medal. + +"When I gets out after school there's no Pete, so I ask some of the +kids, and they says the teacher's talking to him. I waited around, and +all of a sudden I sees Ma coming along, and I'm just going to speak to +her when along comes Pa. He lets on he's just coming that way on +accounter business, but his face gets a kinder red, and Ma laughs a +glad little laugh. And when I told 'em about Pete being kept in, they +both looks awful solemn and plunks down on the steps to wait for him. +Pa, he takes one'r Ma's hands and tells her to cheer up, and Ma says +she can't, she feels gloomy, and the house was awful lonesome with both +the boys away. So, just when I think there's going to be a crying +match, out comes Pete with his face a shining. Ma grabbed him and +kissed him like she'd never stop, and Pa hoists him on his shoulder, +and the procesh starts for home. + +"Well, both Ma and Pa were for Pete staying home that afternoon, but +not for Pete. He was crazy for school. He told 'em what he'd done, +and Pa laughs and Ma tells him he'd orter be ashamed to laugh at his +boy fightin' the first day he's at school. But Pa laughs some more and +says, 'It ain't a bad sign,' he says; 'they gotter fight some time or +other, and there's nothing like starting early,' he says. + +"So Pete and me goes off to school in the afternoon, and Pa says to Ma, +'Keep a stiff upper lip, Ma, the boys are all right,' he says, and I +guess Pa knows. + +"There's quite a bunch in our family now, and some of 'em ain't old +enough for school yet, and I s'pose Ma 'll feel gloomy about 'em when +they start, same as she did about Pete." + +He rose, put on his cap, and informed Lucien that he was going to look +at the bulletin boards to see how the baseball team was doing. "I hope +they'll lose," he added. + +"Why?" Lucien demanded. + +"Well, they've lost three games in a row now to the tail enders, and if +they lose this one it'll make me gloomier'n ever, and maybe I'll be so +gloomy there'll be no sense in it, and I'll begin to cheer up." + + + + +CHAPTER X + +It was Miss Whimple who heard the first detailed account of William's +experiences as a rent collector, and she heard it from William's own +lips. She sent a note to the office one day, asking Whimple to send +the lad up, ostensibly with some papers, "but in reality," she added, +"because I want him to take luncheon with me; I want to ask him about +some things." + +"And if she wants to ask him she'll ask him, all right," Whimple mused +to himself, "and William 'll have to answer, for Aunt is a remarkably +bright woman, and a remarkably direct woman, too." + +To William he said, "You'll take these papers up to Miss Whimple, and +you'll take luncheon with her at her house----" + +"I'll--I'll--what's that?" + +"Take luncheon with her." + +"Gee!" said William, and then--"Say, honest, Mister Whimple, has she +gotter bunch of servants?" + +"No--only two." + +"A butler?" + +"No--no, a maid, and a man who looks after the grounds and the horse +and that kind of work." + +"Gosh, I'm glad of that. The idea of me eatin' with rich folks with +one of them solemn butlers that you read about standing behind me +chair--why, honest, I'd choke to death on the first bite." + +Leaving Whimple, William marched into Simmons' office and demanded of +Lucien Torrance, "Have you gotter clean han'kerchief?" + +Lucien said he had, and produced one in proof of his assertion. +William snatched it from him; seized the jug of ice water, the common +property of the occupants, soused one corner of the handkerchief, and +calmly, but vigorously, wiped his face with it, using the unwetted +portion to dry his visage. Lucien's protests had no effect on William. + +"Don't get mad, Lucien," he said soothingly. "I'm invited out to eat +with a lady. I gotter keep my own han'kerchief clean, and you wouldn't +like me to go with a dirty face, I know. Just hang it outer the window +and it'll be dry in a minute," and thereupon he departed. + +Miss Whimple lived a considerable distance beyond the then city limits. +She occupied what had once been a farm-house, solidly built, and +surrounded by several acres of land, including a small but excellent +orchard. She owned a good deal of land in the neighbourhood, now one +of Toronto's finest residential districts. + +As William turned into the driveway leading to the front entrance, he +was hailed by a man who was cutting the grass around one of the flower +beds. "What'll you be wantin', laddie?" said the grass-cutter. + +"To see Miss Whimple," answered William readily. + +"And what for?" + +William eyed the questioner, and with a gleam of mischief in his eyes, +replied quietly, "On business." + +"Aye--business, they'll all be saying that. She'll no see ye, ma lad, +so you better be tellin' me, and maybe I'll be able to tell ye the way +to be goin' aboot it." + +"What part of Scotland did you come from?" asked William sweetly. The +man glowered at him--the boy went on, "You could never deny you came +from Scotland, the thistles is just stickin' out on you in bunches." + +"You're a verra cheeky young----" began the man, but William cut him +short with, "Save your breath, Scotty, I know more about myself than +you can ever guess." And then changing his tone, he asked sharply, "Do +you own this place?" + +"Miss Whimple is the owner, young man, and I'm thinking----" + +"Don't--don't get to thinkin'. It'll stop the grass-cutting if you do; +but seeing that you don't own the place I guess it's no good asking you +what you'll take for it----" + +"Ye young----" began the man, but whatever else he might have said he +kept to himself, for at that moment a woman appeared at the front +entrance of the house and called, "John, ye'll be leaving the laddie +alone--Miss Whimple's expectin' him." + +William walked up to the woman, lifted his cap, and asked in his best +manner, "That gentleman back there a relative of yours?" She smiled at +the audacity of it perhaps, but answered, "Aye, the gowk's marrit till +me, but I'm sometimes feared I made a mistake takin' peety on him. +Will ye come in--if your name happens to be Tur'r'rnpike." + +"Well, it's something like that," answered William cordially as he +stepped inside, "but it don't often get so many 'r's' slung into it." + +Miss Whimple appeared in the hallway and extended a hand to William, +who squeezed it heartily and hoped the lady was well. She was, she +said. + +"Well, I'm glad to hear it," said William. + +"Umph--it doesn't take the boys long to follow the example of the men. +Now, you don't really care a cent about my health, and you know it!" + +"You're wrong, Miss Whimple," he answered, and there was earnestness in +his tone. "I like people I know to be well--most of them anyway." + +"You don't care whether the others are or not?" + +"Well, some of 'em--some of 'em. You see there's a few wouldn't know +what to do with themselves if they was well, and the others--well, +never mind 'em." + +That was a rare luncheon. William ate heartily and praised the +cooking, two things that pleased both Miss Whimple and the maid. "I'm +good and hungry," he said by way of explanation, "and Pa always says it +ain't no disgrace to be hungry, and it's only a chump what won't eat +all he can when he gets next to it. There's enough as can't get what +they want to eat, he says, when they need it most, without anybody's +what's hungry playing manners when they can get it." + +He liked Miss Whimple's direct manner of speech and her habit of +insisting upon answers to her determined questioning. It was in answer +to her demand that he gave the story of his experiences as a rent +collector, and he gave it well. He started out easily enough, but was +quick to see that she was following him with keen interest; he noticed, +too, that the maid had ceased altogether the "clearing away" process, +and was standing by her mistress, listening with shining eyes and mouth +slightly open. Their interest thrilled him, it mattered not that the +audience numbered only two--it was to him as though nothing in the +world mattered but the recital of his story in such a manner as that +those two should live it with him. He rose as the recital proceeded +and paced the floor, using the chairs occasionally to indicate the +positions of himself or some of the others who had played their parts. +And the women laughed and applauded, or murmured words of sympathy and +understanding as the tale proceeded. It came to an end somewhat +abruptly, William suddenly embarrassed, half ashamed, altogether shy, +longing to get out of the house and back to the office. "And that's +all," he ended curtly. + +"And did Mrs. Moriarity say anything when she kissed you?" asked Miss +Whimple slyly. William blushed--he did not often feel so hot and +uncomfortable at a mere question. He felt a sudden rush of anger at +himself for blushing, and some annoyance at Miss Whimple as the cause +of it, and it was only after she had repeated the question that he +answered, "Yes--she--she--says, 'God bless ye, darlint.'" + +They allowed him to go finally, but it was only after Miss Whimple had +exacted from him a promise that he would bring Pete and the other young +members of the Turnpike family to spend a Saturday afternoon with her. + +The maid accompanied him to the door, and stood watching him as he +walked down the path towards the gate. William noticed that the +grass-cutting operations had brought the maid's husband closer to the +house. "John," said the maid, "ye'll nae be needin' tae stop the +laddie wi' ony of yer fulish questions. If there's onything to tell +aboot him, I'll tell it." + +The man looked at her sharply, and William, as he passed him, said +softly, "Gee! but you married men have the hard times." And he ducked +in time to avoid a good-sized piece of wood that the man hurled at him. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +William was not long in fulfilling his promise to Miss Whimple to take +his younger brothers and sisters up to spend a Saturday afternoon at +her house. His mother started early on the task of getting them ready, +and spent an anxious hour keeping them clean and tidy until William +arrived from the office and "cleaned up." She watched them, with pride +and tenderness on her face, as they departed, Bessie and Joey, aged six +and four years respectively, in front, where, as William put it, he +could "keep an eye on 'em;" William and Pete, with Dolly, the baby, two +years old, toddling along between them. As a shepherd, William herded +them by street car and on foot, until they reached the Whimple house. +Miss Whimple was at the gate to meet them. "Here's the bunch, Miss +Whimple," he said smilingly, and then contrived to get in an aside to +Pete, "Now you mind what I said about behavin' or I'll knock your block +off when we gets away." + +The youngsters were timid and shy. They hung to William closely for a +while, with hazy notions only of what to do with themselves, and from +sheer embarrassment rebuffing the kindly advances of Miss Whimple and +the maid. They began to feel more at home when Miss Whimple suggested +a tour of the grounds, and a visit to the barn to see the cows, two +fine Jerseys, and presently they began to talk to her and to one +another with freedom, all but Dolly. Miss Whimple, who was greatly +taken with the little toddler, noticed that William was particularly +tender toward her, his hands were ever ready to lift her, or guide her +over rough ground, he suited his steps to hers when she walked, and all +the time he kept up a running fire of baby talk. Dolly was all dimples +and smiles; she seemed to be perfectly happy and contented, but she +made no sound. It was some time before Miss Whimple noticed this, and +when she said to the little one, "Such a little pet, I'll warrant you +talk a lot to your mammy though," Dolly smiled at her and then turned +to William her wonderful brown eyes full of questioning. William +smiled back, "She likes oo, Dolly," he said softly, and then looked at +Miss Whimple, his eyes moist, his lips trembling a little. He tried to +speak, but could not find words. But Miss Whimple understood. Her +hands went to her breast. "Oh--" she murmured, "I--I--didn't +understand, William, I--I----" Down on her knees she went near one of +the flower beds, pulled therefrom a rose, and, with the tears +streaming, pinned the flower to Dolly's dress, saying half to herself, +"Deaf and dumb--deaf and dumb--poor little mite. God bless +you--and--help you." + +Thereafter she made Dolly her special care, and the child seemed to +like it, making occasional dashes on to the lawn to join William and +the others, whose restraint having passed were playing with joyous +zest, under the direction of the elder brother. + +It was getting near to tea time when "Chuck" Epstein appeared on the +scene. Tired of their play, the children had assembled on the +verandah, Dolly sitting on Miss Whimple's knee looking over a picture +book, the others listening to one of William's fairy stories. "Chuck," +whose acquaintance with Miss Whimple dated back many years, took a seat +near them. He was joyfully greeted by William and "the bunch," and +Miss Whimple felt something like a pang of jealousy when Dolly wriggled +from her knee and went to Epstein. It was only for a moment though, +the child was palpably so delighted to be with the old comedian, whose +smile of greeting to her was wonderfully expressive. He tenderly +lifted her to his knees, and with an arm around her little body, held +her close to his side. William was dethroned, and he knew it, and +accepted the situation quite calmly, though he did not laugh so +heartily as the others when Pete demanded, "Tell us one of your +stories, Mr. Epstein, they beat Billy's to bits." And Epstein told +one, and then another, and another. He acted them too. The children +screamed with delight as he changed his voice to each character of the +story, yes, and changed his very appearance as they watched him, and +all so naturally, so easily, that they seemed to be hearing and seeing +so many different people taking part in the unfolding of the tales. +They were almost hanging to the old man, when the maid appeared with +the announcement that tea was ready. They entered the airy +dining-room, crowding around "Chuck," all begging to be allowed to sit +next him, and the argument grew so heated that William had to settle +it. "Dolly on one side," he said with emphasis, "and Bessie on the +other, and everybody keeps quiet or gets out," and then in a loud +whisper to Pete and Joey, "Don't you be makin' hogs of yourselves. No +more'n three pieces of cake, mind." + +But the terror of William's threats faded before the hunger of "the +bunch," and the determination of Miss Whimple and the maid, to say +nothing of Epstein, to see that it was appeased. Pete ate until even +to chew became a decided effort, and when Miss Whimple pressed him to +take "just one more piece of pie," he answered wearily, "It ain't no +good, Miss Whimple--I'm full to the collar bone." + +William, who had been glaring at him for some time, remarked +scathingly, "Gee, you'd think you never got a square meal at home," to +which Pete promptly retorted, "Well, I wasn't going to let Miss Whimple +think I couldn't eat her cooking." + +Tired, happy, and full, William and "the bunch" departed at last, Miss +Whimple and Epstein going with them to the electric car--a quarter of a +mile away from the house--the old comedian, despite the protests of +Miss Whimple and William, carrying Dolly all the way. He kissed her +gently as he placed her in the car, and the child threw her arms around +his neck and pressed her little cheek against his for a moment ere he +left. + +When the car had disappeared from view, Epstein escorted Miss Whimple +home. They walked in silence for a little distance, and then she asked +him suddenly, "When did you first meet William?" + +"Three years ago," he said smilingly. "It was a chance meeting. You +know," with a touch of sadness in his voice, "the people of my race are +not always kindly treated--even in so new a country as this--and so +big," he went on musingly. "Who shall say what Canada is to be in the +future?--I see things, I see things--a great northern power; men of +many races blended together in one great nationality under the British +flag. Well for her that her statesmen build truly, well for her----" +he broke off abruptly, and with a quiet, "I beg your pardon, we were +talking of William. I was walking along the street one day, in a +section of the city where many of our people live, when a 'rags and +bones man' came along trundling a well-laden push cart. Three young +roughs began to bait him. They threw his cap into the middle of the +street, overturned his cart, and began to attack him when William's +father intervened. He was driving his express wagon near the scene. +He jumped from the wagon, laid one of the roughs out with his fist, and +turned on the other two. William, who had been riding with his Pa, +took a hand in the proceedings then, climbing from the wagon and using +the whip on the roughs. They turned and fled. William and his Pa +helped the 'rags and bones man' to right his push cart, and then I +introduced myself to them. The father turned my commendation aside +with a good-natured remark to the effect that three to one wasn't fair +play, and William added, 'What Pa says goes,' and there you are. He's +a brave lad, a good lad, full of mischief I know, but--but he's full of +determination too. William will go a long way. I will not live to see +it; my days are few now, but I'll die the happier," he added softly, +"for having known William Adolphus Turnpike." + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +It was a big feeling William that reported for duty on the succeeding +Monday morning. "Importance" was written large on his face, and again +expressed in his every action. Lucien Torrance timidly ventured +several questions in the hope of elucidating the why and wherefore of +William's attitude without receiving any reply. "Say," drawled William +after another attempt on Lucien's part, "what's the difference between +you and a clam?" + +"I don't know." + +"Of course you don't; a fellow like you'd never know." + +"Well, what is the difference?" demanded Lucien desperately. + +"Well, a clam ain't no good unless it's baked, and that's what's the +matter with you, Lucien Torrance." Whereupon Lucien imitated a clam to +the extent of shutting his mouth and keeping it shut. + +In the afternoon, Whimple having departed to the law courts, where the +growth of his business was beginning to take him quite often, William +ordered Lucien to keep an eye on the office while he went across the +road to study the baseball scores. "The way them Torontos is playin' +on the road," he added by way of explanation, "has me goin'! They won +five outer the last six games, and they're up against the Buffaloes +to-day, and that's a hard team to beat. But Torontos can do it, +b'lieve me--two outer three from Buffaloes my guess--have you got any?" + +"No--I don't care who wins. Baseball doesn't interest me." + +"What's that! Say, you're the limit; the last--the very last limit. +Is there any game whatever that stirs your thick blood?" + +"Lawn tennis." + +"Lawn--Oh, cheese it, Lucien, cheese it. First thing I know you'll be +tellin' me you play chess too." + +"Indeed I do. Father is teaching me the game; we play nearly every +night." + +"Halt! who goes there?" William rolled out the words as though the +fate of armies depended on them. "The ch-e-eld wonder of the +cen-tury," he went on, waving his arms dramatically. "Pass the +ch-e-eld wonder and be careful with him." He walked around the +bewildered Lucien, pretending to examine his head very closely. "Ah," +he said, after the first scrutiny, "now I begin to tumble." His voice +was now low-pitched and full of pathos. "Now I'm getting on to the +reason for those grey hairs on so young a head." He placed one hand on +Lucien's shoulder, and covered his own eyes with the other. "Me +boy--m-boy," he murmured brokenly, "you're breaking my heart, my strong +manly heart what's held up this many a year--against who knows what. +Lucien, Lucien, you're burning the gas in both jets, to say nothing of +the escape in the middle. Leave me, boy--leave me to my grief." + +Lucien brushed William's hand off his shoulder and blurted out angrily, +"You're crazy." + +"Well, I'd sooner be crazy, if I am crazy, than be sane the way you +are," returned William loftily. "'Chuck' Epstein says everybody's got +a looney streaker some kind; else, he says, they'd all die young. It's +a tough outlook for you, Lucien," he added as he departed. + +Ten minutes later William returned, bringing with him a fine bulldog +attached to a stout string. William's eyes were shining, and his lips +were parted in a wide grin of delight. "Say," he cried to Lucien, "get +on to the pup." + +Lucien didn't like the looks of the dog, and backed hastily away. + +"Aw gee, he won't eat you," said William disgustedly. "He's a good +one, a prize winner; and the cop says Briscombe the banker owns him." + +"Well, what are you doing with him?" + +"Me! The dog just nat-ur-ally adopted me, Lucien. I was standing +looking at the bulletins--and the Torontos is leadin', don't you forget +it--when I feels something rubbing at me leg, and here's his nibs +making up kinder friendly like. So I takes hold of the string and +hunts up a cop and tells him about it. And I says, 'He looks like a +good dog,' I says, 'I s'pose you can take him over to the station and +leave him till the owner's found.' And the cop says, 'Not for mine,' +he says, 'I ain't going off my beat to be a godfather to no dog. It +belongs to Mr. Bill Briscombe,' he says, 'and I'll bet he'll give you a +two spot if you take it to him.' So I goes along to Briscombe's bank, +and the place is shut up tighter'n a drum. Say, but them bankers has +the classy hours. And Briscombe lives about a mile north of the city +limits, so I guess I'll have to take the dog up there to-night." + +"Well, where are you going to put him in the meantime?" + +"I'll just hitch him up to Mr. Whimple's table. He won't be in till +near closing time, and then he'll just tell me I needn't stay, like he +usually does." + +And forthwith the dog was hitched. He did not display any decided +signs of displeasure, though evidently ill at ease. Lucien could not +be persuaded to go near the dog, but William was quite solicitous for +the animal's welfare. He fed it on tea biscuits, surreptitiously +abstracted from Lucien's luncheon box--that worthy being somewhat +partial to the delicacy. Also overlooking the formality of asking +permission, he used Lucien's cap as a holder for a liberal helping of +ice water from the office jug. The dog ate the biscuits, but spurned +the ice water, which William promptly emptied from the open window. +Then things happened. + +When the ice water fell, most of it fell upon the head of a +distinguished K.C., who was using his hat as a fan while he discussed +with an acquaintance some of the questions attendant upon a provincial +election then looming up. Some of the water sprinkled the K.C.'s +acquaintance. Both men looked up quickly enough to note drops of water +trickling from the sill of the open window, and as one, both turned and +dashed up the front stairway to Whimple's office. William's hearing +was acute; he did not like the sound of the hasty footsteps, and he was +quick to surmise the cause. He made for the back stairway and +descending in quick time, traversed the lane until, by a roundabout +way, he emerged on the street, and came to a standstill at a point on +the opposite side of the street, but in front of the office building. + +The K.C. and his acquaintance by this time had burst into the office +and dashed into Whimple's room on the run, not noticing the dog, over +which the former fell full length. The bulldog had no particular +grievance against the K.C., but he had a decided objection to playing +cushion to him, and he snapped at the first thing he could get his +teeth into. This, fortunately for the ornament of the bar, happened to +be his coat tail, and on this the dog took a firm and impassioned hold. +The K.C., by this time aware of the dog's presence, half rolled and +half scrambled toward the door, the dog hanging so determinedly to the +coat tails that, between the combined efforts of man and dog, the table +began to move, and moved until it stuck at the jambs of the door. The +dog could not go any further; the K.C. gave a final rolling jerk that +left the dog half choked, but plus a large section of coat tail. The +K.C. thereupon rose, dust-covered, his dignity gone, murder in his +heart, wrath on his face. + +Lucien Torrance seized this unfortunate moment to leave the office of +his employer and to enter that of William's. With a cry of +satisfaction, the K.C. sprang at him. "Now I have you, you young +villain," he shouted, and without more ado he posed the frightened and +dazed Lucien in an old-fashioned attitude across William's desk, and in +a manner that bespoke some knowledge, proceeded to thrash him. + +Lucien was screaming, "It wasn't me--it wasn't me," when Whimple +entered the office, also on the run, flung aside the perspiring +K.C., righted Lucien, whom, on his entrance, he had thought +was William, and demanded angrily the meaning of the disturbance. +The K.C. wrathfully explained from his point of view; Lucien +tearfully, but firmly, declared that he was in no way +responsible. "William--brought--the--dog--here," he sobbed, +"and--he--threw--the--water out of the window." There were cries for +"William," but no William responded, and all the time the dog, hanging +on to the captured piece of coat tail, surveyed the scene in calm +silence. + +Whimple and the K.C., after some further parleying, essayed the task of +releasing the dog and allowing the K.C.'s friend to leave Whimple's +room. But they found themselves confronting a problem that their legal +training could not solve. For the dog, thinking that they wanted his +trophy, laid the piece of coat tail on the floor, placed thereon one +paw, and bared his teeth for fight. Both men were angry; both men were +puzzled. Each urged the other to action, and each held the other +inferentially to be lacking in courage. + +It was Lucien who suggested a way out. "If the gentleman in Mr. +Whimple's room would get on the table from the back and cut the string, +the dog would run away, I'm sure." + +The plan was adopted, Whimple, Lucien, and the K.C. having first taken +a strategic position in the corridor leading to the rooms of Simmons, +the architect. The string was cut, and the bulldog, having again taken +the piece of coat tail between his teeth, walked slowly out of the +office and down the stairs to the street. William saw him emerge, and +ran across the road. The dog greeted him in a friendly manner, and +William, taking the now shortened string, started for Briscombe's +residence, for, said he to the dog, "It looks to me like there's been +some trouble, and I guess I'd better not go back to the office until +the morning." + +And Briscombe, the banker, gave William two dollars for bringing the +dog home. "But," said he, "where on earth did he get that piece of +cloth?" + +"I ain't sure, but I think I could make a good guess, Mister +Briscombe," said William, and thereupon he departed for home, where +later he slept the profound sleep characteristic of all office boys. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +William was at the office half an hour earlier than usual the next +morning. He entered cautiously by the back stair, and reconnoitred +carefully before closing the door. Lucien was the only person in +sight. He preserved a profound silence to William's first questionings +as to the happenings of the previous afternoon, but when William gave +him one minute in which to decide on fighting or telling the story, he +told. His narrative was curt and his demeanour cold: it became quite +frosty when William laughed delightedly over the recital of the +thrashing Lucien had received. + +"Where did he hit you, Lucien?" asked William when the story had been +told. + +"In this room," answered Lucien with dignity, and William roared again. + +Lucien waited until the laughter died away and then called attention to +the fact that there was a letter on William's desk. "You're right for +once, Lucien," said William, who had noticed the letter on first +entering the room. He picked it up, aware that Lucien was watching him +closely, and feeling certain that the letter did not contain good news +for him. Therefore he slipped it into his pocket and walked out of the +office to the Bay front, where, with his feet dangling over one of the +wharves, he slowly opened the envelope and unfolded the enclosure. The +letter was as follows:-- + + +"DEAR WILLIAM,--In view of the events of this afternoon, the full +details of which by the time you get this you will doubtless have +gleaned from Lucien, it is impossible that you should longer remain in +my employ. I am very sorry to lose you, but there is a limit to the +length that even an office boy can be allowed to go. + +"Yours sincerely, + "CHAS. WHIMPLE." + + +"Fired!" said William to himself, "fired! Well, I ain't surprised. +Tough luck though." He read the letter through again, and continued +his soliloquy. "Well, after this, no more dogs for me. Gee--but I +hate to leave that place. It beats the band how things will turn out +rotten just when the luck seems to be all right." + +But William didn't spend much time in regrets. The day was blazing +hot, the civic tug for the free baths off the Island sand bar was about +to leave the wharf, and he constituted himself a part of the noisy +human freight with which it was laden. He had a glorious swim, and at +noon time surprised the Turnpike household by arriving for luncheon, +having during his business career eaten that meal--packed by his +mother's hands--in the office. Quite frankly, and with the mimicry +which was the pride of his father and a constant source of astonishment +to his mother, he related the whole story. His mother grieved despite +her laughter: his father laughed and sorrowed not. "It'll come out +right in the end," he said philosophically, "and if it don't, you'll +soon get another job." + +"Sure," said William; "don't you worry, Ma," he added. After the meal +he departed, his head full of a plan that had been nebulous only after +his first reading of the letter, but which now seemed to promise much. +The more he thought it over, the better he liked it, and despite the +heat, he walked quickly to the "Emporium" of one Walter Wadsworth. +Walter was the owner, manager, and entire staff of the "Emporium," +which consisted of a rickety two-storied structure with a shooting +gallery on one side, and a peanut, candy, tobacco, and fruit department +on the other side. Walter, whose friendship with William was as old +almost as the boy himself, owned the building and the land, as well as +a more valuable property near by. But his greater claim to importance, +in the opinion of most of the boyhood of Toronto, lay in the fact that +for years he had held the refreshment privileges in the baseball park. + +After a few preliminaries, William said, "The team's due next week, +ain't they?" + +"According to schedule," answered Walter, a thick-set, pleasant-faced, +middle-aged man, who wasted few words, and who, in his day, had been a +star of the diamond. + +"How's the chances for a job?" + +"I thought you were in the law business, young fellow?" + +"Well--I was kinder makin' a dab at it." + +"Chucked it already?" + +"No," said William, "it kinder chucked me. + +"Umph! Watcher want?" + +"Well, what's the matter with me having a basket and selling stuff +around the stands?" + +"You're on, William: you're on. I've had an awful bunch of dubs on the +job so far this season, and I'd be glad to let you have a try." + +"All right: and what do I get for it?" asked William in a business-like +tone. + +"Well, of course, you see the game for nothing." + +"Yes--" said William, slowly, "or some of it, between sales." + +"Well, I never knew any one of the boys yet but could give all the +details of the game, whether his sales were good or not. I guess you +won't miss much of any of the games." + +"Go on--I see the games free," said William, "and----" he paused. + +"And you get ten cents commission on every dollar's worth of stuff you +sell." + +"Any of the boys ever say they got too much?" inquired William, with a +pretence of eager interest. + +Walter smiled. "Not that I remember," he answered, "but they don't do +so bad." + +"All right," said William, "I'll be on hand for Monday's game. But I +can't afford to be loafin' until then. Anything doin' before that?" + +"This place ain't had a cleaning up since I don't know when," replied +Walter, "and there's a lot of old boxes in the back yard that have to +be broken up for firewood sooner or later, and stored in the cellar. +Want to tackle the job? There's a few dollars in it anyway." + +"Sure," said William, and set to work forthwith. He toiled steadily in +the Emporium, but not with his usual cheerfulness, for he was really +sorry to be away from Whimple's office. The more he thought of the +causes leading up to his dismissal, the more he wished that Lucien had +been responsible. "He got the lickin' anyway," said William to himself +with a smile, "but darn a fellow like that: I wonder if he ever made a +fool of himself in his life." + +It was at this moment that William noticed a large megaphone, one of +Walter's cherished possessions, in the back part of the Emporium. +"Say, Walter," he cried excitedly, "let me have a crack at the +megaphone." + +"Go ahead," said Walter good-naturedly, "but don't blame me if you get +pinched for disturbing the peace." + +William carried the megaphone upstairs, rested one end on the sill of +the open window, and took a critical survey of the passers-by on the +street. + +"Wow!" he cried aloud, and as though addressing some one in the room; +"look who's acomin'." He hastily adjusted the megaphone, waited until +he thought the person he had spoken of was within striking range, and +then there arose a weird shriek that attracted the attention of +everybody within seven blocks of the Emporium. It filled the heart of +one boy momentarily with fear, and brought him to a sudden standstill +without at once becoming acquainted with the source of the noise. He +looked around bewildered, and, as he looked, voices seemed to bellow in +both his ears, "Good evening, Lucien. How many stamps did you lick +to-day?" + +Several people halted, irresolute, eventually focussing their gaze on +Lucien, who, having now noticed the megaphone, was staring towards it +like one under the influence of hypnotism. Again a question bellowed +forth from the megaphone, "Oh, Lucien: where did he hit you?" and +Lucien, waking up to the truth of the situation, for once displayed +some evidences of his youth. He shook his fists towards the open +window, and cried out threats of vengeance on William, but those were +soon drowned in another blast from the megaphone. "Get on to Lucien, +ladies and gents, the chee-ild wonder of the century." It was then +that Lucien, with a final shake of his fists, turned and fled. William +laid the megaphone away and walked down the stairs, to find Walter at +the door gazing after the fleeing Lucien. + +"That kid was hollering something about knocking your block off," said +Walter. "He seemed to be sore on you." + +"Maybe he is," answered William, slyly, "but yesterday he was sore for +me." + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +During the next few days William found plenty of work to do at the +Emporium, and in the intervals of leisure he consulted gravely with +Walter Wadsworth on the methods to be followed to attain success as a +pedlar of refreshments in the stands of a baseball park. He did not, +however, neglect his morning lessons with "Chuck" Epstein in Tommy +Watson's auctioneering rooms. There is this to be added too, that +neither Epstein nor Tommy questioned him as to the loss of his position +with Whimple. They had laughed with the latter over the causes +therefor, but as William did not mention it himself, they carefully +avoided opening up the question, knowing from their experience with him +that, in his own way, and at a time of his choosing, the lad would talk +of it. + +William was, however, a puzzle to Wadsworth, though he had been +acquainted with him so long. In the intimacy of their relationship at +the Emporium, Wadsworth found himself constantly amazed at the lad's +shrewdness, at his vocabulary of slang, the readiness with which he +could turn from the sheerest of jibing and fun-making to the recital of +a bit of "Bill Shakespeare," or a scene from the plays of other +authors. "Where on earth do you get it all from?" he asked William one +afternoon when the lad, with real dramatic fire, had recited "Henry's +oration to his men before Agincourt." You, dear reader, know it, of +course. + +"Outer books," William said, all slang and smiles again. "Say, Walter, +it beats the band and the good stuff some of them guys had in their +think-tanks, and it fits in, a lot of it, like they were toddlin' +around Toronto to-day." + +"It certainly does--some of it," said Walter. "I wonder if they ever +played baseball in those days?" + +"Not so far as I can make out," answered William. "Half their time +they were fighting, and the other half making love: that is, most of +'em. Our friend Bill Shakespeare and a few others were writing plays +and acting them too." + +Walter stood at the door for a minute and watched William as the latter +walked away from the Emporium that evening, and to himself he said, +"He's a corker that one; but there's a heap of boy in him. If there +wasn't, that stuff he's carrying around in his brain would soon drive +him to the daffy house." + +The great day arrived at last, and William, keen for business and a new +experience, reported early at the baseball grounds, where Walter +Wadsworth supplied him and a dozen other boys with uniforms of white +cotton. The caps bore in letters of gold an appeal to buy a certain +baking powder, and on the back of the coats, in black letters, was an +announcement regarding the charms of a particular brand of chewing +tobacco. + +"It's a shame," said William with sarcasm, "that there ain't any +reading on the pants." + +"Yes, it is too bad," answered Walter, solemnly, "but you can never get +everything you want in this world. I get the caps and the suits free +for the advertising they have on 'em; they're not so bad, it might be +worse." + +"It might be," answered William, "but not much," as he departed for his +section of the grand stand with a basket hanging from his neck and a +small megaphone attached to one wrist with a strap. In the stand, +William's courage deserted him for a few minutes: the crowd was large +and included many ladies. The lad was uncomfortable; his voice seemed +to have deserted him utterly. All the fine things he had meant to say +were for the moment forgotten. It was not until a woman had purchased +a bag of peanuts, and a man a cigar, that William became convinced that +his goods were wanted, and that restored some of his usual confidence. +He began to call out his wares and found that sales were easily made, +though not so rapidly as he had hoped. But as the game progressed, his +courage steadily rose. The Toronto team was playing that of Buffalo, +an ancient and honorable enemy, and the game, in its initial stages, +was very close. With the score one to one in the third innings, +William found that his voice had come back, and he began to use it with +all his power and most of his courage. + +"Peanuts, popcorn, chewing gum, candy, cigars, and tobacco," he shouted +as he walked along the aisles: "here's where you get 'em at the lowest +prices and finest qual-ity." + +The responses were becoming readier, but not fast enough, and William +began to use the megaphone. Taking a stand in front of the lowest seat +and addressing the crowd impartially he asked, "Did all you folks leave +your money at home, or ain't you never had any?" Some of the people +laughed, and the emboldened William went on, "Ladies, what's the good +of a ball game without peanuts or chewing gum? I've got a lot of both +to sell," and that resulted in a goodly number of sales. Then he tried +again. "There's lots of fellows here with girls, and it's a shame the +way they're letting the girls suffer for a little candy, or chewing +gum, or peanuts. Make the fellows loosen up, girls!" The crowd +laughed, and William tried in vain to respond to the demands for his +wares from all quarters. His basket was soon emptied, and in a little +while he had disposed of his second load. He sold others, but when the +game had advanced to the sixth innings, with the score still one all, +he found the people almost unresponsive to his appeals, and, returning +to Walter's little store under the grand stand, changed into his street +clothes and rushed back to see the finish of the game, his first +venture as a pedlar having netted him the sum of fifty cents. + +The game had reached its critical stage, "the fatal seventh innings," +when William again made his appearance known. The crowd was painfully +silent, for the Buffaloes, with only one man out, had men on the first +and second bases, and the heaviest hitter of their team at the bat. +The batsman spat on his hands, wiped them off in the dust around the +home plate, and set himself firmly for a swing. The Toronto pitcher +having almost succeeded in tying himself into a bow knot suddenly +unloosened, and sent in a swift drop ball, and even as it sped the +voice of William, well modulated through the megaphone, but quite +distinct, cried out, "Strike one." Strike it was, the batter missing +the sphere by several feet, and following the miss there came in +stentorian tones from the umpire the words, "Strike one." + +"Why did you call it a strike before?" yelled the batsman. + +"Never opened my mouth," retorted the umpire, and the crowd laughed. + +The batsman again set himself for a swing, and the pitcher once more +tried to make a human knot; again the ball shot, this time straight and +true for the plate, and as it did, William, with a volume of agonised +pleading in his voice, yelled, "Mind your head." Instinctively the +batter ducked and, of course, missed the ball, while the umpire +dispassionately cried, "Strike two." The batter grieved loudly and +bitterly. He accused the umpire of having eyes like a codfish, and of +being stampeded by "some guy in the stand." He declared him to be +incompetent to the verge of insanity, and wondered, in a voice that +could be heard all over the field, how he had kept out of the asylum so +long. His team mates supported him loyally, and incidentally demanded +of the Toronto team's manager that William, whom they had discovered as +the source of the heavy batter's discomfort, be instantly removed from +the grounds and kept therefrom until the game was over, while the +impatient, but delighted crowd, cried at intervals, "play ball," "put +'em off," "give the game to the Torontos." + +The manager of the Torontos disclaimed all or any responsibility for +William. "Nay, nay, Pauline," he said gently, when the Buffalo manager +repeated his request, "if the boy annoys you, put him out yourself, or +ask the police to do it." + +"You know what'd happen if I tackled that boy," answered the Buffalo +man heatedly: "why, that crowd would eat me." + +"Not in your present condition," retorted the Toronto man affably, +"you're too hot." + +The Buffalonian appealed to a police constable, but that worthy shook +his head. "There's only me and a sergeant here," he said, "and we +ain't over anxious to start a riot." The sergeant strolled up and was +consulted. + +"It can't be done," he said sagely, "there isn't a section under the +law or the regulations governing the force that'd justify me putting +the kid out. He ain't hurting anybody anyway." + +"But he's putting our man on the pork," cried the Buffalonian +disgustedly; "how in the name of Uncle Sam is the team to go on playing +with that kind of a racket!" + +"It's nothing to the racket there'll be if you don't go on with the +game," said the sergeant quietly, as he walked back to the stand. And +the game went on. The batter was struck out on the next ball, and the +crowd shrieked its delight, the innings closing without a score. + +When the eighth innings started, William, all swagger and confidence, +started on a new tack. "Fans and fan-esses," he said, addressing the +crowd through the megaphone, "why don't you root? Make a noise like +you meant it. The Torontos have simply gotter win this game; they need +it, but you gotter help 'em. Now then, every-body--ROOT," and "root" +they did, arduously, continuously, joyously. The din was terrific, +ear-splitting, and weird. Everybody had a different idea as to the +best methods of rooting, and even the fanesses made noises of sorts. +Nobody thereafter heard what the umpire said, they gathered his +decisions only by the result of the various plays, and when, in the +ninth and last innings, the Torontos batted out the winning run, one +prolonged wild "root" spread the glad tidings to all and sundry outside +the gates for many blocks around. + +William, with a final yell through the megaphone, hurried back to +Walter Wadsworth's stand, and there ran into Whimple and Simmons, who +were pledging each other in glasses of lemonade. The boy paused +irresolutely. + +"William," said Whimple, who was also rather embarrassed, "was it fair?" + +William smiled. "Well, Mister Whimple," he said, "when that bunch was +here once last season for a series of five games, my Pa took their +stuff from the station up to the hotel in one of his express wagons, +and I was with him, so, of course, I helped to lift the stuff off the +wagon, and when I'm through the same manager what they have this year +slips something into my hand and I thought it was a dime, and he says +to me, 'I hate to give a Canuck anything,' he says, 'but you are a +bright chap, only don't spend it all at once,' and when he goes into +the hotel I opens up my hand, and there's one of them dinky little +American cents. You bet I was mad, but my Pa says to me, 'It's mostly +a long street that don't have cross streets, William,' he says, 'so, +keep your hair on.' I did, and I guess me and that Buffalo man are +quits now." + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +One afternoon, a few days afterwards, Whimple, dropping into Tommy +Watson's store, found the auctioneer and "Chuck" Epstein gravely +examining a doll's carriage and its occupant, a doll eminently +respectable in mien and terrifically blue of eye. + +"Is this a new line, Tommy?" Whimple asked. + +"No--it's 'Chuck's' purchase, he intends to present the outfit to a young +lady." + +"To Dolly Turnpike," said Epstein quietly, "it's her birthday to-morrow; +what do you think of it?" + +Whimple examined the carriage and the doll as closely and as gravely as +the others had done, and expressed the opinion that it was all right. He +added the hope that the young lady would think so too, and the opinion +that she was extremely fortunate in having among her friends so +thoughtful a man as Epstein. + +It is doubtful if Epstein heard him, although it was quiet enough in the +back part of the store where the three had conducted their examination. +Whimple started to repeat his hope when he became aware that Tommy was +shaking his head and holding a finger to his lips. Whimple thereupon +broke off in the middle of a sentence and kept silence. + +Epstein was looking at him, but not with the eyes of one who sees the +object he gazes on. Whimple thought to himself that he had never dreamed +the retired comedian was as old as he looked now. He wondered if it +would be kindly taken if he should advise the old man that home and a +rest in bed would brace him up a little, when Epstein began to speak. + +"My little girl," he said, in the rich round voice his friends loved to +hear, "was born on the same day of the month that Dolly was. Only, a +long time ago--quite a long time ago, or perhaps I only dream that it was +long ago," he stammered and paused, and then went on. "She would have +been thirty years old now, wedded, no doubt, a mother, perhaps--what +dreams--what dreams----" Again he paused. + +Tommy Watson rose softly, went to the front door, deliberately locked it, +and then returned to Whimple and Epstein--who was talking again. "I had +retired from the stage, happy and contented, to take up a business +career, so that I might be with my wife and child, and the other +children, if they should come. We loved so well--we loved so +well--and--and----" again a long pause. And then, as though some one had +spoken to him, "Yes, yes, I went back to the stage again, but that was +afterwards; and how they welcomed me and cheered me and praised me; for I +made them laugh as in the olden time, but my heart was gone. + +"My little girl was two years old when we began to notice the shadow. +Just two; with a wealth of brown hair and eyes, her eyes--they were brown +too; such a brown, so wonderful, and they were her mother's eyes. The +shadow darkened; the little tongue became strangely quiet, the little +limbs were tired so easily, the little hands were all too often idle. +But how she clung to us--she seemed to know that she must go, and so she +slipped away at last, so gently--so gently--and we could not hold her. + +"What is a man anyway?" he demanded abruptly, but they did not speak: +they knew he did not see them. "What is a man?" he reiterated. "I have +made thousands laugh the world over: I have driven away their sorrows and +heartaches, for a few hours at least, but I could not drive away the +shadow; I could not, I could not. Nor could she who held first place in +my heart and first place in the heart of our darling." His voice lowered +again and he went on, "After--after--we had laid her little body in the +graveyard we went to the home of a friend, thinking--thinking: I know not +what. But when the night came, I could not rest nor even sit still, and +all the while she was listening, listening, and looking at her arms. I +knew, I knew: for my heart was bleeding too, and at last I took her arm, +and together we went back to our own home; 'For it seems to me,' said my +wife, 'that I hear the patter of her little feet moving about the rooms, +and I hear her crying, "Mamma: Dad-dy:" and we are not there, Jacob, and +she'll be so lonely, so lonely.' + +"I was thinking that too. I could not have stayed away, and so back we +went. She--she--my wife, seemed more content there. But always I +noticed that she seemed to be listening and waiting, and often she smiled +and talked as though she was answering the little one, but--but----" his +head was drooping, he seemed to be falling asleep. Whimple stirred +uneasily, and Tommy Watson, whose cheeks were wet with tears, shook a +warning finger at him. The old man looked up again. "The shadow came +again," he said quietly, "and somewhere--somewhere--they are waiting for +me. Men differ on religion, and fight over the future state. What do I +know of it? I don't know. A Jew, though a British subject born, a +comedian--some say I have no religion, and never had. I don't know. +But, oh! I know they wait for me--and where they wait is home." + +For a long time there was silence; Epstein was the first to break it. He +stood up suddenly, and with a new light in his eyes asked of Whimple, as +though seeing him for the first time that day, how he liked the carriage +and the doll. + +"Fine," said Whimple as heartily as he could, for his throat was lumpy +and his heart was beating quickly. + +"I'm glad of that. Why, what's the matter, Tommy, you look as though you +had been crying?" + +"Slight cold in the head," returned Tommy rather abruptly, "rotten time +of the year to get a cold too." + +"It'll be all right in a day or two, I hope," said Epstein. "I must be +going to Turnpike's. I want them to give this to Dolly to-morrow. You +know I had a baby girl one time"--he proceeded quite firmly--"she--she +died--and Rachel, her mother, followed--shortly. We called her +Dolly--after Flo Dearmore's mother, who was very good to us"--here he +looked smilingly at Tommy, who had blushed at the mention of Flo's +name--"my little girl had beautiful brown eyes--just like Dolly +Turnpike's." + +He left them then. Whimple lingered a little while and finally blurted +out--"I never knew that about Epstein." + +"I've heard little bits of it," said Tommy, whose eyes were still moist. +"Say, but he's a wonder though." Whimple agreed. Twice he made as +though to go, and after the second attempt he asked bluntly, "Does +William come here every morning yet?" + +"Yes," answered Tommy. + +"Well, I--that is----" he did not finish the sentence, and did not know +how he could, but Tommy saved him. "That's all right," he said, "I'll +send him over right after his lesson to-morrow. Whimple, you know what +the good book says: it's more blessed to take a man on again than to +refuse to give him another chance." + +"Well, I don't just remember that," said Whimple, "but I do know that +I've had sixty applicants in response to my advertisement for an office +boy, and of all the----" + +"I know--I know," broke in Tommy, "there's mighty few William Adolphus +Turnpikes in this world, and he'll be just as glad to get back as you +will be to have him." + +"Confound him," said Whimple, but he laughed as he said it. + +"Sure, but that'll be all right so long as the two of you get together +again." + +When Whimple reached the office the next morning he found William there. +The lad's face was shining with pleasure. "I'm sorry about that dog +business, Mister Whimple," he said, "and I'll try to be good." + +"All right, William," said Whimple happily, "let it go at that." But to +the surprised and disgruntled Lucien Torrance, William said darkly, +"Well, what between you and the bunch that was after my job, I guess +Mister Whimple was nearly crazy. It's more'n one man can stand for +keeping you straight; it beats me how your own boss can put up with it." + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +The provincial political pot, which had been simmering all through the +early spring, boiled over in July of that year. The Legislature was +dissolved with all the solemn formalities attendant upon the death of +an important public body, and many gentlemen with aspirations for +public office or government jobs found that they must forego much of +the joy that was offered in the shape of baseball, lacrosse, and rowing +fixtures, and get out and hustle for their respective "grand old party." + +The issues at stake in the contest, according to Tommy Watson, were +such as no self-respecting auctioneer could put on the block at any +sale and not blush for shame. "It's just a case," said he, "of the +government, knowing they cannot be beaten, wanting to make sure of a +new lease of power," and Tommy, as usual, was not far wrong. But if +there were no really great issues in a general sense, there was a big +one in Mid-Toronto, and stripped of all party rhetoric and verbiage it +was this: "Shall 'The Big Wind' continue to represent us?" + +The people were tired of "The Big Wind." So was the government. But +the government dare not say so, while the people--including the many +who had voted for him four years before--hoped that "The Big Wind" (his +real name does not belong to this chronicle of facts) would have sense +enough to blow himself out of public life. He might have done that if +some of those who called themselves his friends had been strong enough +in their friendship to have so advised him. For even in the +moments--and they were many--when he thought much of himself, "The Big +Wind" had glimmerings of common sense. + +The government had taken him up for reasons that at the time seemed to +be sufficient. He was the sole male survivor of a family that had done +much for Toronto; was the possessor of a large fortune, and a liberal +giver to charities, as his father in his lifetime had been; his +position socially was distinguished, and he was a handsome man, tall +and straight, with a fine olive-complexioned face, well set off with +mustachios and an imperial. Much had been hoped from him, a cabinet +position was in his reach, until the day he made his first speech in +the Provincial House. That was a day indeed. The party papers had +blazoned the announcement the day before that on the morrow "The Big +Wind" would make his maiden address in the House, taking as his subject +"two or three important matters in connection with the budget. A rare +treat is in store for those who will be able to attend," and all the +rest of the hyperbole that the party papers--except yours, dear +reader--are wont to indulge in. Of course, the galleries of the House +were crowded, and on the floor every member was in his seat. In the +press gallery the attendance of managers and editorial writers was as +large as that of the men who do the real work on newspapers--the +reporters. All the reporters representing the government papers had +been instructed to give "The Big Wind" pretty fully, while the men from +the opposition papers had been informed that they might give him a +"good show." When he arose to address the House, the government side +greeted him with cheers, and the opposition joined in the desk pounding +that followed. + +"The Big Wind" started gracefully--he always did that, and the House +listened indulgently while he patted every one on the back--not +forgetting himself. This occupied some fifteen minutes, during which +the reporters began to ask one another in whispers, "Why doesn't he get +going?" They were beginning to wonder if he would ever get going when +he said, "And now, Mr. Speaker, as to the budget." There was a +suppressed "Ah!" in the press gallery, followed by a surprised "Oh!" +when "The Big Wind" averred that "budgets" had been known since the +world began. He delved into a pile of manuscript, and made some +allusion to the Book of Genesis--without giving any one the slightest +idea of what he was talking about. He paid a great deal of attention +to Genesis, he stayed with it for an hour or so, in fact. People began +to leave the galleries, members left the chamber to find solace in the +smoking-room or the library. The managing editor of the chief leading +government organ, who had condescended to take a seat in the press +gallery, told the three reporters representing the paper to cut the +speech to one column, and himself returned to his office. An hour +later this editor telephoned to the press gallery and asked one of his +reporters, "Say, where is that chump now?" + +"Well," answered the reporter, "he's just figuring on leading the +children of Israel into the promised land." + +"It's a pity the Egyptians couldn't kill him," shouted the editor; "cut +him down to half a column." + +And "The Big Wind" went on blowing. At six o'clock he had left the +children of Israel to their fate, and was grappling with the Norman +invasion of England. The House adjourned for dinner then, and it is on +record that as they walked the corridor to the dining-room, a member of +the cabinet asked the premier, "Where in the name of all we stand for +is this fellow going to land?" that the premier, without even the trace +of a blush, answered in two words, and that one of them rhymed with +"well." + +"The Big Wind" resumed his address at eight o'clock at night and +concluded it at eleven, with a few playful allusions to the Peninsular +War and an expression of regret that time did not permit of his dealing +with other matters no less important. + +And this was the man that Mid-Toronto was asked to return again because +his own party was afraid to antagonise him, and the opposition felt +that they hadn't a ghost of show to carry a riding that for twenty +years had beaten their candidates by large majorities. It looked +indeed as though "The Big Wind" might be elected by acclamation. + +Two weeks before the official nomination, Whimple, himself a dabbler in +politics and a supporter of the government, heard, with other rumours, +that an independent candidate would be in the field in Mid-Toronto, and +the next morning the rumours were declared, by no less a personage than +William Adolphus Turnpike, to have truth as their foundation. + +"You live in Mid-Toronto, William," said Whimple, jocularly, "and you +ought to know what's going on there!" + +"Well, I know a few things," said William, smilingly. + +"Such as----" and Whimple paused. + +"Politics," said William, grinning. + +"Yes!" + +"A fight--a fight, and it'll be a loller-palluselar." + +"A what?" + +"That's just a word my Pa uses, Mister Whimple--honest, I couldn't say +it more'n once a day." + +"And who's going to fight 'The Big Wind,' pray?" + +"The People's Party." + +"The--what--oh! I say, William, what kind of a game is this?" + +"No yarn--it's straight goods. The People's Party was formed last +night, and picked their man." + +"But, how do you know that? There's nothing in the papers about it +this morning." + +"No, because Tommy Watson's the press agent and secretary, and he says +it's time enough to give it to the papers to-night, so he's going to do +it." + +"Tommy Watson! What on earth is he butting in for? He doesn't live in +the riding!" + +"No, but he was at the meetin', him and a few others--about seven +altogether--and he says, 'I'll keep the minutes,' he says, 'and load up +the papers.' The meetin' was held in our house," William went on, "and +my Pa was elected to the chair. Gee! it was an elegant meetin': Pa +made a corking speech. He says, '"The Big Wind" ain't to blame much +for thinking he's the white-haired darlin',' he says, 'because his +friends should put him wise that he ain't.' And Tony Gaston, what +drives oner Jimmy Duggan's coal-wagons, he says, 'The Bigga de Wind is +an awful mutt,' so he ups and asks why don't Jimmy Duggan run, so Pa +says 'Carried,' and Tommy Watson makes 'em do it all reg'lar, and they +forms the People's Party and puts Jimmy Duggan up for their man." + +"It sounds foolish," said Wimple, reflectively. + +"Well," said William, slowly, "that's what Tommy Watson says. 'It +looks foolish,' he says, 'and that's just where a lot of other people's +goin' to be made look foolish too. The party men'll be thinking +there's no chance for Jimmy, and first thing you know he'll slip in.' +So they asked Jimmy is he game, and Jimmy says he's game to buck up +against any government anywheres, he says, especially one what'll stand +for 'The Big Wind.'" + +William paused, and then went on slowly, "Say, Mister Whimple, my Pa's +a wonder to know what's what, and he says quite solemn to Tommy Watson +after the meeting's over, 'Jimmy's the best man in a fight of any kind +I ever knew,' he says; 'b'lieve me, Mister Watson,' he says, 'he'll +punc-ture "The Big Wind." This part of the city don't have to stand +for a gas-bag that ain't even got sense enough to burst when it's too +full, and we ain't going to stand for it,' he says." + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +Whimple found the secretary and press agent of the People's Party +busily engaged in the back of his store preparing reports of the +nomination meeting for the newspapers. + +"What's this I hear about a fight in Mid-Toronto, Tommy?" he asked. + +"Meaning that the news has been gently broken to you by one William +Adolphus Turnpike?" + +"Yes." + +"Well, put your money on Jimmy Duggan, coal and woodyard man, defender +of the rights of the common people, candidate of the People's Party, +the valiant David that's going to knock the stuffing out of the false +Goliar----" + +"Isn't it Goliath?" suggested Whimple, mildly. + +"Well, maybe you're right, but, any way, there'll be an awful explosion +in Mid-Toronto on August tenth, duly fixed by royal proclamation as the +day on which the manhood of this fair province----" + +"Oh, drop it, Tommy----" + +"If the gentleman has any questions to ask I'll be pleased to answer +them at the close of my address," Tommy went on. "I was about to say +this fair province of Toronto, rising in their might, will go to the +polls, well knowing that under the freedom and liberty which is theirs +by right of the grand old flag----" + +"Tommy, shut up!" + +"I was about to say, they can vote as they darned well please, and the +same will be mostly the way they've voted every election the last +fifteen years--except in Mid-Toronto." + +"Are you through?" + +"Well, that's all I can think of just now." + +"But what's the use? You haven't got the shadow of a chance. Why, the +government 'll be returned hands down." + +"Sure; but 'The Big Wind' won't. He'll be returned sky high. Don't +you forget it. Why, Mid-Toronto's just seething, Whimple--just +seething. Every patriotic soul in the riding is repeating that +well-known verse from Bill Shakespeare's 'Saturday Night in London':-- + + 'Breathes there a man with soul so punk, + Who never to himself has thunk, + By hedges and by hook or crook, + We'll surely give Big Wind the Hook.'" + + +"Shakespeare! Shakespeare! Are you sure, Tommy?" + +"Well, perhaps it wasn't him; but he's as good as any to tack it to." + +"But, Tommy--seriously, is Jimmy Duggan going to fight?" + +"Fight!--you bet your life he's going to fight, and he's going to win, +too." + +"Umph!" + +"Umph again, Whimple, you and the government will be umphing to the +finish, and then you'll umph some more." + +"But look here, Tommy, you know the opposition and its press has had +the government tottering to its fall every election these fifteen +years, and it's as solid as ever." + +"Well, we'll make a dint in its solidity any way. You keep your eyes +on Jimmy Duggan." + +And Whimple did; others were a little slower to turn their gaze in that +direction. They treated Duggan and the People's Party as a joke until +the official nomination meeting when the strength and enthusiasm of +Jimmy's supporters jolted them. There was a hurried consultation +thereafter in the government's campaign quarters. Cabinet ministers +were turned loose in the riding; the city papers supporting the +government, though loth to do it, began to play up "The Big Wind." +Every hall in the riding was hired for every night of the remaining +week of the campaign, and two or three meetings were held every night. +The People's Party and Jimmy Duggan could not afford to rent halls; +their material platforms were express and coal delivery wagons drawn up +on vacant lots: their speakers, outside of Tommy Watson, were men who +laboured in the factories and workshops, or, like William Turnpike's Pa +and Jimmy Duggan himself; had little businesses of their own. Jimmy +could talk--after a fashion. "Pa" Turnpike did a little in the +speech-making line. Tommy Watson did a great deal, and so did Tony +Gaston, who had distinguished himself by nominating Duggan on the night +the People's Party was formed. + +Tony was a treat; William followed him around from meeting to meeting, +declaring one of Tony's speeches to be worth more than all the others +put together. "Gee! you'd orter hear him, Lucien," he said to Simmons' +office boy one afternoon. "He's a Dago--but he's white. He gets +leaning over the side of a wagon and he waves his arms till you'd think +he'd shake them off, and all the time he's spitten' out words so blamed +fast you'd wonder his tongue don't drop off. 'Ladies and der Gents,' +he says, 'dis is de pr'r'oudest minnit of me life. It's an honor to +stand befacin' such a audonce to spek a wor'r'd,' he says, 'for me +frend, James de Duggan.' Somebody yells, 'Well, yer work f'r him, +that's why.' 'Sure, I wor'rks for him,' says Tony, 'and I wor'r'ks +har'rd f'r him,' he says, 'and that's more'n you do f'r the man dats +payin' you good mon ev'ry week what you don't ear'r'r'n. Ladies and +der Gents,' he says, 'har'rk nottin's to dat loaf-er, but vote f'r the +frends of de honest wor'r'k de mans and stick de Big Wind so up he +blows-puff.'" + +But a new problem faced the People's Party when, for the final four +days of campaigning, "The Big Wind's" committee announced a band or an +orchestra at every meeting for every night. + +"That'll take lots of our people away," said Tommy Watson, +thoughtfully, when he read the announcement. "What can we do, I +wonder, to meet it?" But William's Pa was solving the difficulty while +Tommy was pondering over it. Flo Dearmore--the theatrical season being +over--was in town, living, as she always did between seasons, with her +mother. She was immensely interested in the contest, the faithful +Tommy Watson, whose courting of her was proceeding with some success, +keeping her fully informed, and when William's Pa called on her, she +listened to his request with interest, refused to consider it at all, +but, woman-like, changed her mind, and appeared that night on one of +the People's Party platforms--an express wagon loaned by Turnpike. +Tommy Watson was in the chair, and he almost fell out of it when he saw +Flo approaching the wagon. Almost before he could move, she was seated +beside him, many willing hands having assisted her on her way. + +Tommy's eyes were popping and his mouth was gaping. He framed his lips +to question her, but the words would not come. Flo greeted him +demurely, and smiled mischievously over his evident embarrassment. +"Don't worry, Tommy," she said, "I'm in this fight too. They're not +going to beat your man if I can help prevent it. If they have their +bands--well, I can sing still," with just a touch of pride. + +"Flo--Flo," gasped Tommy, "you're a brick. There's lots here who know +you, and some of them know you're going to be Mrs. Tommy Watson pretty +soon, and they'll tell the others. Flo, this is worth hundreds of +votes to us. Oh! but you're a woman in a thousand." She flushed with +pleasure at this. "You'll have to tell me later all about it," Tommy +went on; "who put you up to this, or did you think of it yourself?" + +"It was Pa Turnpike," she said. + +"Good old Turnpike. Say, but that Pa of William's is certainly smart. +You remember William: the lad who sang for you at the Variety." + +And just here Jimmy Duggan, who had been making a brief address, +finished suddenly, as was his wont, with an invitation to all, "whether +they know me or not, to solemnly weigh the merits of the two +candidates, and to decide in favour of the man whose platform +prin-ciples are those for which the common people have long been +fighting, and if you do, you'll vote for me." + +On the instant that he finished Tommy Watson was up. "The next +speaker," said he, "will be a singer. (Cheers.) Our respected town's +lady, Flo Dearmore--(cheers)--who has won a high place on the stage. +She is for Duggan--(loud cheers)--and says it'll break her heart if he +ain't elected, and that wouldn't do. (Cheers.) She's a woman in a +million." + +Here some one cried out, "Why don't you marry the lady, Tommy?" + +"I'm going to, and pretty soon," answered Tommy, promptly, turning +toward Flo as he spoke. All blushes, she nodded her head +affirmatively, while the crowd shouted approval. Then she sang for +them--two songs only--and afterwards went on to another meeting, +accompanied by Tommy Watson, Tony Gaston, and William, where she sang +again. And William's heart was throbbing with happiness, for, from the +night in the Variety, when he had first seen her on the stage, he had +placed this lovely lady in a niche of his heart next to that occupied +by the mother to whom he was an unsolvable puzzle. He would have +followed her to fifty meetings that night had she been going to that +many, but his happiness was the more nearly perfect because the lady +and Gaston were going to the only other Duggan meeting together, and he +would be able to worship her, and listen in ecstasy to her singing, and +afterwards hear one of Tony Gaston's fiery orations. + +"Gee!" said William to himself: "ain't this the great luck?" and then, +with an admiring glance at Flo, "and ain't she a pippin?" + +Of course, Jimmy Duggan won. Even the present generation of hustling +Canadians know that, though many of them could not tell an inquirer, +off-hand, the name of the Canadian Prime Minister who preceded Sir +Wilfrid Laurier. Of course he won--by a bare 3000 majority--that's +all. Mid-Toronto shouted itself black in the face that night, and went +about its own business for the next seven days in a manner that one +eminent alienist would have described--had he been giving expert +evidence for the defence at fifty dollars per hour--as "between a state +of hysterical mania and senile decay, but not close enough to the one +to necessitate confinement in an asylum, or to the other as to require +the attention of a trained nurse." Jimmy Duggan was the least affected +of any of the People's Party. He made fifty-five brief speeches of +thanks in various sections of Mid-Toronto, and made his last to Tommy +Watson, Tony Gaston, and Pa Turnpike, who escorted him to his home. + +"I owe most to you three," he said earnestly, "and you'll have to help +me think up some kind of legislation to press for. There's one thing +we have to be glad about though," he added. + +"What's that?" asked Tommy. + +"Well--I ain't a government man, so it's no good anybody coming to me +to worry me to death trying to get a government job for them." + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +"What are you going to do about William?" That was the question Flo +Dearmore asked of Tommy Watson one afternoon when Tommy should have +been attending strictly to his business as an auctioneer, but was +neglecting it for the business of courtship, which, he declared for the +one hundred and ninety-ninth time, had more charms for him than the +most exciting sale he had ever conducted. + +"Well, what about him?" was Tommy's answer. + +"Isn't that Scottish though?" said Flo: "question for question." + +"You know the old proverb," Tommy said, smilingly, "'don't answer too +quickly, or you'll put your foot in it.'" + +"I never heard of it before," she said, "and I don't believe there is +such a proverb." + +"It's something like that, anyway," retorted Tommy; "but, coming back +to the question I asked, what about William?" + +"I asked it first." + +"You're beginning to get your hooks in for the last word rather early, +aren't you?" + +"Tommy Watson! make no mistake about me. I'm going to have the first +and last word now and--and----" + +"To the end of your married life, I suppose," broke in Tommy with a +sigh so heavy that it shook him. + +Flo tapped him on the head with the fingers of one dainty hand. +"You're almost intelligent at times, Tommy Watson," she said, with mock +seriousness. + +"Yes," he retorted, "yes; almost intelligent enough to go on the +stage," and then he spent the next ten minutes in explaining that he +had meant to convey no reflections; that his sweetheart was the +dearest, most lovable, and most intelligent person in the world; that +he would never have made, and never could make, an actor: that he was +the biggest bonehead in the boundaries of the City of Toronto, and all +his friends and acquaintances knew it. She made him withdraw the last +assertion, and beg her pardon in his nicest manner for insulting +himself and his wife to be, and then came back to the subject of +William. + +"There's promise in the boy," she said, "he'll be a great comedian some +day, if he gets a fair start." + +"Yes, and he knows it, too," Tommy commented, "confound the kid. +Sometimes he drives me frantic, but all the time I like him. He hasn't +got the faintest notion of ever being anything but a comedian. He's +almost uncanny. What he doesn't think of hasn't been thought of by +anybody yet, I'll bet. He can't find words, often, to tell what his +thoughts are, and then he falls back on the greatest line of slang I've +ever heard. Only yesterday he said to 'Chuck' Epstein, 'Many's the +time when things all go wrong I've felt like going home and crying, +honest. Then, when I'd get home, there's Pa dead tired, but chirpin' +like a cricket, and Ma tired too, but hustlin' around gettin' supper +for Pa and the kids and me, and Dolly and Pete and the others all +waitin' to see what line I'm going to take. So I gets busy and cuts +up, and, say, maybe we don't have the merry ha ha times, and my Pa says +to me often, he says, "William, make 'em laugh; a feller what can hide +the sores in his own heart," he says, "while he's makin' somebody else +laugh," he says, "he's a winner more ways than one." And it's true, +Mister Epstein.'" + +"Yes," said Flo, softly, "it's true." + +"But now, here's the situation," Tommy went on. "William's Pa is doing +pretty well now, and he won't stand for any charity game. If the boy +will go back to school, Pa Turnpike will cheerfully consent, but +William won't. He's very stubborn on that point. 'Not for mine,' he +says. 'If I could stick to history and reading lessons, all right, but +the rest of the truck they try to shovel into a boy's head at school +kills me dead. Say, I've come outer the school some days almost scared +to put me feet down for fear they'd slip over the edge of the world, +and I never really know whether the sun goes around the world or the +world around the sun, and often I ain't been sure whether the sun might +hit us, or us hit the sun, and everything bust to pieces.'" + +"Well, you'll have to try persuasion on him." + +"We're trying it," said Tommy, "and I think we're beginning to see +daylight. It's down to the point now where William comes over and +takes luncheon in my room with Epstein and myself, and he gets an hour +of reading and instruction from the old man then, in addition to the +one in the morning. We arranged that with Whimple, and William walked +right into it. If we could only get him to cut out the slang----" + +"What!" + +"Well, that's just what Epstein said when I suggested it to him." + +"I should think so, Tommy Watson; that boy is a natural born 'slanger.'" + +Tommy laughed. + +"You're laughing in the wrong place, Tommy--that boy will go on +absorbing slang to the end of his days, unless you're foolish enough to +shame it out of him. By the time he is ready to go on the stage he +will have a stock-in-trade of slang that will be the making of him, for +he is so apt and ready with it. But, tell--no, I'll tell Epstein +myself--to take care that his slang does not mar the rest of his +speech. He must not be allowed to get into the way of just mouthing +slang and nothing else. Does he read well?" + +"You should hear him, Flo: it's a treat, and when he gets stuck on a +big word he dives into the dictionary head first, or questions Epstein +until he can say it properly and understand its meaning." + +"That is real progress. He's a delightful mimic, too." + +"Yes: he takes off Epstein, or Whimple, or myself, to the life." + +"The latter must be extremely difficult," said Flo, demurely. + +"True--quite true--for there's no doubt I'm a wonderful man, Flo," +answered Tommy, solemnly: "so inscrutable and impassive--is that the +way to say it--so adept at hiding my inmost thoughts, so----" + +"But you needn't squeeze my hand so hard, Tommy, while you pronounce +your eulogy; it isn't an auctioneer's gavel." + +"It's a very pretty hand, though," Tommy said with a smile, "a very +pretty hand." + +"Are you an impartial judge, Tommy?" + +"Well, I can't say I have much experience in regard to the hands of the +fair sex, but I'm willing to bet there are none like yours in the wide +world." + +"And you have travelled so much of it." + +"Not lately, perhaps, but I once spent four hours in Montreal, 330 +miles away; think of it! and half a day in Hamilton--that's all of +forty miles off--and Toronto never looked so sweet to me as it did when +I got back to it. Good old Toronto; it's been kind to me. It has +given me the dearest of all women, and a good business, and--and----" +he kissed her hand and a few minutes later departed. + +At a down town corner he ran into William, who was studying with great +interest the baseball bulletins displayed outside of a newspaper +office. William was one of a pretty large crowd that was doing the +same thing. News bulletins seemingly had little attraction for the +majority of them. As Tommy neared him, William remarked to a man in +the crowd, "Gee! wouldn't that jar you?" + +"I don't see why: that's a very important piece of news. It isn't +every day the city council decides to spend so much----" + +"City council my neck," broke in William, rudely, "what's that got to +do with the score?" + +"Score! what score?" + +"Oh, gee! I thought I was talking to a baseball fan." + +"You thought wrong, young man," retorted the man, sharply. "I've no +patience with such frivolous things." + +And then William caught sight of Tommy. "Say," he called out, "what do +you think of that score?" + +Tommy, himself an enthusiast, studied it carefully. "Jersey City two, +Toronto one," he said aloud, "and down we go to second place, William." + +"Yes; and Jersey City putting us there! Say, that team of ours is +certainly on the pork." + +"Oh, they're not doing so badly; we're only a few points down." + +"Only? What's the use? Every time they lick the good ones they fall +down when they stack up against the tail-enders; it's rotten." + +"Cheer up, William, cheer up! The team will soon be home for another +long series, and then they'll soar." + +"Yes," said William, gloomily, "to the bottom." + +"You seem to be downhearted; what's the matter?" + +"Mister Whimple lost a case to-day." + +"Well, lots of lawyers do that. In baseball, or law, or anything else, +William, you've got to lose sometimes. Remember the old saying, 'It's +better to have tried to buck the line, and failed, than never to have +tried at all.'" + +"But Mister Whimple's just getting a good start, and he can't afford to +lose cases. It gives him a bad steer with people that's looking for +lawyers in the winning column!" + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +The plans that men make in the belief that the knowledge and wisdom of +the adult mind knows what is best for youth are many and of small +account. For the youthful mind sees easily through the most of them, +intuitively perhaps, and not by methods of reasoning, and decides for +itself whether it shall accept or reject them. And office boys +constitute a particularly abnormal department--if such it may be +termed--of the youthful mind. This is merely a roundabout way of +preparing the readers, if any, of this veracious chronicle with the +fact that William had not, as Tommy Watson supposed, "walked into" the +plan whereby he was to receive an additional hour of tuition from that +prince of tutors, "Chuck" Epstein. If this was a history, the truth +might be coloured with the glamour of romance at times. But, as Tommy +Watson himself was wont to say, "Facts are real, facts are earnest, +facts are very stubborn things, facts are facts where'er you find 'em, +facts are what gives truth its wings." Therefore, it is here set down +in black and white that William himself engineered that additional +hour, and the wise men who thought they had initiated it patted +themselves on the back because it was a success. + +William, of a truth, was beginning to find himself by finding others +out. He had discovered, and it was a bitter shock to William, that +Lucien Torrance, for whom his feelings were tinctured by good-natured +tolerance, was making good use of his spare time around the office. +Lucien had no "vaulting ambition:" he would hardly have understood the +meaning of the words. He wanted to improve his position though, and he +practised consistently on the typewriter, he took lessons in shorthand, +and was beginning to master the intricacies of bookkeeping, taking his +lessons therein at a night school. His desk was always neat and clean, +and the clerical work that Simmons, the architect, was beginning to +trust him with was well done. + +William's desk always looked to be over-crowded, and was never neat. +Periodically, the lad had a cleaning-up day, but he never seemed to +make much headway in getting rid of the assorted mass of newspaper and +magazine clippings that he accumulated with avidity. It was an amazing +collection, and every bit of reading in it, and every picture, referred +to comedians; always comedians. + +Lucien Torrance tackled him about it one day. "Why don't you throw all +that truck away?" he said; "it's an awful lot of rubbish." + +"Truck! Rubbish!" + +"Yes: what do you want with that?" + +"You wouldn't tumble to it if I told you," William answered, so mildly +that Lucien, who had expected a stinging rebuke, was almost overcome +with surprise. "It's a secret," William went on, "a dark secret, but +one of these days you'll be paying good money to find out about it." + +"Not me." + +"Yes, you, Lucien Torrance; you'll be doing it, and paying for your +girl, or your wife, perhaps, to help you find it out." + +"I haven't got a girl, and as for a wife, I'm only fifteen----" + +"Don't give your age away," interrupted William. "I told you you +wouldn't understand, and I ain't going to waste any of my breath trying +to make you now. Some day you will, unless you turn to stone, like the +fellow at the show last week." + +"Oh, you mean 'the petrified man.'" + +"You've got the name down fine, Lucien; I wanted to say it, but, +honest, I couldn't. I thought it was stiffified, or something like +that. But don't worry about me and this 'truck' and 'rubbish,' Lucien; +I'm not daffy yet. Let's talk about something else." + +"What?" + +"Love, for instance." + +"Love: what on earth do you want to talk about love for? Are you----" + +"Not on your life," interrupted William, hurriedly, "no skirts for +mine. Why I wouldn't worry about any woman in the world but Ma or my +sisters. But I'd like to get at the bottom of this love business +anyway. 'Chuck' Epstein says love is the greatest thing in the world, +but it makes the most trouble. Can you beat that?" + +"I don't know anything about it----" + +"No, no; I don't figure that you do, Lucien. But when 'Chuck' says it, +he says it to Tommy Watson, and Tommy heaves a sigh big enough to burst +the store to pieces if the door hadn't been open so's the sigh floats +out into the street and blows an old gent's hat off, and----" + +"I don't believe it." + +"I know you don't, Lucien: that's another of your troubles. Some day, +maybe, your mind'll take in somer the things you're missin' now, and +maybe it never will. But, anyway, Tommy says, 'You're right, "Chuck,"' +he says, kinder gloomy like. Now, whatjer think of that, and him going +to be married to Flo Dearmore in August?" + +"Tommy Watson is?" + +"Sure." + +"I always thought he was an old bachelor." + +"Well, you think again, Lucien, think again. Tommy ain't so old; and +it seems to me every man's a bach-e-lor until he gets married. Now, +you'd think Tommy'd be fairly bustin' with joy, and maybe he is; I +don't know. But he goes around singing all them mournful songs, and, +say, you'd ought to hear him singing. Oh, gee! Honest, Lucien, the +fog horn over on the Island's a treat to it. Your boss was over once +when Tommy was whanging away on oner them songs, and he says, 'Heavens, +Tommy, when's the funeral?' and Tommy says, 'Guess again, Simmons,' he +says. 'It's for very joy I'm singing.' So your boss says, 'Well, it +ain't a fair deal for you to be so all fired joyful as to kill +everybody else's joy,' he says; so Tommy shies a book at him, and +Simmons ducks, and the book hits a vase and smashes it. Well, you'd +think Tommy would be mad at himself and at everybody else because of +that, but he laughs and says to Simmons, 'Better the vase than your +head, Simmons. Gee! I'm so happy I could smash everything in the +place.' So your boss says, 'Wait till your wife begins to try her +cookin' on you.' Then Tommy gets after him, and Simmons scoots, and +Tommy begins again on Scotch songs; all the slow, sad ones, and, +honest, I had to go out too." + +"You spend a lot of time there, don't you, William?" + +"Sh--sh--Don't be sleuthing around, Lucien, you might find out +something, and I'm afraid the blow would kill you. Anyway, I asked my +Pa about this love business, and he kinder laughs, and looks at Ma, and +she laughs too, like when she's pleased about something, and they +kisses each other right there, and Pa says, 'It'll come to you some +day, boy, please God, and when it comes----' and then he kisses Ma +again and don't finish what he's started to say, and I don't ask him. +I know enough anyway to know when Pa ain't going to be no mark for a +buncher questions, but it's got me going. There's Miss Whimple loved a +fellow when she's young, and he gets carved up by some black fellows in +a desert around Egypt somewhere----" + +"The Soudan." + +"That's the name; who told you?" + +"My father's brother is a soldier, and he fought the Dervishes." + +"That's the bunch. Say, you certainly know something, Lucien, +sometimes. So, Miss Whimple don't get married, and it's the icy mitt +for anybody that asked her; and plenty did." + +"She's a funny old----" + +"You say a word about her, Lucien Torrance, that ain't nice, and I'll +knock the head off'n you. She's--she's--well, there ain't another like +her except Ma." + +"I wasn't going to say anything----" began Lucien. + +William cut him short. "You started wrong then," he said, "that's all +there is to it; and now what about your boss?" + +"Mine?" + +"Yes; he's going crazy about a girl." + +"He's what?" + +"You heard me; you know you did. Say, he can't sleep nights thinking +of that girl, by the looks of him, and he don't see her more'n seven +times a week, and she's just as looney about him too; but she ain't +showing it much." + +"I don't believe it!" + +"There you are again, and a lot of this thing going on under your very +nose. Say, you're sticking so close to business you can't see a blame +thing but your work. Do you ever have a day dream, Lucien?" + +"I'm too busy." + +"That's it, busy--too busy to have day dreams. Gee, I don't know what +I'd do if I never had 'em. Say----" + +Whimple entered at this moment with Simmons. The lawyer was urging the +architect to "buck up." William smiled. "The girl loves you," Whimple +said, in an undertone, but not pitched low enough, for the two boys +heard it quite distinctly. William winked at Lucien, and the latter +blushed. Simmons refused to be comforted, and passed into his own +office, melancholy settled heavily on his usually bright face, and +Lucien followed him. + +"William," said Whimple a few minutes later, "will you please take this +letter to Mrs. Stewart, and wait for an answer?" + +William's "yes" was prompt. He liked Mrs. Stewart, a young and pretty +widow, to whom of late he had carried a number of notes. While he was +putting on his cap, Whimple, who was sitting in his own room, began to +sing softly. William did not pay particular attention to the air +until, as he started toward the outer door of the office, Whimple's +voice rose a little, and then he listened intently. Whimple could sing +well, and he was singing well now, and the song was "Annie Laurie." +William paused irresolutely, looked at the letter, counted swiftly on +one hand, then opened the door, and ran quickly down the stairs. At +the bottom of the stairs he paused again, once more he counted, and +then said to himself, "Friday, and I've taken five letters to her this +week, and brought five back, and--and--I thought I was smarter'n +Lucien. Dang it, all the men are going crazy together." + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +The real awakening of William to the sterling qualities of Lucien +Torrance came with the Binks' knitting factory fire. The story was +told in full detail by the newspapers at the time, but the public +memory is not long, and, because this is a record of facts, it is here +re-told, from the view-point of William and Lucien. The factory, in +which some sixty girls were employed, was a three-story building, +facing the rear of the building in which were located the offices of +Whimple and Simmons. On one side it ran so close to the latter +building that even the boys could, by a little stretching, touch the +sill of a window to the right of the window in the room that served as +office for William and waiting-room for his employer's clients. + +The fire broke out one hot afternoon in August in the lower floor of +the factory, and, as the building was "modern and fire-proof," the +flames naturally spread at a terrific rate. Some thirty of the girls +managed to escape from the lower floor at once. The escape of the +others was cut off completely, the one iron ladder, designated as a +fire escape, and running down to the ground, being, on its lower rungs, +"wrapped in flame," as the reporters have it. + +William and Lucien, who had been making faces at some of the girls at +the time the fire broke out, were shocked into helplessness for a +moment. Lucien recovered first. "Quick," he said, grasping William by +the arm, "we can help." He half pulled William into Simmons' room, +"Grab the other end," he commanded, curtly, himself seizing one end of +what appeared to be a long table top. In reality it consisted of three +stout planks braced together underneath, and resting on scantling +supports. Several plans were pinned to the top, and these Lucien +yanked off without ceremony. Between them the boys carried the table +top to the window, and, though for a few seconds it seemed that their +combined strength was not equal to the demand on it, they succeeded in +placing one end of it on the sill of the open factory window, around +which the imprisoned girls were gathered, some screaming wildly, others +pale-faced, but quiet. A rough bridge was thus formed between the +factory and Whimple's office. Lucien crossed it first, with William a +close second. The boys urged the girls to "get a move on, one at a +time," but it was not until William had escorted the heaviest one +across to Whimple's office that the others, despite the rapid approach +of the fire, could be persuaded to venture. Convinced of the safety of +the "bridge," they began to make the journey rapidly enough. Lucien +calmly and quietly encouraged them. William said nothing, but he +carried out with alacrity every suggestion Lucien made. + +By this time a detachment of the fire brigade was on the scene. Three +of the firemen, with a hose, rushed up the front stairs of Whimple's +office and to the window through which the girls were coming. + +"Well, I'll be swizzled," said one of them, excitedly, "who made the +bridge?" + +One of the girls paused a moment before leaving the office. "Two +boys," she cried, hysterically, "they're in the factory helping the +other girls." + +"Bully for them," shouted one of the firemen. The next moment he +hurried across the "bridge," which bore his weight splendidly, and +assisted the boys. Other firemen, with more hose, arrived, and several +streams of water were soon playing on the factory walls below the +"bridge." + +"We'll save this building, anyway," said one of the firemen, handling a +hose from one of Whimple's windows. And save it they did. + +As the last girl crossed the bridge, the fireman who had been assisting +Lucien and William ordered them to get out quickly. The big room was +now full of smoke, the lads and the firemen were almost choked with it, +and tongues of flame were beginning to lick one of the wooden partition +walls. Just as the man spoke, the partition fell. A burning scantling +struck Lucien on the head and sent him to the floor. In a moment +William grabbed the burning timber with his bare hands and tried to +lift it, but without the assistance of the fireman, who inserted his +hook-axe under it, and added a man's strength to that of the boy's, he +would not have been successful. Lucien was still conscious when they +picked him up, and, with the assistance of William, made the journey +across the "bridge" to Whimple's office in safety. Here kindly hands +temporarily bound up his wounds and those of William too, the latter +meanwhile asserting loudly, "Lucien did it; he thought of it; Lucien +did it." + +Finally, Lucien's parched and cracked lips parted in a smile. +"Couldn't have done it without you, William," he gasped, and then the +floor, so William Adolphus Turnpike afterwards solemnly asserted, rose +up and hit him, and he knew nothing more until, in the evening, he woke +up in a private ward in St. Michael's Hospital. There were only two +beds in that ward. When William opened his eyes, a kindly faced +nursing sister was bending over him. + +"Where's Lucien?" he demanded. + +The sister smiled. "In the bed near you," she said, gently; "his +mother and father have just left him; he's----" + +William sat straight up in the bed. "Say," he said, brokenly, "he +ain't going to die, is he?" + +"No," she answered, "he's doing splendidly, and he's fast asleep." + +William laughed happily. "Oh, but he's a pippin, a real pippin; and me +thinking he was a dub. If he wakes up, and I'm asleep, nurse, you can +tell him from me that I'm a mutt. He's the real thing, is Lucien." +Then he looked down at his hands, swathed in bandages, and grinned. +"Kinder early for winter mitts," he said. "Gee, but my hands sting! +Has my Ma and Pa been here?" + +"They're here now, waiting to see you. They've been here for two +hours, William." + +"Two hours! and me lying on the downy while they're worryin'. +Me--uh!--I ain't worth it." + +The sister opened the door, and Mr. and Mrs. Turnpike, with anxious +faces and eyes somewhat dimmed, were soon bending over their boy, +kissing him, and whispering words of love and praise and sympathy. +After their farewells, William turned to the sister with shining eyes. +"Nobody ever had a Ma and Pa like mine," he said, "and my hands are +sore, but I'm tired--tired--" he closed his eyes--"and I'm a mutt. +Lucien's got it on me all over when it comes to a show down." And +William slept. + +There followed a strange experience for the two boys. Reporters +interviewed them, and the interviews mostly read as though the boys +were past masters in the use of correct English. One enterprising +reporter wrote up William's story just as the lad gave it. The +majority of readers appreciated that interview because the lad's +language appealed to them, but by the time the editor of the newspaper +in which it appeared had read the third letter from "pro bono publico," +protesting against the putting of so much slang into the mouth of a +mere child, he regretted that he had not made the reporter re-write it. +Being human, he, of course, lectured the reporter with asperity, and +the reporter, being a man of spirit, instead of taking the lecture to +heart, resigned, entered the field of literature, and, in a +comparatively short time, became a noted writer of short stories. He +blessed William at the time and ever afterwards for opening his eyes to +the possibilities of the boy in fiction--and fact. + +Two days in the hospital was enough for William. He gave his ultimatum +to Ma and Pa after the mayor had called upon Lucien and himself to +express admiration "on behalf of the citizens of Toronto," and informed +them that they were to be presented with gold watches "as a permanent +token of appreciation of their bravery." + +William insisted on going home that day. "Another day here," he said, +"with bunches of people buttin' in and slobberin' over me, and I'm a +dead one. Besides! it was all Lucien; I'm no bloomin' hero." + +Lucien was sick of it too, but, because his injuries were the more +serious, he had perforce to stay a little longer in the hospital. + +The presentation of the watches was made in the mayor's office one week +after the fire. It was a painful ceremony, so far as the boys were +concerned, and they were immensely relieved when the last word had been +said, and their admiring parents were allowed to proudly escort them to +their respective homes. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +It required the combined efforts of Whimple, Epstein, and Watson to +persuade William to take a two weeks' holiday before returning to work. +He didn't want to go to the country: knew he would die after two days +there: was positive he was as strong and as able to work as he ever had +been: and, in short, he wouldn't go. Watson wormed the truth out of +him after an hour's private talk. "I'm just crazy about keeping up my +lessons with Mister Epstein," said William, finally; "I feel that I +can't afford to miss one; I wanter be something, Tommy, and I'm finding +out every day how much of a dub I am." + +Tommy suppressed a strong desire to whoop; the spirit of the lad was so +manifest; his earnestness so marked. But, as calmly as possible, he +said, "Don't worry on that score, William, a rest will do you good. +Besides, if you go where Mr. Whimple wants you to, you'll not miss a +great deal. I know the boys in that family. They're clean; they have +a good library, and--oh well, you go! Remember the proverb: 'It's +better to go slow sometimes, than to hustle all the time.'" + +William was back at work two weeks before Lucien, who, on leaving the +hospital, had also gone to the country. The boys greeted each other +cordially the day Lucien returned, and spent some time, on the first +opportunity afforded, in recounting their experiences. Lucien told his +in a plain, matter-of-fact way, and declared he was immensely relieved +to be back again. + +"Well," said William, when it came to his turn, "I'm glad to be back +too. Not that I didn't like it. Say, after the first day, I enjoyed +ev'ry minute. I went to the Millers' farm at Varency, in Haldmand +County, and maybe they ain't THE PEOPLE. B'lieve me--well--say, +honest, Lucien, all the fool things I uster think about farmers, +callin' 'em 'Rubes' and 'Hayseeds,' and such like, and about their work +and houses and everything, makes me feel like kicking myself from here +to home, and that's quite a walk. If I was oner them kind that wakes +up in the night and thinks about the past, I'd blush in the dark for +the fool I was. But when I falls asleep it's me's a log till somebody +yells in my ear that breakfast's ready. Anyway, what I used to think +about farmers is buried deep, with a lot more foolish truck I've been +getting rid of this last few weeks. + +"Say, there's three fellows there, Emerson, Laird, and George, and +every one of 'em's over six feet, and wide too, and smart, uh! Laird, +he's a schoolmaster already, and you'd orter hear him telling stories +about them old Romans and Greeks, and explainin' things that a dub like +me's sure to get stuck on. The other two they say one schoolmaster to +a family's enough, and it's them sticking to the farm, and they ain't +no slouches on farming neither. They've read an awful lot, and +attended lectures, and got things down fine. They doctor the horses +and cattle when they're sick, and, unless they break a leg or something +like that, they doctor themselves too. Emerson, he's a swell re-citer. +Honest, Lucien, he'd make you laugh, or cry, or anything, with the +pieces he knows by heart, let alone what he can do with pieces he ain't +never seen before when he reads 'em out for the first time. And +George, he can clog-dance, and play the banjo like a pro-fessional. +And the girls are smart too; there's four of 'em. Gee! I thought I'd +have to go home long before two weeks was up, they were so kind to me. +The boys and their Dad--they always called him that--uster work like +blazes from daylight, and often before, right on until evenings, and +then we'd sit around on the porch after supper, and--and----" he broke +off abruptly. + +"Yes?" said Lucien, quietly, after a moment's silence. + +"Say, Lucien, did you ever get a hunch all of a sudden, just when +you're enjoyin' yourself, that it'll never be the same again?" + +Lucien answered with a prim, "Oh, yes--sometimes." + +William went on, "Don't it grip your heart--don't it? We'd be sitting +there--the house is built on pretty high ground, and on one side +there's quite a valley, with a little stream running through it; they +call it a river, but it ain't; and lots of big trees, and some willows. +And our old friend, the moon, would be glummerin' around, and making +paths on the water, and you'd hear the frogs, and crickets, and +sometimes the creaking that the wagons would make as they passed. +That's all; there wouldn't be another sound for a while, and then +Emerson'd begin to recite, or George would play the banjo, or Laird +would tell us stories about them old fighters long ago. And all of 'em +know the names of the stars--whatjer think of that?--and they'd talk +about them like they were old friends, especially their Dad, for he +came from Scotland and was a sailor. Oh! it was great--great. Then +some one would begin to sing, and everybody would join in the chorus. +First, they'd sing somer the new songs; then the comic ones; then it +would be 'Annie Laurie,' 'Will ye no come back again,' 'The Low-backed +Car,' 'Willie, we have missed you,' 'Nellie Grey,' 'My Old Kentucky +Home'--all the old-timers. I'd join in too, and one night when we were +singing 'Will ye no come back again,' that think tank of mine got outer +gear someway, and starts a hammerin' on one thought: 'It'll never be +the same again--never--never--never,' and it made me feel bad, I tell +you, but I went on singing. I had that kinder feeling three or four +times after. It sounds crazy, don't it, Lucien? but, oh, it's true, +it's true! But, don't you forget it, I had a bully time. I don't know +when I really liked it most; in the early morning, when everything's +bright and fresh, or at night, when it's still, like I'm tellin' you. +There's one thing I noticed about the nights, too, that got me going." + +"What's that?" + +"The stars. Say, Lucien, they seem to be so much closer than they do +in the city; and more of 'em: that's because there ain't so many +buildings, and you can see more sky. Sally used to say----" + +"Sally!" + +"Yes, Sally! she's the youngest, and at that she's a little older'n I +am. And there ain't no mother in that house, because their mother died +just when Sally was a kiddie, and they're all mothers and fathers to +her." + +"William--is it----?" + +"Now, hold on, Lucien; hold on. Don't bite on anything until you're +sure you can swallow it. Say, she's a wonder, Sally is! There's been +something wrong with her spine for about four years, and she can't +walk, 'cept once in a while she kinder hobbles slow around the table. +They have a big wheel chair for Sally, and always when it's fine they +wheel her out on to the verandah, and there she sits for hours an' +hours. You'd think she's have a grouch being the way she is, but, +honest, Lucien, she's enough to make all the grouchers get a hunch to +throw themselves off the earth, she's that chirpy. Laugh! she's got a +laugh 'ud chase the blues outer anybody; but she's mighty sad too, +sometimes, when she thinks no one ain't watchin' her. Sally's a +wonder, Lucien--and she's got big brown eyes, and brown hair fallin' +all around her face, and the sweetest mouth----" + +Lucien had occasional flashes of originality, and struck in with one. +"Sweetest--the sweetest----" + +"Yes," said William, firmly, though he blushed slightly, "sweet. And +if you're trying to be wise about me getting tangled up with the fair +sex the way you think, cut it out, cut it out. You're on the wrong +track, and the danger signal's set against you. But she's certainly a +wonder. Sometimes I'd be two or three hours in the field with the +boys, and maybe it ain't enough to keep a fellow's think tank humming, +to try to learn a quarter of what they know about the soil, and what to +do with it, and about the insects, and roots, and everything. Then if +I'd get tired I'd go and sit on the porch by Sally, and we'd just talk, +or perhaps we'd both have a book, and just sit there readin', and I'd +get tired readin', and begin to think about things, and one day, when +I'm doing that I turns sudden, and Sally's looking at me, and she says, +'Yes, it is a big world, Willie'--they all called me that--she says, +'and we're none of us nearly so im-port-ant as we like to think we +are.' Gee! I almost swallowed me neck, for I was just thinking that; +and she read my thoughts often like that, as easy as---- Oh, well; I +told her all about my plans, and what I mean to be, and--and--I've got +to get busy and write to her now. I promised to." + +Lucien smiled slightly. + +"Rub off the smile, you hero," said William, pleasantly, himself +smiling too; "there's none of that love business going into my letters." + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +Sally read that letter, sitting in the porch in her wheeled chair; +first to herself, and later aloud to all the members of the family. It +was scarred by blots and erasures; in some places William had obviously +"stuck" on words, and, after writing them as he thought they should be +spelled, had consulted the dictionary to make sure, and had re-written +them. + +This is what Sally read:-- + + +"DEAR SALLY,--The Toronto baseball team is on the top of the heap +again, and all the rest of the bunch is laying around like old tin cans +waiting for the garbage man to collect them. Looks like the pennant +for us. I'm half crazy about the team, so's Tommy Watson, and the +other half of him's bughouse about Flo Dearmore, so he's a rare subject. + +"Lucien's all right now. He's surprising me all the time. A husky kid +came into the office to-day with a message and got kind of sassy when I +told him the boss was out on business, so I gave him a swat in the eye, +and he was just about wiping the floor with me when Lucien tackled him, +and in about five minutes that kid was a sight to see. He cried +fierce, but Lucien wouldn't quit till he said he'd behave himself the +next time. So I says to Lucien, 'Well, if you ain't the artist with +your fists; where in Sam Hill did you pick that up?' and he says his Pa +used to be a pretty good boxer and gave him lessons. And me thinking +yet in spite of the fire that he was a kind of sissy boy. So I began +to believe what Tommy Watson says, that you can't tell what's in a +fellow until he has a chance to show it, and lots of fellows ain't +going around hunting up chances, they just wait till one comes. +Anyway, Lucien's a pippin. + +"My Pa got another man to work for him, and he's bought a team of +mules. Mules are the dickens to work steady all the time. Pa says he +don't know yet which has the most sense, the mules or the new man, but +the man's good and honest, and the more work he gets, the more he +smiles, and smiles is about all the language he has. I never saw a man +what could say so much with a smile. Honest, the horses and mules get +frisky the minute he gets into the stable, like they were saying, 'Here +he is, cheer up.' When he gets them, Pa tells the bunch at home the +mules ain't brought up in no riding school, but Pete's not hearing very +well or something, and the first chance he gets tries to prove Pa's +wrong. So Pete's going around now with six stitches on the front of +his brain works, and he's that wise about mules a mule doctor couldn't +beat him. + +"I told Ma and Pa a lot about you, and Pa says he'd like to know you. +He's great on people what has a lot to put up with, and don't shout +about it. And Ma she looks at Dolly, and says, 'God bless her,' +meaning you. + +"Jimmy Duggan, you remember I told you all about him, he wants to bring +in some bills when the Provincial House meets, and he says to ask your +father and the boys to think something up, because he says the city +people have so many crazy schemes he's afraid to try anything for them. +So ask them, please. + +"My feet are tired chasing letters to you know who for Mister Whimple. +She's a fine lady though, and I hope the boss will marry her. When I +took a note up yesterday, she was talking to me about my visit, so I +told her a lot of things I thought she's like and about your brother +George going courting, and she says, 'It's a terrible thing this love, +William,' and I asked her does she suffer much from it. So she blushes +awful red, and looked prettier than ever, and says kind of like she +didn't remember I was around, 'Most women do--most women do, and I +never really knew until now what love was.' Now what do you think of +that, and her married once before! Mister Simmons, he's Lucien's boss, +he says her husband was an awful booze fighter right till he died, and +my Pa says there ain't any man yet that's ever been able to win a fight +against booze so long as he's willing to let booze get into his inwards. + +"I guess this letter will make you awful tired, specially if it's a hot +day, but there's seems to be so much I'd like to tell you. You +remember the old man I told you about that I collect rent from, the +fellow that has rheumatics. He's getting quite chummy with me now. I +was there the other day, and he hardly swore at all. He says he's +sorry he's wasted so many good cuss words on me when he's got so many +relatives waiting for him to die so's they can get his money. Honest, +the way he curses about those people is awful. I told Tommy Watson +about him one day, and Tommy says the Good Book is dead against wasting +anything. A man like that, he says, could make a great hit by saving +all his curses for one year, and then letting them loose on one of the +people he don't love. Whoever got them would never forget, and they'd +think more of Mister Jonas than they do with him throwing curses around +as though they were cheaper than newspapers. + +"Tommy's got a great set of hired help in his store. One of them's +from Aberdeen, and the other from London, England, and you ought to +hear them. Say, they're fighting all the time about the battle of +Bannock-Burn, a million years ago or so. I butted in one day, and +says, 'Well, ain't that battle over long ago?' and I got what was +coming to me all right, just like butters-in usually does. They got me +in a corner and talked at me for half an hour straight. When one would +stop to draw his breath, the other would go on talking. I began to +feel sick--real sick--no joking, and all of a sudden I burst out +laughing. I don't know what for, I didn't want to laugh, I felt more +like crying, but, by ginger, I couldn't stop. I laughed, and laughed, +and then some more, and the tears were running down my cheeks all the +time, and I was rolling around like I had wheels for feet. So those +two ninnies began to look solemn, and the Englishman shook me a bit, +but I couldn't stop. Then he began to snicker like a chump, and first +thing he knew he was hanging over one of Tommy's bargain bedsteads just +laughing, laughing, laughing, though it was more like crying too. The +Scotchman started next, and every time he laughed he rolled into +something until he fell on the floor and just lay there laughing. + +"I suppose we'd be laughing yet or else dead of it, only Tommy came in. +He took one look around and his face got awful white. He asked me +something, but I could only sputter, then he tried the Scotchman, but +he only rolled some more--gee! it makes me giggle to think of it. So +Tommy rushed to the 'phone and called up a doctor, and then he ran out +of the store and got a cop, and when he gets him in he says to the cop, +'They're dying,' and the cop says, 'Like blazes they're dying,' he +says. So that got me going worse than ever, and the cop was beginning +to snicker too. So he pulls out his baton and he yells out, 'I'll +knock the block off the first yap that lets out another laugh,' and he +gives the Englishman a poke in the slats to show he meant it. And you +bet we quit on the spot. Me, I made a grand sneak the minute I found I +could stand straight, and just as I'm getting out, in rushes a doctor. +Tommy told me after he had to give the doctor four dollars, but the +money was nothing to the way he sweated trying to explain. + +"The next time I write I hope it'll be better written. I've found a +place where I can take night lessons three times a week in history and +reading and writing, and you bet I'm taking them. + +"With best wishes to everybody and hoping George is getting along all +right with his courting. + +"W. A. T. + +"P.S.--Lucien is showing me how to box every chance we get." + + +William deliberately omitted from his letter a conversation with Miss +Whimple regarding Sally. He had made a special journey to see the lady +because he remembered hearing her say something about wonderful cures +at a certain hospital to the work of which she had given time and +money. She heard him through, touched by the depth of his feeling for +the sufferer, and promised to make inquiries of the surgical staff as +to what could be done. + +"Don't be too hopeful, William," she said, kindly, "they cannot really +tell until they see the patient. But they've done almost everything +except furnish new spines; and goodness knows there are many people who +ought to have them if they could be made. There are too many jellyfish +men and women in the world to-day, William." + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +Reformations are slow--except when they're sudden. Some +reformations--of individuals as well as nations--have followed upon +years of effort, toil, and suffering: others have been materially +accelerated by the use of the axe. William's acquaintance with the axe +was limited to its use as an instrument for occasional spells of +firewood-chopping: but at heart he was a reformer, and, unlike most +reformers--judging them, of course, by the doubtful value of +histories--he started upon himself. Tenacity was William's greatest +asset; when he adopted a line of action he "stayed with it," to use his +own expressive phraseology. Having found the place spoken of in the +letter to Sally, where he could take night lessons in history, reading, +and writing, William became an attentive and consistent attendant. +Tommy Watson and Whimple were fearful lest he should undertake too +much, finally tire of everything, and lapse into a drifter. Epstein +ridiculed their fears and scorned their arguments. "Leave the boy +alone," he said, "he knows what he wants, and he'll get it." + +There were glorious nights when William longed for a trip on the Bay to +the Island, or an hour's loafing in the parks, but when the longing +took possession of him on lesson nights he fought it down with +firmness, and he usually won. He confided in Epstein occasionally, and +the wise old comedian let him talk as long as he wished about it, +offering no suggestions or advice. He never went beyond, "Well done, +boy," or "Stick to it," but to himself he often said, "He'll do; he'll +do." + +William neglected his lessons occasionally, as, for instance, once, in +the first week of September, but it was in a good cause. He thus +explained it to Lucien. "You shoulder seen the Turnpike bunch at the +exhibition yesterday." + +"So that's where you were. Mr. Whimple said he understood you were +engaged on important private business matters." + +"Well, he ain't far wrong the way I look at it." + +"And were you----?" + +"Yes," broke in William, "I was around when the lion broke outer the +wild beast show--I'm coming to that soon. Pa took the whole bunch of +us: he's been taking the whole family since I can remember, and we +always have a good time. + +"Well, of course it takes Ma about two hours to get the bunch +ready--say, ain't kids the worst! I suppose she must have washed off +Joey's and Bessie's face four times before we got started. After the +second or third time, Pa takes 'em upstairs and makes 'em lie on the +bed until the army is ready to advance. 'I've heard about machines for +washin' dishes,' he says, 'but it takes a pair of hands and a lot of +soap for washin' kiddies' faces, and hands is liable to get tired, so +there you stays until Ma's had a chance to get cleaned up,' and they +stayed. + +"Well, we gets to the grounds about eleven o'clock, and all us kids had +a lunch in a box, or a bag, or something, and Ma and Pa had two big +baskets fuller grub besides. You'd thought there was enough to last a +week. As soon as we gets inside, Pete says he's hungry, he's afraid he +can't walk none unless he has something to eat right away. Pete always +lays for the grub, you bet. So Pa he lets on he's considering +something, but we all know what it is, because he's played it on us +before, and he winds up by taking us down to a swell lunch place near +the lake. Honest, it's as clean nearly as our house, and there's +mighty few houses that's cleaner. So when Bill Thomson--the man what +runs it--sees us coming, he looks mighty solemn, and we all knew what +he's going to say, and he says it. 'Ah,' he says, 'there's the +Turnpikes what's going to drink up me last drop of tea and all me +gingerbeer. Well'--and then he heaves a great sigh--'let 'em come--let +'em all come: it'll ruin me, I know, but somebody always has-ter go +under.' + +"And Pa says to him to 'cheer up, and how's business?' + +"So Bill says it's rotten! the worst in years. So far as he can see he +ain't even going to pay expenses, and he wishes he'd let the thing +alone. And Pa don't say anything then, but when we've eaten till we +can't eat any more, specially Pete, Pa says to Ma, 'Bill Thomson's been +runnin' that lunch counter for twenty years, to my knowledge, and he's +never made anything on it, to hear him talk. But I notice he's got +three nice houses all his own, and a fine trotting horse, and him an +express man, too, and I'll bet he ain't got all the money for them +houses outer the express business,' he says. + +"'It's a good business, though,' says Ma. + +"And Pa says, 'You bet it is, Ma, it's been good to us anyway.' + +"Say, maybe my Pa don't know where to take folks at the exhibition. +There's mighty little we didn't see, I'm tellin' you; and chirpin' all +the while Pa was too. He's better than a minstrel show to go anywhere +with, my Pa is; he'd make even you laugh, Lucien. Well, anyway, along +about four o'clock Pa thinks we'd better see oner two of the shows in +the midway, so's we can get another meal in good time to see the night +doings in fronter the grand stand. So, us to the midway, and we ain't +more than half in when we runs across the wild beast show. There's a +cage on the platform in front of the show, with a pretty fierce lookin' +lion in it, and the spieler he's telling the folks how this lion has +eaten four or five people, and he ain't never been sub-dued. 'But,' he +says, 'Seenor'r Dan-rell-o will go into his cage at every performance,' +he says, 'at the peril of his life.' + +"So, a young fellow what's listenin', he says kinder flip, 'Is the +peril much?' + +"So the showman says he ain't answerin' no fool questions, but if +anybody what looks like they had brains is asking in-tell-i-gent +questions, he's ready to answer 'em. + +"So the young fellow--he's a husky lookin' chap--he says the show's a +fake, and the man on the platform gives him a wipe over the head with a +whip he had. Then you'd oughter have seen things happen. That young +fellow's pal grabs the showman by the legs and pulls him down to the +ground and proceeds to hammer him some. The crowd's kinder excited and +shovin' around and saying things to each other without knowing what +they're doing, when the young fellow what really starts the row lets +out a yell you could hear a mile away, and the crowd hushes up kinder +sudden; I guess everybody got cold chills down their backs all at once. +While they're wondering what's coming next, the fellow puts out his +hand and grabs the bars in front of the lion's cage, pulls two or three +of them out, and gives that lion the awfullest punch right on the +stomach; honest, Lucien, you could hear it like somebody pounding +beefsteak to make it tender. Well, everybody comes to their senses, or +else loses 'em again, whichever you like, all of a sudden, and the +women that don't faint gets screechin', and the men are hollerin' for +the police, and all except them as are laying in faints begins to run. +We were pretty well up to the front, and when Pa sees the young fellow +pull out the bars he turns kinder white. Then he grabs Dolly and Joey, +and says to the rest of us, 'Vamoose ahead quick,' he says, 'though I +don't think there's much danger,' and Ma don't say much, but she ain't +trying to get far ahead of Pa and we keep turnin' around. At last Pa +says, 'No more runnin',' he says, and he puts Dolly and Joey down, +takes their hands, and begins to walk back towards the show just as a +lot of cops came running up, and so we all go back, and there's that +young fellow has the lion by the tail and he's whipping it to beat the +band, and making it walk slow up the steps. So, by and by, when things +get calmed down again, Pa finds out that them cage bars is wooden ones, +and the lion's about forty years old, and honest, Lucien, all its teeth +are false, and so's most of its claws, and just about all it can do is +to roar and roll around enough to make it look fierce with red lights +and all that around it when Seenor Dan-rell-o goes into the cage. +Don't you believe the yarns the newspapers had about that fellow taking +his life in his hands and all that. If the police hadn't stopped him +he'd likely have taken the lion home and kept it for his kiddies to +play with, if he's married. + +"Well, Pa says they're ain't much sense paying to see the wild beast +show after that, 'cause the best of it is on the outside. The next +thing we run across was a show of trained horses. They had a trick +mule outside to attract the crowds, and the spieler says the man, +woman, or child what can stay on the mule's back one minute gets a +dollar and a free ticket to the show. So we watched a few minutes and +saw quite a few fellows try, and the mule threw every one before the +minute was up. Pa he was kinder fidgetin' and snorting like he thought +the triers was a poor bunch, and Ma she says kinder scared like, 'Let's +go, Pa;' but Pa he steps forward, and he says low to the man will he +let our bunch in if he stays on the mule's back a minute. The man he +lets out a blast of a laugh, and he says, 'Ladies and gents,' he says, +'here's a man wants to take a children's home into the show free if he +can stay on the mule a minute,' he says. 'Oh, gather round and see the +fun--oh, gather round.' Pete, he's for rushing at the man, but I holds +him back, for I see Pa's eyes, and I know that mule's going to be +pretty miserable in a few seconds, and the man's going to be worse if +he gets off any more of his chin about the family. Of course the mule +stands as meek as a sheep while Pa gets on--them trick mules is trained +to do that--and the crowd's waitin' for him to throw Pa up in the air, +or roll him off, but the second Pa's on that mule's back his hands has +a grip on his neck near the jaw, and, b'lieve me, Lucien, that mule +began to turn white in the face. It seemed no time before the beast +was kinder staggerin' around like a drunk man, and the spieler +hollerin' for Pa to let go. 'You win,' he says, 'you win--get off--you +can have everything you want. Dang it, man, you're killing that mule.' + +"So Pa's pretty busy keeping his grip, but he says, 'I'm trying a new +hold,' he says, 'and I'll try it on you next, unless you apol-o-gises.' + +"So the man begs Pa's pardon, and ours, and Pa got off, and we all went +into the show. It wasn't so bad at that either: any old day any wise +guinea thinks he can put one over my Pa's he's stacking up some trouble +for himself. + +"Well, we had another meal then, and we ate so much that even Pete was +nearly satisfied. He got through the rest of the night on three bags +of peanuts, some pop-corn, and some grapes; but that's easy for Pete, +he can eat until he begins to shed buttons off his clothes so fast +you'd think it was raining. Then he'll go to school, or out to play, +for an hour or so, and back he comes ready for more. + +"We saw the grand stand show and the fireworks. Well, it's a pretty +good grand stand show this year; but you've seen it, so what's the use +spielin' about it? I'm glad I got off to go with the bunch, for I +cert'nly had one swell time." + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +The day before the marriage of Flo Dearmore and Tommy Watson, the +latter's assistants in his auctioneering rooms signed a formal and +formidable looking agreement, framed by Whimple, and copied in +duplicate by one William Adolphus Turnpike. It was William's first +piece of typewriting for his boss, and he was mightily proud of it, for +it was neatly done, so neatly done in fact that it did not need a +single correction. And William's pride was the greater because he was +asked to accompany Whimple to the store, there to witness the signing +of the agreement. The ceremony was a solemn one--too solemn almost for +William--whose efforts to maintain a dignified bearing were almost too +much for Tommy. Whimple had no difficulty in maintaining the pose of a +lawyer engaged in a serious case, while the assistants were too +frightened to be anything else but soberly sheepish. The main clause +of the agreement was read over twice, the assistants affirming in timid +tones that they knew what it meant, and believed they had sense enough +to live up to it. And it ran something like this:-- + +"And we the parties hereinbefore and hereinafter referred to as +assistants to Thomas Watson, auctioneer of the said city of Toronto, +County of York, do hereby solemnly agree and bind ourselves on our +honour to respect such agreement; that we will not during the absence +of the said Thomas Watson from his lawful place of business during the +period of four weeks dating from the date of this agreement, to which +in the presence of witnesses we have signed our names, discuss, argue, +talk of, whisper, or shout in the presence of each other, or write or +read in the presence of each other, anything relating in any manner to +the Battle of Bannockburn or any other battle fought in or out of +Scotland or England or elsewhere between armies or forces or +individuals of either of the countries named. We also agree that we +will not in the presence of each other, by actions or other show that +might be so construed, attempt to convey each to the other any thoughts +we may have as to such battle, or battles, or conflicts. And we +further declare that we know and understand and comprehend the meaning +of the foregoing in all respects, that we are over twenty-one years of +age respectively, and are not subject to the control or permission of +parents or guardians in entering into the agreement as set forth in the +foregoing, and in the succeeding clauses of this agreement." + +They signed both copies solemnly, William signed them too, as a +witness, and so did Whimple. One copy was nailed to the wall at the +back of the store, the other was given to Whimple, who was also given +power of attorney by the auctioneer during the absence of Tommy on his +honeymoon. + +The first wedding that William Adolphus Turnpike ever attended as a +guest was that of Tommy Watson and Flo Dearmore. The formal invitation +was a startling surprise to the lad. It arrived at his home one +morning just as he was about to depart for the office. He read it +through three times, and then handed it over to his mother. "Ma," he +cried, "look at that!" She read it through, and a blush of pleasure +tinged her cheeks as she did so. "A church wedding, Willie, and you +invited; and then there's a--a--a de-jun-er. I guess that means a +spread at the house of the bride's mother." + +"But me! Ma: why, I'd feel like a fish outer water among the bunch +that'll be there, unless," he added thoughtfully, "'Chuck' Epstein goes +too, and I can hang onto him." + +The time between the reception of the invitation and the wedding was a +trying one for William. He worried about what he should wear--and his +choice was rather limited--but he worried more about what he should +give, "For," said his mother, "you'll have to give the bride something: +everybody does that when they're invited to a wedding." In the crisis +of his dilemma over this proposition William consulted "Chuck" Epstein, +and the result of their deliberations was the sending to the +prospective bride of a parrot "that could talk to beat the band," as +William said. Epstein never told him that he had himself paid the +original owner of the parrot a larger amount than William could spare, +and had arranged with him to accept the sum that the boy offered. And +of all the gifts that Flo Dearmore received from others but the man of +her choice, that parrot pleased her most, "For," said she, "he is the +slangiest bird imaginable, and sometimes he uses swear words--just like +my Tommy." + +The wedding, which took place at "high noon" in an Anglican church, was +a wonderful experience for William. With "Chuck" Epstein, he had a +good seat near the altar, and many were the smiles and knowing nods +exchanged between other invited guests at the evident eagerness of the +lad to take in all the proceedings. And yet no other person, perhaps, +in the assembly--and it was a large one--felt more than William the +real solemnity of the ceremony. He was not very clear as to his exact +feelings, but the dignity of the rector, the simple beauty of the +marriage ritual, the singing of the choir, the love light in the eyes +of the bride and of Tommy, combined to impress him profoundly. He +smiled once, in fact he scarcely suppressed a snicker, but a warning +touch of Epstein's hand aided him to control himself. + +The "dejeuner" almost put him "on the blink," he declared afterwards. +He was conscious only of two things: first, that the bride, amid all +the sweet confusion and merriment incidental to the occasion, found +time to introduce him to several ladies as "the dearest and cleverest +boy I know, next to Tommy," and that when the toasts were proposed he +had to make a speech. Epstein assisted him to stand, for the lad was +overwhelmed with embarrassment that amounted to fear. He never knew +just what he said at first, but when he recovered sufficiently to +realise that the faces turned toward him were kindly, and the smiles +were encouraging, his self-possession returned. Observant always, and +quick to see the right thing to do, William hoped that "Mister Watson +and his wife would live happy ever after, and," he concluded, with a +smile that was full of confidence, "I nearly snickered once when the +marriage was on. That was when the minister says something about, 'Do +you, Thomas Watson, take this woman for your wife?' or words something +like that, and I says to myself, 'Does he! Gee! And him looney +about----'" The rest was lost in a breeze of laughter and joyous +acclamations. + +Afterwards there was more hustle and bustle, and finally the bride and +groom started for the railway station, with all the accompaniments +considered so necessary to start newly wedded couples on such journeys. +Others may have noticed, William certainly did, that though she smiled, +there were tears in Mrs. Dearmore's eyes as she stood at the doorstep +and waved her hands in farewell. And, as he left for the office, +William was thinking of that. "It means a lot for her," he said to +himself--"a lot. She--why--Flo will be--" he paused--"of course, of +course, it's always the way. It'll never be the same again for Mrs. +Dearmore, or Flo, or Tommy. This is a rummy world." + +Later in the day he dropped into Tommy Watson's store and found the +assistants engaged in the hottest kind of argument. They took no +notice of him at all; indeed, they did not know he was there. He +listened for a few minutes, wrathful and unhappy, because he felt that +this was the time above all others when Tommy's business should be +attended to with diligence and enthusiasm, and then, still unnoticed, +he stole out of the store and ran back to the office. Whimple was not +in, and William, hastily glancing over his employer's daily reminder, +made a bee line for the county court. Here he found Whimple, having +just successfully emerged from a case in which he had defended a man +accused of theft, chatting with the county crown attorney. + +"Excuse me, Mister Whimple," said William, abruptly, "but them guys are +at it again." + +"Meaning----?" began Whimple. + +"In Tommy Watson's store," William went on hurriedly, "and, honest, +it's fierce. I was in and outer the store, and neither of 'em even +looked at me." + +Whimple bade adieu to the crown attorney, and started away with William. + +"What are they fighting about now, William?" said Whimple, disgustedly, +as he hurried along the street with William by his side. + +"Home r'rule fer I'r'r'reland or 'ome rule for Hireland! I don't know +just which," answered William with a smile. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +Some chronicles are so burdened with matters that are irrelevant as to +cause to those who have an eye for the main story and nothing else much +trouble and more annoyance. But in this, the true chronicle of events +in one period of the life of William Adolphus Turnpike, only that which +is of importance has been dealt with. This is almost a superfluous +explanation, for the reader who has managed to keep awake thus far has +long ago become seized of the fact. There lapses between what has gone +before and what is here written a period of nearly five years. Happy +years they had been to William and the Turnpike "bunch." The elder +Turnpike's business prospered exceedingly, and William was well +advanced towards his cherished goal. Whimple and Tommy had long ceased +to worry over him, for the lad was developing into a sturdy and healthy +youth, taller than the average, still on the slim side, but strong and +sinewy. There was little grace about his movements, though he had +developed in courtesy and consideration to a surprising degree. He +sometimes worried over his lack of graceful movements. "I've stood in +front of the glass many a time," he said to Epstein, "and practised +trying to be graceful, but it's no go. I'm as awkward as a duck; +what'll I do?" + +"Nothing," said Epstein, gravely, "nothing, my boy. It will be best +for you if you are always naturally as awkward as you are to-day. Many +comedians have tried for years to acquire what you have as a gift of +nature. It's a great asset." And William took the old man's word for +it. "You know best," he said emphatically, "and whatever you say goes." + +Epstein smiled happily. The old comedian did not seem to have aged +very much in the five years. He declared he felt younger, in fact. +Between him and William there had grown a friendship strong and +complete. The lad trusted implicitly in the man: his gratitude to him +was unbounded, he evinced it by his attention to the lessons, still +continued, by every little thing he could do to show that the tuition, +so unselfishly given, was bearing good fruit. It was hard drilling +often: there were days and weeks when the heart of William was torn +with doubts and fears, but always when it seemed that he could not bear +the strain, he tackled his tasks once more with the determination his +friends had so often noted, and the difficulties would fly, the rocky +path become smooth, and the heart of William would rejoice in another +victory. + +Whimple's business had attained quite respectable proportions now. He +was able to pay William a fairly good salary, and the lad was earning +it, for he had adopted as his motto one of Tommy Watson's proverbs: +"The man who earns what he gets is a dub; the fellow who always does +more than he's paid for gets to the winning post first." Whimple +himself, on the shrewd advice of his aunt, had bought and re-sold to +excellent advantage pieces of property in the rapidly developing +suburbs, and was beginning to be known as an expert on law in regard to +property. He had also, on the advice of his heart, and without +consulting any one but the lady herself, married Mrs. Stewart, and +William was almost as proud of his "boss" for doing that as he was of +his own ability to keep the books and do all the clerical work of the +office. + +There was a new Watson too--you have guessed that, of course. A +one-year-old image of Tommy, who would have had half the doctors and +all the trained nurses in town at the newcomer's advent, if his friends +had not restrained him. + +And Tommy, who, at the time of his marriage, had considered himself +fairly well able to meet all current demands on his purse, and even to +retire and live in reasonable comfort on what he had managed to put +away, got cold feet as soon as he realised that he was a father. The +first cry from Tommy junior brought the cold sweat to the brow of the +auctioneer, who was sitting in his home "den" awaiting news from his +wife's room. He stole softly downstairs and made his way to the +verandah, in the belief that some of the neighbour's children were +playing there, and bent upon driving them away. But there were no +youngsters on the verandah, and Tommy, with a sudden realisation of the +meaning of that cry, went back to the den, grinning foolishly, and +hungrier than ever for news. When the doctor finally came to him with +a hearty, "Well, Dad, there's a bouncing Tommy junior to look after +now," Tommy asked first, "How is she?" + +"Fine," answered the doctor. + +"And the kiddo's a boy?" + +"Yes," said the doctor, "and he's a dandy; you can see 'em both soon," +he added, as he left the room. + +"Me a father!" said Tommy to himself. "Me! Oh, joy--and a boy!" He +seized the cushions on the lounge and threw them up to the ceiling +joyously. "If I was at the store," he said aloud, and addressing the +cushions, "I'd use you to smash something with." + +Then he took a writing pad and began to cover it with figures, and the +more he figured, the less pleased he seemed to be with the results. +Finally, "Ahem," said Tommy, "I've got to work now: this'll never do; +can't let the wife and kiddy want for anything. Wonder what we'll have +to get for him first?" And after more figuring, "Well, it's no good +getting cold feet over the proposition: it's me with me nose to the +grindstone, and I guess I can stand it for some years yet." + +There was joy in his store when he arrived there the next morning, +proudly happy. Epstein and Whimple were there, and they greeted him +with dignified pleasure. The Scottish and English assistants, who were +still at loggerheads over the battle of Bannockburn, were no less +sincere in their congratulations. When Jimmy Duggan, M.P.P., called to +add the compliments of the People's Party, Tommy was fairly beaming. +Oh, but it was good to have such friends. But the congratulations that +touched him most of all were those of William and Lucien, who called +together. The youths were embarrassed, they hardly knew what to say, +and what they did say was incoherent. But Tommy knew the kindliness of +the hearts that had prompted the call, and he blew his nose and +shuffled his feet uneasily as the boys, after an awkward silence, +departed. + +Lucien and William were fast friends now. The former was still with +Simmons, the architect, who, like Whimple, was beginning to achieve +success, and now occupied a separate office suite. He was growing +fast; was stouter than William, much slower in action and speech, and +was giving promise of developing into a successful business man. +William had confided his plans to Lucien long ago, and had been +delighted with the real interest with which they had been received. +They often talked about them, and Lucien had even given some +suggestions that William had acted upon and found to be good. And one +day Lucien had completed his conquest of the coming comedian by a +simple remark. William, in a more than usual friendly outburst of +confidence, had built castles in the air, based on his conviction of +attaining success. + +"And if," said Lucien, "you should become a famous and wealthy actor, +and have a theatre of your own--I--I----" he looked at William +wistfully. + +"Yes, Lucien." + +"Wouldn't it be nice if--if--I was architect enough to design it for +you? I--I would like----" + +"Oh, Lucien!" That was all William said, but Lucien laughed happily. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + +Jimmy Duggan, too, had been doing things during the years. In the +early days of his first session of the legislature Jimmy was regarded +as something of a joke by government and opposition sides alike, and by +the press of both parties. He was constantly referred to in the +newspapers as "Mr. Duggan, the People's Party," and when it came to +recording votes on various questions there was sure to be a note to the +effect that "The People's Party voted solidly" for or against the +proposal, or Bill, or amendment, as the case might be. And Jimmy +rather liked it. In the course of time he became thoroughly acquainted +with "all the boys" in the press gallery. The embarrassment of his +detachment from either of the straight political parties was a strong +factor in ripening his friendship with the "gallery," and very soon the +reporters began to welcome his advent to the writing room, a well-like +structure between the actual press gallery and one of the galleries +used by the public. For Jimmy had an amazing fund of stories, and knew +how to tell them, and he also knew that there were times when silence +was imperative, and on such occasions he smoked his pipe and marvelled +while the reporters turned out reams of copy for their newspapers. + +To the leaders of the respective parties Jimmy was a real puzzle. They +made overtures to him, by proxy, of course. Far be it from any leader +of any political party to ever care one red cent whether an +independent, real or imitation, would consider throwing in his lot with +a party. Far be it, but--well, the overtures were made, and Jimmy +received the envoys who bore them on separate occasions with +cordiality. One envoy reported that Jimmy would support his party +through thick and thin, and the other reported, "We have him, hide and +boot and all." He was no chicken--Jimmy. + +There was some curiosity as to when Jimmy would make his first speech +in the House, and on what subject. The press gallery, to a man, was +willing to bet that it would be interesting, and not one-hundredth part +so long as the first speech made by "The Big Wind." Attempts to pump +Jimmy were of no avail, for he declared with emphatic words and +gestures that he didn't know. "All I'm sure of," he said, "is that +I'll make one some day, if I don't drop dead of heart disease when I +get up to speak. I hope it'll be some nice quiet afternoon; there's +too many folks here at nights to suit me." + +"Well, but you addressed far larger audiences during your campaign," +said one of the reporters. + +"Yes," answered Jimmy, "but it was a different crowd; most of the bunch +that comes to the galleries here at nights are pretty keen politicians. +Lots of 'em have been coming for years. They know all the points of +order, and everything like that, and because I'd know that they knew I +was tearing holes in the rules of the House, and the English language, +I'd likely feel that I'd better not take a fling. But, what's the use +of talking?--I don't know what I'll say or do. Did any of you fellows +know Father LeRoy, down our way, who died a little while ago?" + +Some of them had known him. + +"Well, fifteen years or so ago, there was a gang of housebreakers and +burglars that got on people's nerves. They pulled off many a robbery, +beat up a number of people, and had the whole district terrorised. The +police didn't seem able to get on to any good clues, though goodness +knows they worked hard. Well, it got so that people were afraid to +leave anything worth while in their houses when they went to church +services. So they stayed at home more frequently than usual. Father +LeRoy felt pretty bad about his own people who did this, and prayed for +an end to 'the plague,' as he called it. He was sorrowful, too, about +the robberies, because he had a sneaking suspicion that some of his own +parishioners were mixed up in them, and he was right. + +"He wasn't much of a man for size, the Father, and was never known to +have displayed any great strength, but he had a bright, keen eye, a +firm step, and a hearty hand-shake that showed he was healthful, anyway. + +"After mass one Sunday, I shook hands with him at the door--he was +always there for a word before we went--and I says to him, 'Father, +you'll be having the gang breaking into your house first thing you +know.' + +"He laughed kind of easy, and says, 'Well, if they come, I hope they'll +be peaceable, for, above all things, I am a man of peace.' + +"'And if they're not?' I says. + +"And he shrugged his shoulders--that was the French of him from his +father--and says, 'I don't know what I'd do, but I'd do the best I +could.' + +"Sure enough, they did break into the Father's house the next night, +three of them, and they got into his room on the second floor, and woke +him up from his sleep, because they couldn't find anything worth +stealing. They stood beside his bed, three hulking brutes they were, +and threatened him with fearful things if he didn't at once get up and +show them the gold and silver plate they believed was in the house. So +he got up kinder quietly, and put some of his clothes on, and all the +while they were saying very soft-like awful things about the church, +and Father LeRoy wasn't saying anything, but all of a sudden he turns +the key easily in the door, locking it on the inside, you see, and +slips the key in his pocket. Then he looks at them, and they're very +close to him and very fierce, and one of 'em says, 'We smashed old +Tom's head'--that was the Father's servant--'just because he opened his +mouth to yell, and now we'll pound yours to a pulp,' and the next +minute that fellow went down with a broken jawbone and a stomach that +never got well again, I guess. The others threw themselves upon the +Father, and a few minutes afterwards the whole neighbourhood was +awakened by the yells and shoutings from the house. People and police +were soon there: they broke into the house and burst into the Father's +room, and there he was, a little pale and breathing heavy, and the +three men piled on the floor in a heap, moaning and groaning, and all +covered with blood. I was one of them that rushed in with the police, +and when things got quietened down a bit I found old Tom in the kitchen +with a pretty sore head, but not in danger. Well, one of the police +inspectors and me stayed the rest of the night with the Father, though +he didn't want us to. + +"The inspector shook the Father's hand about a million times, and he +says to him, 'Sir,' he says, 'what did you think when you locked that +door?' + +"And Father LeRoy said very slow, 'I thought to myself, I don't know +what I'll do, but I'll do the best I can.' + +"'You can take it from me,' says the inspector, 'and I'm an Ulster +Orangeman at that, there isn't a man on the force to-day could have +done better,' and he shook the Father's hand again. + +"Maybe," concluded Jimmy, "nobody'll ever want to shake my hand after +my first speech, and give me praise, but I'll do the best I can, +anyway." + +The Honorable the Provincial Secretary gave Jimmy his first chance in +the annual statement on the hospitals, charities, and prisons of the +province. The Secretary dilated at some length on the reasonable +prices at which supplies had been obtained, particularly coal and wood. +The opposition attacked the Secretary's statement on general grounds. +They always did that, anyway: obviously, anything that the government +did must be wrong, and the debate that followed dragged along for two +or three days, until even the most incompetent men in the House had +said something about it, and had kicked because their speeches did not +get more space in the newspapers. The House was tired to death of the +discussion, and there was a joyous trooping in of members when the +whips sent word that a vote was in sight on an opposition resolution +that the salary list of the Provincial Secretary's Department should be +cut in half. But the end was not yet. Just as the Speaker began to +put the question Jimmy rose. A half-suppressed groan rose with him, +for the members were really tired. Jimmy heard it, but he only smiled. + +"On behalf of the People's Party," he said, "I would like to ask the +Honorable the Provincial Secretary a question or two before the vote is +taken, and I presume he'll answer them." + +"Cheerfully," said the Honorable, who was smiling. + +"I would like to ask then, Mr. Speaker," said Jimmy, "if the honorable +gentleman knows anything about coal, or the coal business." + +"I do not." + +"He is advised by his officials, I presume?" + +"I am"--no one was paying any attention to the Speaker now--the +questions and answers were being exchanged straight across the floor of +the House. + +"The honorable gentleman stated," went on Jimmy, "that at last the +Toronto coal ring had been checkmated, and he had made a thoroughly +good bargain with Howilton dealers." + +"Yes." + +"Does he happen to know that the Howilton men turned over their +contract to the Toronto ring?" + +There was a pause. The Provincial Secretary looked his surprise, but +sat still. + +"Because that is the case," proceeded Jimmy, calmly. "In fact, the +Howilton companies that got the contract are owned by the Toronto ring, +anyway." + +The Provincial Secretary rose hastily, and as hastily expressed the +opinion that the honorable member for Mid-Toronto was mistaken. "It is +a grave charge he makes," he said, "and I do not think it has any real +foundation." + +Jimmy ignored for a moment the challenge as to his veracity. "The +Howilton companies," he said, "are owned by the Toronto ring. But if +the Provincial Secretary had known it, he could have been independent +of the ring." He paused, but the Provincial Secretary was sitting +gloomily silent. "There are at least three new coal firms in this +city," said Jimmy, "that are out of the ring, and they could have +filled the orders at still smaller prices than the government paid. +But the government chose to send out circulars on its old lists, on +which the names of the new companies do not appear, instead of +advertising for tenders, and giving all a chance, and the government +has been stung--that's all." + +The opposition members were pounding their desks as Jimmy sat down. +The government side was silent. The Provincial Secretary rose and +declared in solemn tones that he would ask "to-morrow" that a committee +of the House be named to investigate the whole matter, and he hoped the +honorable gentleman would bring all the facts in his possession before +it. + +"I will," said Jimmy, laconically, and he did, with the result that the +government got a rare black eye that set it rolling down the Hill of +Overthrow, at the bottom of which, a few years later, it landed, and +landed hard. + +"I did my best, anyway," said Jimmy, when, the House having risen, the +reporters gathered around him to compliment him on his maiden speech. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII + +Sally Miller was able to walk a little now--a very little--but firmly, +and without the effort and the pain that the journey around the table +had cost her in the old days. She was living with Miss Whimple, who +had insisted on it from the day the doctors had declared the girl fit +to be removed from the hospital. There was no certainty of an absolute +cure: the doctors could not promise that, but, with every month, the +hope of ultimate recovery strengthened. She had been a long time in +the hospital, nearly two years, before the signs of improvement were +marked enough to admit of encouragement. She was a good patient, +Sally: her cheerfulness and animation, her belief and trust in the +doctors and the nurses won their hearts. There were many black hours +for her; home-sickness, pain, doubt, these were hard things to bear. +In the still of the night she often lay sleepless, fighting with the +sorrow and longing that oppresses, and striving to repress the +exclamations that pain brought to her lips. And she won. "She always +was a winner," William used to say, "and always will be." + +There were no lack of visitors to Sally during her stay in the +hospital. Her own relations made frequent trips to the city to see +her. Miss Whimple was her most constant caller, and the next was--not +William. He did manage to call often, but not so often as Lucien, and, +somehow, Sally began to look forward to Lucien's visits with delightful +thrills of anticipation. Miss Whimple smiled about it, and William +laughed. Sally smiled, too, but, such a smile! She enjoyed William's +visits immensely. He was seldom serious with her, and he always had +funny stories to tell. In fact, he clothed the most commonplace +incidents of the day with humour when he spoke of them, and shamelessly +invented stories when he had no actual foundations on which to build +them. And Sally always knew when he was spinning yarns, and William +knew that she did. Miss Whimple was rather disappointed over William's +attitude toward the girl, and so expressed herself to Epstein one day. +The old comedian displayed unwonted heat in his answer. "Such +foolishness," he said sharply, "give the lad a chance. There is a +great career before William. If he begins thinking of love, or thinks +he is thinking seriously of love now, it will be the end for him. I +hope you have not been trying to put any such nonsensical ideas into +his head." + +Miss Whimple did not answer. The gruffness of the old man hurt a +little. He was quick to understand her silence, and after a while said +gently, "I beg your pardon: I did not mean to be angry, I--I--the boy +and his future are very dear to me--you--I----" + +She laid a hand on his arm. "I know--I know," she said. "I'm a +foolish old maid. You are right about William, but, sometimes, those +who have lost much dream pleasant dreams and build fairy castles for +those who help to make their sorrow easier to bear." And then they +talked of other things, of William's future, of Epstein's success, of +Tommy Watson's boy. + +Meanwhile, Sally was sitting on the verandah of Miss Whimple's home, +going over again to herself all the memories of her first meeting with +Lucien. She had been three months in the hospital when William had +brought him to her, and was sitting up in bed dressing dolls for a +Christmas-tree for the infant patients in the institution. William +came to the bedside with his usual easy air. Lucien hung back a +little, shy, embarrassed, and blushing. William took hold of his +sleeve and dragged him forward. "Allow me, Miss Sally Miller," he +said, with a smile, "to introduce to you Lucien Torrance--Lucien +Wellington Torrance, to give him his full name. Mister Torrance--Miss +Miller." + +They shook hands gravely, and eyed each other in silence. + +"This," went on William, in a more serious tone, "this, Sally, is the +chap I used to think was a mutt--honest--until I woke up one day and +found that I was it. I was the M-U-T-T," he spelled out the word, "and +Lucien had me beaten a mile for brains and bravery." + +Lucien was blushing furiously now. "Don't," he pleaded. + +William ignored the remark, and smiling, again proceeded, "Honest, +Sally, he's a pippin, is Lucien. Why, first thing we know he'll be the +boss architect of Canada, and the real thing in inventions too. He's +always trying his hand at something; and he'll come out ahead, will +Lucien." + +Sally murmured a hope that he would. + +"Oh, you needn't be afraid to speak up, Sally," said William, gaily. +"You can't phase Lucien. He'll listen to you until the cows come +home--he's a good listener, and," he laid one arm affectionately on +Lucien's shoulder, "he's a good doer, too, is my friend Lucien." + +Lucien came frequently after that, and often alone. He never had much +to say, and yet Sally felt after his visits as though he had said a +great deal. He thought much of her, and the first practical outcome of +his thinking was the invention of an ingenious little table that could +be mounted on the bed, and moved easily by the patient, so that she +could use it as a book support, or a table on which to lay the trifles +she made for the little children. William saw it the first day Sally +used it, questioned her closely, took the table back to Lucien, and +gave him no rest until there had been a consultation with Whimple and +the first steps had been taken toward patenting the invention. It is +in use by every hospital almost in the world now, but few recall that a +boy then barely seventeen years of age invented it. + +And as Sally thought of the past, she saw Lucien coming steadily up the +pathway toward her. He greeted her with a quiet, "How are you?" and +sat beside her on the verandah. It was almost dark, but warm, and a +gentle breeze tempered the atmosphere that throughout the day had been +oppressive. From the verandah the central portion of the city to the +Bay was stretched out in long regular streets, marked by the glimmering +of electric lights. Beyond the wharves the lights of the Island, +sentinel like, marked the indented shore facing the city, and beyond +that again there flickered faintly from Lake Ontario the lights of a +few steamers, some of them pleasure craft, others bearing burdens of +freight from, or toward, the sea-ports. + +In silence they watched for a long time. It was Lucien who spoke +first. "Toronto is growing fast," he said, "it will soon be all built +up around here: and it is a fine city--I--I love it--I love it. Some +day--I'm foolish, though----" + +"Some day," she echoed. + +"Some day--I--I--hope I may do something to help to make it a greater +city still. Work for one's self isn't everything. Father often talks +to me of 'the public good.' 'Every man,' he says, 'should take an +intelligent interest in the affairs of his own municipality, and any +man who can serve his city in even a humble capacity should be proud to +do it.'" + +"And you will, Lucien--I know you will." He took one of her hands and +held it in his own, and again they sat silent. + +"I must go," he said, at last. "Good-night, Sally." + +"Good-night," she said, gently. + +He rose, and, looking down at her, he said abruptly, "William's going +soon; did you know?" + +"Mr. Epstein said he thought it would be soon." + +"He told me to-day that Mr. Epstein had found a place for him in a good +company that will go on the road this fall, after a two weeks' +engagement here. He has only a small part, of course, but he regards +it as his chance, and he's quite delighted. Next summer he'll come +back to give all his time to study again. Good-night." + +"Good-night, Lucien." + +He turned after he reached the pathway, and called, "It'll be slow +without William, won't it?" + +"Yes," she answered, and to herself, "but it would be slower without +you, Lucien." + +On his way to the street car he passed Miss Whimple and Epstein and +exchanged greetings with them. When they resumed their walk toward +Miss Whimple's house, the old comedian asked her, "Did you notice what +he was whistling as he came along?" + +"Not particularly." + +"Listen: there he is again." And faint, but clear and sweet, she heard +it. + +"'Sally in our Alley,'" she said, laughingly. + +"Yes," answered Epstein with a chuckle. + +"The dear lad," said Miss Whimple, "he's a fine fellow. And the dear +girl, the dear girl, God help her to a perfect cure." + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII + +William was William, the fun lover, still; you must not think +otherwise. True, he regarded his work more seriously than in the days +when he first engaged himself as office boy to Whimple, and his +persistency, determination, and devotion to his studies under the +tuition of Epstein were beginning, as hereinbefore chronicled, to bear +fruit. But William was William still: you read that before; it is +necessary, perhaps, to emphasise it. An irrepressible love of fun, and +a cheerful temper, continued to be his great assets; he radiated +sunshine as of yore. But back of all was a tender heart; a heart that +was rich in sympathy, and was ever responsive to appeals for help or +comfort. To his mother he continued to be a sort of puzzle; she never +really understood him, in fact, and his successes always came as a +surprise to her. Pete, curly-headed and sturdy, with his fondness for +fighting, his love of schoolboy sports, and his healthy appetite, she +could understand. But William; she used to look at him sometimes when +he was "cheering up the bunch," and wonder if she would ever just know +how much of it was earnest and just what was put on. + +This attitude of his mother's troubled William more than anything else +at this period. His love for her was unalloyed by any feeling toward +any other woman or girl of his acquaintance; he often called her his +"sweetheart." He was more gentle toward her than any other member of +the household, with the exception of little deaf and dumb Dorothy, and +he continually sought her advice in matters of family interest. Yet he +knew that she brooded over him often; and because he knew the reason of +it, so keen was his intuition, he tried to reveal the real William to +her more completely than to any one else. + +Miss Whimple came nearer to "diagnosing" William than any of the women +who knew him at this time. + +"I've seen that boy," she said to Sally, "give his last cent to help +people in distress: I've known him to go to trouble that would worry a +grown man in order to assist some shiftless body to get a position, for +his trust in people is not easily shaken. But we'll never know the +real William until--until----" + +Sally waited, and in a little while Miss Whimple went on. "Just now, +and for a long time to come, I think, his mind will be so strongly set +upon success on the stage that he will not allow anything to come +between. And, if his health remains good, it seems to me that our +fondest hopes for him in that direction will fall far short of the +realisation. But one day, Sally Miller, there will come to William +that which comes to every one of us sooner or later." + +"Yes." + +"Yes," said Miss Whimple, so low that the girl hardly caught the words, +"yes--love will come to William. It will have to fight its way over +many barriers, but in the end his heart will be carried by storm. Then +we will know a new William Adolphus Turnpike, or some of you younger +folks will, for I'm too old to be expecting that the good Lord will let +me live to see that, and William in love will be worth seeing. You +know," she continued in a lighter tone, "I asked him one day just a +little while ago if he had a sweetheart, and he looked at me with that +gleam in his eyes we all know so well as he answered, 'Sure!' + +"'Who is it?' I asked. + +"'You'd know as much as I do if I told you,' he said. + +"That made me angry, of course, and I told him he was lucky enough to +be too big for me to thrash, as I tried to do the first time I saw him; +and you should have seen him grin. + +"'Miss Whimple,' said he, 'I'll never forget you and the parasol as +long as I live. Say, it was----' but I broke in with, 'Now, who is +your sweetheart, William?' and what do you think he said?" + +"'Mother.'" + +"Exactly! And I knew he was serious about it, too, though, like a +foolish old woman, I must needs go on to tell him that a boy of his age +ought to have a real sweetheart. Well, presently he became very quiet, +his mouth set firmly, as it does when he is thinking hard, and he +looked straight at me. 'Miss Whimple, you know what real love is,' he +said. 'I hope when it comes to me I'll be as worthy of it and as true +as you have been,' and then--why, he was the real William again in a +flash. 'Say,' he said, 'why don't you go out to a ball game once in a +while? Lots of ladies go, and the way the Torontos are playing this +season it looks like they'd be champions again for the second time in +four years. Honest, they've got me wild, and Tommy Watson's crazier +than I am. He can't go to the games as often as he used to, because +he's looney about his wife and little Tommy too. So, when I go and he +doesn't I have to tell the whole story of the game to him, and--say, +excuse me, I'll just have time to get to the grounds to see the last +four innings,' and away he went. + +"Once I asked Whimple if William had a girl, and he told me the boy was +too busy. That's the kind of a fool answer a man makes when he either +doesn't know, or does know and won't tell. Then he told me about a +trick that Tommy Watson and himself played on William, only it didn't +work out in the way they expected. It puzzles me to know how men find +time to go into such silliness. Between them they wrote a letter, in a +disguised hand, of course, and supposedly from a girl to William. He +had been taking part in one of the amateur performances that Epstein +arranged for the Children's Hospital, and the letter declared that the +writer had been so touched by the wonderful ability displayed by +William that she felt she might be forgiven if she did so unmaidenly a +thing as to ask for a personal interview. William got the letter--the +over-grown boys saw to that--read it through carefully, stowed it away +in one of his pockets, and--well, as Tommy Watson says, he just sat +tight. + +"A few days afterwards they wrote another, to which William was to send +a reply to a certain post-office box. But there was no sign of an +answer. A third letter was written, imploring the recipient to have +mercy, or words to that effect, and two days afterwards a detective +called on Whimple and Tommy Watson. He found them together in Tommy's +store and opened the conversation with the hope that they were not +writing any more love letters. They were dumbfounded. Before they +could even think of an explanation the detective warned them in his +most official manner that the gentleman whom they were annoying by +their devotion to the art of letter-writing had decided that on receipt +of further epistles he would institute proceedings, and start with a +full statement to the press on the matter, including the names of the +letter writers. + +"They had sense enough to take the hint, anyway, and enough sense left +over to keep from talking to William about it. I asked Whimple if +William had ever referred to the subject, and he said not directly. +But one afternoon he found one of the letters lying on his desk. He +took it to Tommy Watson, who told him he had found one on his desk too." + +"I wonder what Tommy said about it?" said Sally. + +"Oh! he had one of his made-to-order proverbs on hand, to be sure. He +said, 'Well, you know what our old friend Shakespeare said, "It's a +wise old one that gets ahead of a bright young one."'" + +"He's really clever, is William," commented Sally. + +"Yes, and like all clever people he is sometimes taken in. But I'll +say this much for him, he isn't easily gold-bricked, and he learns the +lessons of experience thoroughly. He's like his 'Pa' in that respect, +and he's as loyal to his 'Pa' as ever. In all the time I have known +him he's looked upon his 'Pa' as the smartest man he knows." + +"Yes," said Sally, smiling. "Whenever he wants to impress one as to +the cleverness of some other person he brings in 'Pa,' and he always +adds, 'It's a wise guinea who can put one over on my Pa.'" + +"It is, too," said Miss Whimple. 'Pa' Turnpike is one of the shrewdest +men I ever met, and one of the kindliest too. William and 'the +bunch'--can't you imagine you hear him saying it, Sally?--'the bunch' +are proud of 'Pa,' and they have a right to be." + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX + +What should be left out of a chronicle dealing with the actual events +and sayings of real people? This chronicler does not know, and, as a +consequence, omissions from the true and unvarnished record of the +people hereinbefore dealt with are the consequences of guesses rather +than of deliberate and judicious or injudicious selections. Readers +may argue that out for themselves. Nothing has been said, for +instance, of the triumph of Pete Turnpike over the mules owned by his +father, and the day he rode them, circus fashion, with a foot on each +mule, down one of the principal streets; the charge of "obstructing" +that followed; the hearing of the same in the police court, and Pete's +dismissal with a warning on account of his tender years, which latter, +however, did not save him from chastisement by Turnpike pater. Nor has +anything been said of Pete's conversion during a revival meeting; his +exhortations to the family to follow his course, until he almost drove +them insane, and his fall from grace when a new boy at the school +declared he could lick Pete with one hand tied behind his back. He +loudly, and willingly, changed his opinion after Pete got through with +him; nay, he admitted that if Pete had been hobbled and blind of one +eye he would not have stood a chance against him. But, somewhere, +there should be found room to tell of William's encounter and +subsequent relations with a judge of the Common Pleas Division of the +High Court of Justice, because, in after years--well, never mind that +part of it. + +In the course of his work William was frequently in the law courts, and +one sultry September afternoon, this was in the first year of his +engagement with Whimple, he got into an argument with the office boy of +another lawyer on the merits of the Toronto baseball team. William +bore himself tolerably well, until he was told that he knew as much +about baseball as a hog's foot, and was, without doubt, the sassiest +"four-flusher" in the city of Toronto. "I may be a four-flusher," said +William, calmly, "but I ain't allowing any pie-face loafer your size to +say it," and he smacked the boy's cheek. A hot encounter followed, the +contestants being so determined to rub each other's head through the +stone flooring of the corridor that they did not notice his lordship, +the judge, with the officials of the court around him, come from the +court room. They noticed nothing, in fact, until a deputy sheriff fell +over them as they rolled on the floor. The deputy sheriff rose +hastily, and angrily, and drew one foot back to plant a kick on the +first part of boyish anatomy that he could reach, when the judge, robes +and all, stooped down, grasped each boy by the neck, and placed him on +his feet. Still retaining his hold, he looked at the boys somewhat +sternly--if the mouth was an index of his thoughts, but if his +eyes--anyway, William saw his eyes first, and smiled. + +The judge was a surprisingly young man for a judge. In his day he had +been a champion boxer and football player. It was whispered, indeed, +that no boxing bout of importance since his appointment had been +without his presence as a spectator. He regarded William gravely. "He +smiles," he said solemnly, "smiles in the presence of the august court +whose serenity he has seen fit to disturb." The other boy was +blubbering, and to him the judge said, "This coming man realises the +enormity of his crime. He weeps the bitter tears of one discovered. +He repents his misdeeds. Officer," to the deputy sheriff, "take the +names of these disturbers of the peace. Upon their fitting punishment +I will ponder." He relaxed his hold and passed on. + +A day or two later he ran across William in the corridor. This time +his lordship was without the robes, and in street attire looked younger +than ever. His smile of recognition brought an answering smile from +William. The lad would have passed on, but the judge stopped him. +"Still at liberty, I see," he said. + +"Yes, sir." + +"Um--see that you remain worthy of it: it's a precious thing, liberty." +Then, "And now, in my unofficial capacity, would you mind telling me +the cause of the desperate encounter of the other day?" + +The twinkle in the judge's eyes reassured William. "Well, sir," he +said, "that fellow said the Torontos was selling games. He said they +had it all fixed about who was to win the pennant before the season +started." + +The judge, himself a baseball fan, looked up and down the corridor, and +thus addressed William. "Did--er--that is to say--did you----" he +paused. + +William, one palm outspread, the other falling on it in rhythm to the +words, his eyes sparkling, asserted--"Honest, judge, I walloped him for +fair. When we got outside he starts all over again, so I herds him +into a lane and we had it out. Gee!" reflectively, "he was tough, but +I did him up all right." + +His lordship waved a hand deprecatingly. "Enough, enough, boy," he +said, solemnly. Then, in a lighter tone, "Didn't I see you at the game +a week ago Saturday?" + +"You did, you did, sir, I sat right behind you, and--and----" + +"Go on." + +"I guess I slapped your back when you got kinder excited in the----" + +"Seventh innings, with the score three to nothing for Montreal, +Torontos with two men on bases and nobody out"--the judge was talking +rapidly now--"big Bill Hannigan at the bat, and----" + +"What did Hannigan do to the ball," William broke in, "but slam it over +the fence for a home run, bringing in the two on bases and tying the +score! Oh, joy!" A clerk of the court who came out of his office at +this moment snickered audibly at the sight of a boy doing a little war +dance in the corridor and a judge smiling approvingly. + +Throughout the years that followed, the judge and William maintained a +friendly relationship. His lordship was eventually admitted into the +secret of William's ambition, though it was not until their +acquaintanceship had lasted three years that he took it seriously, and +then he never failed to urge William to "stick to it." From Whimple, +and later from "Chuck" Epstein, he obtained further light, and, on the +comedian's invitation, attended two or three of the amateur +entertainments in which William had a part. + +Epstein was chary in consenting to William appearing in the cast of +such entertainments, and William could not be persuaded to do anything +in this regard unless Epstein favoured it. Afterwards, they would go +over the performance together, Epstein in the rôle of critic, and the +old man's suggestions and advice and William's own observations and +descriptions of his emotions, and his reasons for this or that slight +departure from the lines and action originally mapped out, aided in the +making of the William Adolphus Turnpike so beloved of the theatre-goers +to-day. + +The judge enjoyed those performances, and he rather surprised Epstein +and William both by making suggestions in respect to some of them that +were valuable and illuminating. "How did you come to think of that?" +asked Epstein curiously, in regard to one idea advanced by the judge. + +"I think," answered his lordship, slowly, "that a court is the best of +dramatic schools. It is so real, too; there is much of tragedy and a +great deal of comedy too--unconscious, a lot of it. I have always been +rather keenly interested in the study of the people who came before me, +particularly in criminal cases. It seems to me that there is still a +wide field for a play." + +There was a long pause. Epstein, who was looking keenly at the judge, +broke in. "There is," he said, "there is--and you could write it, your +lordship." + +The judge started. "Do you think so?" he asked, somewhat sharply. + +Epstein nodded. And now, of course, the reader of this chronicle has +guessed the identity of the author of the play in which William made +his first appearance as a "Star." Yes--a judge--hiding under a +_nom-de-plume_, a judge of the High Court, no less, wrote _Our High +Court_, that most delightful of the comedies of our own times. There +followed, a few days afterwards, a long talk between William and the +judge, in the latter's room in the court house. William had called at +the court house on business, and the judge, who had espied him in the +corridor, had called him in. For a time their conversation was of the +stage and William's prospective future thereon, and then, very quietly, +the judge began to talk about William himself. Presently William began +to lean toward the talker, intent, earnest; no one had spoken to him +before just like this. His father had tried once or twice, but his +evident embarrassment, his halting sentences, and his fear lest William +should misunderstand, had frightened, rather than impressed, the boy. +But the judge was saying the things William knew his father had tried +to say, and he was losing none of them. The sacredness of the body, +his lordship was emphasising this, and dilating upon it: the purity of +the heart and mind; respect of woman; the honour of a man; reverence to +God. William afterwards wrote the words out almost as fully as though +he had taken them all down at the time. Nothing had so moved him as +this talk. When he stood at the door to go, the judge placed one hand +on his shoulder, and said simply, "My boy, it has cost me something to +say these things. I am a husband and a father. God knows how much he +has to forgive in me--God--knows. Those I love best--my wife--my +little girl--they could never dream. But--will you try to remember, +sometimes, some of these things?" + +William put out his hand and the judge shook it warmly. The boy was +late getting back to the office, and Whimple was testy. "Where on +earth have you been, William?" he asked, sharply; "there's a good deal +of work to do, and we can hardly catch up to it to-day." + +"I'm sorry. I've been listening to a man," said William, quietly. + +"Must have been a preacher, and a mighty solemn one at that, judging +from your sober face," said Whimple, more gently. + +"Not exactly a preacher, but I never heard a better sermon," answered +William, quietly, "never;" and then he started on his work, and kept at +it to such effect that, when they closed up for the night, Whimple +declared, as he had often done before, "You're certainly a wonder, +William." + + + + +CHAPTER XXX + +William made his first professional appearance in Toronto in the autumn +of that year with Joe Mertle's Company in _Old Etobicoke_, a rural +comedy-drama that was immensely popular in its day and had a long run. +The company was two weeks in the old Academy of Music before taking the +road, and from the first night drew large audiences. William had two +parts. In the first and second acts he merely "appeared," describing +himself to his friends as "part of the scenery." In the third and +fourth acts he had a speaking part, and in the latter a chance for a +little bit of comedy that, short as it was, gave him a real +opportunity. The whole Turnpike family was there, from Dorothy up, so +was Whimple, Miss Whimple, Tommy Watson, both his assistants, Sally +Miller, Lucien Torrance, and "Chuck" Epstein of course. They all sat +together, occupying two boxes. The old comedian was too happy to say +much even between the acts. He watched William keenly, and often +nodded approval, though he frowned once or twice when the youth made +little "breaks." When the curtain fell, he waited with the others for +William, and, as they stood in the lobby, the dean of the dramatic +critics, a life-long friend of the old comedian, approached him. "Not +bad, Epstein," he said. + +"It will make a hit on the road," Epstein answered. + +"Know any of the cast outside of Mertles?" + +"A few." + +"Who is the kid with the funny name--'William Adolphus Turnpike'?" + +"Why?" + +"He's the pick of the new ones. There's a great promise in that lad. +If he doesn't get swelled head early in the game he'll soon be shining." + +The old comedian smiled happily. "He's a friend of mine: a pupil, in a +way--I'm glad you like him." + +"You're a rare one to pick out the good ones, 'Chuck,'" said the +critic, warmly. "The lad will be a credit to you if----" + +"If," echoed Epstein. + +"If he doesn't get swelled head, as I said before. That's the trouble +with a lot of the promising ones," he added, as he walked away. + +"He may get swelled head," said Epstein to himself, as William joined +the waiting group, "but it won't last long, I'm sure of that." He +greeted William affectionately. "You'll do, boy," he said kindly, +"you'll do. There are some things about your part I'd like to discuss +with you, but I'm proud of you, William." + +The little supper for William and "the bunch," arranged by Tommy +Watson, was a rather gloomy affair. Pa and Ma Turnpike were not used +to such affairs; the younger Turnpikes were timid. William was silent, +and all were under the depressing spell of the knowledge that they +would soon part with him. + +The morning papers the next day were very kindly in their criticism of +the play and of the company, but only one of them, that for which the +dean of critics wrote, had any special mention of William. "His part +was a small one: until the fourth act he had no real chance, and then +he made the most of it. There is rare promise in the youth, but there +are many pitfalls for those who go on the stage. The next few years +will be a time of testing for him: if he emerges successfully there is +no reason to doubt that he will win his way to the front rank as a +comedian." Epstein's eyes were tear-dimmed as he read the words: +William cut them out of his own copy of the paper and kept them stowed +away with other precious belongings that he carried on his travels for +years. + +The company left Toronto on a Sunday morning for a five months' tour. +Pa and Ma Turnpike and William did not go to bed after he reached home +from the theatre on the Saturday night. There was no trunk packing to +do; that had been attended to hours before. But there was much to be +said between those three, and none could say it without tears and +broken voices. And so at last they sat together, Pa Turnpike on one +side and William on the other side of Ma's easy chair. She held one of +William's hands tightly in her own, and when she could, she talked to +him the mother talk that so many have heard and heeded not, and would +give all they have to hear again. And William made promises to keep +his feet dry; to watch his throat; to be careful of the food he ate; to +take all the sleep he could, and then, fifty times at least, to leave +liquor alone, and to write home as often as he could. Pa Turnpike +backed his wife strongly on the liquor question. "Leave it alone, +boy," he said, "leave it alone: it never was, and never will be, any +good." And William nodded assuringly. "Don't be afraid of that," he +said confidently, "I've got no use for it." + +At eight o'clock in the morning there was a hurried call to the +bedrooms occupied by the younger Turnpikes, and William kissed them +gently, for all but Pete were fast asleep. Pete jumped out of bed and +dressed hurriedly. "I'm going to the station with 'Mister Actor Man,'" +he announced, and a few minutes later William, Pete, and Pa Turnpike, +in one of the latter's express wagons, with one trunk containing +William's stock of clothes, proceeded briskly down the street. +William's mother stood at the door answering with her own the waving of +William's handkerchief until the wagon turned a corner. . . . Then she +went back to weep. + +Inside the Union Station--that horror of horrors that still appals the +train-borne visitors to a great city--William and his escorts were met +by Lucien, Whimple, and Epstein. There was much affected gaiety, but +the hopes for William's future were almost overwhelmed in the deep +regret at his departure. Tommy Watson was an absentee, and William +felt this keenly, although he said nothing of it. Pa Turnpike made a +shrewd guess at the cause of his boy's furtive glances around the +station, and murmured to Epstein, "I thought Mr. Watson would have been +down." + +"So did I," answered the old comedian, a little apologetically, "but +perhaps----" and then he looked around sharply as the music of a brass +band echoed along the vaulted roof of the station. And what think you +the band was playing? "Will ye no come back again." Yes, and playing +it well, too. As the band came into view from one of the arched +crossings, the faces of the group around William lit up with smiles, +for, marching proudly in front, and carrying an enormous bunch of +roses, was Tommy Watson, his head erect, his shoulders well back, his +face aglow. To his signal the band aligned in front of the little +group, and broke into a new tune, a lilting march, written around a +then popular song, now almost forgotten, "Bill, our Bill." Perhaps +there are some who still remember the chorus:-- + + "Bill, our Bill, see him smile, + On fair days and dull days, + Oh, it's well worth while, + To watch him at work, + To see him at his play; + Bill, our Bill; see him smile." + + +After they had played the chorus several times, the bandsmen sang it, +William's friends joining in. + +"Rotten verse," said Lucien Torrance, when they were through, "but it +fits you, William Adolphus Turnpike--our Bill." + +"Where did you get the band, Tommy?" asked Epstein. + +"Minstrel show; arrived in Toronto before daylight for a week's +engagement," retorted Tommy, proudly, and in curt sentences; "know the +leader; copped him at breakfast; arranged terms in five minutes; great +send-off to the coming world-famous comedian. Sorry couldn't bring +Tommy junior down; sleeping; would have enjoyed it." + +Then to William he handed the roses. "Boy," he said gravely, and with +a touch of tenderness in his tone, "a lady, a young lady, gave me these +with this message, 'Please tell Mr. Turnpike I wish him success.'" + +Some say William blushed. William still stoutly denies it; but he +could not speak for a moment. His heart was beating wildly; his hands +trembled as he took the roses and held them a second or two to his +face. He looked up again, self-possessed and quiet. "Thank you, +Tommy," he said, simply. + +"Is there a----" began Lucien, eagerly. + +William broke in gently, "Don't, Lucien," he said, "my career is +first--yet. I dare not hope--what sometimes I have dared to hope. +I----" + +"All aboard!" The hoarse cry of the train despatcher rolled out the +words, and the clanging of the station bell followed. As the train +began to slowly draw out of the station the band again struck up "Bill, +our Bill." William stood on the rear platform of the train, the roses +in one hand, the other waving farewell until the train disappeared, the +while the band played on. + +Then his friends slowly left the station, Lucien walking with Tommy +Watson. "Roses for William," said Lucien, "and from a young lady!" + +"Yes--and a charming young lady, too, my boy." + +"Who is she, Tommy?" Lucien ventured, diffidently. + +Tommy shook his head slowly. "Not now, Lucien; not now. The dreams of +youth do not always come true, but," with a happy laugh, "William has +such a way of making his come true. Who knows?" + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WILLIAM ADOLPHUS TURNPIKE*** + + +******* This file should be named 25562-8.txt or 25562-8.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/5/5/6/25562 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. 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} + pre {font-size: 85%; } +</style> +</head> +<body> +<h1 align="center">The Project Gutenberg eBook, William Adolphus Turnpike, by William Banks</h1> +<pre> +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at <a href = "http://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></pre> +<p>Title: William Adolphus Turnpike</p> +<p>Author: William Banks</p> +<p>Release Date: May 22, 2008 [eBook #25562]</p> +<p>Language: English</p> +<p>Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p> +<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WILLIAM ADOLPHUS TURNPIKE***</p> +<br><br><center><h3>E-text prepared by Al Haines</h3></center><br><br> +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" noshade> +<p> </p> + +<A NAME="img-front"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-front.jpg" ALT="Kindly hands bound up his wounds" BORDER="2" WIDTH="388" HEIGHT="599"> +<H3 CLASS="h3center" STYLE="width: 388px"> +Kindly hands bound up his wounds +</H3> +</CENTER> + +<BR><BR> + +<H1 ALIGN="center"> +WILLIAM ADOLPHUS TURNPIKE +</H1> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +by +</H3> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +WILLIAM BANKS +</H2> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +J. M. DENT & SONS LTD. +<BR> +27 MELINDA STREET, TORONTO +<BR> +1913 +</H4> + +<BR><BR> + +<H5 ALIGN="center"> +<I>All rights reserved</I> +</H5> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +TO MY MOTHER +</H3> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +CONTENTS +</H2> + + +<TABLE ALIGN="center" WIDTH="100%"> +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="20%"> +<A HREF="#chap01">CHAPTER 1</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="20%"> +<A HREF="#chap02">CHAPTER 2</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="20%"> +<A HREF="#chap03">CHAPTER 3</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="20%"> +<A HREF="#chap04">CHAPTER 4</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="20%"> +<A HREF="#chap05">CHAPTER 5</A> +</TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap06">CHAPTER 6</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap07">CHAPTER 7</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap08">CHAPTER 8</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap09">CHAPTER 9</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap10">CHAPTER 10</A> +</TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap11">CHAPTER 11</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap12">CHAPTER 12</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap13">CHAPTER 13</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap14">CHAPTER 14</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap15">CHAPTER 15</A> +</TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap16">CHAPTER 16</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap17">CHAPTER 17</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap18">CHAPTER 18</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap19">CHAPTER 19</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap20">CHAPTER 20</A> +</TD> +</TR> + + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap21">CHAPTER 21</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap22">CHAPTER 22</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap23">CHAPTER 23</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap24">CHAPTER 24</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap25">CHAPTER 25</A> +</TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap26">CHAPTER 26</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap27">CHAPTER 27</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap28">CHAPTER 28</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap29">CHAPTER 29</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap30">CHAPTER 30</A> +</TD> +</TR> + +</TABLE> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap01"></A> + +<H1 ALIGN="center"> +WILLIAM ADOLPHUS TURNPIKE +</H1> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER I +</H3> + +<P> +"What! never been to a political meeting; an' you living in a city. +Back to the hamlet for you, boy; you're lost. +</P> + +<P> +"You're not? You know where you live, and could find your way home in +the dark? My, but you're cert'nly the quick actor when it comes to +thinking. +</P> + +<P> +"Sure I've been to more'n a dozen political meetin's. Ain't my Pa a +member er the ex-ecutive of Ward Eighteen Conservative Club? He's a +charter member, too. Don't he rent the parlor for a pollin' booth on +votin' day, hire himself for a scrooteneer, and have my uncle Henry for +constable? +</P> + +<P> +"Your father wouldn't do them things, eh! Well, maybe he ain't never +had the chance. +</P> + +<P> +"The first political meeting I went to? Well it was in the hall where +the Sons of Italy meets, and Pa he ain't got no business there really +because it's not his gang what's holding the meeting. It's all +furriners organised into the Ward Eighteen European Reform Club by +Jimmy Duggan, the coal and woodyard man. My Pa and Jimmy Duggan is +great friends. Jimmy says to Pa, he says, 'Come along, Joe, I got the +greatest bunch of murd-erers of English into the club you ever seen,' +he says, 'and tonight the Honorable Wallace Fixem, Minister of Public +Works, is going to attend our inaggeral meetin',' he says, 'and give us +a spiel.' +</P> + +<P> +"And my Pa says, 'How much are you gettin' out of it, Jimmy?' he says. +</P> + +<P> +"And Jimmy says, 'Far be it from me to bandy words with a hopeless +dyed-in-the-wool Tory,' he says, 'what's agoin' blindly to his crool +end,' he says, 'in spite of——' +</P> + +<P> +"And then Ma butts in. 'That'll do for you, Jimmy Duggan,' she says. +'Both of them political parties is rotten,' she says, 'and you know it.' +</P> + +<P> +"And Jimmy—Gee! but he's the great actor—he looks at Ma with a long +face on him, and he says, 'Madam,' he says, 'I admit that the party to +which my poor friend here belongs,' he says, 'is all to the bad. I +admit,' he says, 'that it has sunk——' +</P> + +<P> +"And Ma says, 'Get out, Jimmy,' she says, 'and take Joe with you.' +</P> + +<P> +"And Pa says, 'Ma,' he says, 'how about Willyum coming along,' and you +bet I'm listenin' hard that time. +</P> + +<P> +"And Ma says, 'I'm afraid,' she says, 'about them 'Talians. S'pose +they got to fighting, anybody might stick a steeletter into the boy,' +she says. +</P> + +<P> +"'Pardon me, madam,' says Jimmy, 'you are doing a great wrong,' he +says, 'to our noble feller citerzens——' +</P> + +<P> +"And Ma gets up like she was in a kind of a hurry and she says if Pa +don't take Jimmy away she'll throw 'em both out, and Pa can take me to +the meeting. And we went. +</P> + +<P> +"Say, you'd orter seen the bunch in that hall. I guess there was some +from every country on the map of Europe, and other places too we ain't +never dreamed of. It was a cold night, and they had the stove goin'. +Me and Pa, we sits near the door because Pa says that when the meetin' +gets agoin' they's no telling about what kind of a trouble there might +be in a hall like that, and it's us where we can slip out when we wants +to. +</P> + +<P> +"Next to my Pa was a feller with whiskers a mile long, and pop eyes, +and when Jimmy Duggan left us and starts down to the platform this +feller says to Pa, 'Ain't he the great man!' he says. +</P> + +<P> +"And my Pa says, 'He ain't so bad for a Swede.' +</P> + +<P> +"And the man says, 'He ain't no Swede. No! Sir.' +</P> + +<P> +"And my Pa says, 'Since when ain't he a Swede when he's born in +Swedeland?' +</P> + +<P> +"'There ain't no such country,' says the man, 'you mean Sweden,' he +says, and my Pa says, 'I means just what I say,' he says. +</P> + +<P> +"And the man looks at him and he says, 'Mister Duggan,' he says, 'is an +Irishman.' +</P> + +<P> +"'With er name like that,' says my Pa, 'imposserble. 'Sides I never +heard of Irishmen. What country do they come from?' and, honest, my Pa +never batted an eyelid. Gee! but he's a grand jollier. And I thought +the man's eyes would drop out; I almost felt like holdin' out my hands +to catch 'em. And he says to my Pa, he says, 'Where do you come from?' +and Pa says, 'A free country,' he says, 'where every man gets a square +deal and can say what he likes.' +</P> + +<P> +"Well, the man looked at him hard and he says, very sarkastic, he says, +'Where's that?' +</P> + +<P> +"'Russia,' says Pa, and, say, you'd orter heard that man yell. Honest, +it made me sick at the stomach. Jimmy Duggan was just giving the +committee the last orders on the platform when that yell man cut loose. +Jimmy he looks around like he'd been shot, takes a flying leap off'n +the platform, and comes rushing down towards my Pa and the man with the +whiskers and the bulging eyes. And the man was yelling all the time +like the fans do at the baseball game when the score's a tie and the +home team's heavy hitter slugs the ball on the left ear for a home run. +And he was standing up pointing at Pa with a hand the size of a shovel, +and all the rest of the bunch around us was getting restless and +cacklin' furrin' talk. +</P> + +<P> +"So when Jimmy gets up to the man with the steam whistle in his throat, +he grabs him by the whiskers, gives 'em a tug like he'd pull 'em off, +and he says pretty sharp, 'Sit down.' And the feller set, and just as +he did he opens his mouth to let out another yell, and Jimmy grabs a +cap from another man's head and sticks it in his mouth, and that +stopped him. So after he gets the cap out, Jimmy says, 'Now what's the +row?' +</P> + +<P> +"And the man points at my Pa and says, 'That man says Russia is a free +country,' he says, and starts in to give another yell, only Jimmy lifts +a finger at him and the man stops with his mouth open, and he looked +foolish I tell you. So then Jimmy bends down and whispers something in +the man's ear, and the feller smiles and pats Pa on the shoulder +gentlelike, every once in a while, and Pa lets on he never notices it, +though I seen he's kinder mad about something. +</P> + +<P> +"Just as Jimmy gets back to the platform a Dago and a Hungarian gets to +words about who's the best mus-i-cans in the ward. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh! moosicians, is it? Have it your own way. +</P> + +<P> +"You see the Hungarians was awful mad because the Dagos beat 'em out +catering to supply the music for the night, and the Dago orchestra was +playing the swellest ragtime music you ever heard. Well, them two gets +to blows, and about fifteen others are jumping around ready to pile in +when Jimmy Duggan begins to pound on the table with a wooden hammer +what they uses in lodges and club rooms. +</P> + +<P> +"A gavel, eh! Very well, me learned friend, I'll not dispute it. +</P> + +<P> +"He bangs so hard they all quits their scrapping and begins to take +notice. 'I am just informed, gentlemen,' says Jimmy, 'that the +Honorable Fixem is now on the stairs on his way into this meeting, and +I would ask the ork-estra,' he says, 'to greet him with a few bars +of——' +</P> + +<P> +"And just then the door opens, and a little procession comes in +escortin' the Honorable Fixem, and the ork-estra leader waves his hand +frantic and the ork-estra strikes up 'All Coons Look Alike to Me.' +Well, say, you'd orter heard the row. Some was cheerin' and some was +laughin', and the Honorable Fixem he was looking like a sheep outer the +meadows, and Jimmy Duggan yells out, 'Stop that tune, darn it,' he +says, and the ork-estra man leader he didn't hear what Jimmy says and +he thought that he wanted it louder, so he waves his hands like mad and +the ork-estra sails into that tune like they'd never quit it, until +Jimmy leans over and grabs the leader by the back of the neck and +nearly chokes the breath outer him, and the ork-estra is just comin' +for Jimmy en massey when the leader says something in Italian and they +sits down again looking kinder sad and strikes up 'See the Con'kring +Hero Comes,' and the Honorable Fixem gets on the platform. Gee! you'd +think that bunch'd never stop yellin'. They just cheered and cheered. +Then they begins to present illumernated addresses in every language +but Scotch, and my Pa says Scotch ain't anything but two scones on each +side of a burr. So when they gets through Jimmy Duggan calls on the +Honorable Fixem for a speech, and Fixem started in. +</P> + +<P> +"Say, I never knowed a gover'ment was so much like angels before. The +things what the gover'ment's done for this country, judging by the way +Fixem told it, is enough to make people want to keep 'em in for ever. +My Pa says it's mostly guff, but the pollertishans has gotter feed the +people with that kinder guff ev'ry once in a while, he says, they get +fat on it, he says. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, everything goes on fine 'cepting some cheers once in a while, +until the Honorable gets down to the gover'ment's plans for the +immigrants. And he says something about not stooping to bribe any man +to cast a vote for the gover'ment by promising to find work for him, +but there's a big programme of gover'ment works to be done in the +neighbourhood, which, of course, will help to make good times, he says. +</P> + +<P> +"Just then somebody gets up in the hall and yells out, 'Rotten, rotten, +what you caller dat but de bribe, eh?' and another feller shies a +pineapple at him, whatever he had it there for. Pa says mebbe he's +ripenin' it by the stove so as to sell it the next day. Anyway it +misses the man what's makin' the noise and hits the ork-estra leader on +the brain-house, and the next I knowed Pa has me downstairs—it's only +one flight—and he says to me, 'We'll wait for Jimmy,' he says, and we +did. +</P> + +<P> +"And every minute we waited there was something doing. Why there was +Greeks and Hungarians and Dagos and all kinds coming out the winders or +rolling down the stairs and rushing back again, some of them with their +noses bleeding and their clothes torn, and all the time shoutin' like +mad. Then all of a sudden everything calms down to a whisper, and men +began to fly outer that buildin' and run away like mad. +</P> + +<P> +"So when the Honorable Fixem's safely in his carriage, and Jimmy +Duggan's walking home with Pa and me. Pa says, 'What stopped it, +Jimmy?' And Jimmy says, 'Well, I just got a few of the fellers +together,' he says, 'and we hollers "Steeletters, steeletters," and +that scared 'em, you bet, for they're all afraid of their lives of them +'Talian knives.' +</P> + +<P> +"'Pretty smart hit, Jimmy,' Pa says, 'but it's almost a pity you didn't +get three inches or so of steeletter in your hide,' he says, 'after +what you said to that feller sittin' beside me.' 'Well,' says Jimmy, +'he's a Russian,' he says, 'what was mixed up in some of the Nillyist +plots, and the only way to keep him quiet,' he says, 'was to tell him +you'd been driven looney by the cruelty of the Russian gover'ment,' he +says." +</P> + +<P> +Thus William Adolphus Turnpike, office boy, to Lucien Torrance, who +held a similar exalted position. They were sitting on the front stairs +leading to the adjoining offices occupied by Mr. Whimple and his friend +Simmons, the architect, in the city of Toronto. The city was then at +the transition period; its population had just passed the 200,000 mark, +and already included a fair number of lunatics who clamored for a +million people. But it had not yet made up its mind that dumping +sewage into the Bay and believing that it would not contaminate the +adjoining lake, whence came the water supply, was a system apt to +result in a large proportion of typhoid fever cases. People had +typhoid, and either died of it or got better, and in the latter event +they resumed the drinking of the city water. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap02"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER II +</H3> + +<P> +William had engaged himself to work for Mr. Charles Whimple, +"barrister, etc.," just one week previously in response to that +gentleman's advertisement for "a bright and intelligent office boy; one +who knows the city well." When he arrived at the office on the morning +after the insertion of the advertisement, Whimple found William busily +engaged in dusting off the lone table in his room. At the back of the +office, with its small, very small, ante-room, was the office of his +friend, Simmons, and as he was usually down an hour earlier than +Whimple, he "opened up" and kept an eye on things for the barrister +until he arrived. As Whimple entered, William greeted him with a +cheery "Good-morning, Mr. Whimple." +</P> + +<P> +"Good-morning, what are you doing here?" +</P> + +<P> +"I'm your office boy." +</P> + +<P> +"You are——" +</P> + +<P> +"Sure," said William cheerily, "I sent the other bunch away." +</P> + +<P> +"The other bunch——" +</P> + +<P> +"Yep; say, Mr. Whimple——" +</P> + +<P> +"But just a minute," Mr. Whimple interrupted, "how did you know my +name? Have we met before?" +</P> + +<P> +"Search me—if we did we wasn't interduced." +</P> + +<P> +"Then how did you know?" +</P> + +<P> +William stopped dusting and regarded him thoughtfully. +</P> + +<P> +"How did you know?" Whimple repeated. +</P> + +<P> +"I always know," the boy repeated slowly, and then, as though communing +with himself, "yes, I always know," and, as to-day, there was that in +William's voice that haunted and held Whimple, as it has done many +since. But that comes later. +</P> + +<P> +William went on still dusting slowly. "Say, Mister Whimple, I mayn't +be much, but the rest of the gang was the greatest c'lection er mutts +you ever seen. Honest, I don't believe there was one of 'em could say +the alphabet without thinking ten minutes first. And I needed the job +most anyway." +</P> + +<P> +"How do you know?" +</P> + +<P> +"Because I looked 'em over good, and I heard 'em saying how many hours' +work they'd do a day and how much they wanted for it, and most of 'em +was saying about how they showed their other bosses what's what. So I +knew they didn't want a job; they just wanted a place to bum in. You +should'er heard me shooing 'em away. I told 'em you had made your +selection and I was IT." +</P> + +<P> +Whimple smiled and William returned the salute. He saw in his employer +a young man, tall, with a brown-eyed, good-looking face, and a head of +red hair. And Whimple saw a rather thin but healthy-looking lad with a +somewhat long face, a nose that William himself always referred to as +"pug," round blue eyes, freckles, and hair—well, just "mouse coloured" +William's mother always called it. +</P> + +<P> +Their acquaintanceship ripened into friendship very fast; too fast +Whimple thought, for by mid-afternoon he had told the boy a great deal +about himself and his past and his prospects. And William had +listened, asking a question occasionally, sometimes interjecting a +remark, and always, so Whimple says now, with an aptness that surprised +and delighted him. William evinced no surprise and no regret when +informed that bright as were the prospects, two dollars a week, for the +present, was the maximum salary he could hope for. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't worry about that," said William when Whimple apologised for the +smallness of the amount. "It'll help some at home, and mebbe I ain't +worth no two dollars a week anyhow." +</P> + +<P> +"Don't underestimate yourself, William," said Whimple. +</P> + +<P> +"No chance of me doing that. Say, Mr. Whimple, supposin' I'm any good +and business improves, me salary goes up too—that's right, ain't it?" +</P> + +<P> +"That's right, my boy." +</P> + +<P> +"Then," solemnly, "it's up to us to increase the business, and to make +this office too small to hold the people that want to hire you." +</P> + +<P> +And Whimple smiled again. The lad's cheeriness, the eagerness of the +keen young face, and the tone of the voice put new heart into him. The +fame he had dreamed of on the day he had been called to the bar was +still a phantom; the struggle to earn a living in the profession he had +chosen in the years when youth brooked no obstacles was keener far than +ever he had believed possible, yet there remained to him hope, courage, +and the determination to "look for the silver lining." At thirty he +had few clients, and a legacy that brought him just $6.00 a week, and +often had been his only barrier against real want. His father and +mother had died while he was just a boy; relatives had given him a home +until at eighteen he had started "clerking" in a law office, and with +his wages and his legacy had carried himself through to the day when +his name appeared among those called to the bar. Simmons he had met in +the clerking days; the young architect was financially better equipped +than the lawyer, and Whimple had not hesitated at times to accept of +his assistance—though he never felt free until the obligation had been +repaid. It was Simmons who had insisted on the arrangement for the +adjoining office, though Whimple at first had strongly demurred. But, +indeed, an office floor with a front entrance and a rear stairway that +landed you on a lane leading to a back street was not without +advantages when money was scarce and bill collectors plentiful. +</P> + +<P> +To many it may seem remarkable, to others amusing, and to the minority +a thing unbelievable, that before the end of the first week William +should have been manager of the office so far as its routine was +concerned. Every one who has had the honour of acquaintance with a +first-class office boy will understand. Those who have not had that +experience will not, and to them is added those who do not regard boys, +office or otherwise, as having the remotest bearing upon, connection +with, or part in the working of the world of to-day. Your first-class +office boy inspires fear. He knows his indispensability; he knows that +more than anything else the boss loathes the trouble of hiring an +office boy; he knows—oh! what does he not know? You who have never +had to do with him, or depend upon him, go sit at the feet of him who +has and try to grasp the outer rim of understanding as to the depth and +height and width of the wisdom and learning, the profound knowledge of +the only human being to whom the Kings of Finance and Commerce (see any +daily paper) appear as they really are—just men. +</P> + +<P> +Sometimes an office boy is beloved—and that not always—for the +virtues that tell most in actual work. Or may be a streak of +cheeriness in the otherwise inscrutable bearing; it may be a confiding, +"Oh! may I trust in you, boss?" kind of manner; it may be that in the +man who hires him there still remains—though now well controlled—that +love of fun and careless mischievousness that seems to be peculiar to +the office boy of all nationalities. What one or what combination of +any or all of these qualities Whimple found quite early in William +still remains a mystery. +</P> + +<P> +Coming back to William, it is to be observed that while he became Grand +Master of Ceremonies in full charge of the office routine, he exercised +his authority with discretion and tact. By the end of the first month, +he had won Whimple to an announcement on the outer door to the effect +that office hours were from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and he had established +his own luncheon hour as from 12 to 1. "It wouldn't do for you," he +said gravely to Whimple, "to be takin' your lunch then, because you're +a per-fession'l man. You gotter keep up with the procesh if you wanter +make good." +</P> + +<P> +Whimple laughed, but nodded his acceptance of the idea. "You're an +inspiration, William," he said. "You've so much sunshine in your +composition that you are shedding it nearly all the time, consciously +or unconsciously, on the worthy and unworthy alike." +</P> + +<P> +And he spoke truly; William exercised no discrimination in this regard. +You could take it or leave it. Unless you had just lost some one near +and dear to you, or otherwise tasted the dregs of sorrow or remorse, +you couldn't ordinarily stay within a few yards of William and grieve. +Not that he had not suffered, young as he was. Not that he could not +and did not grieve with those he knew were in sorrow or distress; you +are not to think that of William. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap03"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER III +</H3> + +<P> +Whimple early discovered that William was not a model of integrity, +diligence, and rectitude. Though an office boy he had his failings, +and William's explanations of them were as curious, but quite as +characteristic, as the lad himself. +</P> + +<P> +"When it comes to business matters, Mister Whimple," he said with a +dignity that almost upset the young lawyer's effort to appear gravely +judicial, "it's me on the level. You can trust me to tell the truth +and do the right thing. But when it comes to spinnin' yarns, nobody +don't have to b'lieve 'em. Honest, I don't know when I'm telling the +truth about 'em myself." +</P> + +<P> +"That is a curious psychological problem, William." +</P> + +<P> +"Gee! is it as bad as that? I hope it ain't fatal." +</P> + +<P> +Whimple smiled. "No," he said, slowly, "and yet, my boy, there is only +one way to build up a good reputation. Do you go to Sunday school?" +</P> + +<P> +"Well—not reg'lar. Sunday's the busy time for me." +</P> + +<P> +"Busy! Why?" +</P> + +<P> +"Sure—I take the kiddies out if it's fine, and maybe we don't have the +bully times. Say"—his eyes were shining now, and he stood a little +closer to Whimple, who was sitting on the table—"there's Pete, he's +nine and a holy terror, and Bessie, she's six, and Joey, he's about +four, And Dolly—say, Mister Whimple, you'd orter see Dolly, she's got +big brown eyes, and brown hair, and a kinder solemn little face. +She——" +</P> + +<P> +"Are you spinning yarns now, William?" +</P> + +<P> +"It's between man and man now, Mister Whimple—this ain't no yarn. My +Pa says he uster think no man could keep a buncher kids like us and be +happy, and now he thinks no man could be happy without a bunch like us, +and Ma says it's hard scrapin' sometimes, but she wouldn't be without +one of us for a thousand feeter land on the main street, and that's +going some." +</P> + +<P> +"What does your father do, William?" +</P> + +<P> +"Pa, he's an express-man, and a good one at that, Mister Whimple. He +owns two horses and rigs, and I tell you he keeps agoing all day long, +Saturdays too, an' he's a-buyin' the house we're in, an' it ain't no +cinch of a job liftin' a mortgage. Many's the time I've heard him say +he wished he could lift it as easy as he lifts some of the trunks he +carts." +</P> + +<P> +"And what are you going to be, William?" +</P> + +<P> +And William was silent. He flushed a little, toyed with a button of +his vest, and finally answered in a low tone— +</P> + +<P> +"I know what I wanter be, and sometimes I think I know how to get +there, and sometimes I don't, and I'd rather not tell it just now." +</P> + +<P> +"I hope you'll succeed, William—if your aim is a lofty one." +</P> + +<P> +"Well," drawled William, "it's some high, and Tommy Watson says I'm +bughouse, but I tell him he's a bit that way himself." +</P> + +<P> +"Tommy Watson, the auctioneer?" +</P> + +<P> +"Sure—say, Mister Whimple, ain't he a pippin? My Pa says he can make +people buy rocks and weep with joy on the bargains they're gettin' in +diamon's." +</P> + +<P> +That day Whimple called on Tommy Watson, famed as the peer of +auctioneers. To those who counted among his friends and acquaintances, +and they were as numerous as the wise "I-told-you-so's" on the day +after an election or a prize fight, Tommy was always an inspiration and +a delight. His long rambling store, with its wonderful stock of +furniture, books, nick-nacks, pictures, all that goes to add zest to +the life of the bargain-hunters and auction regulars, was a +gathering-place for all classes. Tommy knew and was respected by the +men whose names meant power and money; he was beloved by many a +wage-earner for the help he gave in the all-important problems of home +furnishing, and he was the idol of one William Adolphus Turnpike. +</P> + +<P> +Whimple lost no time in preliminaries. "I've got an office boy, +Tommy," he said, "and——" +</P> + +<P> +"One William Adolphus Turnpike, to wit," Tommy broke in. +</P> + +<P> +"The same; he's quite a character, Tommy." +</P> + +<P> +"A good lad though," said the auctioneer, "and a friend of mine." +</P> + +<P> +"He says you know what he wants to be, and that you think he's +bughouse." +</P> + +<P> +Tommy laughed. "He spends an hour here every morning," he said. +</P> + +<P> +"What!" +</P> + +<P> +"Turns up as regular as the clock at about fifteen minutes to eight, +and stays until he has just time to get to the office on the stroke of +nine." +</P> + +<P> +There was a long pause, each man regarding the other thoughtfully. It +was Tommy who relieved the situation. +</P> + +<P> +"So far as I know," he said slowly, "he has confided in no one but +myself and one other regarding his plans. He's only a boy; he may +change his mind any day. But I don't think it. I never knew any one, +man, woman, or child, so earnest and determined." +</P> + +<P> +"You know how I'm situated, Tommy; mighty little yet but hope—and, +thank God, I've never lost that. It's really a shame, Tommy, paying +him the princely salary of two dollars per, but I need him. Tommy, if +you think it best not to tell, don't." +</P> + +<P> +Tommy understood. "It might help," he said, "and I can depend upon you +to keep silence. Come along." +</P> + +<P> +He led the way to the back of the store, where his bachelor apartments +were situated—a bedroom and a library—a most curious library, for +Tommy was an omnivorous reader and particularly given to romances. +</P> + +<P> +In one corner of the room was a small bookcase with perhaps fifty books +carefully arranged; a little desk and an arm-chair. "That's his +corner," said Tommy abruptly; "look at the books." +</P> + +<P> +Whimple looked over the titles rapidly, then more closely. "Plays," he +murmured, "the lives of actors, more plays, <I>The Comedian, Garrick, +Nell Gwynn</I>," then turning to Tommy and raising his voice, "he wants to +be an actor?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yep." +</P> + +<P> +"But many boys think that—almost every boy thinks that." +</P> + +<P> +"But not the way this boy does." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, but can he read these, Tommy? I never heard any one murder +English like William does. Yet he does it so winningly—that's the +word, I think—that any jury would acquit him. And his slang—uh!" He +shrugged his shoulders. +</P> + +<P> +"Fierce, ain't it?" said Tommy smilingly. +</P> + +<P> +"But can he really read these books?" Whimple reiterated. +</P> + +<P> +"You should hear him and see him tackling the dictionary when he's +stuck. Besides—I'm telling you everything mind in confidence—'Chuck' +Epstein reads with him." +</P> + +<P> +"Epstein! Whew!—and in his day he was the greatest comedian of them +all. And a Jew!" +</P> + +<P> +"And a man," said Tommy Watson with a note of challenge in his voice. +</P> + +<P> +"I've heard much of his kindnesses," Whimple said, "but know him only +by sight." +</P> + +<P> +"He's a great friend of mine," said Tommy; "he spends nearly all his +mornings here; has done since he retired from the stage. He's getting +feeble, but his mind is as clear as ever, and his heart—well, his +heart has never grown old." +</P> + +<P> +"William Adolphus Turnpike, Epstein, retired comedian, Tommy Watson, +auctioneer," said Whimple softly, and then looking up he found Watson +regarding him with a whimsical smile. +</P> + +<P> +"Us three, and no more—Amen, as the Three Guardsmen used to say," +Tommy said. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, not exactly in those words," Whimple replied. +</P> + +<P> +"But meaning the same," Tommy retorted, "so what's the difference? +Believe me," he went on, "the boy is safe with us. If his ambition +sticks—why, he'll land." +</P> + +<P> +"You're a good sort, Tommy Watson," said Whimple warmly as he left the +shop, "I wish I could do more to help the boy." +</P> + +<P> +"You're doing lots," said Tommy genially, "lots, and—well, the legal +world'll take off its hat to you yet." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap04"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER IV +</H3> + +<P> +Meanwhile our hero, as Vivian de Vere de Softley, the author of one +thousand love stories, would say, was pensively leaning out of one of +the office windows and thoughtfully taking pot shots at passers-by with +a pea-shooter. Preferably he selected as his marks gentlemen who +carried weight, and considered his best shot that which stung the ear +of an elderly banker who wore a silk hat, and was detested by all who +listened to his exhaustive speeches at banquets given by associations +that could not afford to leave him off their programmes. The banker +was exceedingly wrath, but as William was an expert in concealment, his +victim was foiled in his attempts to discover the cause of the sudden +stoppage of his flow of thought on his next great speech. +</P> + +<P> +The banker finally passed on, and William was aiming for his next shot +when something struck him on the shoulder. He turned smartly to +encounter the stern gaze of a lady, an elderly lady. Her parasol was +descending for another blow, but William adroitly dodged it. Nothing +daunted, she raised it again, and this time succeeded in rapping "our +hero" smartly across the arm. +</P> + +<P> +William dropped to the floor, crawled under the table, rose again and +waited. The lady walked gravely toward him, whereupon William again +followed the under-the-table route, and finally flopped into a chair by +his own desk. The lady regarded these manoeuvres with a gleam of anger +in her fine dark eyes. +</P> + +<P> +The boy had swiftly "taken her in," to use his own expressive phrase, +and afterwards was able to say that she wore a bonnet, not a hat, that +long ringlets of grey hair hung down each side of her face, that her +dress was of silk and black, and that she held in her hand a slender +chain, to which was attached a dog of the most melancholy countenance, +and a shape that made William grin. +</P> + +<P> +"What are you laughing at?" demanded the lady. +</P> + +<P> +"The dog; if it is a dog." +</P> + +<P> +"And a very good dog it is too." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I've seen pictures of 'em," said William politely, "but I ain't +never believed it till now." +</P> + +<P> +"Believed what?" +</P> + +<P> +"The face and the shape——" +</P> + +<P> +"There's nothing the matter with the shape," was the tart response; +"Dick's a Daschund." +</P> + +<P> +"A what! Oh! Gee! Say, my tongue always rolls around like it had no +roots when I strike a word like that." +</P> + +<P> +"No wonder; a boy of your age should be at school." +</P> + +<P> +"School! not for mine, lady. I've gotter make a livin'." +</P> + +<P> +"A living—you! What are you doing here?" +</P> + +<P> +"I'm the office boy." +</P> + +<P> +"Office boy! Whose office boy?" +</P> + +<P> +"Mister Whimple's." +</P> + +<P> +"You're a liar," the words were snapped out with a force and directness +that William afterwards declared put him "on the blinks" for a few +seconds. +</P> + +<P> +The only retort that he would have made to one of his own sex rose +swiftly to the boyish lips, and stayed there. He rose—who shall say +what freak of imagination swayed him then—and took a step toward the +lady. His hand went to his cap—in the encounter he had forgotten it +until then—and off it came with a sweeping bow. He was no longer +William, or Willie, or Bill; he was no longer an office boy; this was +not Toronto. Here was the lady of the castle, proud, imperious, +haughty; he was one who served under the banner of her lord. Beyond, +was the great old house, surrounded with stately trees and fine +driveways, and Sir William Adolphus Turnpike, in a voice he did not +know, was saying, "Fair lady, I am thine to command. If I have +offended I prithee forgive; 'twas not my intent, I do assure thee." +</P> + +<P> +And the lady—what half-forgotten dreams came surging to her mind. +Long ago, so long ago, there had been a boy with a heart of gold that +had lost none of its admiration for her when the boy gave place to the +man. But on a far-off border line of the empire he had given his life +for the flag, and out of her life there had gone the dreams of a future +with him. All through the years since then she had held her heart +against those who would have stormed it, and now—and now—she tried to +speak, but her lips were tremulous and her eyes tear-dimmed. She +courtesied low and with grace, and William, who was standing with the +ink-stained fingers of one hand clutching his cap and the other held +where he thought his heart might be, felt a thrill of sympathy. +</P> + +<P> +"Lady," he said softly, "I await your command." +</P> + +<P> +And still she did not speak. Then William, true knight, threw down his +cap, placed a chair for her, carefully laid her parasol on his desk, +and waited. +</P> + +<P> +Presently, "Boy," she said gently, "where did you learn that?" +</P> + +<P> +"I read it somewhere," he said, "some of it, and I guess I just made up +the rest. I can't help it, lady. I often have them kinder spells." +</P> + +<P> +She was looking at him thoughtfully, and William blushed under her +scrutiny. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't be ashamed, boy," she said. "'Them kinder spells'"—and she +mimicked him so well that William laughed outright, "will carry you a +long way some day. You may sit down." +</P> + +<P> +William sat, and thereupon Dick, his mistress having loosened her hold +upon the chain, ambled over and placed his solemn-faced visage as close +to the boy's knees as he could get it. William lifted the dog which +snuggled close to his breast. +</P> + +<P> +"If Dick likes you there must be some good in you," said the lady: and +her voice was again sharp and firm. "Where's Whimple?" +</P> + +<P> +"He'll be here soon, I expect." +</P> + +<P> +"Umph! Poking around the law courts I suppose. He's never been here +when I want him." +</P> + +<P> +"Mister Whimple is a busy man," said William loyally. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't lie to me," was the sharp rejoinder, "I'm a Whimple. Miss +Elizabeth Whimple, if you want to know, and I'm his aunt. He would be +a fool and enter law against my advice, and I hope he'll starve for it." +</P> + +<P> +William's eyes narrowed. "Did you ever try starving, Miss Whimple?" he +demanded. +</P> + +<P> +"Heavens, no!—what would I want to try that for?" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I'm glad if you never have to," was the answer. "My Dad came +near to it sometimes before he got onter his feet, and I ain't very old +myself, but I've seen the day I'd walked a long way to get my teeth +into a piece of beef-steak." +</P> + +<P> +"I don't believe you." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, of course, you don't have to," said William calmly. "That's a +funny thing about grown-ups. They'll believe any old lie if it's in +print, but the minute anybody tells 'em the truth straight outen his +heart, they don't——" +</P> + +<P> +"Boy," she interrupted sharply, "don't preach to me!" +</P> + +<P> +"Preach! me preach!" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes; you may not call it that, but it's preaching just the same. Now, +where's Whimple?" +</P> + +<P> +"Honest, lady, I don't know. He——" +</P> + +<P> +And here Whimple entered by the back door. For collectors were +beginning at this time to come in with requests for payments of the +monthly bills incidental to the upkeep of an office, and it was the +part of wisdom to ascertain before entering the office whether any such +were "at anchor." +</P> + +<P> +His aunt greeted him with a fair amount of cheerfulness, and at once +informed him that she had come to ask that he look after the interests +of her estate. +</P> + +<P> +"I've been acting as my own rent collector for years," she said, "and +I'm getting tired of it. I want you to look after that and after any +legal business arising therefrom, but mind you I'll pay you only the +legal rate, no more, relative or no relative." +</P> + +<P> +They passed into Whimple's room, whence the lady emerged some time +later. William opened the office door for her, and as she passed out +she admonished him to make good use of his time, and "never, never +enter law." +</P> + +<P> +"I'm about as near to it as I'll ever get," answered William politely. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap05"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER V +</H3> + +<P> +This is a chronicle of facts, culled from the life of William Adolphus +Turnpike and other personages, as distinguished from mere history. +Everybody in this age of research and cheap books, to say nothing of +magazines and newspapers, knows that history is not true. It is +established beyond doubt, for instance, that King Richard III. was a +man of loving disposition, and that the story of his being an accessory +to the death of the little princes has no foundation. We know also +that the Scots deliberately planned the loss of the battle of Flodden +in order to pave the way for their modern invasion of England and the +capture of all the good jobs in the empire. They simply lured the +English on, because they knew that no Englishman could live north of +the Tweed and ever get enough to eat, while every Scotsman is +impervious to stomachic or climatic conditions so long as there is a +position to be filled or a bawbee to be paid out. +</P> + +<P> +Here then, sticking to facts, is to be recorded that William Adolphus +Turnpike reached the office one Monday morning, some time after the +events last chronicled, wearing a black eye, an abrased nose, and a +scratched chin. Naturally, Lucien Torrance, office boy to Simmons, the +architect, and therefore on terms of equality with William, demanded an +immediate and detailed explanation, which William proceeded to give. +</P> + +<P> +"Did yer see the lacrosse match between the Easts and the Stars on +Saturday? +</P> + +<P> +"What! yer didn't? Gee! you missed it. Say, there was somethin' doing +nearly every minute till the police broke up the game and took the +players to the Number 4 Station. +</P> + +<P> +"What's that—did I take the kiddies? Not for a minute I didn't. +Would yer wanter take your little brothers or sisters—— +</P> + +<P> +"You ain't got none. Well, nobody's blamin' you, are they? I'm just +supposin' you had. Would you wanter take 'em any place you'd thought +there was goin' to be a scrap? Not much you wouldn't. I seen them +teams play once before when I was a kid. +</P> + +<P> +"What! Well, I like that. Fourteen last birthday, and I'm taking +nothin' from any feller my age around these parts and don't you forget +it, or I might forget I promised me mother I'd try not to fight for one +day. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, anyway I piked off alone to the flats to see the game, and, say, +there was about half a millyun people there. +</P> + +<P> +"What's that! There ain't half a millyun in the whole city of Toronto? +You'd be a peach of a booster for this town, wouldn't you? Suppose +there ain't, it sounds good anyway. Besides, you know very well I'm +just trying to give you some idea about the size of the mob. And say, +maybe there wasn't some tough mugs there neither. Uh! +</P> + +<P> +"Well, the referee he gives the teams a talking to about keeping the +nation-al game clean and free from disgrace. 'The first man,' he says, +'that forgets he's playing lacrosse and begins laying the hickory on +anybody,' he says, ''ll get a good long penalty.' +</P> + +<P> +"Then Alderman McWhirter takes a whirl at 'em; him with the spongy +whiskers on each side of his face, and a jaw like the vestibul of a +street car. +</P> + +<P> +"Vestibool, is it? Where did ye learn French? You muster lived in +Montreal. +</P> + +<P> +"You never? Well, hold your hair on; hold your hair on. Kinder soured +on your food, ain't yer? What d'ye eat for breakfast anyway? Malted +soapsuds, chipped mule fritters, er any o' them fancy foods? +</P> + +<P> +"Porridge! my, but you're away behind the times. Wake up, man, wake +up, the fast express is tearin' down the track and—— +</P> + +<P> +"All right. I'll proceed. So McWhirter gives the bunch a spiel a mile +long and would be going yet, but somebody calls out to him to dry up, +an' he gets red in the face and dries up, and the game starts. +</P> + +<P> +"For about one minute they played like Sunday school was a joy to them, +and then the Easts bangs the ball into the net and the goal umpire he +ups with his hand, meanin' a goal and—— +</P> + +<P> +"What's that? You know that means a goal, eh! Feeling pretty pert +this morning, eh! Mebbe you'd like to go on an' tell the story to +yourself. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh! all right, all right. Well, anyway, up goes the goal umpire's +hand for a goal, and down goes the umpire for the count, for Tip Doolen +of the Stars cracks him a wallop on his brain factory you could hear a +mile away. And all the Easts piles on to Tip and it took the police +fifteen minutes to get 'em untied. And the police sergeant he says, +it's Tip to the station, but the goal umpire wakes up and says he +wouldn't lodge no complaint, for Tip and him's friendly, only would +they please get a new goal umpire, he says, and they did. +</P> + +<P> +"Then the police sergeant wouldn't let 'em go on playing till he'd had +a little say, and you'd oughter heard it. He says, 'It looks to me +like most er you fellers is spoilin' for a clubbin', and I'd hate,' he +says, 'to disappoint you if that's the case. But I'm willing to stay +on duty a few hours beyond me time,' he says, 'in order to please you.' +</P> + +<P> +"And the fellers swear they're ready to go on with the game and play +like kinder-gart'ners. So the sergeant says, 'Let her go,' he says. +</P> + +<P> +"So it went all right for quite a while and there wasn't much doin' +except the noise, for both sides had big gangs there and you cert'nly +could hear 'em. +</P> + +<P> +"At the end of the second quarter it was a tie—two goals each, and not +more'n half the players on the mourners' bench. +</P> + +<P> +"What! You don't know what the mourners' bench is? Say, if you'd only +study the English language 'stead of loading your think tank with them +furrin' words you wouldn't need nobody to tell you that the mourners' +bench is just another name for the penalty bench. +</P> + +<P> +"But when the third quarter gets nicely started! Well, say, the +referee he puts one of the Easts off the field for trippin', and +another one of the Easts he swings his stick on the referee's slats for +all he's worth, an' the referee just has time to kick him in the shins +before a third feller gives the referee a biff under the ear and lays +him out. About half the people made a mad rush for the Easts and the +other half rushes for the Stars, and there's only six policemen there. +But the sergeant—say, my Pa knows him well—he's the wise guy. He +lets 'em all get going and you couldn't see anything but people shovin' +and crowdin' and hittin'. And then he chases for the caretaker of the +park where the flats are an' gets two lines of hose fixed on a hydrant +and two cops a holdin' the hose. And pretty soon two streams er water +hits the crowd, and you'd oughter have seen the way it bust up. +Honest, I never thought there was so many fast runners in the whole of +Canada. And when the most of the people is outer the way, here's +nearly all the Easts and the Stars a rolling around on the ground +tearin' each other to pieces. The water never fizzed on 'em. And the +police sergeant—my Pa says he's a strat-eg-ist—he says, 'It's just +adding fuel to the flames,' he says, 'to put water on 'em,' and looks +round, and I did too, and sees the patrol wagon coming along with more +cops in it. Them lacrosse fellers is just attendin' strictly to +business same as if there wasn't anybody in the whole province of +Ontario but them. And then the cops waded right in and clubbed them +fellers good and plenty, and—— +</P> + +<P> +"That's what I'm coming to, if you'd only keep the brakes on your forty +horse power tongue a minute. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, sir, they squeezed the whole shooting match into the wagon and +took 'em to the station. +</P> + +<P> +"Sure they gave 'em bail that night, and soaked 'em five and costs +apiece in the court Monday morning. And I was telling my Pa about it, +and I says to him, 'Now,' I says, 'in a case like that, Pa, who wins?' +Of course I meant the game. +</P> + +<P> +"And my Pa says to me, he says, 'Well,' he says, 'it looks to me like a +draw,' he says, 'with first-class honors,' he says, 'to Sergeant Mackay +and second place to the magistrate,' he says. And he never bats an +eyelid when he says it. I tell you it's a pretty wise guy that can put +one over on my Pa. +</P> + +<P> +"What's that gotter do with my face! Gee, but you oughter to be in the +law—you'd be the peach of a cross-exam'ner you would. But just so's +to have no hard feelin's I'll tell you. I'm an East-ender myself, and +I made some noise too. One of the Star rooters got kinder mad at me +making a few remarks during the game, and when the mix-up starts I'm +laying for him. But he seen me comin' and I couldn't dodge the brick +he had. It's all right to pipe off about fighting square and fair, but +that guy wasn't lettin' his brick go to waste till he could think up a +motter. Not for him. He did just what I would have done if I'd seen +that brick first." +</P> + +<P> +But when Whimple asked for the cause of the battered visage, William +merely answered that he had collided with a brick. +</P> + +<P> +"Was the brick hurt any?" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, not so's you'd notice it," retorted William smilingly. +</P> + +<P> +"Um! It's rather unfortunate that it was such a hard object—for you, +I mean," said Whimple. "You see I had intended to start you collecting +rents to-day." +</P> + +<P> +"Me!" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes. Miss Whimple, my boy, is the possessor of some twenty houses; +four of them in your district, William, to say nothing of some choice +lots that are increasing in value every month. She's a wonderful +woman, boy; her dad left her four houses to begin with, and she's done +the rest. If I had her business ability, William, I'd be on the fair +way to being wealthy now." +</P> + +<P> +"But, Mister Whimple, my face won't matter. Like as not it'll give me +a chance to talk to the people and find out whether they're good +tenants or not. Let me try it, sir." +</P> + +<P> +"All right. One of the tenants down your way owes two months' rent +now, and in the other cases the rents are due to-day. Here are the +addresses. You look after these four tenants every month; I'll take +care of the others." +</P> + +<P> +And forthwith William Adolphus Turnpike set out, as he expressed it to +Lucien Torrance, "to round up some coin for Mister Whimple's aunt." He +was proud of the trust imposed in him, and could not forbear a parting +shot at Lucien. +</P> + +<P> +"You're gotter stay here," he said importantly, "and answer fool +questions when people call. But it's me to the front, Lucien Torrance, +on a man's job." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap06"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER VI +</H3> + +<P> +William was an unconscious diplomat. His business career had already +been marked by the devotion of much time to the consideration of the +easiest methods of dealing with problems as they presented themselves +from time to time, though not always with success, and his first +perusal of the list of tenants handed him by Whimple showed him that +the job of rent collecting would be no sinecure. He knew his own +district very well; the work and conditions, the family life, and many +other details of a more or less intimate nature, were matters of +knowledge to him. He read the list over again as he turned down a +street to make his first call, and then passed the first house on his +list, and kept right on until he came to Jimmy Duggan's coal and wood +yard. Jimmy was located in his office, a wooden shack with a tin roof, +where he was laboriously engaged in the monthly task of straightening +out his books. To him William confided the errand entrusted to him, +and over the habits and the career of the first-named tenant on the +list there followed a solemn conference. At its close, William, with a +"Much obliged, Jimmy," sallied forth to the house he had passed on his +way, and knocked sharply at the door. A girl, untidy, unwashed, with a +face that might have been pretty if the coating of dirt upon it were +removed, appeared at the bay window of the ground floor. William knew +the girl and she knew William. Unabashed, he endured her calm +scrutiny, banking on his belief that she would never "tumble" to his +errand. She looked a long time, but finally came to the door and +slowly opened it. Whereupon William promptly stepped inside. +</P> + +<P> +"Is Mister Jonas in?" he asked as he closed the door behind him. +</P> + +<P> +"No," she said timidly. +</P> + +<P> +"Ah! gone out for a walk I suppose?" said William politely. +</P> + +<P> +In the dim light of the hall she looked at him with fear in her eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"He's a great walker, I believe," William went on with a tinge of +sarcasm. "Out in the mornings, out in the afternoons, takes another +stroll in the evenings. Does he ever go to sleep?" +</P> + +<P> +She made no answer, and William, who was at least a head shorter, +patted her on the shoulder. "Cheer up," he said patronisingly, "it's +all right. I've just come for the rent, that's all." +</P> + +<P> +"For what?" she gasped. +</P> + +<P> +"The rent; hadn't you better show me where he is right away?" +</P> + +<P> +"Didn't I say he wasn't in?" she answered sharply. +</P> + +<P> +"You did, my dear, but I'm willing to forget it. I believe that kinder +answer goes in polite society when the lady of the house don't want to +see anybody, and the lady what calls hopes that the lady she calls on +ain't in. But it don't go with me." +</P> + +<P> +"But he ain't in," the girl whined. +</P> + +<P> +"Then he's out for the first time in three years," was the rejoinder, +"and it's funny he'd pick rent day for a walk; him owing two months' +rent at that. P'raps he left the money with you?" +</P> + +<P> +"No." +</P> + +<P> +"H'm. Then I'll wait till he comes back." +</P> + +<P> +"But he won't be back until to-night." +</P> + +<P> +"All the same to me. I can wait; that's part of my work." +</P> + +<P> +She shifted ground uneasily, and finally burst out, "He's in the +kitchen, Will Turnpike, and you can go in yourself. He's wild today." +</P> + +<P> +William walked solemnly through to the kitchen where Jonas was sitting +by the window in a great arm-chair. A weird-looking figure he was, +muffled in an old overcoat, though it was summer and the day was warm. +A growth of untrimmed whiskers through which peered crafty eyes, and a +mass of long matted hair topping a big head, gave an uncanny appearance +to the man, who was a helpless cripple through rheumatism. He glared +at William, who cordially expressed the hope that he was feeling a +little better. +</P> + +<P> +"Is that what she let you in for?" he demanded fiercely. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I didn't just put it to her in that way, if you mean your +daughter," said William calmly. "I'm after some money, to tell you the +truth." +</P> + +<P> +"Money!" the old man shrieked the word. +</P> + +<P> +"You heard me first time," returned William politely, "and ain't you +glad your sickness don't hinder your hearing some?" +</P> + +<P> +"Money!" shouted the old man again. "Money! What do you want money +from me for?" +</P> + +<P> +"The rent," said William calmly—"two months, due to-day. You can +read, I believe," and he held before the old man's face two receipts, +properly made out for the amounts due. "I see," he said, pointing to +an open letter on the window sill, "that you got Mister Whimple's note +about it. I'm the coll-ect-or he speaks of." +</P> + +<P> +"You!" +</P> + +<P> +"The same, Mister Jonas." +</P> + +<P> +The man glared at him savagely, and then shouted, "You—you—get +t'hades out of this." +</P> + +<P> +"Sure, I'll get out as soon as I get the rent. But as for the place +you speak of—not for mine. This is a good enough world for me, Mister +Jonas." +</P> + +<P> +The old man fumed in helpless rage. He cursed William and his family +and their antecedents, cursed his daughter, cursed everybody and +everything for a full five minutes, and ended up with the declaration, +"I haven't got any money." +</P> + +<P> +William silently regarded him for a moment, and then leaning forward a +little said, very clearly, "Well, I guess you ain't making so much as +you uster when you sold light-weight coal on the big contract from the +city, but I'm told on the best au-thor-ity, Mister Jonas, that you +ain't ever likely to know what it means to be without money." +</P> + +<P> +For a long time then they looked at each other, fear on the old man's +face, William inwardly troubled, outwardly cool and unruffled. The old +man broke the silence. +</P> + +<P> +"Mary, Mary," he screamed, and his daughter ran to him, "pay this young +ruffian two months' rent, and get the receipts from him, and if you +ever let him in again—I'll—I'll kill you." +</P> + +<P> +When the transaction was completed, William turned to Jonas. "I'll be +here to the minute when the next rent's due," he said confidently, "and +it'll be ever so much nicer for you to have it ready, else," and here +he assumed what he believed to be the correct attitude for such an +occasion, "I'll have to have you turned out." +</P> + +<P> +Then he left, the old man hurling curses at him until the door closed. +</P> + +<P> +"He's gotter great line of talk," said William to himself. "Now for +Mrs. Moriarity," that lady being the next on his list. William knew +her for a good-natured, careless woman, who nevertheless was the real +head of the Moriarity household, which included nine children of +varying ages and sizes. Nothing was ever done on time in her house; no +bill was ever paid when it was due, though Mrs. Moriarity never tried +to evade one. She was just happy-go-lucky and careless. +</P> + +<P> +William approached the house with some misgivings. A number of the +younger Moriaritys were playing around the door, and just as William +approached them a drunken man staggered up, singing loudly. He fell +over one of the children, and the youngster set up a howl that brought +the mother to the open door. She reached it just as the man, thrusting +out a long arm, brutally flung another child on one side. With an +angry cry the mother rushed for the brute, but William reached him +first. Without a word the boy stooped, grabbed one of the man's ankles +firmly, and, putting all his strength into the effort, pulled his foot +off the ground. The man lurched heavily and fell full length upon his +face, just escaping William, who stood upright, as Mrs. Moriarity, +talking volubly, plumped down on the man's back. "And here oi'll sit +till a p'licemon comes," she said; "you, William Turnpike, kape a +lukout for wan." And even as she said it a policeman came along and +took the drunken offender into custody. As the policeman marched his +prisoner away, Mrs. Moriarity turned to William, who was trying to +comfort the little Moriaritys, for those who had not been hurt were +crying as lustily from fear and sympathy as those who had. In the +short struggle with the man William's face had received a buffet that +had re-opened one of the scratches, and this was now bleeding somewhat +freely. +</P> + +<P> +"For the luv of heavin, Willyum, did that brute do that to you?" cried +Mrs. Moriarity. +</P> + +<P> +William tried to explain, but she never heard him. "It's good f'r him +Moriarity wasn't here or he'd a bruk his neck," she went on excitedly. +"Come on in," she ordered, "all ov yez; come on, Willyum." And William +went. She comforted her offspring and bathed William's face in warm +water, unheeding his protests and deaf to his explanation of the +original cause of his injuries. It was only after she had made him +drink a cup of tea and had sent the children out to their play again +that he was able to explain his errand. +</P> + +<P> +"And yu're a rint collector—a bhoy loike you! Think ov that now. +Willyum, yu're mother ought to be proud ov yez. Sure an' oi'll pay the +rint: oi'd clane forgotten this was the day, but oi've some money by +me, bhoy, an' yez can have it." She escorted him to the door after the +rent had been paid over, patting him on the head, calling him a hero, +and telling him that "the rint wud always be rady for the loikes ov +him." And at the door, in the open light of day, she flung her arms +around his neck. "God bless yez, ye darlint," she said, and kissed him +warmly. William blushed all over, but went on his way rejoicing. +Whimple had told him that the other two tenants were always on time, +and this day William found it to be so. +</P> + +<P> +It was nearly six o'clock when he started back to the office, one hand +holding the rents thrust deep into a pocket. Whimple, who had been +growing anxious at the boy's long absence, and had been blaming himself +for asking him to do the work, met him half-way to the office. "I was +a little bit worried," he said simply; "I'm afraid I made a mistake +putting so much responsibility on you, William." +</P> + +<P> +But when, in the inner room of the office, William laid down the money +he had collected with the laconic statement, "It's kinder slow work," +Whimple's misgivings fled. +</P> + +<P> +"Bully for you, William," he said enthusiastically. "You're a winner. +There's a new day dawning for me—and for you. I have had two new +clients in to-day. You've brought me luck, boy." +</P> + +<P> +And William grinned delightedly. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap07"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER VII +</H3> + +<P> +For a week before the first appearance in vaudeville of "Flo Dearmore," +Tommy Watson's behaviour alarmed his friends. He ate little; it was +plain to those who met him daily that he slept little, and William +Adolphus Turnpike confided to Whimple that Tommy was "shaping up for +the asylum." "He don't know what he's sayin' half the time, and the +other half he ain't sayin' anything, he's just singing Scotch songs, +and Tommy's singing ain't much diff'rent to the hootin' of a factory +whistle," he said earnestly. +</P> + +<P> +"You sing some old country songs pretty well yourself, William." +</P> + +<P> +"Pa says so, and so does Ma, but——" he paused. +</P> + +<P> +"Well?" +</P> + +<P> +"Well—I ain't laying out to be no singer. Tommy took me to one of +them singing factories one day, and the feller what heard me says, +'Well,' he says, 'he has a sweet enough voice, but that's about all for +him.'" +</P> + +<P> +"That was encouraging though." +</P> + +<P> +"But I ain't hankering to get my living by singing. Anyway, that's not +worrying me now—it's Tommy. Mister Epstein says he can guess, but he +won't tell." +</P> + +<P> +"Guess what's troubling Tommy?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes—and I wish I did. Maybe I could help—if I am only a boy." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, we'll have to go slowly, William; it won't do to intrude on a +man's private affairs." +</P> + +<P> +"That's what Jimmy Duggan said when he laid out the burglar what was +crackin' his safe in the coal yard office; only this is diff'rent; +nobody ain't swipin' Tommy's money. I asked him and he says to me, +'Willyum, you know what our old friend Bill Shakespeare says.' And I +says, 'What?' 'Well,' he says, 'Bill has a few lines to say it don't +matter much who swipes me purse, it's what hits me heart that counts.'" +</P> + +<P> +"Um—well, that may be Tommy's version of it: Shakespeare's was +somewhat different." +</P> + +<P> +There the conversation dropped. Whimple thought no more about it until +the following Monday night when he received from Epstein an invitation +to go to the Variety with him. He met the old comedian at the door of +the theatre, and found Watson and William with him. They had seats in +the front row of the balcony. Epstein and Whimple sat together, Watson +next to the barrister, and William next to Watson. It was a fair bill +as vaudeville bills go, with Flo Dearmore about half-way down on the +programme. Whimple noticed that Watson paid no heed to the various +turns, though William was revelling in them. But when Flo Dearmore's +number went up he saw Watson lean forward with his arms on the rail in +front of him, and even in the vague light of the semi-darkened theatre +he noticed that his face was pale and drawn. The very simplicity of +"the turn" constituted one of its greatest charms. Flo came on the +stage and sang in a pure contralto voice several old country songs. A +pretty woman she was, not tall, but gracefully formed, with dark blue +eyes and a wealth of black hair, crowning a well-shaped head. She was +a remarkably expressive singer—you saw the scenes of her songs as +clearly as though you were wandering through them with Flo by your +side. The applause was heartier with every song; it grew into an +outburst of cheering when she sang "Come Back to Erin:" and at its +close bowed and smiled her acknowledgments. She would have left the +stage then, but the audience would not have it. Again and again she +advanced and bowed her thanks, and again and again the cheering rolled +out. Finally the lights went up, once more she stepped to the front of +the stage, nodded to the orchestra leader, who waved his baton, and +began "Loch Lomond." Sweet and clear the voice rose and fell; they +cheered after the first verse; they cheered again at the close of the +second; and then—she saw Tommy Watson, who was staring straight at +her, his face brighter now, his eyes aflame, his lips slightly parted. +What was it that brought the tears to her eyes; that made her falter +and sway a little, and then stand silent and helpless while the +orchestra twice started the air for the third verse, and the audience +begin to grow restless? +</P> + +<P> +The stage manager, alarmed and worried, was about to ring down the +curtain when, from the balcony, a clear boyish voice took up the song. +All eyes were turned in that direction. Flo Dearmore herself flung out +her hands as though urging the people to listen and the orchestra to +play on. Whimple started from his seat and then sat down again on +Epstein's sharp "Leave him alone," and William, looking down on the +stage, unconscious of anything but the vision of helpless loveliness +there, sang in his sweet boyish voice:— +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +"The wild flowers spring, and the wee birdies sing,<BR> +And in sunshine the waters are gleaming,<BR> +But the broken heart, it kens nae second spring,<BR> +Though the waeful may cease frae their greetin'."<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +She joined him then in the refrain, both keeping perfect time:— +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +"Oh! you'll tak' the high road and I'll tak' the low road,<BR> +And I'll be in Scotland afore ye,<BR> +But me an' my true love will never meet again,<BR> +On the bonnie, bonnie banks o' Loch Lomond."<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +There followed a scene the like of which the Variety had never +witnessed. For long minutes the applause and cheering echoed and +re-echoed through the theatre. Everybody told everybody else what a +clever act it was; but they had been "on to it" from the first. Scores +of people confided to other scores that they had noticed the lad come +into the theatre and take the seat reserved for him. They wondered how +old he was; if he was "her brother," and between times they hoped that +there would be a repeat. +</P> + +<P> +But as a "repeater" William would not have been a success. He was +trembling and almost hysterical when he sat down, and Tommy Watson was +in almost as bad a condition. Whimple was uneasy; Epstein only seemed +to be cool. He passed the word along, and, as the curtain went up for +the next act, the four friends quietly left their seats and walked down +the stairs into the main entrance of the theatre. Here they were met +by the manager, who seized Epstein by the arm. "Say, 'Chuck," he said +excitedly, "that was a great stunt. How much will the kid take for the +week?" +</P> + +<P> +Epstein smiled and turned to William. "I wouldn't do it again for a +hundred dollars a night," said William pointedly, "and I don't know +what I did it for anyway." +</P> + +<P> +"But, see here, my boy," said the manager, "there's big money in it for +you—say——" +</P> + +<P> +William, however, was already at the door, and Whimple, not wholly +understanding what lay behind Epstein's murmured, "Sorry—but I'll have +to explain later," followed him. +</P> + +<P> +The manager was talking now to Tommy. "Flo Dearmore wants to see you, +Mr. Watson," he said. "Do you know her?" +</P> + +<P> +Tommy nodded. "Come along then—you coming too, Epstein?" +</P> + +<P> +"No." The old comedian smiled affectionately on Tommy as the latter +went off with the manager, and then walked away slowly, his lips moving +as though he was communing with himself. +</P> + +<P> +At the door of the dressing-room the manager left Tommy, who knocked +gently. The door was opened at once by a coloured maid of uncertain +age, who turned to her mistress at the sight of Tommy. "It's a gent, +honey," she said, and Flo, who was already in street attire, turned to +the door. "Come in, Tommy Watson," she said quietly. "Toots," to the +maid, "leave us a little while." +</P> + +<P> +Tommy stood near the door, his eyes sparkling, his cheeks full of +colour now, his hands rigid by his side. Flo waited, her own cheeks +burning, her heart beating fast. Tommy came a little nearer to her, +and, "It seems like a long, long time since you went on the stage, Flo +Dearmore," he said. +</P> + +<P> +She nodded, and recovering a little of her dashing self, answered, +"It's only ten years, Tommy." +</P> + +<P> +"No," said Tommy, "it's more than that—it's all of twenty." +</P> + +<P> +"Tommy!" +</P> + +<P> +"I'm forty and you're thirty—think of that, Flo, and you were ten the +first time I saw you on the stage. Don't you remember the pantomime in +the old schoolhouse? You were the Queen of the Fairies, and——" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, but I was still a school-girl." +</P> + +<P> +"And your heart was already set upon the stage. I've never forgotten +that night, Flo; such a winsome little fairy you were." +</P> + +<P> +"But—but——" she faltered. +</P> + +<P> +"I did—I tell you," he asserted stoutly, as though she had +contradicted him—"I fell in love with you that night; I watched you +grow into young womanhood, Flo; and always—and always—you filled my +heart." +</P> + +<P> +"Don't, Tommy." +</P> + +<P> +"And when I asked you—and when you laughed——" he broke off abruptly. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't," she pleaded—"don't, Tommy. It was cruel of me——" +</P> + +<P> +He came nearer still—his arms outstretched now. She rose with a +swift, "No, no, Tommy, I cannot—not yet—wait a little longer—give me +a little time," and there was a note of appeal in her voice. She went +on rapidly. "I must feel that I can give you all that you would have, +Tommy. There is no other man—believe me—and my work—my work—well, +it is not all now. There are times when—" and again she halted. Then +looking at him bravely, she said, "Tommy, if you are of the same mind +at the end of the season, and there is no other woman," this with a +gleam of mischief in her eyes, "perhaps I'll know for sure." +</P> + +<P> +And Tommy, the silver-tongued auctioneer, the man whose eloquence +opened people's pockets and made them buy bargains they didn't want, +meekly accepted her rebuff when she refused even to allow him to kiss +her hand, and left her when she said, "It must be good-night, Tommy, +now." +</P> + +<P> +The next morning the newspapers with one accord paid tribute to the +cleverness of the Loch Lomond scene in "Flo Dearmore's turn," and at +every remaining performance it was repeated. But William had no part +in it. A choir boy from a city church got "the big money" the manager +had talked of. And Tommy Watson, who attended every performance during +the week for just so long as Flo Dearmore's act lasted, began to eat +like a man who had many slim meals to make up for. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap08"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER VIII +</H3> + +<P> +The truth as to William's turn at the Variety having gradually become +known among his friends, he assumed, in the opinion of various of his +youthful associates, an importance not hitherto felt for him, and this +manifested itself in the form of an invitation to take part in "Uncle +Tom's Cabin," to be presented by the Berkeley Junior Dramatic Society. +William's eager consent was somewhat dampened when he was informed by +the young and ambitious manager of the production that he would have to +take the part of a small coloured boy and that there were no lines for +him—particularly. "You'll just come in kind of incidental," said the +manager—who was not much older than William—"and sing a piece." +</P> + +<P> +"Not much. No singing for mine." +</P> + +<P> +"Pshaw! It'll be dead easy, and I bet it'll make a hit too. You know +the stunt—lights down—spotlight on the stage—you in it singing in a +low sweet voice 'Loch Lomond.'" +</P> + +<P> +"What!" +</P> + +<P> +"Sure thing." +</P> + +<P> +"What in Sam Hill has 'Loch Lomond' gotter do with 'Uncle Tom's +Cabin!'" demanded William truculently. "Them niggers never even heard +of it, I'll bet." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, this ain't no ordinary Uncle Tom's show, let me tell you that," +retorted the manager. "We've doctored it up quite a bit. It's too +slow for our bunch the way it is put on by most companies." +</P> + +<P> +"But 'Loch Lomond' in a nigger show! Gee! you're crazy. Next thing I +know you'll want me to wear kilts." +</P> + +<P> +"I never thought of that," said the manager thoughtfully; "but, say, +that would be an elegant stunt. Let's do it." +</P> + +<P> +"Not with my legs," said William. "Didjer ever see 'em? They're about +as fat as fishing rods." +</P> + +<P> +"All the better. It'll bring the house down, I tell you." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I don't want any house falling on me the way that'll be liable +to when it sees me in kilts and me face black—'oh! mother, mother, +mother, pin some clothes on me,'" he concluded sarcastically. But in +the end William was won over, and he entered into the rehearsals with a +whole-hearted determination that gladdened the manager's heart, and +made half of the rest of the cast jealous. +</P> + +<P> +You who discriminate in the choice of plays; who talk learnedly of the +art of Irving, Mansfield, Forbes Robertson, and Miller; you should have +seen that presentation given to a packed house. There were all of +three hundred people in the Berkeley Junior Dramatic Society's club +house that night, and every one of them parted with coin of the realm +to the amount of one quarter of a dollar for admission, and never a one +complained that he or she didn't get all of it back in real value. +</P> + +<P> +The scenery and all accessories, including the costumes, were +home-made. Who can value the loving care and thoughtfulness that +mothers and sisters put into every stitch of those costumes; with what +interest they studied the play, as "doctored," in order that the +garments might be historically correct? And who shall fittingly +describe William's kilts, as made by Mrs. Turnpike from a Scottish +shawl? William appeared in the first scene, without having anything to +say, but the costume spoke for him. There was a shout of laughter as +he walked across the stage for the first time, to be renewed when a +shrill voice invited all and sundry to "pipe them legs." The audience +piped them—they were encased in black stockings—and laughed again, +whereupon William advanced to the front and, pointing an accusing +finger in the direction of the original "piper," shouted, "I'm on to +you, Tom Edwards: everybody knows you're so bow-legged you wouldn't +dare wear anything but long pants." It took the audience some time to +recover its equilibrium, but eventually the play proceeded to the scene +where Eliza made the perilous trip across the floating ice. +</P> + +<P> +Eliza, a buxom girl with a heavy tread, carrying a large rag doll, made +the flight very slowly. She didn't trust "them cakes of ice," knowing +full well that packing cases, however stoutly built, and however ably +disguised in white cheese cloth, were parlous things for a lady of her +weight. The prompter urged her in an audible voice to get a move on, +to which she retorted sharply, "Shut up, I ain't going to break any of +my legs for fun." +</P> + +<P> +But when the baying of the bloodhounds, faithfully imitated by the +entire company, only partially concealed in the wings, was joined by +the barking of the real live dog in the show, she began to move a +little faster. She moved faster still when the real dog, a fair-sized +animal of uncertain breed, wearing a stout muzzle, broke away from the +"crool slave masters" and dashed towards her, and just as she lit on +the last cake of ice it gave way. The excited and hilarious applause +of the audience, together with Eliza's frantic screams, struck panic to +the heart of the already frightened dog, which, turning towards the +foot-lights, made a flying leap into the audience. Fortunately it +landed on the stout knees of William's Pa, and that worthy, firmly +grasping it by the neck, and thus effectually stopping its barking, +carried it to the main door and threw it into the street. Whereupon +the scene proceeded, the stage carpenter and his staff of one having +meanwhile extricated Eliza from the cake of ice and started her on the +concluding portion of her journey to safety. It was then that William, +burning to distinguish himself, and having a vague notion that "Chuck" +Epstein, who was in the audience, had once declared that the actor who +could interpolate telling lines in his part was on a fair way to fame, +advanced solemnly to the front, regardless of the dropping curtain +which landed on his shoulders and flopped ungracefully around him, to +declare in his loudest voice, "And I wish to say, that the man what +hits a woman is a coward." William and the curtain were somehow parted +by the now irate manager, but the audience insisted on the "nigger +kiltie" returning to the front, while they gave him another hearty +round of applause. +</P> + +<P> +A lecture behind the curtain, in which the manager, the stage +carpenter, Eliza and Legree, and Uncle Tom combined, seared William's +soul to the centre, though he said not a word, and the play went on. +</P> + +<P> +The death-bed scene, described in the home-made programmes as the +"grand finally," included the appearance of "the sweet boy singer, +William Adolphus Turnpike, in 'Loch Lomond.'" Little Eva was dying +beautifully when the pianist, who was not at all merciful to the +uncertain age and still more uncertain tone of his instrument, began +the air. William, who was one of the group around the bed, advanced +and began to sing. The audience ceased its snickering after the first +few words to listen intently. To many it was a beloved song; they +could forget the incongruous surroundings in the sweet memories it +recalled, and to others it appealed, as many old-world songs do, by its +plaintive sweetness. William was making a hit, and he knew it. Boy +though he was, he felt to the full the bond of sympathy between himself +and the audience. There was a queer sensation in his heart as he began +the last verse, and he wondered if he could finish it. He had reached +the second line when the voice of the prompter, imploringly pitched, +begged him to "hurry it up; little Eva's bed's a falling down." +William turned sharply toward the bed and, as he turned, something gave +way at his waist. He rushed to the death-bed, snatched therefrom the +coverlet, wrapped it majestically around him, and walked off the stage, +leaving behind him a little plaid heap—the kilts. The curtain dropped +suddenly in response to the manager's frantic signals. Little Eva, the +boy who had also taken the part of Legree, jumped from the bed +hysterically crying, "You spoiled me part," grappled madly with the +manager, and while the battle raged, William Adolphus Turnpike, +coverlet and all, slipped quietly out of the back door and raced +frantically for home, only two short blocks away. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap09"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER IX +</H3> + +<P> +"When I feel gloomy, I'm good and gloomy," said William to Lucien +Torrance one sunshiny afternoon in June, as they sat together in +Whimple's office, their respective "bosses" being out "on business," +another way of saying that they had gone to the baseball match. +</P> + +<P> +"This is one day when I'm gloomy, and I just gotter gloom—it ain't no +good your buttin' in and telling me to cheer up and all that kinder +rot. No, sir, I just gotter gloom till it's all over." +</P> + +<P> +"What have you got to 'gloom' for to-day?" ventured Lucien, "it's a +bright, cheery day; the sun is——" +</P> + +<P> +"The sun might be the moon for all I care," interrupted William +impatiently. "I got up gloomy, and likely as not I'll go to bed +gloomy. Gee! this is a rotten world sometimes." +</P> + +<P> +"Maybe you're ill," suggested Lucien. +</P> + +<P> +"Ill nothing—don't you ever feel gloomy?" +</P> + +<P> +"Not without good cause." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I'd just hate to be you. Sometimes a song, or somebody humming +a tune, sets me gloomin', or something I read, or sometimes it ain't +nothing at all that I could tell. It just comes and sticks around till +I don't know whether I'd sooner be a gloomer or a merry-ha-ha feller, +with a smile for everybody and everything. I uster get that way in +school sometimes, and I hated school bad enough, except the play time, +but I sometimes wish I was back again." +</P> + +<P> +"Why?" +</P> + +<P> +"How the dickens do I know? Don't you?" +</P> + +<P> +"No—I've made up my mind to a business career, and——" +</P> + +<P> +William broke in again. "Well, you cert'nly have your mind well +trained. If I had a mind like that, I'd take it out and dump it into +the Bay every once in a while." +</P> + +<P> +"How could I do that? I'd have to commit suicide." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, you're a living suicide anyway, with a mind like yours," said +William. "It's too regular, that's what it is." +</P> + +<P> +They sat silent for a long time. Lucien was afraid to speak, and +William was just "glooming." He turned to his comrade at last, and +began, "Say, whenever I get the gloom on me, sooner or later I get to +thinkin' about the first day Pete went to school. That was two years +ago—and he's nine now, and maybe he don't like school. Say, he'd go +without a meal rather'n be late. He's got that medal bug in his brain +pan; you know the game, never late and good conduct for about seventeen +years, and you get a medal that's pretty to look at and no darn good to +help you get a job. There's one good thing about Pete though, even if +he is a kid." He paused. +</P> + +<P> +"What is it?" +</P> + +<P> +"He can fight. Say, Lucien, you'd oughter see him at it. Why, last +week he had three fights with one feller." +</P> + +<P> +"What for?" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, the guy licked him the first two times, and didn't know any +better than to go around and beef about it. So Pete tackled him again +and licked him good and plenty, and every day since then Pete asks him +does he wanter fight again, and he says, 'No.' That's the way with +some folks, they know when they've had enough, but Pete never does; he +just stays with it till he wins out, then he looks for another fight. +But he's cunning, Pete is, he don't fight around the school none—Pete +wants that medal. +</P> + +<P> +"But I was going to tell you about the first day he went to school. +One morning Pa says to Ma, 'Well, what about Pete starting school?' he +says. +</P> + +<P> +"And Ma gets kinder white and her lips is trembly, and she says, 'I +guess he'll have to go,' and she says to Pete, 'Do you wanter go to +school, Pete?' and Pete says he's crazy to go. +</P> + +<P> +"So Pa says to me, 'You'd better take him along, Willyum, I guess +there's no need for me to go tottin' up there.' +</P> + +<P> +"But Ma says to Pa, 'I'd kinder like you to take him, Joe, the first +day,' she says, 'and I'll go and meet him at noon,' she says. +</P> + +<P> +"And you bet Pa does what Ma asks him, he's that set on her. So Pa +takes him, and I seen Ma crying when they starts, so I pikes out after +'em quick, for it makes me feel kinder queer to see Ma and Pa feeling +bad about anything. +</P> + +<P> +"Pa goes to the principal, and he asks Pete the same old fool things +they ask every boy and girl what goes to school, and finds out Pete can +read and write some, so he sticks him in the first form, and, of +course, it's a lady teacher. She bends down and pats Pete on the +head—he's gotter great mop of curls—and says, 'Well, my little man,' +she says, 'I hope you'll be a good scholar.' 'Sure,' says Pete, +'anything to oblige a lady.' So she laughs and says, 'What did you say +your full name was?' And Pete shuffles around some, and then he says, +'Peter Cornelius Turnpike,' he says. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, that set some of the kids a snickerin'; and one of 'em, a boy +about Pete's size, says, 'Gee! what a name.' Pete walks over to him +and says, 'My Ma likes it, and anything she likes goes, see,' and with +that he pastes the kid one in the eye, and right there they goes for +each other fierce. +</P> + +<P> +"Sure the teacher stopped 'em. Didjer ever know a woman that wouldn't +stop boys fightin' or get somebody to stop 'em? She stops 'em all +right, and keeps Pete in after school to give him a spiel about being +good and a credit to the school and his Ma and Pa, and right there she +plants the idea in Pete about getting a medal. +</P> + +<P> +"When I gets out after school there's no Pete, so I ask some of the +kids, and they says the teacher's talking to him. I waited around, and +all of a sudden I sees Ma coming along, and I'm just going to speak to +her when along comes Pa. He lets on he's just coming that way on +accounter business, but his face gets a kinder red, and Ma laughs a +glad little laugh. And when I told 'em about Pete being kept in, they +both looks awful solemn and plunks down on the steps to wait for him. +Pa, he takes one'r Ma's hands and tells her to cheer up, and Ma says +she can't, she feels gloomy, and the house was awful lonesome with both +the boys away. So, just when I think there's going to be a crying +match, out comes Pete with his face a shining. Ma grabbed him and +kissed him like she'd never stop, and Pa hoists him on his shoulder, +and the procesh starts for home. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, both Ma and Pa were for Pete staying home that afternoon, but +not for Pete. He was crazy for school. He told 'em what he'd done, +and Pa laughs and Ma tells him he'd orter be ashamed to laugh at his +boy fightin' the first day he's at school. But Pa laughs some more and +says, 'It ain't a bad sign,' he says; 'they gotter fight some time or +other, and there's nothing like starting early,' he says. +</P> + +<P> +"So Pete and me goes off to school in the afternoon, and Pa says to Ma, +'Keep a stiff upper lip, Ma, the boys are all right,' he says, and I +guess Pa knows. +</P> + +<P> +"There's quite a bunch in our family now, and some of 'em ain't old +enough for school yet, and I s'pose Ma 'll feel gloomy about 'em when +they start, same as she did about Pete." +</P> + +<P> +He rose, put on his cap, and informed Lucien that he was going to look +at the bulletin boards to see how the baseball team was doing. "I hope +they'll lose," he added. +</P> + +<P> +"Why?" Lucien demanded. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, they've lost three games in a row now to the tail enders, and if +they lose this one it'll make me gloomier'n ever, and maybe I'll be so +gloomy there'll be no sense in it, and I'll begin to cheer up." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap10"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER X +</H3> + +<P> +It was Miss Whimple who heard the first detailed account of William's +experiences as a rent collector, and she heard it from William's own +lips. She sent a note to the office one day, asking Whimple to send +the lad up, ostensibly with some papers, "but in reality," she added, +"because I want him to take luncheon with me; I want to ask him about +some things." +</P> + +<P> +"And if she wants to ask him she'll ask him, all right," Whimple mused +to himself, "and William 'll have to answer, for Aunt is a remarkably +bright woman, and a remarkably direct woman, too." +</P> + +<P> +To William he said, "You'll take these papers up to Miss Whimple, and +you'll take luncheon with her at her house——" +</P> + +<P> +"I'll—I'll—what's that?" +</P> + +<P> +"Take luncheon with her." +</P> + +<P> +"Gee!" said William, and then—"Say, honest, Mister Whimple, has she +gotter bunch of servants?" +</P> + +<P> +"No—only two." +</P> + +<P> +"A butler?" +</P> + +<P> +"No—no, a maid, and a man who looks after the grounds and the horse +and that kind of work." +</P> + +<P> +"Gosh, I'm glad of that. The idea of me eatin' with rich folks with +one of them solemn butlers that you read about standing behind me +chair—why, honest, I'd choke to death on the first bite." +</P> + +<P> +Leaving Whimple, William marched into Simmons' office and demanded of +Lucien Torrance, "Have you gotter clean han'kerchief?" +</P> + +<P> +Lucien said he had, and produced one in proof of his assertion. +William snatched it from him; seized the jug of ice water, the common +property of the occupants, soused one corner of the handkerchief, and +calmly, but vigorously, wiped his face with it, using the unwetted +portion to dry his visage. Lucien's protests had no effect on William. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't get mad, Lucien," he said soothingly. "I'm invited out to eat +with a lady. I gotter keep my own han'kerchief clean, and you wouldn't +like me to go with a dirty face, I know. Just hang it outer the window +and it'll be dry in a minute," and thereupon he departed. +</P> + +<P> +Miss Whimple lived a considerable distance beyond the then city limits. +She occupied what had once been a farm-house, solidly built, and +surrounded by several acres of land, including a small but excellent +orchard. She owned a good deal of land in the neighbourhood, now one +of Toronto's finest residential districts. +</P> + +<P> +As William turned into the driveway leading to the front entrance, he +was hailed by a man who was cutting the grass around one of the flower +beds. "What'll you be wantin', laddie?" said the grass-cutter. +</P> + +<P> +"To see Miss Whimple," answered William readily. +</P> + +<P> +"And what for?" +</P> + +<P> +William eyed the questioner, and with a gleam of mischief in his eyes, +replied quietly, "On business." +</P> + +<P> +"Aye—business, they'll all be saying that. She'll no see ye, ma lad, +so you better be tellin' me, and maybe I'll be able to tell ye the way +to be goin' aboot it." +</P> + +<P> +"What part of Scotland did you come from?" asked William sweetly. The +man glowered at him—the boy went on, "You could never deny you came +from Scotland, the thistles is just stickin' out on you in bunches." +</P> + +<P> +"You're a verra cheeky young——" began the man, but William cut him +short with, "Save your breath, Scotty, I know more about myself than +you can ever guess." And then changing his tone, he asked sharply, "Do +you own this place?" +</P> + +<P> +"Miss Whimple is the owner, young man, and I'm thinking——" +</P> + +<P> +"Don't—don't get to thinkin'. It'll stop the grass-cutting if you do; +but seeing that you don't own the place I guess it's no good asking you +what you'll take for it——" +</P> + +<P> +"Ye young——" began the man, but whatever else he might have said he +kept to himself, for at that moment a woman appeared at the front +entrance of the house and called, "John, ye'll be leaving the laddie +alone—Miss Whimple's expectin' him." +</P> + +<P> +William walked up to the woman, lifted his cap, and asked in his best +manner, "That gentleman back there a relative of yours?" She smiled at +the audacity of it perhaps, but answered, "Aye, the gowk's marrit till +me, but I'm sometimes feared I made a mistake takin' peety on him. +Will ye come in—if your name happens to be Tur'r'rnpike." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, it's something like that," answered William cordially as he +stepped inside, "but it don't often get so many 'r's' slung into it." +</P> + +<P> +Miss Whimple appeared in the hallway and extended a hand to William, +who squeezed it heartily and hoped the lady was well. She was, she +said. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I'm glad to hear it," said William. +</P> + +<P> +"Umph—it doesn't take the boys long to follow the example of the men. +Now, you don't really care a cent about my health, and you know it!" +</P> + +<P> +"You're wrong, Miss Whimple," he answered, and there was earnestness in +his tone. "I like people I know to be well—most of them anyway." +</P> + +<P> +"You don't care whether the others are or not?" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, some of 'em—some of 'em. You see there's a few wouldn't know +what to do with themselves if they was well, and the others—well, +never mind 'em." +</P> + +<P> +That was a rare luncheon. William ate heartily and praised the +cooking, two things that pleased both Miss Whimple and the maid. "I'm +good and hungry," he said by way of explanation, "and Pa always says it +ain't no disgrace to be hungry, and it's only a chump what won't eat +all he can when he gets next to it. There's enough as can't get what +they want to eat, he says, when they need it most, without anybody's +what's hungry playing manners when they can get it." +</P> + +<P> +He liked Miss Whimple's direct manner of speech and her habit of +insisting upon answers to her determined questioning. It was in answer +to her demand that he gave the story of his experiences as a rent +collector, and he gave it well. He started out easily enough, but was +quick to see that she was following him with keen interest; he noticed, +too, that the maid had ceased altogether the "clearing away" process, +and was standing by her mistress, listening with shining eyes and mouth +slightly open. Their interest thrilled him, it mattered not that the +audience numbered only two—it was to him as though nothing in the +world mattered but the recital of his story in such a manner as that +those two should live it with him. He rose as the recital proceeded +and paced the floor, using the chairs occasionally to indicate the +positions of himself or some of the others who had played their parts. +And the women laughed and applauded, or murmured words of sympathy and +understanding as the tale proceeded. It came to an end somewhat +abruptly, William suddenly embarrassed, half ashamed, altogether shy, +longing to get out of the house and back to the office. "And that's +all," he ended curtly. +</P> + +<P> +"And did Mrs. Moriarity say anything when she kissed you?" asked Miss +Whimple slyly. William blushed—he did not often feel so hot and +uncomfortable at a mere question. He felt a sudden rush of anger at +himself for blushing, and some annoyance at Miss Whimple as the cause +of it, and it was only after she had repeated the question that he +answered, "Yes—she—she—says, 'God bless ye, darlint.'" +</P> + +<P> +They allowed him to go finally, but it was only after Miss Whimple had +exacted from him a promise that he would bring Pete and the other young +members of the Turnpike family to spend a Saturday afternoon with her. +</P> + +<P> +The maid accompanied him to the door, and stood watching him as he +walked down the path towards the gate. William noticed that the +grass-cutting operations had brought the maid's husband closer to the +house. "John," said the maid, "ye'll nae be needin' tae stop the +laddie wi' ony of yer fulish questions. If there's onything to tell +aboot him, I'll tell it." +</P> + +<P> +The man looked at her sharply, and William, as he passed him, said +softly, "Gee! but you married men have the hard times." And he ducked +in time to avoid a good-sized piece of wood that the man hurled at him. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap11"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XI +</H3> + +<P> +William was not long in fulfilling his promise to Miss Whimple to take +his younger brothers and sisters up to spend a Saturday afternoon at +her house. His mother started early on the task of getting them ready, +and spent an anxious hour keeping them clean and tidy until William +arrived from the office and "cleaned up." She watched them, with pride +and tenderness on her face, as they departed, Bessie and Joey, aged six +and four years respectively, in front, where, as William put it, he +could "keep an eye on 'em;" William and Pete, with Dolly, the baby, two +years old, toddling along between them. As a shepherd, William herded +them by street car and on foot, until they reached the Whimple house. +Miss Whimple was at the gate to meet them. "Here's the bunch, Miss +Whimple," he said smilingly, and then contrived to get in an aside to +Pete, "Now you mind what I said about behavin' or I'll knock your block +off when we gets away." +</P> + +<P> +The youngsters were timid and shy. They hung to William closely for a +while, with hazy notions only of what to do with themselves, and from +sheer embarrassment rebuffing the kindly advances of Miss Whimple and +the maid. They began to feel more at home when Miss Whimple suggested +a tour of the grounds, and a visit to the barn to see the cows, two +fine Jerseys, and presently they began to talk to her and to one +another with freedom, all but Dolly. Miss Whimple, who was greatly +taken with the little toddler, noticed that William was particularly +tender toward her, his hands were ever ready to lift her, or guide her +over rough ground, he suited his steps to hers when she walked, and all +the time he kept up a running fire of baby talk. Dolly was all dimples +and smiles; she seemed to be perfectly happy and contented, but she +made no sound. It was some time before Miss Whimple noticed this, and +when she said to the little one, "Such a little pet, I'll warrant you +talk a lot to your mammy though," Dolly smiled at her and then turned +to William her wonderful brown eyes full of questioning. William +smiled back, "She likes oo, Dolly," he said softly, and then looked at +Miss Whimple, his eyes moist, his lips trembling a little. He tried to +speak, but could not find words. But Miss Whimple understood. Her +hands went to her breast. "Oh—" she murmured, "I—I—didn't +understand, William, I—I——" Down on her knees she went near one of +the flower beds, pulled therefrom a rose, and, with the tears +streaming, pinned the flower to Dolly's dress, saying half to herself, +"Deaf and dumb—deaf and dumb—poor little mite. God bless +you—and—help you." +</P> + +<P> +Thereafter she made Dolly her special care, and the child seemed to +like it, making occasional dashes on to the lawn to join William and +the others, whose restraint having passed were playing with joyous +zest, under the direction of the elder brother. +</P> + +<P> +It was getting near to tea time when "Chuck" Epstein appeared on the +scene. Tired of their play, the children had assembled on the +verandah, Dolly sitting on Miss Whimple's knee looking over a picture +book, the others listening to one of William's fairy stories. "Chuck," +whose acquaintance with Miss Whimple dated back many years, took a seat +near them. He was joyfully greeted by William and "the bunch," and +Miss Whimple felt something like a pang of jealousy when Dolly wriggled +from her knee and went to Epstein. It was only for a moment though, +the child was palpably so delighted to be with the old comedian, whose +smile of greeting to her was wonderfully expressive. He tenderly +lifted her to his knees, and with an arm around her little body, held +her close to his side. William was dethroned, and he knew it, and +accepted the situation quite calmly, though he did not laugh so +heartily as the others when Pete demanded, "Tell us one of your +stories, Mr. Epstein, they beat Billy's to bits." And Epstein told +one, and then another, and another. He acted them too. The children +screamed with delight as he changed his voice to each character of the +story, yes, and changed his very appearance as they watched him, and +all so naturally, so easily, that they seemed to be hearing and seeing +so many different people taking part in the unfolding of the tales. +They were almost hanging to the old man, when the maid appeared with +the announcement that tea was ready. They entered the airy +dining-room, crowding around "Chuck," all begging to be allowed to sit +next him, and the argument grew so heated that William had to settle +it. "Dolly on one side," he said with emphasis, "and Bessie on the +other, and everybody keeps quiet or gets out," and then in a loud +whisper to Pete and Joey, "Don't you be makin' hogs of yourselves. No +more'n three pieces of cake, mind." +</P> + +<P> +But the terror of William's threats faded before the hunger of "the +bunch," and the determination of Miss Whimple and the maid, to say +nothing of Epstein, to see that it was appeased. Pete ate until even +to chew became a decided effort, and when Miss Whimple pressed him to +take "just one more piece of pie," he answered wearily, "It ain't no +good, Miss Whimple—I'm full to the collar bone." +</P> + +<P> +William, who had been glaring at him for some time, remarked +scathingly, "Gee, you'd think you never got a square meal at home," to +which Pete promptly retorted, "Well, I wasn't going to let Miss Whimple +think I couldn't eat her cooking." +</P> + +<P> +Tired, happy, and full, William and "the bunch" departed at last, Miss +Whimple and Epstein going with them to the electric car—a quarter of a +mile away from the house—the old comedian, despite the protests of +Miss Whimple and William, carrying Dolly all the way. He kissed her +gently as he placed her in the car, and the child threw her arms around +his neck and pressed her little cheek against his for a moment ere he +left. +</P> + +<P> +When the car had disappeared from view, Epstein escorted Miss Whimple +home. They walked in silence for a little distance, and then she asked +him suddenly, "When did you first meet William?" +</P> + +<P> +"Three years ago," he said smilingly. "It was a chance meeting. You +know," with a touch of sadness in his voice, "the people of my race are +not always kindly treated—even in so new a country as this—and so +big," he went on musingly. "Who shall say what Canada is to be in the +future?—I see things, I see things—a great northern power; men of +many races blended together in one great nationality under the British +flag. Well for her that her statesmen build truly, well for her——" +he broke off abruptly, and with a quiet, "I beg your pardon, we were +talking of William. I was walking along the street one day, in a +section of the city where many of our people live, when a 'rags and +bones man' came along trundling a well-laden push cart. Three young +roughs began to bait him. They threw his cap into the middle of the +street, overturned his cart, and began to attack him when William's +father intervened. He was driving his express wagon near the scene. +He jumped from the wagon, laid one of the roughs out with his fist, and +turned on the other two. William, who had been riding with his Pa, +took a hand in the proceedings then, climbing from the wagon and using +the whip on the roughs. They turned and fled. William and his Pa +helped the 'rags and bones man' to right his push cart, and then I +introduced myself to them. The father turned my commendation aside +with a good-natured remark to the effect that three to one wasn't fair +play, and William added, 'What Pa says goes,' and there you are. He's +a brave lad, a good lad, full of mischief I know, but—but he's full of +determination too. William will go a long way. I will not live to see +it; my days are few now, but I'll die the happier," he added softly, +"for having known William Adolphus Turnpike." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap12"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XII +</H3> + +<P> +It was a big feeling William that reported for duty on the succeeding +Monday morning. "Importance" was written large on his face, and again +expressed in his every action. Lucien Torrance timidly ventured +several questions in the hope of elucidating the why and wherefore of +William's attitude without receiving any reply. "Say," drawled William +after another attempt on Lucien's part, "what's the difference between +you and a clam?" +</P> + +<P> +"I don't know." +</P> + +<P> +"Of course you don't; a fellow like you'd never know." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, what is the difference?" demanded Lucien desperately. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, a clam ain't no good unless it's baked, and that's what's the +matter with you, Lucien Torrance." Whereupon Lucien imitated a clam to +the extent of shutting his mouth and keeping it shut. +</P> + +<P> +In the afternoon, Whimple having departed to the law courts, where the +growth of his business was beginning to take him quite often, William +ordered Lucien to keep an eye on the office while he went across the +road to study the baseball scores. "The way them Torontos is playin' +on the road," he added by way of explanation, "has me goin'! They won +five outer the last six games, and they're up against the Buffaloes +to-day, and that's a hard team to beat. But Torontos can do it, +b'lieve me—two outer three from Buffaloes my guess—have you got any?" +</P> + +<P> +"No—I don't care who wins. Baseball doesn't interest me." +</P> + +<P> +"What's that! Say, you're the limit; the last—the very last limit. +Is there any game whatever that stirs your thick blood?" +</P> + +<P> +"Lawn tennis." +</P> + +<P> +"Lawn—Oh, cheese it, Lucien, cheese it. First thing I know you'll be +tellin' me you play chess too." +</P> + +<P> +"Indeed I do. Father is teaching me the game; we play nearly every +night." +</P> + +<P> +"Halt! who goes there?" William rolled out the words as though the +fate of armies depended on them. "The ch-e-eld wonder of the +cen-tury," he went on, waving his arms dramatically. "Pass the +ch-e-eld wonder and be careful with him." He walked around the +bewildered Lucien, pretending to examine his head very closely. "Ah," +he said, after the first scrutiny, "now I begin to tumble." His voice +was now low-pitched and full of pathos. "Now I'm getting on to the +reason for those grey hairs on so young a head." He placed one hand on +Lucien's shoulder, and covered his own eyes with the other. "Me +boy—m-boy," he murmured brokenly, "you're breaking my heart, my strong +manly heart what's held up this many a year—against who knows what. +Lucien, Lucien, you're burning the gas in both jets, to say nothing of +the escape in the middle. Leave me, boy—leave me to my grief." +</P> + +<P> +Lucien brushed William's hand off his shoulder and blurted out angrily, +"You're crazy." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I'd sooner be crazy, if I am crazy, than be sane the way you +are," returned William loftily. "'Chuck' Epstein says everybody's got +a looney streaker some kind; else, he says, they'd all die young. It's +a tough outlook for you, Lucien," he added as he departed. +</P> + +<P> +Ten minutes later William returned, bringing with him a fine bulldog +attached to a stout string. William's eyes were shining, and his lips +were parted in a wide grin of delight. "Say," he cried to Lucien, "get +on to the pup." +</P> + +<P> +Lucien didn't like the looks of the dog, and backed hastily away. +</P> + +<P> +"Aw gee, he won't eat you," said William disgustedly. "He's a good +one, a prize winner; and the cop says Briscombe the banker owns him." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, what are you doing with him?" +</P> + +<P> +"Me! The dog just nat-ur-ally adopted me, Lucien. I was standing +looking at the bulletins—and the Torontos is leadin', don't you forget +it—when I feels something rubbing at me leg, and here's his nibs +making up kinder friendly like. So I takes hold of the string and +hunts up a cop and tells him about it. And I says, 'He looks like a +good dog,' I says, 'I s'pose you can take him over to the station and +leave him till the owner's found.' And the cop says, 'Not for mine,' +he says, 'I ain't going off my beat to be a godfather to no dog. It +belongs to Mr. Bill Briscombe,' he says, 'and I'll bet he'll give you a +two spot if you take it to him.' So I goes along to Briscombe's bank, +and the place is shut up tighter'n a drum. Say, but them bankers has +the classy hours. And Briscombe lives about a mile north of the city +limits, so I guess I'll have to take the dog up there to-night." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, where are you going to put him in the meantime?" +</P> + +<P> +"I'll just hitch him up to Mr. Whimple's table. He won't be in till +near closing time, and then he'll just tell me I needn't stay, like he +usually does." +</P> + +<P> +And forthwith the dog was hitched. He did not display any decided +signs of displeasure, though evidently ill at ease. Lucien could not +be persuaded to go near the dog, but William was quite solicitous for +the animal's welfare. He fed it on tea biscuits, surreptitiously +abstracted from Lucien's luncheon box—that worthy being somewhat +partial to the delicacy. Also overlooking the formality of asking +permission, he used Lucien's cap as a holder for a liberal helping of +ice water from the office jug. The dog ate the biscuits, but spurned +the ice water, which William promptly emptied from the open window. +Then things happened. +</P> + +<P> +When the ice water fell, most of it fell upon the head of a +distinguished K.C., who was using his hat as a fan while he discussed +with an acquaintance some of the questions attendant upon a provincial +election then looming up. Some of the water sprinkled the K.C.'s +acquaintance. Both men looked up quickly enough to note drops of water +trickling from the sill of the open window, and as one, both turned and +dashed up the front stairway to Whimple's office. William's hearing +was acute; he did not like the sound of the hasty footsteps, and he was +quick to surmise the cause. He made for the back stairway and +descending in quick time, traversed the lane until, by a roundabout +way, he emerged on the street, and came to a standstill at a point on +the opposite side of the street, but in front of the office building. +</P> + +<P> +The K.C. and his acquaintance by this time had burst into the office +and dashed into Whimple's room on the run, not noticing the dog, over +which the former fell full length. The bulldog had no particular +grievance against the K.C., but he had a decided objection to playing +cushion to him, and he snapped at the first thing he could get his +teeth into. This, fortunately for the ornament of the bar, happened to +be his coat tail, and on this the dog took a firm and impassioned hold. +The K.C., by this time aware of the dog's presence, half rolled and +half scrambled toward the door, the dog hanging so determinedly to the +coat tails that, between the combined efforts of man and dog, the table +began to move, and moved until it stuck at the jambs of the door. The +dog could not go any further; the K.C. gave a final rolling jerk that +left the dog half choked, but plus a large section of coat tail. The +K.C. thereupon rose, dust-covered, his dignity gone, murder in his +heart, wrath on his face. +</P> + +<P> +Lucien Torrance seized this unfortunate moment to leave the office of +his employer and to enter that of William's. With a cry of +satisfaction, the K.C. sprang at him. "Now I have you, you young +villain," he shouted, and without more ado he posed the frightened and +dazed Lucien in an old-fashioned attitude across William's desk, and in +a manner that bespoke some knowledge, proceeded to thrash him. +</P> + +<P> +Lucien was screaming, "It wasn't me—it wasn't me," when Whimple +entered the office, also on the run, flung aside the perspiring K.C., +righted Lucien, whom, on his entrance, he had thought was William, and +demanded angrily the meaning of the disturbance. The K.C. wrathfully +explained from his point of view; Lucien tearfully, but firmly, +declared that he was in no way responsible. +"William—brought—the—dog—here," he sobbed, +"and—he—threw—the—water out of the window." There were cries for +"William," but no William responded, and all the time the dog, hanging +on to the captured piece of coat tail, surveyed the scene in calm +silence. +</P> + +<P> +Whimple and the K.C., after some further parleying, essayed the task of +releasing the dog and allowing the K.C.'s friend to leave Whimple's +room. But they found themselves confronting a problem that their legal +training could not solve. For the dog, thinking that they wanted his +trophy, laid the piece of coat tail on the floor, placed thereon one +paw, and bared his teeth for fight. Both men were angry; both men were +puzzled. Each urged the other to action, and each held the other +inferentially to be lacking in courage. +</P> + +<P> +It was Lucien who suggested a way out. "If the gentleman in Mr. +Whimple's room would get on the table from the back and cut the string, +the dog would run away, I'm sure." +</P> + +<P> +The plan was adopted, Whimple, Lucien, and the K.C. having first taken +a strategic position in the corridor leading to the rooms of Simmons, +the architect. The string was cut, and the bulldog, having again taken +the piece of coat tail between his teeth, walked slowly out of the +office and down the stairs to the street. William saw him emerge, and +ran across the road. The dog greeted him in a friendly manner, and +William, taking the now shortened string, started for Briscombe's +residence, for, said he to the dog, "It looks to me like there's been +some trouble, and I guess I'd better not go back to the office until +the morning." +</P> + +<P> +And Briscombe, the banker, gave William two dollars for bringing the +dog home. "But," said he, "where on earth did he get that piece of +cloth?" +</P> + +<P> +"I ain't sure, but I think I could make a good guess, Mister +Briscombe," said William, and thereupon he departed for home, where +later he slept the profound sleep characteristic of all office boys. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap13"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XIII +</H3> + +<P> +William was at the office half an hour earlier than usual the next +morning. He entered cautiously by the back stair, and reconnoitred +carefully before closing the door. Lucien was the only person in +sight. He preserved a profound silence to William's first questionings +as to the happenings of the previous afternoon, but when William gave +him one minute in which to decide on fighting or telling the story, he +told. His narrative was curt and his demeanour cold: it became quite +frosty when William laughed delightedly over the recital of the +thrashing Lucien had received. +</P> + +<P> +"Where did he hit you, Lucien?" asked William when the story had been +told. +</P> + +<P> +"In this room," answered Lucien with dignity, and William roared again. +</P> + +<P> +Lucien waited until the laughter died away and then called attention to +the fact that there was a letter on William's desk. "You're right for +once, Lucien," said William, who had noticed the letter on first +entering the room. He picked it up, aware that Lucien was watching him +closely, and feeling certain that the letter did not contain good news +for him. Therefore he slipped it into his pocket and walked out of the +office to the Bay front, where, with his feet dangling over one of the +wharves, he slowly opened the envelope and unfolded the enclosure. The +letter was as follows:— +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="letter"> +"DEAR WILLIAM,—In view of the events of this afternoon, the full +details of which by the time you get this you will doubtless have +gleaned from Lucien, it is impossible that you should longer remain in +my employ. I am very sorry to lose you, but there is a limit to the +length that even an office boy can be allowed to go. +</P> + +<P CLASS="closing"> +"Yours sincerely,<br> + "CHAS. WHIMPLE."<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +"Fired!" said William to himself, "fired! Well, I ain't surprised. +Tough luck though." He read the letter through again, and continued +his soliloquy. "Well, after this, no more dogs for me. Gee—but I +hate to leave that place. It beats the band how things will turn out +rotten just when the luck seems to be all right." +</P> + +<P> +But William didn't spend much time in regrets. The day was blazing +hot, the civic tug for the free baths off the Island sand bar was about +to leave the wharf, and he constituted himself a part of the noisy +human freight with which it was laden. He had a glorious swim, and at +noon time surprised the Turnpike household by arriving for luncheon, +having during his business career eaten that meal—packed by his +mother's hands—in the office. Quite frankly, and with the mimicry +which was the pride of his father and a constant source of astonishment +to his mother, he related the whole story. His mother grieved despite +her laughter: his father laughed and sorrowed not. "It'll come out +right in the end," he said philosophically, "and if it don't, you'll +soon get another job." +</P> + +<P> +"Sure," said William; "don't you worry, Ma," he added. After the meal +he departed, his head full of a plan that had been nebulous only after +his first reading of the letter, but which now seemed to promise much. +The more he thought it over, the better he liked it, and despite the +heat, he walked quickly to the "Emporium" of one Walter Wadsworth. +Walter was the owner, manager, and entire staff of the "Emporium," +which consisted of a rickety two-storied structure with a shooting +gallery on one side, and a peanut, candy, tobacco, and fruit department +on the other side. Walter, whose friendship with William was as old +almost as the boy himself, owned the building and the land, as well as +a more valuable property near by. But his greater claim to importance, +in the opinion of most of the boyhood of Toronto, lay in the fact that +for years he had held the refreshment privileges in the baseball park. +</P> + +<P> +After a few preliminaries, William said, "The team's due next week, +ain't they?" +</P> + +<P> +"According to schedule," answered Walter, a thick-set, pleasant-faced, +middle-aged man, who wasted few words, and who, in his day, had been a +star of the diamond. +</P> + +<P> +"How's the chances for a job?" +</P> + +<P> +"I thought you were in the law business, young fellow?" +</P> + +<P> +"Well—I was kinder makin' a dab at it." +</P> + +<P> +"Chucked it already?" +</P> + +<P> +"No," said William, "it kinder chucked me. +</P> + +<P> +"Umph! Watcher want?" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, what's the matter with me having a basket and selling stuff +around the stands?" +</P> + +<P> +"You're on, William: you're on. I've had an awful bunch of dubs on the +job so far this season, and I'd be glad to let you have a try." +</P> + +<P> +"All right: and what do I get for it?" asked William in a business-like +tone. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, of course, you see the game for nothing." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes—" said William, slowly, "or some of it, between sales." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I never knew any one of the boys yet but could give all the +details of the game, whether his sales were good or not. I guess you +won't miss much of any of the games." +</P> + +<P> +"Go on—I see the games free," said William, "and——" he paused. +</P> + +<P> +"And you get ten cents commission on every dollar's worth of stuff you +sell." +</P> + +<P> +"Any of the boys ever say they got too much?" inquired William, with a +pretence of eager interest. +</P> + +<P> +Walter smiled. "Not that I remember," he answered, "but they don't do +so bad." +</P> + +<P> +"All right," said William, "I'll be on hand for Monday's game. But I +can't afford to be loafin' until then. Anything doin' before that?" +</P> + +<P> +"This place ain't had a cleaning up since I don't know when," replied +Walter, "and there's a lot of old boxes in the back yard that have to +be broken up for firewood sooner or later, and stored in the cellar. +Want to tackle the job? There's a few dollars in it anyway." +</P> + +<P> +"Sure," said William, and set to work forthwith. He toiled steadily in +the Emporium, but not with his usual cheerfulness, for he was really +sorry to be away from Whimple's office. The more he thought of the +causes leading up to his dismissal, the more he wished that Lucien had +been responsible. "He got the lickin' anyway," said William to himself +with a smile, "but darn a fellow like that: I wonder if he ever made a +fool of himself in his life." +</P> + +<P> +It was at this moment that William noticed a large megaphone, one of +Walter's cherished possessions, in the back part of the Emporium. +"Say, Walter," he cried excitedly, "let me have a crack at the +megaphone." +</P> + +<P> +"Go ahead," said Walter good-naturedly, "but don't blame me if you get +pinched for disturbing the peace." +</P> + +<P> +William carried the megaphone upstairs, rested one end on the sill of +the open window, and took a critical survey of the passers-by on the +street. +</P> + +<P> +"Wow!" he cried aloud, and as though addressing some one in the room; +"look who's acomin'." He hastily adjusted the megaphone, waited until +he thought the person he had spoken of was within striking range, and +then there arose a weird shriek that attracted the attention of +everybody within seven blocks of the Emporium. It filled the heart of +one boy momentarily with fear, and brought him to a sudden standstill +without at once becoming acquainted with the source of the noise. He +looked around bewildered, and, as he looked, voices seemed to bellow in +both his ears, "Good evening, Lucien. How many stamps did you lick +to-day?" +</P> + +<P> +Several people halted, irresolute, eventually focussing their gaze on +Lucien, who, having now noticed the megaphone, was staring towards it +like one under the influence of hypnotism. Again a question bellowed +forth from the megaphone, "Oh, Lucien: where did he hit you?" and +Lucien, waking up to the truth of the situation, for once displayed +some evidences of his youth. He shook his fists towards the open +window, and cried out threats of vengeance on William, but those were +soon drowned in another blast from the megaphone. "Get on to Lucien, +ladies and gents, the chee-ild wonder of the century." It was then +that Lucien, with a final shake of his fists, turned and fled. William +laid the megaphone away and walked down the stairs, to find Walter at +the door gazing after the fleeing Lucien. +</P> + +<P> +"That kid was hollering something about knocking your block off," said +Walter. "He seemed to be sore on you." +</P> + +<P> +"Maybe he is," answered William, slyly, "but yesterday he was sore for +me." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap14"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XIV +</H3> + +<P> +During the next few days William found plenty of work to do at the +Emporium, and in the intervals of leisure he consulted gravely with +Walter Wadsworth on the methods to be followed to attain success as a +pedlar of refreshments in the stands of a baseball park. He did not, +however, neglect his morning lessons with "Chuck" Epstein in Tommy +Watson's auctioneering rooms. There is this to be added too, that +neither Epstein nor Tommy questioned him as to the loss of his position +with Whimple. They had laughed with the latter over the causes +therefor, but as William did not mention it himself, they carefully +avoided opening up the question, knowing from their experience with him +that, in his own way, and at a time of his choosing, the lad would talk +of it. +</P> + +<P> +William was, however, a puzzle to Wadsworth, though he had been +acquainted with him so long. In the intimacy of their relationship at +the Emporium, Wadsworth found himself constantly amazed at the lad's +shrewdness, at his vocabulary of slang, the readiness with which he +could turn from the sheerest of jibing and fun-making to the recital of +a bit of "Bill Shakespeare," or a scene from the plays of other +authors. "Where on earth do you get it all from?" he asked William one +afternoon when the lad, with real dramatic fire, had recited "Henry's +oration to his men before Agincourt." You, dear reader, know it, of +course. +</P> + +<P> +"Outer books," William said, all slang and smiles again. "Say, Walter, +it beats the band and the good stuff some of them guys had in their +think-tanks, and it fits in, a lot of it, like they were toddlin' +around Toronto to-day." +</P> + +<P> +"It certainly does—some of it," said Walter. "I wonder if they ever +played baseball in those days?" +</P> + +<P> +"Not so far as I can make out," answered William. "Half their time +they were fighting, and the other half making love: that is, most of +'em. Our friend Bill Shakespeare and a few others were writing plays +and acting them too." +</P> + +<P> +Walter stood at the door for a minute and watched William as the latter +walked away from the Emporium that evening, and to himself he said, +"He's a corker that one; but there's a heap of boy in him. If there +wasn't, that stuff he's carrying around in his brain would soon drive +him to the daffy house." +</P> + +<P> +The great day arrived at last, and William, keen for business and a new +experience, reported early at the baseball grounds, where Walter +Wadsworth supplied him and a dozen other boys with uniforms of white +cotton. The caps bore in letters of gold an appeal to buy a certain +baking powder, and on the back of the coats, in black letters, was an +announcement regarding the charms of a particular brand of chewing +tobacco. +</P> + +<P> +"It's a shame," said William with sarcasm, "that there ain't any +reading on the pants." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, it is too bad," answered Walter, solemnly, "but you can never get +everything you want in this world. I get the caps and the suits free +for the advertising they have on 'em; they're not so bad, it might be +worse." +</P> + +<P> +"It might be," answered William, "but not much," as he departed for his +section of the grand stand with a basket hanging from his neck and a +small megaphone attached to one wrist with a strap. In the stand, +William's courage deserted him for a few minutes: the crowd was large +and included many ladies. The lad was uncomfortable; his voice seemed +to have deserted him utterly. All the fine things he had meant to say +were for the moment forgotten. It was not until a woman had purchased +a bag of peanuts, and a man a cigar, that William became convinced that +his goods were wanted, and that restored some of his usual confidence. +He began to call out his wares and found that sales were easily made, +though not so rapidly as he had hoped. But as the game progressed, his +courage steadily rose. The Toronto team was playing that of Buffalo, +an ancient and honorable enemy, and the game, in its initial stages, +was very close. With the score one to one in the third innings, +William found that his voice had come back, and he began to use it with +all his power and most of his courage. +</P> + +<P> +"Peanuts, popcorn, chewing gum, candy, cigars, and tobacco," he shouted +as he walked along the aisles: "here's where you get 'em at the lowest +prices and finest qual-ity." +</P> + +<P> +The responses were becoming readier, but not fast enough, and William +began to use the megaphone. Taking a stand in front of the lowest seat +and addressing the crowd impartially he asked, "Did all you folks leave +your money at home, or ain't you never had any?" Some of the people +laughed, and the emboldened William went on, "Ladies, what's the good +of a ball game without peanuts or chewing gum? I've got a lot of both +to sell," and that resulted in a goodly number of sales. Then he tried +again. "There's lots of fellows here with girls, and it's a shame the +way they're letting the girls suffer for a little candy, or chewing +gum, or peanuts. Make the fellows loosen up, girls!" The crowd +laughed, and William tried in vain to respond to the demands for his +wares from all quarters. His basket was soon emptied, and in a little +while he had disposed of his second load. He sold others, but when the +game had advanced to the sixth innings, with the score still one all, +he found the people almost unresponsive to his appeals, and, returning +to Walter's little store under the grand stand, changed into his street +clothes and rushed back to see the finish of the game, his first +venture as a pedlar having netted him the sum of fifty cents. +</P> + +<P> +The game had reached its critical stage, "the fatal seventh innings," +when William again made his appearance known. The crowd was painfully +silent, for the Buffaloes, with only one man out, had men on the first +and second bases, and the heaviest hitter of their team at the bat. +The batsman spat on his hands, wiped them off in the dust around the +home plate, and set himself firmly for a swing. The Toronto pitcher +having almost succeeded in tying himself into a bow knot suddenly +unloosened, and sent in a swift drop ball, and even as it sped the +voice of William, well modulated through the megaphone, but quite +distinct, cried out, "Strike one." Strike it was, the batter missing +the sphere by several feet, and following the miss there came in +stentorian tones from the umpire the words, "Strike one." +</P> + +<P> +"Why did you call it a strike before?" yelled the batsman. +</P> + +<P> +"Never opened my mouth," retorted the umpire, and the crowd laughed. +</P> + +<P> +The batsman again set himself for a swing, and the pitcher once more +tried to make a human knot; again the ball shot, this time straight and +true for the plate, and as it did, William, with a volume of agonised +pleading in his voice, yelled, "Mind your head." Instinctively the +batter ducked and, of course, missed the ball, while the umpire +dispassionately cried, "Strike two." The batter grieved loudly and +bitterly. He accused the umpire of having eyes like a codfish, and of +being stampeded by "some guy in the stand." He declared him to be +incompetent to the verge of insanity, and wondered, in a voice that +could be heard all over the field, how he had kept out of the asylum so +long. His team mates supported him loyally, and incidentally demanded +of the Toronto team's manager that William, whom they had discovered as +the source of the heavy batter's discomfort, be instantly removed from +the grounds and kept therefrom until the game was over, while the +impatient, but delighted crowd, cried at intervals, "play ball," "put +'em off," "give the game to the Torontos." +</P> + +<P> +The manager of the Torontos disclaimed all or any responsibility for +William. "Nay, nay, Pauline," he said gently, when the Buffalo manager +repeated his request, "if the boy annoys you, put him out yourself, or +ask the police to do it." +</P> + +<P> +"You know what'd happen if I tackled that boy," answered the Buffalo +man heatedly: "why, that crowd would eat me." +</P> + +<P> +"Not in your present condition," retorted the Toronto man affably, +"you're too hot." +</P> + +<P> +The Buffalonian appealed to a police constable, but that worthy shook +his head. "There's only me and a sergeant here," he said, "and we +ain't over anxious to start a riot." The sergeant strolled up and was +consulted. +</P> + +<P> +"It can't be done," he said sagely, "there isn't a section under the +law or the regulations governing the force that'd justify me putting +the kid out. He ain't hurting anybody anyway." +</P> + +<P> +"But he's putting our man on the pork," cried the Buffalonian +disgustedly; "how in the name of Uncle Sam is the team to go on playing +with that kind of a racket!" +</P> + +<P> +"It's nothing to the racket there'll be if you don't go on with the +game," said the sergeant quietly, as he walked back to the stand. And +the game went on. The batter was struck out on the next ball, and the +crowd shrieked its delight, the innings closing without a score. +</P> + +<P> +When the eighth innings started, William, all swagger and confidence, +started on a new tack. "Fans and fan-esses," he said, addressing the +crowd through the megaphone, "why don't you root? Make a noise like +you meant it. The Torontos have simply gotter win this game; they need +it, but you gotter help 'em. Now then, every-body—ROOT," and "root" +they did, arduously, continuously, joyously. The din was terrific, +ear-splitting, and weird. Everybody had a different idea as to the +best methods of rooting, and even the fanesses made noises of sorts. +Nobody thereafter heard what the umpire said, they gathered his +decisions only by the result of the various plays, and when, in the +ninth and last innings, the Torontos batted out the winning run, one +prolonged wild "root" spread the glad tidings to all and sundry outside +the gates for many blocks around. +</P> + +<P> +William, with a final yell through the megaphone, hurried back to +Walter Wadsworth's stand, and there ran into Whimple and Simmons, who +were pledging each other in glasses of lemonade. The boy paused +irresolutely. +</P> + +<P> +"William," said Whimple, who was also rather embarrassed, "was it fair?" +</P> + +<P> +William smiled. "Well, Mister Whimple," he said, "when that bunch was +here once last season for a series of five games, my Pa took their +stuff from the station up to the hotel in one of his express wagons, +and I was with him, so, of course, I helped to lift the stuff off the +wagon, and when I'm through the same manager what they have this year +slips something into my hand and I thought it was a dime, and he says +to me, 'I hate to give a Canuck anything,' he says, 'but you are a +bright chap, only don't spend it all at once,' and when he goes into +the hotel I opens up my hand, and there's one of them dinky little +American cents. You bet I was mad, but my Pa says to me, 'It's mostly +a long street that don't have cross streets, William,' he says, 'so, +keep your hair on.' I did, and I guess me and that Buffalo man are +quits now." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap15"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XV +</H3> + +<P> +One afternoon, a few days afterwards, Whimple, dropping into Tommy +Watson's store, found the auctioneer and "Chuck" Epstein gravely +examining a doll's carriage and its occupant, a doll eminently +respectable in mien and terrifically blue of eye. +</P> + +<P> +"Is this a new line, Tommy?" Whimple asked. +</P> + +<P> +"No—it's 'Chuck's' purchase, he intends to present the outfit to a young +lady." +</P> + +<P> +"To Dolly Turnpike," said Epstein quietly, "it's her birthday to-morrow; +what do you think of it?" +</P> + +<P> +Whimple examined the carriage and the doll as closely and as gravely as +the others had done, and expressed the opinion that it was all right. He +added the hope that the young lady would think so too, and the opinion +that she was extremely fortunate in having among her friends so +thoughtful a man as Epstein. +</P> + +<P> +It is doubtful if Epstein heard him, although it was quiet enough in the +back part of the store where the three had conducted their examination. +Whimple started to repeat his hope when he became aware that Tommy was +shaking his head and holding a finger to his lips. Whimple thereupon +broke off in the middle of a sentence and kept silence. +</P> + +<P> +Epstein was looking at him, but not with the eyes of one who sees the +object he gazes on. Whimple thought to himself that he had never dreamed +the retired comedian was as old as he looked now. He wondered if it +would be kindly taken if he should advise the old man that home and a +rest in bed would brace him up a little, when Epstein began to speak. +</P> + +<P> +"My little girl," he said, in the rich round voice his friends loved to +hear, "was born on the same day of the month that Dolly was. Only, a +long time ago—quite a long time ago, or perhaps I only dream that it was +long ago," he stammered and paused, and then went on. "She would have +been thirty years old now, wedded, no doubt, a mother, perhaps—what +dreams—what dreams——" Again he paused. +</P> + +<P> +Tommy Watson rose softly, went to the front door, deliberately locked it, +and then returned to Whimple and Epstein—who was talking again. "I had +retired from the stage, happy and contented, to take up a business +career, so that I might be with my wife and child, and the other +children, if they should come. We loved so well—we loved so +well—and—and——" again a long pause. And then, as though some one had +spoken to him, "Yes, yes, I went back to the stage again, but that was +afterwards; and how they welcomed me and cheered me and praised me; for I +made them laugh as in the olden time, but my heart was gone. +</P> + +<P> +"My little girl was two years old when we began to notice the shadow. +Just two; with a wealth of brown hair and eyes, her eyes—they were brown +too; such a brown, so wonderful, and they were her mother's eyes. The +shadow darkened; the little tongue became strangely quiet, the little +limbs were tired so easily, the little hands were all too often idle. +But how she clung to us—she seemed to know that she must go, and so she +slipped away at last, so gently—so gently—and we could not hold her. +</P> + +<P> +"What is a man anyway?" he demanded abruptly, but they did not speak: +they knew he did not see them. "What is a man?" he reiterated. "I have +made thousands laugh the world over: I have driven away their sorrows and +heartaches, for a few hours at least, but I could not drive away the +shadow; I could not, I could not. Nor could she who held first place in +my heart and first place in the heart of our darling." His voice lowered +again and he went on, "After—after—we had laid her little body in the +graveyard we went to the home of a friend, thinking—thinking: I know not +what. But when the night came, I could not rest nor even sit still, and +all the while she was listening, listening, and looking at her arms. I +knew, I knew: for my heart was bleeding too, and at last I took her arm, +and together we went back to our own home; 'For it seems to me,' said my +wife, 'that I hear the patter of her little feet moving about the rooms, +and I hear her crying, "Mamma: Dad-dy:" and we are not there, Jacob, and +she'll be so lonely, so lonely.' +</P> + +<P> +"I was thinking that too. I could not have stayed away, and so back we +went. She—she—my wife, seemed more content there. But always I +noticed that she seemed to be listening and waiting, and often she smiled +and talked as though she was answering the little one, but—but——" his +head was drooping, he seemed to be falling asleep. Whimple stirred +uneasily, and Tommy Watson, whose cheeks were wet with tears, shook a +warning finger at him. The old man looked up again. "The shadow came +again," he said quietly, "and somewhere—somewhere—they are waiting for +me. Men differ on religion, and fight over the future state. What do I +know of it? I don't know. A Jew, though a British subject born, a +comedian—some say I have no religion, and never had. I don't know. +But, oh! I know they wait for me—and where they wait is home." +</P> + +<P> +For a long time there was silence; Epstein was the first to break it. He +stood up suddenly, and with a new light in his eyes asked of Whimple, as +though seeing him for the first time that day, how he liked the carriage +and the doll. +</P> + +<P> +"Fine," said Whimple as heartily as he could, for his throat was lumpy +and his heart was beating quickly. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm glad of that. Why, what's the matter, Tommy, you look as though you +had been crying?" +</P> + +<P> +"Slight cold in the head," returned Tommy rather abruptly, "rotten time +of the year to get a cold too." +</P> + +<P> +"It'll be all right in a day or two, I hope," said Epstein. "I must be +going to Turnpike's. I want them to give this to Dolly to-morrow. You +know I had a baby girl one time"—he proceeded quite firmly—"she—she +died—and Rachel, her mother, followed—shortly. We called her +Dolly—after Flo Dearmore's mother, who was very good to us"—here he +looked smilingly at Tommy, who had blushed at the mention of Flo's +name—"my little girl had beautiful brown eyes—just like Dolly +Turnpike's." +</P> + +<P> +He left them then. Whimple lingered a little while and finally blurted +out—"I never knew that about Epstein." +</P> + +<P> +"I've heard little bits of it," said Tommy, whose eyes were still moist. +"Say, but he's a wonder though." Whimple agreed. Twice he made as +though to go, and after the second attempt he asked bluntly, "Does +William come here every morning yet?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," answered Tommy. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I—that is——" he did not finish the sentence, and did not know +how he could, but Tommy saved him. "That's all right," he said, "I'll +send him over right after his lesson to-morrow. Whimple, you know what +the good book says: it's more blessed to take a man on again than to +refuse to give him another chance." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I don't just remember that," said Whimple, "but I do know that +I've had sixty applicants in response to my advertisement for an office +boy, and of all the——" +</P> + +<P> +"I know—I know," broke in Tommy, "there's mighty few William Adolphus +Turnpikes in this world, and he'll be just as glad to get back as you +will be to have him." +</P> + +<P> +"Confound him," said Whimple, but he laughed as he said it. +</P> + +<P> +"Sure, but that'll be all right so long as the two of you get together +again." +</P> + +<P> +When Whimple reached the office the next morning he found William there. +The lad's face was shining with pleasure. "I'm sorry about that dog +business, Mister Whimple," he said, "and I'll try to be good." +</P> + +<P> +"All right, William," said Whimple happily, "let it go at that." But to +the surprised and disgruntled Lucien Torrance, William said darkly, +"Well, what between you and the bunch that was after my job, I guess +Mister Whimple was nearly crazy. It's more'n one man can stand for +keeping you straight; it beats me how your own boss can put up with it." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap16"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XVI +</H3> + +<P> +The provincial political pot, which had been simmering all through the +early spring, boiled over in July of that year. The Legislature was +dissolved with all the solemn formalities attendant upon the death of +an important public body, and many gentlemen with aspirations for +public office or government jobs found that they must forego much of +the joy that was offered in the shape of baseball, lacrosse, and rowing +fixtures, and get out and hustle for their respective "grand old party." +</P> + +<P> +The issues at stake in the contest, according to Tommy Watson, were +such as no self-respecting auctioneer could put on the block at any +sale and not blush for shame. "It's just a case," said he, "of the +government, knowing they cannot be beaten, wanting to make sure of a +new lease of power," and Tommy, as usual, was not far wrong. But if +there were no really great issues in a general sense, there was a big +one in Mid-Toronto, and stripped of all party rhetoric and verbiage it +was this: "Shall 'The Big Wind' continue to represent us?" +</P> + +<P> +The people were tired of "The Big Wind." So was the government. But +the government dare not say so, while the people—including the many +who had voted for him four years before—hoped that "The Big Wind" (his +real name does not belong to this chronicle of facts) would have sense +enough to blow himself out of public life. He might have done that if +some of those who called themselves his friends had been strong enough +in their friendship to have so advised him. For even in the +moments—and they were many—when he thought much of himself, "The Big +Wind" had glimmerings of common sense. +</P> + +<P> +The government had taken him up for reasons that at the time seemed to +be sufficient. He was the sole male survivor of a family that had done +much for Toronto; was the possessor of a large fortune, and a liberal +giver to charities, as his father in his lifetime had been; his +position socially was distinguished, and he was a handsome man, tall +and straight, with a fine olive-complexioned face, well set off with +mustachios and an imperial. Much had been hoped from him, a cabinet +position was in his reach, until the day he made his first speech in +the Provincial House. That was a day indeed. The party papers had +blazoned the announcement the day before that on the morrow "The Big +Wind" would make his maiden address in the House, taking as his subject +"two or three important matters in connection with the budget. A rare +treat is in store for those who will be able to attend," and all the +rest of the hyperbole that the party papers—except yours, dear +reader—are wont to indulge in. Of course, the galleries of the House +were crowded, and on the floor every member was in his seat. In the +press gallery the attendance of managers and editorial writers was as +large as that of the men who do the real work on newspapers—the +reporters. All the reporters representing the government papers had +been instructed to give "The Big Wind" pretty fully, while the men from +the opposition papers had been informed that they might give him a +"good show." When he arose to address the House, the government side +greeted him with cheers, and the opposition joined in the desk pounding +that followed. +</P> + +<P> +"The Big Wind" started gracefully—he always did that, and the House +listened indulgently while he patted every one on the back—not +forgetting himself. This occupied some fifteen minutes, during which +the reporters began to ask one another in whispers, "Why doesn't he get +going?" They were beginning to wonder if he would ever get going when +he said, "And now, Mr. Speaker, as to the budget." There was a +suppressed "Ah!" in the press gallery, followed by a surprised "Oh!" +when "The Big Wind" averred that "budgets" had been known since the +world began. He delved into a pile of manuscript, and made some +allusion to the Book of Genesis—without giving any one the slightest +idea of what he was talking about. He paid a great deal of attention +to Genesis, he stayed with it for an hour or so, in fact. People began +to leave the galleries, members left the chamber to find solace in the +smoking-room or the library. The managing editor of the chief leading +government organ, who had condescended to take a seat in the press +gallery, told the three reporters representing the paper to cut the +speech to one column, and himself returned to his office. An hour +later this editor telephoned to the press gallery and asked one of his +reporters, "Say, where is that chump now?" +</P> + +<P> +"Well," answered the reporter, "he's just figuring on leading the +children of Israel into the promised land." +</P> + +<P> +"It's a pity the Egyptians couldn't kill him," shouted the editor; "cut +him down to half a column." +</P> + +<P> +And "The Big Wind" went on blowing. At six o'clock he had left the +children of Israel to their fate, and was grappling with the Norman +invasion of England. The House adjourned for dinner then, and it is on +record that as they walked the corridor to the dining-room, a member of +the cabinet asked the premier, "Where in the name of all we stand for +is this fellow going to land?" that the premier, without even the trace +of a blush, answered in two words, and that one of them rhymed with +"well." +</P> + +<P> +"The Big Wind" resumed his address at eight o'clock at night and +concluded it at eleven, with a few playful allusions to the Peninsular +War and an expression of regret that time did not permit of his dealing +with other matters no less important. +</P> + +<P> +And this was the man that Mid-Toronto was asked to return again because +his own party was afraid to antagonise him, and the opposition felt +that they hadn't a ghost of show to carry a riding that for twenty +years had beaten their candidates by large majorities. It looked +indeed as though "The Big Wind" might be elected by acclamation. +</P> + +<P> +Two weeks before the official nomination, Whimple, himself a dabbler in +politics and a supporter of the government, heard, with other rumours, +that an independent candidate would be in the field in Mid-Toronto, and +the next morning the rumours were declared, by no less a personage than +William Adolphus Turnpike, to have truth as their foundation. +</P> + +<P> +"You live in Mid-Toronto, William," said Whimple, jocularly, "and you +ought to know what's going on there!" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I know a few things," said William, smilingly. +</P> + +<P> +"Such as——" and Whimple paused. +</P> + +<P> +"Politics," said William, grinning. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes!" +</P> + +<P> +"A fight—a fight, and it'll be a loller-palluselar." +</P> + +<P> +"A what?" +</P> + +<P> +"That's just a word my Pa uses, Mister Whimple—honest, I couldn't say +it more'n once a day." +</P> + +<P> +"And who's going to fight 'The Big Wind,' pray?" +</P> + +<P> +"The People's Party." +</P> + +<P> +"The—what—oh! I say, William, what kind of a game is this?" +</P> + +<P> +"No yarn—it's straight goods. The People's Party was formed last +night, and picked their man." +</P> + +<P> +"But, how do you know that? There's nothing in the papers about it +this morning." +</P> + +<P> +"No, because Tommy Watson's the press agent and secretary, and he says +it's time enough to give it to the papers to-night, so he's going to do +it." +</P> + +<P> +"Tommy Watson! What on earth is he butting in for? He doesn't live in +the riding!" +</P> + +<P> +"No, but he was at the meetin', him and a few others—about seven +altogether—and he says, 'I'll keep the minutes,' he says, 'and load up +the papers.' The meetin' was held in our house," William went on, "and +my Pa was elected to the chair. Gee! it was an elegant meetin': Pa +made a corking speech. He says, '"The Big Wind" ain't to blame much +for thinking he's the white-haired darlin',' he says, 'because his +friends should put him wise that he ain't.' And Tony Gaston, what +drives oner Jimmy Duggan's coal-wagons, he says, 'The Bigga de Wind is +an awful mutt,' so he ups and asks why don't Jimmy Duggan run, so Pa +says 'Carried,' and Tommy Watson makes 'em do it all reg'lar, and they +forms the People's Party and puts Jimmy Duggan up for their man." +</P> + +<P> +"It sounds foolish," said Wimple, reflectively. +</P> + +<P> +"Well," said William, slowly, "that's what Tommy Watson says. 'It +looks foolish,' he says, 'and that's just where a lot of other people's +goin' to be made look foolish too. The party men'll be thinking +there's no chance for Jimmy, and first thing you know he'll slip in.' +So they asked Jimmy is he game, and Jimmy says he's game to buck up +against any government anywheres, he says, especially one what'll stand +for 'The Big Wind.'" +</P> + +<P> +William paused, and then went on slowly, "Say, Mister Whimple, my Pa's +a wonder to know what's what, and he says quite solemn to Tommy Watson +after the meeting's over, 'Jimmy's the best man in a fight of any kind +I ever knew,' he says; 'b'lieve me, Mister Watson,' he says, 'he'll +punc-ture "The Big Wind." This part of the city don't have to stand +for a gas-bag that ain't even got sense enough to burst when it's too +full, and we ain't going to stand for it,' he says." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap17"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XVII +</H3> + +<P> +Whimple found the secretary and press agent of the People's Party +busily engaged in the back of his store preparing reports of the +nomination meeting for the newspapers. +</P> + +<P> +"What's this I hear about a fight in Mid-Toronto, Tommy?" he asked. +</P> + +<P> +"Meaning that the news has been gently broken to you by one William +Adolphus Turnpike?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, put your money on Jimmy Duggan, coal and woodyard man, defender +of the rights of the common people, candidate of the People's Party, +the valiant David that's going to knock the stuffing out of the false +Goliar——" +</P> + +<P> +"Isn't it Goliath?" suggested Whimple, mildly. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, maybe you're right, but, any way, there'll be an awful explosion +in Mid-Toronto on August tenth, duly fixed by royal proclamation as the +day on which the manhood of this fair province——" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, drop it, Tommy——" +</P> + +<P> +"If the gentleman has any questions to ask I'll be pleased to answer +them at the close of my address," Tommy went on. "I was about to say +this fair province of Toronto, rising in their might, will go to the +polls, well knowing that under the freedom and liberty which is theirs +by right of the grand old flag——" +</P> + +<P> +"Tommy, shut up!" +</P> + +<P> +"I was about to say, they can vote as they darned well please, and the +same will be mostly the way they've voted every election the last +fifteen years—except in Mid-Toronto." +</P> + +<P> +"Are you through?" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, that's all I can think of just now." +</P> + +<P> +"But what's the use? You haven't got the shadow of a chance. Why, the +government 'll be returned hands down." +</P> + +<P> +"Sure; but 'The Big Wind' won't. He'll be returned sky high. Don't +you forget it. Why, Mid-Toronto's just seething, Whimple—just +seething. Every patriotic soul in the riding is repeating that +well-known verse from Bill Shakespeare's 'Saturday Night in London':— +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +'Breathes there a man with soul so punk,<BR> +Who never to himself has thunk,<BR> +By hedges and by hook or crook,<BR> +We'll surely give Big Wind the Hook.'"<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +"Shakespeare! Shakespeare! Are you sure, Tommy?" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, perhaps it wasn't him; but he's as good as any to tack it to." +</P> + +<P> +"But, Tommy—seriously, is Jimmy Duggan going to fight?" +</P> + +<P> +"Fight!—you bet your life he's going to fight, and he's going to win, +too." +</P> + +<P> +"Umph!" +</P> + +<P> +"Umph again, Whimple, you and the government will be umphing to the +finish, and then you'll umph some more." +</P> + +<P> +"But look here, Tommy, you know the opposition and its press has had +the government tottering to its fall every election these fifteen +years, and it's as solid as ever." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, we'll make a dint in its solidity any way. You keep your eyes +on Jimmy Duggan." +</P> + +<P> +And Whimple did; others were a little slower to turn their gaze in that +direction. They treated Duggan and the People's Party as a joke until +the official nomination meeting when the strength and enthusiasm of +Jimmy's supporters jolted them. There was a hurried consultation +thereafter in the government's campaign quarters. Cabinet ministers +were turned loose in the riding; the city papers supporting the +government, though loth to do it, began to play up "The Big Wind." +Every hall in the riding was hired for every night of the remaining +week of the campaign, and two or three meetings were held every night. +The People's Party and Jimmy Duggan could not afford to rent halls; +their material platforms were express and coal delivery wagons drawn up +on vacant lots: their speakers, outside of Tommy Watson, were men who +laboured in the factories and workshops, or, like William Turnpike's Pa +and Jimmy Duggan himself; had little businesses of their own. Jimmy +could talk—after a fashion. "Pa" Turnpike did a little in the +speech-making line. Tommy Watson did a great deal, and so did Tony +Gaston, who had distinguished himself by nominating Duggan on the night +the People's Party was formed. +</P> + +<P> +Tony was a treat; William followed him around from meeting to meeting, +declaring one of Tony's speeches to be worth more than all the others +put together. "Gee! you'd orter hear him, Lucien," he said to Simmons' +office boy one afternoon. "He's a Dago—but he's white. He gets +leaning over the side of a wagon and he waves his arms till you'd think +he'd shake them off, and all the time he's spitten' out words so blamed +fast you'd wonder his tongue don't drop off. 'Ladies and der Gents,' +he says, 'dis is de pr'r'oudest minnit of me life. It's an honor to +stand befacin' such a audonce to spek a wor'r'd,' he says, 'for me +frend, James de Duggan.' Somebody yells, 'Well, yer work f'r him, +that's why.' 'Sure, I wor'rks for him,' says Tony, 'and I wor'r'ks +har'rd f'r him,' he says, 'and that's more'n you do f'r the man dats +payin' you good mon ev'ry week what you don't ear'r'r'n. Ladies and +der Gents,' he says, 'har'rk nottin's to dat loaf-er, but vote f'r the +frends of de honest wor'r'k de mans and stick de Big Wind so up he +blows-puff.'" +</P> + +<P> +But a new problem faced the People's Party when, for the final four +days of campaigning, "The Big Wind's" committee announced a band or an +orchestra at every meeting for every night. +</P> + +<P> +"That'll take lots of our people away," said Tommy Watson, +thoughtfully, when he read the announcement. "What can we do, I +wonder, to meet it?" But William's Pa was solving the difficulty while +Tommy was pondering over it. Flo Dearmore—the theatrical season being +over—was in town, living, as she always did between seasons, with her +mother. She was immensely interested in the contest, the faithful +Tommy Watson, whose courting of her was proceeding with some success, +keeping her fully informed, and when William's Pa called on her, she +listened to his request with interest, refused to consider it at all, +but, woman-like, changed her mind, and appeared that night on one of +the People's Party platforms—an express wagon loaned by Turnpike. +Tommy Watson was in the chair, and he almost fell out of it when he saw +Flo approaching the wagon. Almost before he could move, she was seated +beside him, many willing hands having assisted her on her way. +</P> + +<P> +Tommy's eyes were popping and his mouth was gaping. He framed his lips +to question her, but the words would not come. Flo greeted him +demurely, and smiled mischievously over his evident embarrassment. +"Don't worry, Tommy," she said, "I'm in this fight too. They're not +going to beat your man if I can help prevent it. If they have their +bands—well, I can sing still," with just a touch of pride. +</P> + +<P> +"Flo—Flo," gasped Tommy, "you're a brick. There's lots here who know +you, and some of them know you're going to be Mrs. Tommy Watson pretty +soon, and they'll tell the others. Flo, this is worth hundreds of +votes to us. Oh! but you're a woman in a thousand." She flushed with +pleasure at this. "You'll have to tell me later all about it," Tommy +went on; "who put you up to this, or did you think of it yourself?" +</P> + +<P> +"It was Pa Turnpike," she said. +</P> + +<P> +"Good old Turnpike. Say, but that Pa of William's is certainly smart. +You remember William: the lad who sang for you at the Variety." +</P> + +<P> +And just here Jimmy Duggan, who had been making a brief address, +finished suddenly, as was his wont, with an invitation to all, "whether +they know me or not, to solemnly weigh the merits of the two +candidates, and to decide in favour of the man whose platform +prin-ciples are those for which the common people have long been +fighting, and if you do, you'll vote for me." +</P> + +<P> +On the instant that he finished Tommy Watson was up. "The next +speaker," said he, "will be a singer. (Cheers.) Our respected town's +lady, Flo Dearmore—(cheers)—who has won a high place on the stage. +She is for Duggan—(loud cheers)—and says it'll break her heart if he +ain't elected, and that wouldn't do. (Cheers.) She's a woman in a +million." +</P> + +<P> +Here some one cried out, "Why don't you marry the lady, Tommy?" +</P> + +<P> +"I'm going to, and pretty soon," answered Tommy, promptly, turning +toward Flo as he spoke. All blushes, she nodded her head +affirmatively, while the crowd shouted approval. Then she sang for +them—two songs only—and afterwards went on to another meeting, +accompanied by Tommy Watson, Tony Gaston, and William, where she sang +again. And William's heart was throbbing with happiness, for, from the +night in the Variety, when he had first seen her on the stage, he had +placed this lovely lady in a niche of his heart next to that occupied +by the mother to whom he was an unsolvable puzzle. He would have +followed her to fifty meetings that night had she been going to that +many, but his happiness was the more nearly perfect because the lady +and Gaston were going to the only other Duggan meeting together, and he +would be able to worship her, and listen in ecstasy to her singing, and +afterwards hear one of Tony Gaston's fiery orations. +</P> + +<P> +"Gee!" said William to himself: "ain't this the great luck?" and then, +with an admiring glance at Flo, "and ain't she a pippin?" +</P> + +<P> +Of course, Jimmy Duggan won. Even the present generation of hustling +Canadians know that, though many of them could not tell an inquirer, +off-hand, the name of the Canadian Prime Minister who preceded Sir +Wilfrid Laurier. Of course he won—by a bare 3000 majority—that's +all. Mid-Toronto shouted itself black in the face that night, and went +about its own business for the next seven days in a manner that one +eminent alienist would have described—had he been giving expert +evidence for the defence at fifty dollars per hour—as "between a state +of hysterical mania and senile decay, but not close enough to the one +to necessitate confinement in an asylum, or to the other as to require +the attention of a trained nurse." Jimmy Duggan was the least affected +of any of the People's Party. He made fifty-five brief speeches of +thanks in various sections of Mid-Toronto, and made his last to Tommy +Watson, Tony Gaston, and Pa Turnpike, who escorted him to his home. +</P> + +<P> +"I owe most to you three," he said earnestly, "and you'll have to help +me think up some kind of legislation to press for. There's one thing +we have to be glad about though," he added. +</P> + +<P> +"What's that?" asked Tommy. +</P> + +<P> +"Well—I ain't a government man, so it's no good anybody coming to me +to worry me to death trying to get a government job for them." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap18"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XVIII +</H3> + +<P> +"What are you going to do about William?" That was the question Flo +Dearmore asked of Tommy Watson one afternoon when Tommy should have +been attending strictly to his business as an auctioneer, but was +neglecting it for the business of courtship, which, he declared for the +one hundred and ninety-ninth time, had more charms for him than the +most exciting sale he had ever conducted. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, what about him?" was Tommy's answer. +</P> + +<P> +"Isn't that Scottish though?" said Flo: "question for question." +</P> + +<P> +"You know the old proverb," Tommy said, smilingly, "'don't answer too +quickly, or you'll put your foot in it.'" +</P> + +<P> +"I never heard of it before," she said, "and I don't believe there is +such a proverb." +</P> + +<P> +"It's something like that, anyway," retorted Tommy; "but, coming back +to the question I asked, what about William?" +</P> + +<P> +"I asked it first." +</P> + +<P> +"You're beginning to get your hooks in for the last word rather early, +aren't you?" +</P> + +<P> +"Tommy Watson! make no mistake about me. I'm going to have the first +and last word now and—and——" +</P> + +<P> +"To the end of your married life, I suppose," broke in Tommy with a +sigh so heavy that it shook him. +</P> + +<P> +Flo tapped him on the head with the fingers of one dainty hand. +"You're almost intelligent at times, Tommy Watson," she said, with mock +seriousness. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," he retorted, "yes; almost intelligent enough to go on the +stage," and then he spent the next ten minutes in explaining that he +had meant to convey no reflections; that his sweetheart was the +dearest, most lovable, and most intelligent person in the world; that +he would never have made, and never could make, an actor: that he was +the biggest bonehead in the boundaries of the City of Toronto, and all +his friends and acquaintances knew it. She made him withdraw the last +assertion, and beg her pardon in his nicest manner for insulting +himself and his wife to be, and then came back to the subject of +William. +</P> + +<P> +"There's promise in the boy," she said, "he'll be a great comedian some +day, if he gets a fair start." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, and he knows it, too," Tommy commented, "confound the kid. +Sometimes he drives me frantic, but all the time I like him. He hasn't +got the faintest notion of ever being anything but a comedian. He's +almost uncanny. What he doesn't think of hasn't been thought of by +anybody yet, I'll bet. He can't find words, often, to tell what his +thoughts are, and then he falls back on the greatest line of slang I've +ever heard. Only yesterday he said to 'Chuck' Epstein, 'Many's the +time when things all go wrong I've felt like going home and crying, +honest. Then, when I'd get home, there's Pa dead tired, but chirpin' +like a cricket, and Ma tired too, but hustlin' around gettin' supper +for Pa and the kids and me, and Dolly and Pete and the others all +waitin' to see what line I'm going to take. So I gets busy and cuts +up, and, say, maybe we don't have the merry ha ha times, and my Pa says +to me often, he says, "William, make 'em laugh; a feller what can hide +the sores in his own heart," he says, "while he's makin' somebody else +laugh," he says, "he's a winner more ways than one." And it's true, +Mister Epstein.'" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," said Flo, softly, "it's true." +</P> + +<P> +"But now, here's the situation," Tommy went on. "William's Pa is doing +pretty well now, and he won't stand for any charity game. If the boy +will go back to school, Pa Turnpike will cheerfully consent, but +William won't. He's very stubborn on that point. 'Not for mine,' he +says. 'If I could stick to history and reading lessons, all right, but +the rest of the truck they try to shovel into a boy's head at school +kills me dead. Say, I've come outer the school some days almost scared +to put me feet down for fear they'd slip over the edge of the world, +and I never really know whether the sun goes around the world or the +world around the sun, and often I ain't been sure whether the sun might +hit us, or us hit the sun, and everything bust to pieces.'" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, you'll have to try persuasion on him." +</P> + +<P> +"We're trying it," said Tommy, "and I think we're beginning to see +daylight. It's down to the point now where William comes over and +takes luncheon in my room with Epstein and myself, and he gets an hour +of reading and instruction from the old man then, in addition to the +one in the morning. We arranged that with Whimple, and William walked +right into it. If we could only get him to cut out the slang——" +</P> + +<P> +"What!" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, that's just what Epstein said when I suggested it to him." +</P> + +<P> +"I should think so, Tommy Watson; that boy is a natural born 'slanger.'" +</P> + +<P> +Tommy laughed. +</P> + +<P> +"You're laughing in the wrong place, Tommy—that boy will go on +absorbing slang to the end of his days, unless you're foolish enough to +shame it out of him. By the time he is ready to go on the stage he +will have a stock-in-trade of slang that will be the making of him, for +he is so apt and ready with it. But, tell—no, I'll tell Epstein +myself—to take care that his slang does not mar the rest of his +speech. He must not be allowed to get into the way of just mouthing +slang and nothing else. Does he read well?" +</P> + +<P> +"You should hear him, Flo: it's a treat, and when he gets stuck on a +big word he dives into the dictionary head first, or questions Epstein +until he can say it properly and understand its meaning." +</P> + +<P> +"That is real progress. He's a delightful mimic, too." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes: he takes off Epstein, or Whimple, or myself, to the life." +</P> + +<P> +"The latter must be extremely difficult," said Flo, demurely. +</P> + +<P> +"True—quite true—for there's no doubt I'm a wonderful man, Flo," +answered Tommy, solemnly: "so inscrutable and impassive—is that the +way to say it—so adept at hiding my inmost thoughts, so——" +</P> + +<P> +"But you needn't squeeze my hand so hard, Tommy, while you pronounce +your eulogy; it isn't an auctioneer's gavel." +</P> + +<P> +"It's a very pretty hand, though," Tommy said with a smile, "a very +pretty hand." +</P> + +<P> +"Are you an impartial judge, Tommy?" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I can't say I have much experience in regard to the hands of the +fair sex, but I'm willing to bet there are none like yours in the wide +world." +</P> + +<P> +"And you have travelled so much of it." +</P> + +<P> +"Not lately, perhaps, but I once spent four hours in Montreal, 330 +miles away; think of it! and half a day in Hamilton—that's all of +forty miles off—and Toronto never looked so sweet to me as it did when +I got back to it. Good old Toronto; it's been kind to me. It has +given me the dearest of all women, and a good business, and—and——" +he kissed her hand and a few minutes later departed. +</P> + +<P> +At a down town corner he ran into William, who was studying with great +interest the baseball bulletins displayed outside of a newspaper +office. William was one of a pretty large crowd that was doing the +same thing. News bulletins seemingly had little attraction for the +majority of them. As Tommy neared him, William remarked to a man in +the crowd, "Gee! wouldn't that jar you?" +</P> + +<P> +"I don't see why: that's a very important piece of news. It isn't +every day the city council decides to spend so much——" +</P> + +<P> +"City council my neck," broke in William, rudely, "what's that got to +do with the score?" +</P> + +<P> +"Score! what score?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, gee! I thought I was talking to a baseball fan." +</P> + +<P> +"You thought wrong, young man," retorted the man, sharply. "I've no +patience with such frivolous things." +</P> + +<P> +And then William caught sight of Tommy. "Say," he called out, "what do +you think of that score?" +</P> + +<P> +Tommy, himself an enthusiast, studied it carefully. "Jersey City two, +Toronto one," he said aloud, "and down we go to second place, William." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes; and Jersey City putting us there! Say, that team of ours is +certainly on the pork." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, they're not doing so badly; we're only a few points down." +</P> + +<P> +"Only? What's the use? Every time they lick the good ones they fall +down when they stack up against the tail-enders; it's rotten." +</P> + +<P> +"Cheer up, William, cheer up! The team will soon be home for another +long series, and then they'll soar." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," said William, gloomily, "to the bottom." +</P> + +<P> +"You seem to be downhearted; what's the matter?" +</P> + +<P> +"Mister Whimple lost a case to-day." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, lots of lawyers do that. In baseball, or law, or anything else, +William, you've got to lose sometimes. Remember the old saying, 'It's +better to have tried to buck the line, and failed, than never to have +tried at all.'" +</P> + +<P> +"But Mister Whimple's just getting a good start, and he can't afford to +lose cases. It gives him a bad steer with people that's looking for +lawyers in the winning column!" +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap19"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XIX +</H3> + +<P> +The plans that men make in the belief that the knowledge and wisdom of +the adult mind knows what is best for youth are many and of small +account. For the youthful mind sees easily through the most of them, +intuitively perhaps, and not by methods of reasoning, and decides for +itself whether it shall accept or reject them. And office boys +constitute a particularly abnormal department—if such it may be +termed—of the youthful mind. This is merely a roundabout way of +preparing the readers, if any, of this veracious chronicle with the +fact that William had not, as Tommy Watson supposed, "walked into" the +plan whereby he was to receive an additional hour of tuition from that +prince of tutors, "Chuck" Epstein. If this was a history, the truth +might be coloured with the glamour of romance at times. But, as Tommy +Watson himself was wont to say, "Facts are real, facts are earnest, +facts are very stubborn things, facts are facts where'er you find 'em, +facts are what gives truth its wings." Therefore, it is here set down +in black and white that William himself engineered that additional +hour, and the wise men who thought they had initiated it patted +themselves on the back because it was a success. +</P> + +<P> +William, of a truth, was beginning to find himself by finding others +out. He had discovered, and it was a bitter shock to William, that +Lucien Torrance, for whom his feelings were tinctured by good-natured +tolerance, was making good use of his spare time around the office. +Lucien had no "vaulting ambition:" he would hardly have understood the +meaning of the words. He wanted to improve his position though, and he +practised consistently on the typewriter, he took lessons in shorthand, +and was beginning to master the intricacies of bookkeeping, taking his +lessons therein at a night school. His desk was always neat and clean, +and the clerical work that Simmons, the architect, was beginning to +trust him with was well done. +</P> + +<P> +William's desk always looked to be over-crowded, and was never neat. +Periodically, the lad had a cleaning-up day, but he never seemed to +make much headway in getting rid of the assorted mass of newspaper and +magazine clippings that he accumulated with avidity. It was an amazing +collection, and every bit of reading in it, and every picture, referred +to comedians; always comedians. +</P> + +<P> +Lucien Torrance tackled him about it one day. "Why don't you throw all +that truck away?" he said; "it's an awful lot of rubbish." +</P> + +<P> +"Truck! Rubbish!" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes: what do you want with that?" +</P> + +<P> +"You wouldn't tumble to it if I told you," William answered, so mildly +that Lucien, who had expected a stinging rebuke, was almost overcome +with surprise. "It's a secret," William went on, "a dark secret, but +one of these days you'll be paying good money to find out about it." +</P> + +<P> +"Not me." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, you, Lucien Torrance; you'll be doing it, and paying for your +girl, or your wife, perhaps, to help you find it out." +</P> + +<P> +"I haven't got a girl, and as for a wife, I'm only fifteen——" +</P> + +<P> +"Don't give your age away," interrupted William. "I told you you +wouldn't understand, and I ain't going to waste any of my breath trying +to make you now. Some day you will, unless you turn to stone, like the +fellow at the show last week." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, you mean 'the petrified man.'" +</P> + +<P> +"You've got the name down fine, Lucien; I wanted to say it, but, +honest, I couldn't. I thought it was stiffified, or something like +that. But don't worry about me and this 'truck' and 'rubbish,' Lucien; +I'm not daffy yet. Let's talk about something else." +</P> + +<P> +"What?" +</P> + +<P> +"Love, for instance." +</P> + +<P> +"Love: what on earth do you want to talk about love for? Are you——" +</P> + +<P> +"Not on your life," interrupted William, hurriedly, "no skirts for +mine. Why I wouldn't worry about any woman in the world but Ma or my +sisters. But I'd like to get at the bottom of this love business +anyway. 'Chuck' Epstein says love is the greatest thing in the world, +but it makes the most trouble. Can you beat that?" +</P> + +<P> +"I don't know anything about it——" +</P> + +<P> +"No, no; I don't figure that you do, Lucien. But when 'Chuck' says it, +he says it to Tommy Watson, and Tommy heaves a sigh big enough to burst +the store to pieces if the door hadn't been open so's the sigh floats +out into the street and blows an old gent's hat off, and——" +</P> + +<P> +"I don't believe it." +</P> + +<P> +"I know you don't, Lucien: that's another of your troubles. Some day, +maybe, your mind'll take in somer the things you're missin' now, and +maybe it never will. But, anyway, Tommy says, 'You're right, "Chuck,"' +he says, kinder gloomy like. Now, whatjer think of that, and him going +to be married to Flo Dearmore in August?" +</P> + +<P> +"Tommy Watson is?" +</P> + +<P> +"Sure." +</P> + +<P> +"I always thought he was an old bachelor." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, you think again, Lucien, think again. Tommy ain't so old; and +it seems to me every man's a bach-e-lor until he gets married. Now, +you'd think Tommy'd be fairly bustin' with joy, and maybe he is; I +don't know. But he goes around singing all them mournful songs, and, +say, you'd ought to hear him singing. Oh, gee! Honest, Lucien, the +fog horn over on the Island's a treat to it. Your boss was over once +when Tommy was whanging away on oner them songs, and he says, 'Heavens, +Tommy, when's the funeral?' and Tommy says, 'Guess again, Simmons,' he +says. 'It's for very joy I'm singing.' So your boss says, 'Well, it +ain't a fair deal for you to be so all fired joyful as to kill +everybody else's joy,' he says; so Tommy shies a book at him, and +Simmons ducks, and the book hits a vase and smashes it. Well, you'd +think Tommy would be mad at himself and at everybody else because of +that, but he laughs and says to Simmons, 'Better the vase than your +head, Simmons. Gee! I'm so happy I could smash everything in the +place.' So your boss says, 'Wait till your wife begins to try her +cookin' on you.' Then Tommy gets after him, and Simmons scoots, and +Tommy begins again on Scotch songs; all the slow, sad ones, and, +honest, I had to go out too." +</P> + +<P> +"You spend a lot of time there, don't you, William?" +</P> + +<P> +"Sh—sh—Don't be sleuthing around, Lucien, you might find out +something, and I'm afraid the blow would kill you. Anyway, I asked my +Pa about this love business, and he kinder laughs, and looks at Ma, and +she laughs too, like when she's pleased about something, and they +kisses each other right there, and Pa says, 'It'll come to you some +day, boy, please God, and when it comes——' and then he kisses Ma +again and don't finish what he's started to say, and I don't ask him. +I know enough anyway to know when Pa ain't going to be no mark for a +buncher questions, but it's got me going. There's Miss Whimple loved a +fellow when she's young, and he gets carved up by some black fellows in +a desert around Egypt somewhere——" +</P> + +<P> +"The Soudan." +</P> + +<P> +"That's the name; who told you?" +</P> + +<P> +"My father's brother is a soldier, and he fought the Dervishes." +</P> + +<P> +"That's the bunch. Say, you certainly know something, Lucien, +sometimes. So, Miss Whimple don't get married, and it's the icy mitt +for anybody that asked her; and plenty did." +</P> + +<P> +"She's a funny old——" +</P> + +<P> +"You say a word about her, Lucien Torrance, that ain't nice, and I'll +knock the head off'n you. She's—she's—well, there ain't another like +her except Ma." +</P> + +<P> +"I wasn't going to say anything——" began Lucien. +</P> + +<P> +William cut him short. "You started wrong then," he said, "that's all +there is to it; and now what about your boss?" +</P> + +<P> +"Mine?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes; he's going crazy about a girl." +</P> + +<P> +"He's what?" +</P> + +<P> +"You heard me; you know you did. Say, he can't sleep nights thinking +of that girl, by the looks of him, and he don't see her more'n seven +times a week, and she's just as looney about him too; but she ain't +showing it much." +</P> + +<P> +"I don't believe it!" +</P> + +<P> +"There you are again, and a lot of this thing going on under your very +nose. Say, you're sticking so close to business you can't see a blame +thing but your work. Do you ever have a day dream, Lucien?" +</P> + +<P> +"I'm too busy." +</P> + +<P> +"That's it, busy—too busy to have day dreams. Gee, I don't know what +I'd do if I never had 'em. Say——" +</P> + +<P> +Whimple entered at this moment with Simmons. The lawyer was urging the +architect to "buck up." William smiled. "The girl loves you," Whimple +said, in an undertone, but not pitched low enough, for the two boys +heard it quite distinctly. William winked at Lucien, and the latter +blushed. Simmons refused to be comforted, and passed into his own +office, melancholy settled heavily on his usually bright face, and +Lucien followed him. +</P> + +<P> +"William," said Whimple a few minutes later, "will you please take this +letter to Mrs. Stewart, and wait for an answer?" +</P> + +<P> +William's "yes" was prompt. He liked Mrs. Stewart, a young and pretty +widow, to whom of late he had carried a number of notes. While he was +putting on his cap, Whimple, who was sitting in his own room, began to +sing softly. William did not pay particular attention to the air +until, as he started toward the outer door of the office, Whimple's +voice rose a little, and then he listened intently. Whimple could sing +well, and he was singing well now, and the song was "Annie Laurie." +William paused irresolutely, looked at the letter, counted swiftly on +one hand, then opened the door, and ran quickly down the stairs. At +the bottom of the stairs he paused again, once more he counted, and +then said to himself, "Friday, and I've taken five letters to her this +week, and brought five back, and—and—I thought I was smarter'n +Lucien. Dang it, all the men are going crazy together." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap20"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XX +</H3> + +<P> +The real awakening of William to the sterling qualities of Lucien +Torrance came with the Binks' knitting factory fire. The story was +told in full detail by the newspapers at the time, but the public +memory is not long, and, because this is a record of facts, it is here +re-told, from the view-point of William and Lucien. The factory, in +which some sixty girls were employed, was a three-story building, +facing the rear of the building in which were located the offices of +Whimple and Simmons. On one side it ran so close to the latter +building that even the boys could, by a little stretching, touch the +sill of a window to the right of the window in the room that served as +office for William and waiting-room for his employer's clients. +</P> + +<P> +The fire broke out one hot afternoon in August in the lower floor of +the factory, and, as the building was "modern and fire-proof," the +flames naturally spread at a terrific rate. Some thirty of the girls +managed to escape from the lower floor at once. The escape of the +others was cut off completely, the one iron ladder, designated as a +fire escape, and running down to the ground, being, on its lower rungs, +"wrapped in flame," as the reporters have it. +</P> + +<P> +William and Lucien, who had been making faces at some of the girls at +the time the fire broke out, were shocked into helplessness for a +moment. Lucien recovered first. "Quick," he said, grasping William by +the arm, "we can help." He half pulled William into Simmons' room, +"Grab the other end," he commanded, curtly, himself seizing one end of +what appeared to be a long table top. In reality it consisted of three +stout planks braced together underneath, and resting on scantling +supports. Several plans were pinned to the top, and these Lucien +yanked off without ceremony. Between them the boys carried the table +top to the window, and, though for a few seconds it seemed that their +combined strength was not equal to the demand on it, they succeeded in +placing one end of it on the sill of the open factory window, around +which the imprisoned girls were gathered, some screaming wildly, others +pale-faced, but quiet. A rough bridge was thus formed between the +factory and Whimple's office. Lucien crossed it first, with William a +close second. The boys urged the girls to "get a move on, one at a +time," but it was not until William had escorted the heaviest one +across to Whimple's office that the others, despite the rapid approach +of the fire, could be persuaded to venture. Convinced of the safety of +the "bridge," they began to make the journey rapidly enough. Lucien +calmly and quietly encouraged them. William said nothing, but he +carried out with alacrity every suggestion Lucien made. +</P> + +<P> +By this time a detachment of the fire brigade was on the scene. Three +of the firemen, with a hose, rushed up the front stairs of Whimple's +office and to the window through which the girls were coming. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I'll be swizzled," said one of them, excitedly, "who made the +bridge?" +</P> + +<P> +One of the girls paused a moment before leaving the office. "Two +boys," she cried, hysterically, "they're in the factory helping the +other girls." +</P> + +<P> +"Bully for them," shouted one of the firemen. The next moment he +hurried across the "bridge," which bore his weight splendidly, and +assisted the boys. Other firemen, with more hose, arrived, and several +streams of water were soon playing on the factory walls below the +"bridge." +</P> + +<P> +"We'll save this building, anyway," said one of the firemen, handling a +hose from one of Whimple's windows. And save it they did. +</P> + +<P> +As the last girl crossed the bridge, the fireman who had been assisting +Lucien and William ordered them to get out quickly. The big room was +now full of smoke, the lads and the firemen were almost choked with it, +and tongues of flame were beginning to lick one of the wooden partition +walls. Just as the man spoke, the partition fell. A burning scantling +struck Lucien on the head and sent him to the floor. In a moment +William grabbed the burning timber with his bare hands and tried to +lift it, but without the assistance of the fireman, who inserted his +hook-axe under it, and added a man's strength to that of the boy's, he +would not have been successful. Lucien was still conscious when they +picked him up, and, with the assistance of William, made the journey +across the "bridge" to Whimple's office in safety. Here kindly hands +temporarily bound up his wounds and those of William too, the latter +meanwhile asserting loudly, "Lucien did it; he thought of it; Lucien +did it." +</P> + +<P> +Finally, Lucien's parched and cracked lips parted in a smile. +"Couldn't have done it without you, William," he gasped, and then the +floor, so William Adolphus Turnpike afterwards solemnly asserted, rose +up and hit him, and he knew nothing more until, in the evening, he woke +up in a private ward in St. Michael's Hospital. There were only two +beds in that ward. When William opened his eyes, a kindly faced +nursing sister was bending over him. +</P> + +<P> +"Where's Lucien?" he demanded. +</P> + +<P> +The sister smiled. "In the bed near you," she said, gently; "his +mother and father have just left him; he's——" +</P> + +<P> +William sat straight up in the bed. "Say," he said, brokenly, "he +ain't going to die, is he?" +</P> + +<P> +"No," she answered, "he's doing splendidly, and he's fast asleep." +</P> + +<P> +William laughed happily. "Oh, but he's a pippin, a real pippin; and me +thinking he was a dub. If he wakes up, and I'm asleep, nurse, you can +tell him from me that I'm a mutt. He's the real thing, is Lucien." +Then he looked down at his hands, swathed in bandages, and grinned. +"Kinder early for winter mitts," he said. "Gee, but my hands sting! +Has my Ma and Pa been here?" +</P> + +<P> +"They're here now, waiting to see you. They've been here for two +hours, William." +</P> + +<P> +"Two hours! and me lying on the downy while they're worryin'. +Me—uh!—I ain't worth it." +</P> + +<P> +The sister opened the door, and Mr. and Mrs. Turnpike, with anxious +faces and eyes somewhat dimmed, were soon bending over their boy, +kissing him, and whispering words of love and praise and sympathy. +After their farewells, William turned to the sister with shining eyes. +"Nobody ever had a Ma and Pa like mine," he said, "and my hands are +sore, but I'm tired—tired—" he closed his eyes—"and I'm a mutt. +Lucien's got it on me all over when it comes to a show down." And +William slept. +</P> + +<P> +There followed a strange experience for the two boys. Reporters +interviewed them, and the interviews mostly read as though the boys +were past masters in the use of correct English. One enterprising +reporter wrote up William's story just as the lad gave it. The +majority of readers appreciated that interview because the lad's +language appealed to them, but by the time the editor of the newspaper +in which it appeared had read the third letter from "pro bono publico," +protesting against the putting of so much slang into the mouth of a +mere child, he regretted that he had not made the reporter re-write it. +Being human, he, of course, lectured the reporter with asperity, and +the reporter, being a man of spirit, instead of taking the lecture to +heart, resigned, entered the field of literature, and, in a +comparatively short time, became a noted writer of short stories. He +blessed William at the time and ever afterwards for opening his eyes to +the possibilities of the boy in fiction—and fact. +</P> + +<P> +Two days in the hospital was enough for William. He gave his ultimatum +to Ma and Pa after the mayor had called upon Lucien and himself to +express admiration "on behalf of the citizens of Toronto," and informed +them that they were to be presented with gold watches "as a permanent +token of appreciation of their bravery." +</P> + +<P> +William insisted on going home that day. "Another day here," he said, +"with bunches of people buttin' in and slobberin' over me, and I'm a +dead one. Besides! it was all Lucien; I'm no bloomin' hero." +</P> + +<P> +Lucien was sick of it too, but, because his injuries were the more +serious, he had perforce to stay a little longer in the hospital. +</P> + +<P> +The presentation of the watches was made in the mayor's office one week +after the fire. It was a painful ceremony, so far as the boys were +concerned, and they were immensely relieved when the last word had been +said, and their admiring parents were allowed to proudly escort them to +their respective homes. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap21"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXI +</H3> + +<P> +It required the combined efforts of Whimple, Epstein, and Watson to +persuade William to take a two weeks' holiday before returning to work. +He didn't want to go to the country: knew he would die after two days +there: was positive he was as strong and as able to work as he ever had +been: and, in short, he wouldn't go. Watson wormed the truth out of +him after an hour's private talk. "I'm just crazy about keeping up my +lessons with Mister Epstein," said William, finally; "I feel that I +can't afford to miss one; I wanter be something, Tommy, and I'm finding +out every day how much of a dub I am." +</P> + +<P> +Tommy suppressed a strong desire to whoop; the spirit of the lad was so +manifest; his earnestness so marked. But, as calmly as possible, he +said, "Don't worry on that score, William, a rest will do you good. +Besides, if you go where Mr. Whimple wants you to, you'll not miss a +great deal. I know the boys in that family. They're clean; they have +a good library, and—oh well, you go! Remember the proverb: 'It's +better to go slow sometimes, than to hustle all the time.'" +</P> + +<P> +William was back at work two weeks before Lucien, who, on leaving the +hospital, had also gone to the country. The boys greeted each other +cordially the day Lucien returned, and spent some time, on the first +opportunity afforded, in recounting their experiences. Lucien told his +in a plain, matter-of-fact way, and declared he was immensely relieved +to be back again. +</P> + +<P> +"Well," said William, when it came to his turn, "I'm glad to be back +too. Not that I didn't like it. Say, after the first day, I enjoyed +ev'ry minute. I went to the Millers' farm at Varency, in Haldmand +County, and maybe they ain't THE PEOPLE. B'lieve me—well—say, +honest, Lucien, all the fool things I uster think about farmers, +callin' 'em 'Rubes' and 'Hayseeds,' and such like, and about their work +and houses and everything, makes me feel like kicking myself from here +to home, and that's quite a walk. If I was oner them kind that wakes +up in the night and thinks about the past, I'd blush in the dark for +the fool I was. But when I falls asleep it's me's a log till somebody +yells in my ear that breakfast's ready. Anyway, what I used to think +about farmers is buried deep, with a lot more foolish truck I've been +getting rid of this last few weeks. +</P> + +<P> +"Say, there's three fellows there, Emerson, Laird, and George, and +every one of 'em's over six feet, and wide too, and smart, uh! Laird, +he's a schoolmaster already, and you'd orter hear him telling stories +about them old Romans and Greeks, and explainin' things that a dub like +me's sure to get stuck on. The other two they say one schoolmaster to +a family's enough, and it's them sticking to the farm, and they ain't +no slouches on farming neither. They've read an awful lot, and +attended lectures, and got things down fine. They doctor the horses +and cattle when they're sick, and, unless they break a leg or something +like that, they doctor themselves too. Emerson, he's a swell re-citer. +Honest, Lucien, he'd make you laugh, or cry, or anything, with the +pieces he knows by heart, let alone what he can do with pieces he ain't +never seen before when he reads 'em out for the first time. And +George, he can clog-dance, and play the banjo like a pro-fessional. +And the girls are smart too; there's four of 'em. Gee! I thought I'd +have to go home long before two weeks was up, they were so kind to me. +The boys and their Dad—they always called him that—uster work like +blazes from daylight, and often before, right on until evenings, and +then we'd sit around on the porch after supper, and—and——" he broke +off abruptly. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes?" said Lucien, quietly, after a moment's silence. +</P> + +<P> +"Say, Lucien, did you ever get a hunch all of a sudden, just when +you're enjoyin' yourself, that it'll never be the same again?" +</P> + +<P> +Lucien answered with a prim, "Oh, yes—sometimes." +</P> + +<P> +William went on, "Don't it grip your heart—don't it? We'd be sitting +there—the house is built on pretty high ground, and on one side +there's quite a valley, with a little stream running through it; they +call it a river, but it ain't; and lots of big trees, and some willows. +And our old friend, the moon, would be glummerin' around, and making +paths on the water, and you'd hear the frogs, and crickets, and +sometimes the creaking that the wagons would make as they passed. +That's all; there wouldn't be another sound for a while, and then +Emerson'd begin to recite, or George would play the banjo, or Laird +would tell us stories about them old fighters long ago. And all of 'em +know the names of the stars—whatjer think of that?—and they'd talk +about them like they were old friends, especially their Dad, for he +came from Scotland and was a sailor. Oh! it was great—great. Then +some one would begin to sing, and everybody would join in the chorus. +First, they'd sing somer the new songs; then the comic ones; then it +would be 'Annie Laurie,' 'Will ye no come back again,' 'The Low-backed +Car,' 'Willie, we have missed you,' 'Nellie Grey,' 'My Old Kentucky +Home'—all the old-timers. I'd join in too, and one night when we were +singing 'Will ye no come back again,' that think tank of mine got outer +gear someway, and starts a hammerin' on one thought: 'It'll never be +the same again—never—never—never,' and it made me feel bad, I tell +you, but I went on singing. I had that kinder feeling three or four +times after. It sounds crazy, don't it, Lucien? but, oh, it's true, +it's true! But, don't you forget it, I had a bully time. I don't know +when I really liked it most; in the early morning, when everything's +bright and fresh, or at night, when it's still, like I'm tellin' you. +There's one thing I noticed about the nights, too, that got me going." +</P> + +<P> +"What's that?" +</P> + +<P> +"The stars. Say, Lucien, they seem to be so much closer than they do +in the city; and more of 'em: that's because there ain't so many +buildings, and you can see more sky. Sally used to say——" +</P> + +<P> +"Sally!" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, Sally! she's the youngest, and at that she's a little older'n I +am. And there ain't no mother in that house, because their mother died +just when Sally was a kiddie, and they're all mothers and fathers to +her." +</P> + +<P> +"William—is it——?" +</P> + +<P> +"Now, hold on, Lucien; hold on. Don't bite on anything until you're +sure you can swallow it. Say, she's a wonder, Sally is! There's been +something wrong with her spine for about four years, and she can't +walk, 'cept once in a while she kinder hobbles slow around the table. +They have a big wheel chair for Sally, and always when it's fine they +wheel her out on to the verandah, and there she sits for hours an' +hours. You'd think she's have a grouch being the way she is, but, +honest, Lucien, she's enough to make all the grouchers get a hunch to +throw themselves off the earth, she's that chirpy. Laugh! she's got a +laugh 'ud chase the blues outer anybody; but she's mighty sad too, +sometimes, when she thinks no one ain't watchin' her. Sally's a +wonder, Lucien—and she's got big brown eyes, and brown hair fallin' +all around her face, and the sweetest mouth——" +</P> + +<P> +Lucien had occasional flashes of originality, and struck in with one. +"Sweetest—the sweetest——" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," said William, firmly, though he blushed slightly, "sweet. And +if you're trying to be wise about me getting tangled up with the fair +sex the way you think, cut it out, cut it out. You're on the wrong +track, and the danger signal's set against you. But she's certainly a +wonder. Sometimes I'd be two or three hours in the field with the +boys, and maybe it ain't enough to keep a fellow's think tank humming, +to try to learn a quarter of what they know about the soil, and what to +do with it, and about the insects, and roots, and everything. Then if +I'd get tired I'd go and sit on the porch by Sally, and we'd just talk, +or perhaps we'd both have a book, and just sit there readin', and I'd +get tired readin', and begin to think about things, and one day, when +I'm doing that I turns sudden, and Sally's looking at me, and she says, +'Yes, it is a big world, Willie'—they all called me that—she says, +'and we're none of us nearly so im-port-ant as we like to think we +are.' Gee! I almost swallowed me neck, for I was just thinking that; +and she read my thoughts often like that, as easy as—— Oh, well; I +told her all about my plans, and what I mean to be, and—and—I've got +to get busy and write to her now. I promised to." +</P> + +<P> +Lucien smiled slightly. +</P> + +<P> +"Rub off the smile, you hero," said William, pleasantly, himself +smiling too; "there's none of that love business going into my letters." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap22"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXII +</H3> + +<P> +Sally read that letter, sitting in the porch in her wheeled chair; +first to herself, and later aloud to all the members of the family. It +was scarred by blots and erasures; in some places William had obviously +"stuck" on words, and, after writing them as he thought they should be +spelled, had consulted the dictionary to make sure, and had re-written +them. +</P> + +<P> +This is what Sally read:— +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="letter"> +"DEAR SALLY,—The Toronto baseball team is on the top of the heap +again, and all the rest of the bunch is laying around like old tin cans +waiting for the garbage man to collect them. Looks like the pennant +for us. I'm half crazy about the team, so's Tommy Watson, and the +other half of him's bughouse about Flo Dearmore, so he's a rare subject. +</P> + +<P CLASS="letter"> +"Lucien's all right now. He's surprising me all the time. A husky kid +came into the office to-day with a message and got kind of sassy when I +told him the boss was out on business, so I gave him a swat in the eye, +and he was just about wiping the floor with me when Lucien tackled him, +and in about five minutes that kid was a sight to see. He cried +fierce, but Lucien wouldn't quit till he said he'd behave himself the +next time. So I says to Lucien, 'Well, if you ain't the artist with +your fists; where in Sam Hill did you pick that up?' and he says his Pa +used to be a pretty good boxer and gave him lessons. And me thinking +yet in spite of the fire that he was a kind of sissy boy. So I began +to believe what Tommy Watson says, that you can't tell what's in a +fellow until he has a chance to show it, and lots of fellows ain't +going around hunting up chances, they just wait till one comes. +Anyway, Lucien's a pippin. +</P> + +<P CLASS="letter"> +"My Pa got another man to work for him, and he's bought a team of +mules. Mules are the dickens to work steady all the time. Pa says he +don't know yet which has the most sense, the mules or the new man, but +the man's good and honest, and the more work he gets, the more he +smiles, and smiles is about all the language he has. I never saw a man +what could say so much with a smile. Honest, the horses and mules get +frisky the minute he gets into the stable, like they were saying, 'Here +he is, cheer up.' When he gets them, Pa tells the bunch at home the +mules ain't brought up in no riding school, but Pete's not hearing very +well or something, and the first chance he gets tries to prove Pa's +wrong. So Pete's going around now with six stitches on the front of +his brain works, and he's that wise about mules a mule doctor couldn't +beat him. +</P> + +<P CLASS="letter"> +"I told Ma and Pa a lot about you, and Pa says he'd like to know you. +He's great on people what has a lot to put up with, and don't shout +about it. And Ma she looks at Dolly, and says, 'God bless her,' +meaning you. +</P> + +<P CLASS="letter"> +"Jimmy Duggan, you remember I told you all about him, he wants to bring +in some bills when the Provincial House meets, and he says to ask your +father and the boys to think something up, because he says the city +people have so many crazy schemes he's afraid to try anything for them. +So ask them, please. +</P> + +<P CLASS="letter"> +"My feet are tired chasing letters to you know who for Mister Whimple. +She's a fine lady though, and I hope the boss will marry her. When I +took a note up yesterday, she was talking to me about my visit, so I +told her a lot of things I thought she's like and about your brother +George going courting, and she says, 'It's a terrible thing this love, +William,' and I asked her does she suffer much from it. So she blushes +awful red, and looked prettier than ever, and says kind of like she +didn't remember I was around, 'Most women do—most women do, and I +never really knew until now what love was.' Now what do you think of +that, and her married once before! Mister Simmons, he's Lucien's boss, +he says her husband was an awful booze fighter right till he died, and +my Pa says there ain't any man yet that's ever been able to win a fight +against booze so long as he's willing to let booze get into his inwards. +</P> + +<P CLASS="letter"> +"I guess this letter will make you awful tired, specially if it's a hot +day, but there's seems to be so much I'd like to tell you. You +remember the old man I told you about that I collect rent from, the +fellow that has rheumatics. He's getting quite chummy with me now. I +was there the other day, and he hardly swore at all. He says he's +sorry he's wasted so many good cuss words on me when he's got so many +relatives waiting for him to die so's they can get his money. Honest, +the way he curses about those people is awful. I told Tommy Watson +about him one day, and Tommy says the Good Book is dead against wasting +anything. A man like that, he says, could make a great hit by saving +all his curses for one year, and then letting them loose on one of the +people he don't love. Whoever got them would never forget, and they'd +think more of Mister Jonas than they do with him throwing curses around +as though they were cheaper than newspapers. +</P> + +<P CLASS="letter"> +"Tommy's got a great set of hired help in his store. One of them's +from Aberdeen, and the other from London, England, and you ought to +hear them. Say, they're fighting all the time about the battle of +Bannock-Burn, a million years ago or so. I butted in one day, and +says, 'Well, ain't that battle over long ago?' and I got what was +coming to me all right, just like butters-in usually does. They got me +in a corner and talked at me for half an hour straight. When one would +stop to draw his breath, the other would go on talking. I began to +feel sick—real sick—no joking, and all of a sudden I burst out +laughing. I don't know what for, I didn't want to laugh, I felt more +like crying, but, by ginger, I couldn't stop. I laughed, and laughed, +and then some more, and the tears were running down my cheeks all the +time, and I was rolling around like I had wheels for feet. So those +two ninnies began to look solemn, and the Englishman shook me a bit, +but I couldn't stop. Then he began to snicker like a chump, and first +thing he knew he was hanging over one of Tommy's bargain bedsteads just +laughing, laughing, laughing, though it was more like crying too. The +Scotchman started next, and every time he laughed he rolled into +something until he fell on the floor and just lay there laughing. +</P> + +<P CLASS="letter"> +"I suppose we'd be laughing yet or else dead of it, only Tommy came in. +He took one look around and his face got awful white. He asked me +something, but I could only sputter, then he tried the Scotchman, but +he only rolled some more—gee! it makes me giggle to think of it. So +Tommy rushed to the 'phone and called up a doctor, and then he ran out +of the store and got a cop, and when he gets him in he says to the cop, +'They're dying,' and the cop says, 'Like blazes they're dying,' he +says. So that got me going worse than ever, and the cop was beginning +to snicker too. So he pulls out his baton and he yells out, 'I'll +knock the block off the first yap that lets out another laugh,' and he +gives the Englishman a poke in the slats to show he meant it. And you +bet we quit on the spot. Me, I made a grand sneak the minute I found I +could stand straight, and just as I'm getting out, in rushes a doctor. +Tommy told me after he had to give the doctor four dollars, but the +money was nothing to the way he sweated trying to explain. +</P> + +<P CLASS="letter"> +"The next time I write I hope it'll be better written. I've found a +place where I can take night lessons three times a week in history and +reading and writing, and you bet I'm taking them. +</P> + +<P CLASS="letter"> +"With best wishes to everybody and hoping George is getting along all +right with his courting. +</P> + +<P CLASS="closing"> +"W. A. T. +</P> + +<P CLASS="letter"> +"P.S.—Lucien is showing me how to box every chance we get." +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +William deliberately omitted from his letter a conversation with Miss +Whimple regarding Sally. He had made a special journey to see the lady +because he remembered hearing her say something about wonderful cures +at a certain hospital to the work of which she had given time and +money. She heard him through, touched by the depth of his feeling for +the sufferer, and promised to make inquiries of the surgical staff as +to what could be done. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't be too hopeful, William," she said, kindly, "they cannot really +tell until they see the patient. But they've done almost everything +except furnish new spines; and goodness knows there are many people who +ought to have them if they could be made. There are too many jellyfish +men and women in the world to-day, William." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap23"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXIII +</H3> + +<P> +Reformations are slow—except when they're sudden. Some +reformations—of individuals as well as nations—have followed upon +years of effort, toil, and suffering: others have been materially +accelerated by the use of the axe. William's acquaintance with the axe +was limited to its use as an instrument for occasional spells of +firewood-chopping: but at heart he was a reformer, and, unlike most +reformers—judging them, of course, by the doubtful value of +histories—he started upon himself. Tenacity was William's greatest +asset; when he adopted a line of action he "stayed with it," to use his +own expressive phraseology. Having found the place spoken of in the +letter to Sally, where he could take night lessons in history, reading, +and writing, William became an attentive and consistent attendant. +Tommy Watson and Whimple were fearful lest he should undertake too +much, finally tire of everything, and lapse into a drifter. Epstein +ridiculed their fears and scorned their arguments. "Leave the boy +alone," he said, "he knows what he wants, and he'll get it." +</P> + +<P> +There were glorious nights when William longed for a trip on the Bay to +the Island, or an hour's loafing in the parks, but when the longing +took possession of him on lesson nights he fought it down with +firmness, and he usually won. He confided in Epstein occasionally, and +the wise old comedian let him talk as long as he wished about it, +offering no suggestions or advice. He never went beyond, "Well done, +boy," or "Stick to it," but to himself he often said, "He'll do; he'll +do." +</P> + +<P> +William neglected his lessons occasionally, as, for instance, once, in +the first week of September, but it was in a good cause. He thus +explained it to Lucien. "You shoulder seen the Turnpike bunch at the +exhibition yesterday." +</P> + +<P> +"So that's where you were. Mr. Whimple said he understood you were +engaged on important private business matters." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, he ain't far wrong the way I look at it." +</P> + +<P> +"And were you——?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," broke in William, "I was around when the lion broke outer the +wild beast show—I'm coming to that soon. Pa took the whole bunch of +us: he's been taking the whole family since I can remember, and we +always have a good time. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, of course it takes Ma about two hours to get the bunch +ready—say, ain't kids the worst! I suppose she must have washed off +Joey's and Bessie's face four times before we got started. After the +second or third time, Pa takes 'em upstairs and makes 'em lie on the +bed until the army is ready to advance. 'I've heard about machines for +washin' dishes,' he says, 'but it takes a pair of hands and a lot of +soap for washin' kiddies' faces, and hands is liable to get tired, so +there you stays until Ma's had a chance to get cleaned up,' and they +stayed. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, we gets to the grounds about eleven o'clock, and all us kids had +a lunch in a box, or a bag, or something, and Ma and Pa had two big +baskets fuller grub besides. You'd thought there was enough to last a +week. As soon as we gets inside, Pete says he's hungry, he's afraid he +can't walk none unless he has something to eat right away. Pete always +lays for the grub, you bet. So Pa he lets on he's considering +something, but we all know what it is, because he's played it on us +before, and he winds up by taking us down to a swell lunch place near +the lake. Honest, it's as clean nearly as our house, and there's +mighty few houses that's cleaner. So when Bill Thomson—the man what +runs it—sees us coming, he looks mighty solemn, and we all knew what +he's going to say, and he says it. 'Ah,' he says, 'there's the +Turnpikes what's going to drink up me last drop of tea and all me +gingerbeer. Well'—and then he heaves a great sigh—'let 'em come—let +'em all come: it'll ruin me, I know, but somebody always has-ter go +under.' +</P> + +<P> +"And Pa says to him to 'cheer up, and how's business?' +</P> + +<P> +"So Bill says it's rotten! the worst in years. So far as he can see he +ain't even going to pay expenses, and he wishes he'd let the thing +alone. And Pa don't say anything then, but when we've eaten till we +can't eat any more, specially Pete, Pa says to Ma, 'Bill Thomson's been +runnin' that lunch counter for twenty years, to my knowledge, and he's +never made anything on it, to hear him talk. But I notice he's got +three nice houses all his own, and a fine trotting horse, and him an +express man, too, and I'll bet he ain't got all the money for them +houses outer the express business,' he says. +</P> + +<P> +"'It's a good business, though,' says Ma. +</P> + +<P> +"And Pa says, 'You bet it is, Ma, it's been good to us anyway.' +</P> + +<P> +"Say, maybe my Pa don't know where to take folks at the exhibition. +There's mighty little we didn't see, I'm tellin' you; and chirpin' all +the while Pa was too. He's better than a minstrel show to go anywhere +with, my Pa is; he'd make even you laugh, Lucien. Well, anyway, along +about four o'clock Pa thinks we'd better see oner two of the shows in +the midway, so's we can get another meal in good time to see the night +doings in fronter the grand stand. So, us to the midway, and we ain't +more than half in when we runs across the wild beast show. There's a +cage on the platform in front of the show, with a pretty fierce lookin' +lion in it, and the spieler he's telling the folks how this lion has +eaten four or five people, and he ain't never been sub-dued. 'But,' he +says, 'Seenor'r Dan-rell-o will go into his cage at every performance,' +he says, 'at the peril of his life.' +</P> + +<P> +"So, a young fellow what's listenin', he says kinder flip, 'Is the +peril much?' +</P> + +<P> +"So the showman says he ain't answerin' no fool questions, but if +anybody what looks like they had brains is asking in-tell-i-gent +questions, he's ready to answer 'em. +</P> + +<P> +"So the young fellow—he's a husky lookin' chap—he says the show's a +fake, and the man on the platform gives him a wipe over the head with a +whip he had. Then you'd oughter have seen things happen. That young +fellow's pal grabs the showman by the legs and pulls him down to the +ground and proceeds to hammer him some. The crowd's kinder excited and +shovin' around and saying things to each other without knowing what +they're doing, when the young fellow what really starts the row lets +out a yell you could hear a mile away, and the crowd hushes up kinder +sudden; I guess everybody got cold chills down their backs all at once. +While they're wondering what's coming next, the fellow puts out his +hand and grabs the bars in front of the lion's cage, pulls two or three +of them out, and gives that lion the awfullest punch right on the +stomach; honest, Lucien, you could hear it like somebody pounding +beefsteak to make it tender. Well, everybody comes to their senses, or +else loses 'em again, whichever you like, all of a sudden, and the +women that don't faint gets screechin', and the men are hollerin' for +the police, and all except them as are laying in faints begins to run. +We were pretty well up to the front, and when Pa sees the young fellow +pull out the bars he turns kinder white. Then he grabs Dolly and Joey, +and says to the rest of us, 'Vamoose ahead quick,' he says, 'though I +don't think there's much danger,' and Ma don't say much, but she ain't +trying to get far ahead of Pa and we keep turnin' around. At last Pa +says, 'No more runnin',' he says, and he puts Dolly and Joey down, +takes their hands, and begins to walk back towards the show just as a +lot of cops came running up, and so we all go back, and there's that +young fellow has the lion by the tail and he's whipping it to beat the +band, and making it walk slow up the steps. So, by and by, when things +get calmed down again, Pa finds out that them cage bars is wooden ones, +and the lion's about forty years old, and honest, Lucien, all its teeth +are false, and so's most of its claws, and just about all it can do is +to roar and roll around enough to make it look fierce with red lights +and all that around it when Seenor Dan-rell-o goes into the cage. +Don't you believe the yarns the newspapers had about that fellow taking +his life in his hands and all that. If the police hadn't stopped him +he'd likely have taken the lion home and kept it for his kiddies to +play with, if he's married. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, Pa says they're ain't much sense paying to see the wild beast +show after that, 'cause the best of it is on the outside. The next +thing we run across was a show of trained horses. They had a trick +mule outside to attract the crowds, and the spieler says the man, +woman, or child what can stay on the mule's back one minute gets a +dollar and a free ticket to the show. So we watched a few minutes and +saw quite a few fellows try, and the mule threw every one before the +minute was up. Pa he was kinder fidgetin' and snorting like he thought +the triers was a poor bunch, and Ma she says kinder scared like, 'Let's +go, Pa;' but Pa he steps forward, and he says low to the man will he +let our bunch in if he stays on the mule's back a minute. The man he +lets out a blast of a laugh, and he says, 'Ladies and gents,' he says, +'here's a man wants to take a children's home into the show free if he +can stay on the mule a minute,' he says. 'Oh, gather round and see the +fun—oh, gather round.' Pete, he's for rushing at the man, but I holds +him back, for I see Pa's eyes, and I know that mule's going to be +pretty miserable in a few seconds, and the man's going to be worse if +he gets off any more of his chin about the family. Of course the mule +stands as meek as a sheep while Pa gets on—them trick mules is trained +to do that—and the crowd's waitin' for him to throw Pa up in the air, +or roll him off, but the second Pa's on that mule's back his hands has +a grip on his neck near the jaw, and, b'lieve me, Lucien, that mule +began to turn white in the face. It seemed no time before the beast +was kinder staggerin' around like a drunk man, and the spieler +hollerin' for Pa to let go. 'You win,' he says, 'you win—get off—you +can have everything you want. Dang it, man, you're killing that mule.' +</P> + +<P> +"So Pa's pretty busy keeping his grip, but he says, 'I'm trying a new +hold,' he says, 'and I'll try it on you next, unless you apol-o-gises.' +</P> + +<P> +"So the man begs Pa's pardon, and ours, and Pa got off, and we all went +into the show. It wasn't so bad at that either: any old day any wise +guinea thinks he can put one over my Pa's he's stacking up some trouble +for himself. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, we had another meal then, and we ate so much that even Pete was +nearly satisfied. He got through the rest of the night on three bags +of peanuts, some pop-corn, and some grapes; but that's easy for Pete, +he can eat until he begins to shed buttons off his clothes so fast +you'd think it was raining. Then he'll go to school, or out to play, +for an hour or so, and back he comes ready for more. +</P> + +<P> +"We saw the grand stand show and the fireworks. Well, it's a pretty +good grand stand show this year; but you've seen it, so what's the use +spielin' about it? I'm glad I got off to go with the bunch, for I +cert'nly had one swell time." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap24"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXIV +</H3> + +<P> +The day before the marriage of Flo Dearmore and Tommy Watson, the +latter's assistants in his auctioneering rooms signed a formal and +formidable looking agreement, framed by Whimple, and copied in +duplicate by one William Adolphus Turnpike. It was William's first +piece of typewriting for his boss, and he was mightily proud of it, for +it was neatly done, so neatly done in fact that it did not need a +single correction. And William's pride was the greater because he was +asked to accompany Whimple to the store, there to witness the signing +of the agreement. The ceremony was a solemn one—too solemn almost for +William—whose efforts to maintain a dignified bearing were almost too +much for Tommy. Whimple had no difficulty in maintaining the pose of a +lawyer engaged in a serious case, while the assistants were too +frightened to be anything else but soberly sheepish. The main clause +of the agreement was read over twice, the assistants affirming in timid +tones that they knew what it meant, and believed they had sense enough +to live up to it. And it ran something like this:— +</P> + +<P> +"And we the parties hereinbefore and hereinafter referred to as +assistants to Thomas Watson, auctioneer of the said city of Toronto, +County of York, do hereby solemnly agree and bind ourselves on our +honour to respect such agreement; that we will not during the absence +of the said Thomas Watson from his lawful place of business during the +period of four weeks dating from the date of this agreement, to which +in the presence of witnesses we have signed our names, discuss, argue, +talk of, whisper, or shout in the presence of each other, or write or +read in the presence of each other, anything relating in any manner to +the Battle of Bannockburn or any other battle fought in or out of +Scotland or England or elsewhere between armies or forces or +individuals of either of the countries named. We also agree that we +will not in the presence of each other, by actions or other show that +might be so construed, attempt to convey each to the other any thoughts +we may have as to such battle, or battles, or conflicts. And we +further declare that we know and understand and comprehend the meaning +of the foregoing in all respects, that we are over twenty-one years of +age respectively, and are not subject to the control or permission of +parents or guardians in entering into the agreement as set forth in the +foregoing, and in the succeeding clauses of this agreement." +</P> + +<P> +They signed both copies solemnly, William signed them too, as a +witness, and so did Whimple. One copy was nailed to the wall at the +back of the store, the other was given to Whimple, who was also given +power of attorney by the auctioneer during the absence of Tommy on his +honeymoon. +</P> + +<P> +The first wedding that William Adolphus Turnpike ever attended as a +guest was that of Tommy Watson and Flo Dearmore. The formal invitation +was a startling surprise to the lad. It arrived at his home one +morning just as he was about to depart for the office. He read it +through three times, and then handed it over to his mother. "Ma," he +cried, "look at that!" She read it through, and a blush of pleasure +tinged her cheeks as she did so. "A church wedding, Willie, and you +invited; and then there's a—a—a de-jun-er. I guess that means a +spread at the house of the bride's mother." +</P> + +<P> +"But me! Ma: why, I'd feel like a fish outer water among the bunch +that'll be there, unless," he added thoughtfully, "'Chuck' Epstein goes +too, and I can hang onto him." +</P> + +<P> +The time between the reception of the invitation and the wedding was a +trying one for William. He worried about what he should wear—and his +choice was rather limited—but he worried more about what he should +give, "For," said his mother, "you'll have to give the bride something: +everybody does that when they're invited to a wedding." In the crisis +of his dilemma over this proposition William consulted "Chuck" Epstein, +and the result of their deliberations was the sending to the +prospective bride of a parrot "that could talk to beat the band," as +William said. Epstein never told him that he had himself paid the +original owner of the parrot a larger amount than William could spare, +and had arranged with him to accept the sum that the boy offered. And +of all the gifts that Flo Dearmore received from others but the man of +her choice, that parrot pleased her most, "For," said she, "he is the +slangiest bird imaginable, and sometimes he uses swear words—just like +my Tommy." +</P> + +<P> +The wedding, which took place at "high noon" in an Anglican church, was +a wonderful experience for William. With "Chuck" Epstein, he had a +good seat near the altar, and many were the smiles and knowing nods +exchanged between other invited guests at the evident eagerness of the +lad to take in all the proceedings. And yet no other person, perhaps, +in the assembly—and it was a large one—felt more than William the +real solemnity of the ceremony. He was not very clear as to his exact +feelings, but the dignity of the rector, the simple beauty of the +marriage ritual, the singing of the choir, the love light in the eyes +of the bride and of Tommy, combined to impress him profoundly. He +smiled once, in fact he scarcely suppressed a snicker, but a warning +touch of Epstein's hand aided him to control himself. +</P> + +<P> +The "dejeuner" almost put him "on the blink," he declared afterwards. +He was conscious only of two things: first, that the bride, amid all +the sweet confusion and merriment incidental to the occasion, found +time to introduce him to several ladies as "the dearest and cleverest +boy I know, next to Tommy," and that when the toasts were proposed he +had to make a speech. Epstein assisted him to stand, for the lad was +overwhelmed with embarrassment that amounted to fear. He never knew +just what he said at first, but when he recovered sufficiently to +realise that the faces turned toward him were kindly, and the smiles +were encouraging, his self-possession returned. Observant always, and +quick to see the right thing to do, William hoped that "Mister Watson +and his wife would live happy ever after, and," he concluded, with a +smile that was full of confidence, "I nearly snickered once when the +marriage was on. That was when the minister says something about, 'Do +you, Thomas Watson, take this woman for your wife?' or words something +like that, and I says to myself, 'Does he! Gee! And him looney +about——'" The rest was lost in a breeze of laughter and joyous +acclamations. +</P> + +<P> +Afterwards there was more hustle and bustle, and finally the bride and +groom started for the railway station, with all the accompaniments +considered so necessary to start newly wedded couples on such journeys. +Others may have noticed, William certainly did, that though she smiled, +there were tears in Mrs. Dearmore's eyes as she stood at the doorstep +and waved her hands in farewell. And, as he left for the office, +William was thinking of that. "It means a lot for her," he said to +himself—"a lot. She—why—Flo will be—" he paused—"of course, of +course, it's always the way. It'll never be the same again for Mrs. +Dearmore, or Flo, or Tommy. This is a rummy world." +</P> + +<P> +Later in the day he dropped into Tommy Watson's store and found the +assistants engaged in the hottest kind of argument. They took no +notice of him at all; indeed, they did not know he was there. He +listened for a few minutes, wrathful and unhappy, because he felt that +this was the time above all others when Tommy's business should be +attended to with diligence and enthusiasm, and then, still unnoticed, +he stole out of the store and ran back to the office. Whimple was not +in, and William, hastily glancing over his employer's daily reminder, +made a bee line for the county court. Here he found Whimple, having +just successfully emerged from a case in which he had defended a man +accused of theft, chatting with the county crown attorney. +</P> + +<P> +"Excuse me, Mister Whimple," said William, abruptly, "but them guys are +at it again." +</P> + +<P> +"Meaning——?" began Whimple. +</P> + +<P> +"In Tommy Watson's store," William went on hurriedly, "and, honest, +it's fierce. I was in and outer the store, and neither of 'em even +looked at me." +</P> + +<P> +Whimple bade adieu to the crown attorney, and started away with William. +</P> + +<P> +"What are they fighting about now, William?" said Whimple, disgustedly, +as he hurried along the street with William by his side. +</P> + +<P> +"Home r'rule fer I'r'r'reland or 'ome rule for Hireland! I don't know +just which," answered William with a smile. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap25"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXV +</H3> + +<P> +Some chronicles are so burdened with matters that are irrelevant as to +cause to those who have an eye for the main story and nothing else much +trouble and more annoyance. But in this, the true chronicle of events +in one period of the life of William Adolphus Turnpike, only that which +is of importance has been dealt with. This is almost a superfluous +explanation, for the reader who has managed to keep awake thus far has +long ago become seized of the fact. There lapses between what has gone +before and what is here written a period of nearly five years. Happy +years they had been to William and the Turnpike "bunch." The elder +Turnpike's business prospered exceedingly, and William was well +advanced towards his cherished goal. Whimple and Tommy had long ceased +to worry over him, for the lad was developing into a sturdy and healthy +youth, taller than the average, still on the slim side, but strong and +sinewy. There was little grace about his movements, though he had +developed in courtesy and consideration to a surprising degree. He +sometimes worried over his lack of graceful movements. "I've stood in +front of the glass many a time," he said to Epstein, "and practised +trying to be graceful, but it's no go. I'm as awkward as a duck; +what'll I do?" +</P> + +<P> +"Nothing," said Epstein, gravely, "nothing, my boy. It will be best +for you if you are always naturally as awkward as you are to-day. Many +comedians have tried for years to acquire what you have as a gift of +nature. It's a great asset." And William took the old man's word for +it. "You know best," he said emphatically, "and whatever you say goes." +</P> + +<P> +Epstein smiled happily. The old comedian did not seem to have aged +very much in the five years. He declared he felt younger, in fact. +Between him and William there had grown a friendship strong and +complete. The lad trusted implicitly in the man: his gratitude to him +was unbounded, he evinced it by his attention to the lessons, still +continued, by every little thing he could do to show that the tuition, +so unselfishly given, was bearing good fruit. It was hard drilling +often: there were days and weeks when the heart of William was torn +with doubts and fears, but always when it seemed that he could not bear +the strain, he tackled his tasks once more with the determination his +friends had so often noted, and the difficulties would fly, the rocky +path become smooth, and the heart of William would rejoice in another +victory. +</P> + +<P> +Whimple's business had attained quite respectable proportions now. He +was able to pay William a fairly good salary, and the lad was earning +it, for he had adopted as his motto one of Tommy Watson's proverbs: +"The man who earns what he gets is a dub; the fellow who always does +more than he's paid for gets to the winning post first." Whimple +himself, on the shrewd advice of his aunt, had bought and re-sold to +excellent advantage pieces of property in the rapidly developing +suburbs, and was beginning to be known as an expert on law in regard to +property. He had also, on the advice of his heart, and without +consulting any one but the lady herself, married Mrs. Stewart, and +William was almost as proud of his "boss" for doing that as he was of +his own ability to keep the books and do all the clerical work of the +office. +</P> + +<P> +There was a new Watson too—you have guessed that, of course. A +one-year-old image of Tommy, who would have had half the doctors and +all the trained nurses in town at the newcomer's advent, if his friends +had not restrained him. +</P> + +<P> +And Tommy, who, at the time of his marriage, had considered himself +fairly well able to meet all current demands on his purse, and even to +retire and live in reasonable comfort on what he had managed to put +away, got cold feet as soon as he realised that he was a father. The +first cry from Tommy junior brought the cold sweat to the brow of the +auctioneer, who was sitting in his home "den" awaiting news from his +wife's room. He stole softly downstairs and made his way to the +verandah, in the belief that some of the neighbour's children were +playing there, and bent upon driving them away. But there were no +youngsters on the verandah, and Tommy, with a sudden realisation of the +meaning of that cry, went back to the den, grinning foolishly, and +hungrier than ever for news. When the doctor finally came to him with +a hearty, "Well, Dad, there's a bouncing Tommy junior to look after +now," Tommy asked first, "How is she?" +</P> + +<P> +"Fine," answered the doctor. +</P> + +<P> +"And the kiddo's a boy?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," said the doctor, "and he's a dandy; you can see 'em both soon," +he added, as he left the room. +</P> + +<P> +"Me a father!" said Tommy to himself. "Me! Oh, joy—and a boy!" He +seized the cushions on the lounge and threw them up to the ceiling +joyously. "If I was at the store," he said aloud, and addressing the +cushions, "I'd use you to smash something with." +</P> + +<P> +Then he took a writing pad and began to cover it with figures, and the +more he figured, the less pleased he seemed to be with the results. +Finally, "Ahem," said Tommy, "I've got to work now: this'll never do; +can't let the wife and kiddy want for anything. Wonder what we'll have +to get for him first?" And after more figuring, "Well, it's no good +getting cold feet over the proposition: it's me with me nose to the +grindstone, and I guess I can stand it for some years yet." +</P> + +<P> +There was joy in his store when he arrived there the next morning, +proudly happy. Epstein and Whimple were there, and they greeted him +with dignified pleasure. The Scottish and English assistants, who were +still at loggerheads over the battle of Bannockburn, were no less +sincere in their congratulations. When Jimmy Duggan, M.P.P., called to +add the compliments of the People's Party, Tommy was fairly beaming. +Oh, but it was good to have such friends. But the congratulations that +touched him most of all were those of William and Lucien, who called +together. The youths were embarrassed, they hardly knew what to say, +and what they did say was incoherent. But Tommy knew the kindliness of +the hearts that had prompted the call, and he blew his nose and +shuffled his feet uneasily as the boys, after an awkward silence, +departed. +</P> + +<P> +Lucien and William were fast friends now. The former was still with +Simmons, the architect, who, like Whimple, was beginning to achieve +success, and now occupied a separate office suite. He was growing +fast; was stouter than William, much slower in action and speech, and +was giving promise of developing into a successful business man. +William had confided his plans to Lucien long ago, and had been +delighted with the real interest with which they had been received. +They often talked about them, and Lucien had even given some +suggestions that William had acted upon and found to be good. And one +day Lucien had completed his conquest of the coming comedian by a +simple remark. William, in a more than usual friendly outburst of +confidence, had built castles in the air, based on his conviction of +attaining success. +</P> + +<P> +"And if," said Lucien, "you should become a famous and wealthy actor, +and have a theatre of your own—I—I——" he looked at William +wistfully. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, Lucien." +</P> + +<P> +"Wouldn't it be nice if—if—I was architect enough to design it for +you? I—I would like——" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, Lucien!" That was all William said, but Lucien laughed happily. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap26"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXVI +</H3> + +<P> +Jimmy Duggan, too, had been doing things during the years. In the +early days of his first session of the legislature Jimmy was regarded +as something of a joke by government and opposition sides alike, and by +the press of both parties. He was constantly referred to in the +newspapers as "Mr. Duggan, the People's Party," and when it came to +recording votes on various questions there was sure to be a note to the +effect that "The People's Party voted solidly" for or against the +proposal, or Bill, or amendment, as the case might be. And Jimmy +rather liked it. In the course of time he became thoroughly acquainted +with "all the boys" in the press gallery. The embarrassment of his +detachment from either of the straight political parties was a strong +factor in ripening his friendship with the "gallery," and very soon the +reporters began to welcome his advent to the writing room, a well-like +structure between the actual press gallery and one of the galleries +used by the public. For Jimmy had an amazing fund of stories, and knew +how to tell them, and he also knew that there were times when silence +was imperative, and on such occasions he smoked his pipe and marvelled +while the reporters turned out reams of copy for their newspapers. +</P> + +<P> +To the leaders of the respective parties Jimmy was a real puzzle. They +made overtures to him, by proxy, of course. Far be it from any leader +of any political party to ever care one red cent whether an +independent, real or imitation, would consider throwing in his lot with +a party. Far be it, but—well, the overtures were made, and Jimmy +received the envoys who bore them on separate occasions with +cordiality. One envoy reported that Jimmy would support his party +through thick and thin, and the other reported, "We have him, hide and +boot and all." He was no chicken—Jimmy. +</P> + +<P> +There was some curiosity as to when Jimmy would make his first speech +in the House, and on what subject. The press gallery, to a man, was +willing to bet that it would be interesting, and not one-hundredth part +so long as the first speech made by "The Big Wind." Attempts to pump +Jimmy were of no avail, for he declared with emphatic words and +gestures that he didn't know. "All I'm sure of," he said, "is that +I'll make one some day, if I don't drop dead of heart disease when I +get up to speak. I hope it'll be some nice quiet afternoon; there's +too many folks here at nights to suit me." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, but you addressed far larger audiences during your campaign," +said one of the reporters. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," answered Jimmy, "but it was a different crowd; most of the bunch +that comes to the galleries here at nights are pretty keen politicians. +Lots of 'em have been coming for years. They know all the points of +order, and everything like that, and because I'd know that they knew I +was tearing holes in the rules of the House, and the English language, +I'd likely feel that I'd better not take a fling. But, what's the use +of talking?—I don't know what I'll say or do. Did any of you fellows +know Father LeRoy, down our way, who died a little while ago?" +</P> + +<P> +Some of them had known him. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, fifteen years or so ago, there was a gang of housebreakers and +burglars that got on people's nerves. They pulled off many a robbery, +beat up a number of people, and had the whole district terrorised. The +police didn't seem able to get on to any good clues, though goodness +knows they worked hard. Well, it got so that people were afraid to +leave anything worth while in their houses when they went to church +services. So they stayed at home more frequently than usual. Father +LeRoy felt pretty bad about his own people who did this, and prayed for +an end to 'the plague,' as he called it. He was sorrowful, too, about +the robberies, because he had a sneaking suspicion that some of his own +parishioners were mixed up in them, and he was right. +</P> + +<P> +"He wasn't much of a man for size, the Father, and was never known to +have displayed any great strength, but he had a bright, keen eye, a +firm step, and a hearty hand-shake that showed he was healthful, anyway. +</P> + +<P> +"After mass one Sunday, I shook hands with him at the door—he was +always there for a word before we went—and I says to him, 'Father, +you'll be having the gang breaking into your house first thing you +know.' +</P> + +<P> +"He laughed kind of easy, and says, 'Well, if they come, I hope they'll +be peaceable, for, above all things, I am a man of peace.' +</P> + +<P> +"'And if they're not?' I says. +</P> + +<P> +"And he shrugged his shoulders—that was the French of him from his +father—and says, 'I don't know what I'd do, but I'd do the best I +could.' +</P> + +<P> +"Sure enough, they did break into the Father's house the next night, +three of them, and they got into his room on the second floor, and woke +him up from his sleep, because they couldn't find anything worth +stealing. They stood beside his bed, three hulking brutes they were, +and threatened him with fearful things if he didn't at once get up and +show them the gold and silver plate they believed was in the house. So +he got up kinder quietly, and put some of his clothes on, and all the +while they were saying very soft-like awful things about the church, +and Father LeRoy wasn't saying anything, but all of a sudden he turns +the key easily in the door, locking it on the inside, you see, and +slips the key in his pocket. Then he looks at them, and they're very +close to him and very fierce, and one of 'em says, 'We smashed old +Tom's head'—that was the Father's servant—'just because he opened his +mouth to yell, and now we'll pound yours to a pulp,' and the next +minute that fellow went down with a broken jawbone and a stomach that +never got well again, I guess. The others threw themselves upon the +Father, and a few minutes afterwards the whole neighbourhood was +awakened by the yells and shoutings from the house. People and police +were soon there: they broke into the house and burst into the Father's +room, and there he was, a little pale and breathing heavy, and the +three men piled on the floor in a heap, moaning and groaning, and all +covered with blood. I was one of them that rushed in with the police, +and when things got quietened down a bit I found old Tom in the kitchen +with a pretty sore head, but not in danger. Well, one of the police +inspectors and me stayed the rest of the night with the Father, though +he didn't want us to. +</P> + +<P> +"The inspector shook the Father's hand about a million times, and he +says to him, 'Sir,' he says, 'what did you think when you locked that +door?' +</P> + +<P> +"And Father LeRoy said very slow, 'I thought to myself, I don't know +what I'll do, but I'll do the best I can.' +</P> + +<P> +"'You can take it from me,' says the inspector, 'and I'm an Ulster +Orangeman at that, there isn't a man on the force to-day could have +done better,' and he shook the Father's hand again. +</P> + +<P> +"Maybe," concluded Jimmy, "nobody'll ever want to shake my hand after +my first speech, and give me praise, but I'll do the best I can, +anyway." +</P> + +<P> +The Honorable the Provincial Secretary gave Jimmy his first chance in +the annual statement on the hospitals, charities, and prisons of the +province. The Secretary dilated at some length on the reasonable +prices at which supplies had been obtained, particularly coal and wood. +The opposition attacked the Secretary's statement on general grounds. +They always did that, anyway: obviously, anything that the government +did must be wrong, and the debate that followed dragged along for two +or three days, until even the most incompetent men in the House had +said something about it, and had kicked because their speeches did not +get more space in the newspapers. The House was tired to death of the +discussion, and there was a joyous trooping in of members when the +whips sent word that a vote was in sight on an opposition resolution +that the salary list of the Provincial Secretary's Department should be +cut in half. But the end was not yet. Just as the Speaker began to +put the question Jimmy rose. A half-suppressed groan rose with him, +for the members were really tired. Jimmy heard it, but he only smiled. +</P> + +<P> +"On behalf of the People's Party," he said, "I would like to ask the +Honorable the Provincial Secretary a question or two before the vote is +taken, and I presume he'll answer them." +</P> + +<P> +"Cheerfully," said the Honorable, who was smiling. +</P> + +<P> +"I would like to ask then, Mr. Speaker," said Jimmy, "if the honorable +gentleman knows anything about coal, or the coal business." +</P> + +<P> +"I do not." +</P> + +<P> +"He is advised by his officials, I presume?" +</P> + +<P> +"I am"—no one was paying any attention to the Speaker now—the +questions and answers were being exchanged straight across the floor of +the House. +</P> + +<P> +"The honorable gentleman stated," went on Jimmy, "that at last the +Toronto coal ring had been checkmated, and he had made a thoroughly +good bargain with Howilton dealers." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes." +</P> + +<P> +"Does he happen to know that the Howilton men turned over their +contract to the Toronto ring?" +</P> + +<P> +There was a pause. The Provincial Secretary looked his surprise, but +sat still. +</P> + +<P> +"Because that is the case," proceeded Jimmy, calmly. "In fact, the +Howilton companies that got the contract are owned by the Toronto ring, +anyway." +</P> + +<P> +The Provincial Secretary rose hastily, and as hastily expressed the +opinion that the honorable member for Mid-Toronto was mistaken. "It is +a grave charge he makes," he said, "and I do not think it has any real +foundation." +</P> + +<P> +Jimmy ignored for a moment the challenge as to his veracity. "The +Howilton companies," he said, "are owned by the Toronto ring. But if +the Provincial Secretary had known it, he could have been independent +of the ring." He paused, but the Provincial Secretary was sitting +gloomily silent. "There are at least three new coal firms in this +city," said Jimmy, "that are out of the ring, and they could have +filled the orders at still smaller prices than the government paid. +But the government chose to send out circulars on its old lists, on +which the names of the new companies do not appear, instead of +advertising for tenders, and giving all a chance, and the government +has been stung—that's all." +</P> + +<P> +The opposition members were pounding their desks as Jimmy sat down. +The government side was silent. The Provincial Secretary rose and +declared in solemn tones that he would ask "to-morrow" that a committee +of the House be named to investigate the whole matter, and he hoped the +honorable gentleman would bring all the facts in his possession before +it. +</P> + +<P> +"I will," said Jimmy, laconically, and he did, with the result that the +government got a rare black eye that set it rolling down the Hill of +Overthrow, at the bottom of which, a few years later, it landed, and +landed hard. +</P> + +<P> +"I did my best, anyway," said Jimmy, when, the House having risen, the +reporters gathered around him to compliment him on his maiden speech. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap27"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXVII +</H3> + +<P> +Sally Miller was able to walk a little now—a very little—but firmly, +and without the effort and the pain that the journey around the table +had cost her in the old days. She was living with Miss Whimple, who +had insisted on it from the day the doctors had declared the girl fit +to be removed from the hospital. There was no certainty of an absolute +cure: the doctors could not promise that, but, with every month, the +hope of ultimate recovery strengthened. She had been a long time in +the hospital, nearly two years, before the signs of improvement were +marked enough to admit of encouragement. She was a good patient, +Sally: her cheerfulness and animation, her belief and trust in the +doctors and the nurses won their hearts. There were many black hours +for her; home-sickness, pain, doubt, these were hard things to bear. +In the still of the night she often lay sleepless, fighting with the +sorrow and longing that oppresses, and striving to repress the +exclamations that pain brought to her lips. And she won. "She always +was a winner," William used to say, "and always will be." +</P> + +<P> +There were no lack of visitors to Sally during her stay in the +hospital. Her own relations made frequent trips to the city to see +her. Miss Whimple was her most constant caller, and the next was—not +William. He did manage to call often, but not so often as Lucien, and, +somehow, Sally began to look forward to Lucien's visits with delightful +thrills of anticipation. Miss Whimple smiled about it, and William +laughed. Sally smiled, too, but, such a smile! She enjoyed William's +visits immensely. He was seldom serious with her, and he always had +funny stories to tell. In fact, he clothed the most commonplace +incidents of the day with humour when he spoke of them, and shamelessly +invented stories when he had no actual foundations on which to build +them. And Sally always knew when he was spinning yarns, and William +knew that she did. Miss Whimple was rather disappointed over William's +attitude toward the girl, and so expressed herself to Epstein one day. +The old comedian displayed unwonted heat in his answer. "Such +foolishness," he said sharply, "give the lad a chance. There is a +great career before William. If he begins thinking of love, or thinks +he is thinking seriously of love now, it will be the end for him. I +hope you have not been trying to put any such nonsensical ideas into +his head." +</P> + +<P> +Miss Whimple did not answer. The gruffness of the old man hurt a +little. He was quick to understand her silence, and after a while said +gently, "I beg your pardon: I did not mean to be angry, I—I—the boy +and his future are very dear to me—you—I——" +</P> + +<P> +She laid a hand on his arm. "I know—I know," she said. "I'm a +foolish old maid. You are right about William, but, sometimes, those +who have lost much dream pleasant dreams and build fairy castles for +those who help to make their sorrow easier to bear." And then they +talked of other things, of William's future, of Epstein's success, of +Tommy Watson's boy. +</P> + +<P> +Meanwhile, Sally was sitting on the verandah of Miss Whimple's home, +going over again to herself all the memories of her first meeting with +Lucien. She had been three months in the hospital when William had +brought him to her, and was sitting up in bed dressing dolls for a +Christmas-tree for the infant patients in the institution. William +came to the bedside with his usual easy air. Lucien hung back a +little, shy, embarrassed, and blushing. William took hold of his +sleeve and dragged him forward. "Allow me, Miss Sally Miller," he +said, with a smile, "to introduce to you Lucien Torrance—Lucien +Wellington Torrance, to give him his full name. Mister Torrance—Miss +Miller." +</P> + +<P> +They shook hands gravely, and eyed each other in silence. +</P> + +<P> +"This," went on William, in a more serious tone, "this, Sally, is the +chap I used to think was a mutt—honest—until I woke up one day and +found that I was it. I was the M-U-T-T," he spelled out the word, "and +Lucien had me beaten a mile for brains and bravery." +</P> + +<P> +Lucien was blushing furiously now. "Don't," he pleaded. +</P> + +<P> +William ignored the remark, and smiling, again proceeded, "Honest, +Sally, he's a pippin, is Lucien. Why, first thing we know he'll be the +boss architect of Canada, and the real thing in inventions too. He's +always trying his hand at something; and he'll come out ahead, will +Lucien." +</P> + +<P> +Sally murmured a hope that he would. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, you needn't be afraid to speak up, Sally," said William, gaily. +"You can't phase Lucien. He'll listen to you until the cows come +home—he's a good listener, and," he laid one arm affectionately on +Lucien's shoulder, "he's a good doer, too, is my friend Lucien." +</P> + +<P> +Lucien came frequently after that, and often alone. He never had much +to say, and yet Sally felt after his visits as though he had said a +great deal. He thought much of her, and the first practical outcome of +his thinking was the invention of an ingenious little table that could +be mounted on the bed, and moved easily by the patient, so that she +could use it as a book support, or a table on which to lay the trifles +she made for the little children. William saw it the first day Sally +used it, questioned her closely, took the table back to Lucien, and +gave him no rest until there had been a consultation with Whimple and +the first steps had been taken toward patenting the invention. It is +in use by every hospital almost in the world now, but few recall that a +boy then barely seventeen years of age invented it. +</P> + +<P> +And as Sally thought of the past, she saw Lucien coming steadily up the +pathway toward her. He greeted her with a quiet, "How are you?" and +sat beside her on the verandah. It was almost dark, but warm, and a +gentle breeze tempered the atmosphere that throughout the day had been +oppressive. From the verandah the central portion of the city to the +Bay was stretched out in long regular streets, marked by the glimmering +of electric lights. Beyond the wharves the lights of the Island, +sentinel like, marked the indented shore facing the city, and beyond +that again there flickered faintly from Lake Ontario the lights of a +few steamers, some of them pleasure craft, others bearing burdens of +freight from, or toward, the sea-ports. +</P> + +<P> +In silence they watched for a long time. It was Lucien who spoke +first. "Toronto is growing fast," he said, "it will soon be all built +up around here: and it is a fine city—I—I love it—I love it. Some +day—I'm foolish, though——" +</P> + +<P> +"Some day," she echoed. +</P> + +<P> +"Some day—I—I—hope I may do something to help to make it a greater +city still. Work for one's self isn't everything. Father often talks +to me of 'the public good.' 'Every man,' he says, 'should take an +intelligent interest in the affairs of his own municipality, and any +man who can serve his city in even a humble capacity should be proud to +do it.'" +</P> + +<P> +"And you will, Lucien—I know you will." He took one of her hands and +held it in his own, and again they sat silent. +</P> + +<P> +"I must go," he said, at last. "Good-night, Sally." +</P> + +<P> +"Good-night," she said, gently. +</P> + +<P> +He rose, and, looking down at her, he said abruptly, "William's going +soon; did you know?" +</P> + +<P> +"Mr. Epstein said he thought it would be soon." +</P> + +<P> +"He told me to-day that Mr. Epstein had found a place for him in a good +company that will go on the road this fall, after a two weeks' +engagement here. He has only a small part, of course, but he regards +it as his chance, and he's quite delighted. Next summer he'll come +back to give all his time to study again. Good-night." +</P> + +<P> +"Good-night, Lucien." +</P> + +<P> +He turned after he reached the pathway, and called, "It'll be slow +without William, won't it?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," she answered, and to herself, "but it would be slower without +you, Lucien." +</P> + +<P> +On his way to the street car he passed Miss Whimple and Epstein and +exchanged greetings with them. When they resumed their walk toward +Miss Whimple's house, the old comedian asked her, "Did you notice what +he was whistling as he came along?" +</P> + +<P> +"Not particularly." +</P> + +<P> +"Listen: there he is again." And faint, but clear and sweet, she heard +it. +</P> + +<P> +"'Sally in our Alley,'" she said, laughingly. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," answered Epstein with a chuckle. +</P> + +<P> +"The dear lad," said Miss Whimple, "he's a fine fellow. And the dear +girl, the dear girl, God help her to a perfect cure." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap28"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXVIII +</H3> + +<P> +William was William, the fun lover, still; you must not think +otherwise. True, he regarded his work more seriously than in the days +when he first engaged himself as office boy to Whimple, and his +persistency, determination, and devotion to his studies under the +tuition of Epstein were beginning, as hereinbefore chronicled, to bear +fruit. But William was William still: you read that before; it is +necessary, perhaps, to emphasise it. An irrepressible love of fun, and +a cheerful temper, continued to be his great assets; he radiated +sunshine as of yore. But back of all was a tender heart; a heart that +was rich in sympathy, and was ever responsive to appeals for help or +comfort. To his mother he continued to be a sort of puzzle; she never +really understood him, in fact, and his successes always came as a +surprise to her. Pete, curly-headed and sturdy, with his fondness for +fighting, his love of schoolboy sports, and his healthy appetite, she +could understand. But William; she used to look at him sometimes when +he was "cheering up the bunch," and wonder if she would ever just know +how much of it was earnest and just what was put on. +</P> + +<P> +This attitude of his mother's troubled William more than anything else +at this period. His love for her was unalloyed by any feeling toward +any other woman or girl of his acquaintance; he often called her his +"sweetheart." He was more gentle toward her than any other member of +the household, with the exception of little deaf and dumb Dorothy, and +he continually sought her advice in matters of family interest. Yet he +knew that she brooded over him often; and because he knew the reason of +it, so keen was his intuition, he tried to reveal the real William to +her more completely than to any one else. +</P> + +<P> +Miss Whimple came nearer to "diagnosing" William than any of the women +who knew him at this time. +</P> + +<P> +"I've seen that boy," she said to Sally, "give his last cent to help +people in distress: I've known him to go to trouble that would worry a +grown man in order to assist some shiftless body to get a position, for +his trust in people is not easily shaken. But we'll never know the +real William until—until——" +</P> + +<P> +Sally waited, and in a little while Miss Whimple went on. "Just now, +and for a long time to come, I think, his mind will be so strongly set +upon success on the stage that he will not allow anything to come +between. And, if his health remains good, it seems to me that our +fondest hopes for him in that direction will fall far short of the +realisation. But one day, Sally Miller, there will come to William +that which comes to every one of us sooner or later." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," said Miss Whimple, so low that the girl hardly caught the words, +"yes—love will come to William. It will have to fight its way over +many barriers, but in the end his heart will be carried by storm. Then +we will know a new William Adolphus Turnpike, or some of you younger +folks will, for I'm too old to be expecting that the good Lord will let +me live to see that, and William in love will be worth seeing. You +know," she continued in a lighter tone, "I asked him one day just a +little while ago if he had a sweetheart, and he looked at me with that +gleam in his eyes we all know so well as he answered, 'Sure!' +</P> + +<P> +"'Who is it?' I asked. +</P> + +<P> +"'You'd know as much as I do if I told you,' he said. +</P> + +<P> +"That made me angry, of course, and I told him he was lucky enough to +be too big for me to thrash, as I tried to do the first time I saw him; +and you should have seen him grin. +</P> + +<P> +"'Miss Whimple,' said he, 'I'll never forget you and the parasol as +long as I live. Say, it was——' but I broke in with, 'Now, who is +your sweetheart, William?' and what do you think he said?" +</P> + +<P> +"'Mother.'" +</P> + +<P> +"Exactly! And I knew he was serious about it, too, though, like a +foolish old woman, I must needs go on to tell him that a boy of his age +ought to have a real sweetheart. Well, presently he became very quiet, +his mouth set firmly, as it does when he is thinking hard, and he +looked straight at me. 'Miss Whimple, you know what real love is,' he +said. 'I hope when it comes to me I'll be as worthy of it and as true +as you have been,' and then—why, he was the real William again in a +flash. 'Say,' he said, 'why don't you go out to a ball game once in a +while? Lots of ladies go, and the way the Torontos are playing this +season it looks like they'd be champions again for the second time in +four years. Honest, they've got me wild, and Tommy Watson's crazier +than I am. He can't go to the games as often as he used to, because +he's looney about his wife and little Tommy too. So, when I go and he +doesn't I have to tell the whole story of the game to him, and—say, +excuse me, I'll just have time to get to the grounds to see the last +four innings,' and away he went. +</P> + +<P> +"Once I asked Whimple if William had a girl, and he told me the boy was +too busy. That's the kind of a fool answer a man makes when he either +doesn't know, or does know and won't tell. Then he told me about a +trick that Tommy Watson and himself played on William, only it didn't +work out in the way they expected. It puzzles me to know how men find +time to go into such silliness. Between them they wrote a letter, in a +disguised hand, of course, and supposedly from a girl to William. He +had been taking part in one of the amateur performances that Epstein +arranged for the Children's Hospital, and the letter declared that the +writer had been so touched by the wonderful ability displayed by +William that she felt she might be forgiven if she did so unmaidenly a +thing as to ask for a personal interview. William got the letter—the +over-grown boys saw to that—read it through carefully, stowed it away +in one of his pockets, and—well, as Tommy Watson says, he just sat +tight. +</P> + +<P> +"A few days afterwards they wrote another, to which William was to send +a reply to a certain post-office box. But there was no sign of an +answer. A third letter was written, imploring the recipient to have +mercy, or words to that effect, and two days afterwards a detective +called on Whimple and Tommy Watson. He found them together in Tommy's +store and opened the conversation with the hope that they were not +writing any more love letters. They were dumbfounded. Before they +could even think of an explanation the detective warned them in his +most official manner that the gentleman whom they were annoying by +their devotion to the art of letter-writing had decided that on receipt +of further epistles he would institute proceedings, and start with a +full statement to the press on the matter, including the names of the +letter writers. +</P> + +<P> +"They had sense enough to take the hint, anyway, and enough sense left +over to keep from talking to William about it. I asked Whimple if +William had ever referred to the subject, and he said not directly. +But one afternoon he found one of the letters lying on his desk. He +took it to Tommy Watson, who told him he had found one on his desk too." +</P> + +<P> +"I wonder what Tommy said about it?" said Sally. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh! he had one of his made-to-order proverbs on hand, to be sure. He +said, 'Well, you know what our old friend Shakespeare said, "It's a +wise old one that gets ahead of a bright young one."'" +</P> + +<P> +"He's really clever, is William," commented Sally. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, and like all clever people he is sometimes taken in. But I'll +say this much for him, he isn't easily gold-bricked, and he learns the +lessons of experience thoroughly. He's like his 'Pa' in that respect, +and he's as loyal to his 'Pa' as ever. In all the time I have known +him he's looked upon his 'Pa' as the smartest man he knows." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," said Sally, smiling. "Whenever he wants to impress one as to +the cleverness of some other person he brings in 'Pa,' and he always +adds, 'It's a wise guinea who can put one over on my Pa.'" +</P> + +<P> +"It is, too," said Miss Whimple. 'Pa' Turnpike is one of the shrewdest +men I ever met, and one of the kindliest too. William and 'the +bunch'—can't you imagine you hear him saying it, Sally?—'the bunch' +are proud of 'Pa,' and they have a right to be." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap29"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXIX +</H3> + +<P> +What should be left out of a chronicle dealing with the actual events +and sayings of real people? This chronicler does not know, and, as a +consequence, omissions from the true and unvarnished record of the +people hereinbefore dealt with are the consequences of guesses rather +than of deliberate and judicious or injudicious selections. Readers +may argue that out for themselves. Nothing has been said, for +instance, of the triumph of Pete Turnpike over the mules owned by his +father, and the day he rode them, circus fashion, with a foot on each +mule, down one of the principal streets; the charge of "obstructing" +that followed; the hearing of the same in the police court, and Pete's +dismissal with a warning on account of his tender years, which latter, +however, did not save him from chastisement by Turnpike pater. Nor has +anything been said of Pete's conversion during a revival meeting; his +exhortations to the family to follow his course, until he almost drove +them insane, and his fall from grace when a new boy at the school +declared he could lick Pete with one hand tied behind his back. He +loudly, and willingly, changed his opinion after Pete got through with +him; nay, he admitted that if Pete had been hobbled and blind of one +eye he would not have stood a chance against him. But, somewhere, +there should be found room to tell of William's encounter and +subsequent relations with a judge of the Common Pleas Division of the +High Court of Justice, because, in after years—well, never mind that +part of it. +</P> + +<P> +In the course of his work William was frequently in the law courts, and +one sultry September afternoon, this was in the first year of his +engagement with Whimple, he got into an argument with the office boy of +another lawyer on the merits of the Toronto baseball team. William +bore himself tolerably well, until he was told that he knew as much +about baseball as a hog's foot, and was, without doubt, the sassiest +"four-flusher" in the city of Toronto. "I may be a four-flusher," said +William, calmly, "but I ain't allowing any pie-face loafer your size to +say it," and he smacked the boy's cheek. A hot encounter followed, the +contestants being so determined to rub each other's head through the +stone flooring of the corridor that they did not notice his lordship, +the judge, with the officials of the court around him, come from the +court room. They noticed nothing, in fact, until a deputy sheriff fell +over them as they rolled on the floor. The deputy sheriff rose +hastily, and angrily, and drew one foot back to plant a kick on the +first part of boyish anatomy that he could reach, when the judge, robes +and all, stooped down, grasped each boy by the neck, and placed him on +his feet. Still retaining his hold, he looked at the boys somewhat +sternly—if the mouth was an index of his thoughts, but if his +eyes—anyway, William saw his eyes first, and smiled. +</P> + +<P> +The judge was a surprisingly young man for a judge. In his day he had +been a champion boxer and football player. It was whispered, indeed, +that no boxing bout of importance since his appointment had been +without his presence as a spectator. He regarded William gravely. "He +smiles," he said solemnly, "smiles in the presence of the august court +whose serenity he has seen fit to disturb." The other boy was +blubbering, and to him the judge said, "This coming man realises the +enormity of his crime. He weeps the bitter tears of one discovered. +He repents his misdeeds. Officer," to the deputy sheriff, "take the +names of these disturbers of the peace. Upon their fitting punishment +I will ponder." He relaxed his hold and passed on. +</P> + +<P> +A day or two later he ran across William in the corridor. This time +his lordship was without the robes, and in street attire looked younger +than ever. His smile of recognition brought an answering smile from +William. The lad would have passed on, but the judge stopped him. +"Still at liberty, I see," he said. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, sir." +</P> + +<P> +"Um—see that you remain worthy of it: it's a precious thing, liberty." +Then, "And now, in my unofficial capacity, would you mind telling me +the cause of the desperate encounter of the other day?" +</P> + +<P> +The twinkle in the judge's eyes reassured William. "Well, sir," he +said, "that fellow said the Torontos was selling games. He said they +had it all fixed about who was to win the pennant before the season +started." +</P> + +<P> +The judge, himself a baseball fan, looked up and down the corridor, and +thus addressed William. "Did—er—that is to say—did you——" he +paused. +</P> + +<P> +William, one palm outspread, the other falling on it in rhythm to the +words, his eyes sparkling, asserted—"Honest, judge, I walloped him for +fair. When we got outside he starts all over again, so I herds him +into a lane and we had it out. Gee!" reflectively, "he was tough, but +I did him up all right." +</P> + +<P> +His lordship waved a hand deprecatingly. "Enough, enough, boy," he +said, solemnly. Then, in a lighter tone, "Didn't I see you at the game +a week ago Saturday?" +</P> + +<P> +"You did, you did, sir, I sat right behind you, and—and——" +</P> + +<P> +"Go on." +</P> + +<P> +"I guess I slapped your back when you got kinder excited in the——" +</P> + +<P> +"Seventh innings, with the score three to nothing for Montreal, +Torontos with two men on bases and nobody out"—the judge was talking +rapidly now—"big Bill Hannigan at the bat, and——" +</P> + +<P> +"What did Hannigan do to the ball," William broke in, "but slam it over +the fence for a home run, bringing in the two on bases and tying the +score! Oh, joy!" A clerk of the court who came out of his office at +this moment snickered audibly at the sight of a boy doing a little war +dance in the corridor and a judge smiling approvingly. +</P> + +<P> +Throughout the years that followed, the judge and William maintained a +friendly relationship. His lordship was eventually admitted into the +secret of William's ambition, though it was not until their +acquaintanceship had lasted three years that he took it seriously, and +then he never failed to urge William to "stick to it." From Whimple, +and later from "Chuck" Epstein, he obtained further light, and, on the +comedian's invitation, attended two or three of the amateur +entertainments in which William had a part. +</P> + +<P> +Epstein was chary in consenting to William appearing in the cast of +such entertainments, and William could not be persuaded to do anything +in this regard unless Epstein favoured it. Afterwards, they would go +over the performance together, Epstein in the rôle of critic, and the +old man's suggestions and advice and William's own observations and +descriptions of his emotions, and his reasons for this or that slight +departure from the lines and action originally mapped out, aided in the +making of the William Adolphus Turnpike so beloved of the theatre-goers +to-day. +</P> + +<P> +The judge enjoyed those performances, and he rather surprised Epstein +and William both by making suggestions in respect to some of them that +were valuable and illuminating. "How did you come to think of that?" +asked Epstein curiously, in regard to one idea advanced by the judge. +</P> + +<P> +"I think," answered his lordship, slowly, "that a court is the best of +dramatic schools. It is so real, too; there is much of tragedy and a +great deal of comedy too—unconscious, a lot of it. I have always been +rather keenly interested in the study of the people who came before me, +particularly in criminal cases. It seems to me that there is still a +wide field for a play." +</P> + +<P> +There was a long pause. Epstein, who was looking keenly at the judge, +broke in. "There is," he said, "there is—and you could write it, your +lordship." +</P> + +<P> +The judge started. "Do you think so?" he asked, somewhat sharply. +</P> + +<P> +Epstein nodded. And now, of course, the reader of this chronicle has +guessed the identity of the author of the play in which William made +his first appearance as a "Star." Yes—a judge—hiding under a +<I>nom-de-plume</I>, a judge of the High Court, no less, wrote <I>Our High +Court</I>, that most delightful of the comedies of our own times. There +followed, a few days afterwards, a long talk between William and the +judge, in the latter's room in the court house. William had called at +the court house on business, and the judge, who had espied him in the +corridor, had called him in. For a time their conversation was of the +stage and William's prospective future thereon, and then, very quietly, +the judge began to talk about William himself. Presently William began +to lean toward the talker, intent, earnest; no one had spoken to him +before just like this. His father had tried once or twice, but his +evident embarrassment, his halting sentences, and his fear lest William +should misunderstand, had frightened, rather than impressed, the boy. +But the judge was saying the things William knew his father had tried +to say, and he was losing none of them. The sacredness of the body, +his lordship was emphasising this, and dilating upon it: the purity of +the heart and mind; respect of woman; the honour of a man; reverence to +God. William afterwards wrote the words out almost as fully as though +he had taken them all down at the time. Nothing had so moved him as +this talk. When he stood at the door to go, the judge placed one hand +on his shoulder, and said simply, "My boy, it has cost me something to +say these things. I am a husband and a father. God knows how much he +has to forgive in me—God—knows. Those I love best—my wife—my +little girl—they could never dream. But—will you try to remember, +sometimes, some of these things?" +</P> + +<P> +William put out his hand and the judge shook it warmly. The boy was +late getting back to the office, and Whimple was testy. "Where on +earth have you been, William?" he asked, sharply; "there's a good deal +of work to do, and we can hardly catch up to it to-day." +</P> + +<P> +"I'm sorry. I've been listening to a man," said William, quietly. +</P> + +<P> +"Must have been a preacher, and a mighty solemn one at that, judging +from your sober face," said Whimple, more gently. +</P> + +<P> +"Not exactly a preacher, but I never heard a better sermon," answered +William, quietly, "never;" and then he started on his work, and kept at +it to such effect that, when they closed up for the night, Whimple +declared, as he had often done before, "You're certainly a wonder, +William." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap30"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXX +</H3> + +<P> +William made his first professional appearance in Toronto in the autumn +of that year with Joe Mertle's Company in <I>Old Etobicoke</I>, a rural +comedy-drama that was immensely popular in its day and had a long run. +The company was two weeks in the old Academy of Music before taking the +road, and from the first night drew large audiences. William had two +parts. In the first and second acts he merely "appeared," describing +himself to his friends as "part of the scenery." In the third and +fourth acts he had a speaking part, and in the latter a chance for a +little bit of comedy that, short as it was, gave him a real +opportunity. The whole Turnpike family was there, from Dorothy up, so +was Whimple, Miss Whimple, Tommy Watson, both his assistants, Sally +Miller, Lucien Torrance, and "Chuck" Epstein of course. They all sat +together, occupying two boxes. The old comedian was too happy to say +much even between the acts. He watched William keenly, and often +nodded approval, though he frowned once or twice when the youth made +little "breaks." When the curtain fell, he waited with the others for +William, and, as they stood in the lobby, the dean of the dramatic +critics, a life-long friend of the old comedian, approached him. "Not +bad, Epstein," he said. +</P> + +<P> +"It will make a hit on the road," Epstein answered. +</P> + +<P> +"Know any of the cast outside of Mertles?" +</P> + +<P> +"A few." +</P> + +<P> +"Who is the kid with the funny name—'William Adolphus Turnpike'?" +</P> + +<P> +"Why?" +</P> + +<P> +"He's the pick of the new ones. There's a great promise in that lad. +If he doesn't get swelled head early in the game he'll soon be shining." +</P> + +<P> +The old comedian smiled happily. "He's a friend of mine: a pupil, in a +way—I'm glad you like him." +</P> + +<P> +"You're a rare one to pick out the good ones, 'Chuck,'" said the +critic, warmly. "The lad will be a credit to you if——" +</P> + +<P> +"If," echoed Epstein. +</P> + +<P> +"If he doesn't get swelled head, as I said before. That's the trouble +with a lot of the promising ones," he added, as he walked away. +</P> + +<P> +"He may get swelled head," said Epstein to himself, as William joined +the waiting group, "but it won't last long, I'm sure of that." He +greeted William affectionately. "You'll do, boy," he said kindly, +"you'll do. There are some things about your part I'd like to discuss +with you, but I'm proud of you, William." +</P> + +<P> +The little supper for William and "the bunch," arranged by Tommy +Watson, was a rather gloomy affair. Pa and Ma Turnpike were not used +to such affairs; the younger Turnpikes were timid. William was silent, +and all were under the depressing spell of the knowledge that they +would soon part with him. +</P> + +<P> +The morning papers the next day were very kindly in their criticism of +the play and of the company, but only one of them, that for which the +dean of critics wrote, had any special mention of William. "His part +was a small one: until the fourth act he had no real chance, and then +he made the most of it. There is rare promise in the youth, but there +are many pitfalls for those who go on the stage. The next few years +will be a time of testing for him: if he emerges successfully there is +no reason to doubt that he will win his way to the front rank as a +comedian." Epstein's eyes were tear-dimmed as he read the words: +William cut them out of his own copy of the paper and kept them stowed +away with other precious belongings that he carried on his travels for +years. +</P> + +<P> +The company left Toronto on a Sunday morning for a five months' tour. +Pa and Ma Turnpike and William did not go to bed after he reached home +from the theatre on the Saturday night. There was no trunk packing to +do; that had been attended to hours before. But there was much to be +said between those three, and none could say it without tears and +broken voices. And so at last they sat together, Pa Turnpike on one +side and William on the other side of Ma's easy chair. She held one of +William's hands tightly in her own, and when she could, she talked to +him the mother talk that so many have heard and heeded not, and would +give all they have to hear again. And William made promises to keep +his feet dry; to watch his throat; to be careful of the food he ate; to +take all the sleep he could, and then, fifty times at least, to leave +liquor alone, and to write home as often as he could. Pa Turnpike +backed his wife strongly on the liquor question. "Leave it alone, +boy," he said, "leave it alone: it never was, and never will be, any +good." And William nodded assuringly. "Don't be afraid of that," he +said confidently, "I've got no use for it." +</P> + +<P> +At eight o'clock in the morning there was a hurried call to the +bedrooms occupied by the younger Turnpikes, and William kissed them +gently, for all but Pete were fast asleep. Pete jumped out of bed and +dressed hurriedly. "I'm going to the station with 'Mister Actor Man,'" +he announced, and a few minutes later William, Pete, and Pa Turnpike, +in one of the latter's express wagons, with one trunk containing +William's stock of clothes, proceeded briskly down the street. +William's mother stood at the door answering with her own the waving of +William's handkerchief until the wagon turned a corner.… Then she +went back to weep. +</P> + +<P> +Inside the Union Station—that horror of horrors that still appals the +train-borne visitors to a great city—William and his escorts were met +by Lucien, Whimple, and Epstein. There was much affected gaiety, but +the hopes for William's future were almost overwhelmed in the deep +regret at his departure. Tommy Watson was an absentee, and William +felt this keenly, although he said nothing of it. Pa Turnpike made a +shrewd guess at the cause of his boy's furtive glances around the +station, and murmured to Epstein, "I thought Mr. Watson would have been +down." +</P> + +<P> +"So did I," answered the old comedian, a little apologetically, "but +perhaps——" and then he looked around sharply as the music of a brass +band echoed along the vaulted roof of the station. And what think you +the band was playing? "Will ye no come back again." Yes, and playing +it well, too. As the band came into view from one of the arched +crossings, the faces of the group around William lit up with smiles, +for, marching proudly in front, and carrying an enormous bunch of +roses, was Tommy Watson, his head erect, his shoulders well back, his +face aglow. To his signal the band aligned in front of the little +group, and broke into a new tune, a lilting march, written around a +then popular song, now almost forgotten, "Bill, our Bill." Perhaps +there are some who still remember the chorus:— +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +"Bill, our Bill, see him smile,<BR> +On fair days and dull days,<BR> +Oh, it's well worth while,<BR> +To watch him at work,<BR> +To see him at his play;<BR> +Bill, our Bill; see him smile."<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +After they had played the chorus several times, the bandsmen sang it, +William's friends joining in. +</P> + +<P> +"Rotten verse," said Lucien Torrance, when they were through, "but it +fits you, William Adolphus Turnpike—our Bill." +</P> + +<P> +"Where did you get the band, Tommy?" asked Epstein. +</P> + +<P> +"Minstrel show; arrived in Toronto before daylight for a week's +engagement," retorted Tommy, proudly, and in curt sentences; "know the +leader; copped him at breakfast; arranged terms in five minutes; great +send-off to the coming world-famous comedian. Sorry couldn't bring +Tommy junior down; sleeping; would have enjoyed it." +</P> + +<P> +Then to William he handed the roses. "Boy," he said gravely, and with +a touch of tenderness in his tone, "a lady, a young lady, gave me these +with this message, 'Please tell Mr. Turnpike I wish him success.'" +</P> + +<P> +Some say William blushed. William still stoutly denies it; but he +could not speak for a moment. His heart was beating wildly; his hands +trembled as he took the roses and held them a second or two to his +face. He looked up again, self-possessed and quiet. "Thank you, +Tommy," he said, simply. +</P> + +<P> +"Is there a——" began Lucien, eagerly. +</P> + +<P> +William broke in gently, "Don't, Lucien," he said, "my career is +first—yet. I dare not hope—what sometimes I have dared to hope. +I——" +</P> + +<P> +"All aboard!" The hoarse cry of the train despatcher rolled out the +words, and the clanging of the station bell followed. As the train +began to slowly draw out of the station the band again struck up "Bill, +our Bill." William stood on the rear platform of the train, the roses +in one hand, the other waving farewell until the train disappeared, the +while the band played on. +</P> + +<P> +Then his friends slowly left the station, Lucien walking with Tommy +Watson. "Roses for William," said Lucien, "and from a young lady!" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes—and a charming young lady, too, my boy." +</P> + +<P> +"Who is she, Tommy?" Lucien ventured, diffidently. +</P> + +<P> +Tommy shook his head slowly. "Not now, Lucien; not now. The dreams of +youth do not always come true, but," with a happy laugh, "William has +such a way of making his come true. Who knows?" +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR><BR> +<hr class="full" noshade> + +<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WILLIAM ADOLPHUS TURNPIKE***</p> +<p>******* This file should be named 25562-h.txt or 25562-h.zip *******</p> +<p>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:<br> +<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/5/5/6/25562">http://www.gutenberg.org/2/5/5/6/25562</a></p> +<p>Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed.</p> + +<p>Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: William Adolphus Turnpike + + +Author: William Banks + + + +Release Date: May 22, 2008 [eBook #25562] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WILLIAM ADOLPHUS TURNPIKE*** + + +E-text prepared by Al Haines + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustration. + See 25562-h.htm or 25562-h.zip: + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/5/5/6/25562/25562-h/25562-h.htm) + or + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/5/5/6/25562/25562-h.zip) + + + + + +WILLIAM ADOLPHUS TURNPIKE + +by + +WILLIAM BANKS + + + + + + + +[Frontispiece: Kindly hands bound up his wounds] + + + +J. M. Dent & Sons Ltd. +27 Melinda Street, Toronto +1913 + +All rights reserved + + + + +TO MY MOTHER + + + + +WILLIAM ADOLPHUS TURNPIKE + + +CHAPTER I + +"What! never been to a political meeting; an' you living in a city. +Back to the hamlet for you, boy; you're lost. + +"You're not? You know where you live, and could find your way home in +the dark? My, but you're cert'nly the quick actor when it comes to +thinking. + +"Sure I've been to more'n a dozen political meetin's. Ain't my Pa a +member er the ex-ecutive of Ward Eighteen Conservative Club? He's a +charter member, too. Don't he rent the parlor for a pollin' booth on +votin' day, hire himself for a scrooteneer, and have my uncle Henry for +constable? + +"Your father wouldn't do them things, eh! Well, maybe he ain't never +had the chance. + +"The first political meeting I went to? Well it was in the hall where +the Sons of Italy meets, and Pa he ain't got no business there really +because it's not his gang what's holding the meeting. It's all +furriners organised into the Ward Eighteen European Reform Club by +Jimmy Duggan, the coal and woodyard man. My Pa and Jimmy Duggan is +great friends. Jimmy says to Pa, he says, 'Come along, Joe, I got the +greatest bunch of murd-erers of English into the club you ever seen,' +he says, 'and tonight the Honorable Wallace Fixem, Minister of Public +Works, is going to attend our inaggeral meetin',' he says, 'and give us +a spiel.' + +"And my Pa says, 'How much are you gettin' out of it, Jimmy?' he says. + +"And Jimmy says, 'Far be it from me to bandy words with a hopeless +dyed-in-the-wool Tory,' he says, 'what's agoin' blindly to his crool +end,' he says, 'in spite of----' + +"And then Ma butts in. 'That'll do for you, Jimmy Duggan,' she says. +'Both of them political parties is rotten,' she says, 'and you know it.' + +"And Jimmy--Gee! but he's the great actor--he looks at Ma with a long +face on him, and he says, 'Madam,' he says, 'I admit that the party to +which my poor friend here belongs,' he says, 'is all to the bad. I +admit,' he says, 'that it has sunk----' + +"And Ma says, 'Get out, Jimmy,' she says, 'and take Joe with you.' + +"And Pa says, 'Ma,' he says, 'how about Willyum coming along,' and you +bet I'm listenin' hard that time. + +"And Ma says, 'I'm afraid,' she says, 'about them 'Talians. S'pose +they got to fighting, anybody might stick a steeletter into the boy,' +she says. + +"'Pardon me, madam,' says Jimmy, 'you are doing a great wrong,' he +says, 'to our noble feller citerzens----' + +"And Ma gets up like she was in a kind of a hurry and she says if Pa +don't take Jimmy away she'll throw 'em both out, and Pa can take me to +the meeting. And we went. + +"Say, you'd orter seen the bunch in that hall. I guess there was some +from every country on the map of Europe, and other places too we ain't +never dreamed of. It was a cold night, and they had the stove goin'. +Me and Pa, we sits near the door because Pa says that when the meetin' +gets agoin' they's no telling about what kind of a trouble there might +be in a hall like that, and it's us where we can slip out when we wants +to. + +"Next to my Pa was a feller with whiskers a mile long, and pop eyes, +and when Jimmy Duggan left us and starts down to the platform this +feller says to Pa, 'Ain't he the great man!' he says. + +"And my Pa says, 'He ain't so bad for a Swede.' + +"And the man says, 'He ain't no Swede. No! Sir.' + +"And my Pa says, 'Since when ain't he a Swede when he's born in +Swedeland?' + +"'There ain't no such country,' says the man, 'you mean Sweden,' he +says, and my Pa says, 'I means just what I say,' he says. + +"And the man looks at him and he says, 'Mister Duggan,' he says, 'is an +Irishman.' + +"'With er name like that,' says my Pa, 'imposserble. 'Sides I never +heard of Irishmen. What country do they come from?' and, honest, my Pa +never batted an eyelid. Gee! but he's a grand jollier. And I thought +the man's eyes would drop out; I almost felt like holdin' out my hands +to catch 'em. And he says to my Pa, he says, 'Where do you come from?' +and Pa says, 'A free country,' he says, 'where every man gets a square +deal and can say what he likes.' + +"Well, the man looked at him hard and he says, very sarkastic, he says, +'Where's that?' + +"'Russia,' says Pa, and, say, you'd orter heard that man yell. Honest, +it made me sick at the stomach. Jimmy Duggan was just giving the +committee the last orders on the platform when that yell man cut loose. +Jimmy he looks around like he'd been shot, takes a flying leap off'n +the platform, and comes rushing down towards my Pa and the man with the +whiskers and the bulging eyes. And the man was yelling all the time +like the fans do at the baseball game when the score's a tie and the +home team's heavy hitter slugs the ball on the left ear for a home run. +And he was standing up pointing at Pa with a hand the size of a shovel, +and all the rest of the bunch around us was getting restless and +cacklin' furrin' talk. + +"So when Jimmy gets up to the man with the steam whistle in his throat, +he grabs him by the whiskers, gives 'em a tug like he'd pull 'em off, +and he says pretty sharp, 'Sit down.' And the feller set, and just as +he did he opens his mouth to let out another yell, and Jimmy grabs a +cap from another man's head and sticks it in his mouth, and that +stopped him. So after he gets the cap out, Jimmy says, 'Now what's the +row?' + +"And the man points at my Pa and says, 'That man says Russia is a free +country,' he says, and starts in to give another yell, only Jimmy lifts +a finger at him and the man stops with his mouth open, and he looked +foolish I tell you. So then Jimmy bends down and whispers something in +the man's ear, and the feller smiles and pats Pa on the shoulder +gentlelike, every once in a while, and Pa lets on he never notices it, +though I seen he's kinder mad about something. + +"Just as Jimmy gets back to the platform a Dago and a Hungarian gets to +words about who's the best mus-i-cans in the ward. + +"Oh! moosicians, is it? Have it your own way. + +"You see the Hungarians was awful mad because the Dagos beat 'em out +catering to supply the music for the night, and the Dago orchestra was +playing the swellest ragtime music you ever heard. Well, them two gets +to blows, and about fifteen others are jumping around ready to pile in +when Jimmy Duggan begins to pound on the table with a wooden hammer +what they uses in lodges and club rooms. + +"A gavel, eh! Very well, me learned friend, I'll not dispute it. + +"He bangs so hard they all quits their scrapping and begins to take +notice. 'I am just informed, gentlemen,' says Jimmy, 'that the +Honorable Fixem is now on the stairs on his way into this meeting, and +I would ask the ork-estra,' he says, 'to greet him with a few bars +of----' + +"And just then the door opens, and a little procession comes in +escortin' the Honorable Fixem, and the ork-estra leader waves his hand +frantic and the ork-estra strikes up 'All Coons Look Alike to Me.' +Well, say, you'd orter heard the row. Some was cheerin' and some was +laughin', and the Honorable Fixem he was looking like a sheep outer the +meadows, and Jimmy Duggan yells out, 'Stop that tune, darn it,' he +says, and the ork-estra man leader he didn't hear what Jimmy says and +he thought that he wanted it louder, so he waves his hands like mad and +the ork-estra sails into that tune like they'd never quit it, until +Jimmy leans over and grabs the leader by the back of the neck and +nearly chokes the breath outer him, and the ork-estra is just comin' +for Jimmy en massey when the leader says something in Italian and they +sits down again looking kinder sad and strikes up 'See the Con'kring +Hero Comes,' and the Honorable Fixem gets on the platform. Gee! you'd +think that bunch'd never stop yellin'. They just cheered and cheered. +Then they begins to present illumernated addresses in every language +but Scotch, and my Pa says Scotch ain't anything but two scones on each +side of a burr. So when they gets through Jimmy Duggan calls on the +Honorable Fixem for a speech, and Fixem started in. + +"Say, I never knowed a gover'ment was so much like angels before. The +things what the gover'ment's done for this country, judging by the way +Fixem told it, is enough to make people want to keep 'em in for ever. +My Pa says it's mostly guff, but the pollertishans has gotter feed the +people with that kinder guff ev'ry once in a while, he says, they get +fat on it, he says. + +"Well, everything goes on fine 'cepting some cheers once in a while, +until the Honorable gets down to the gover'ment's plans for the +immigrants. And he says something about not stooping to bribe any man +to cast a vote for the gover'ment by promising to find work for him, +but there's a big programme of gover'ment works to be done in the +neighbourhood, which, of course, will help to make good times, he says. + +"Just then somebody gets up in the hall and yells out, 'Rotten, rotten, +what you caller dat but de bribe, eh?' and another feller shies a +pineapple at him, whatever he had it there for. Pa says mebbe he's +ripenin' it by the stove so as to sell it the next day. Anyway it +misses the man what's makin' the noise and hits the ork-estra leader on +the brain-house, and the next I knowed Pa has me downstairs--it's only +one flight--and he says to me, 'We'll wait for Jimmy,' he says, and we +did. + +"And every minute we waited there was something doing. Why there was +Greeks and Hungarians and Dagos and all kinds coming out the winders or +rolling down the stairs and rushing back again, some of them with their +noses bleeding and their clothes torn, and all the time shoutin' like +mad. Then all of a sudden everything calms down to a whisper, and men +began to fly outer that buildin' and run away like mad. + +"So when the Honorable Fixem's safely in his carriage, and Jimmy +Duggan's walking home with Pa and me. Pa says, 'What stopped it, +Jimmy?' And Jimmy says, 'Well, I just got a few of the fellers +together,' he says, 'and we hollers "Steeletters, steeletters," and +that scared 'em, you bet, for they're all afraid of their lives of them +'Talian knives.' + +"'Pretty smart hit, Jimmy,' Pa says, 'but it's almost a pity you didn't +get three inches or so of steeletter in your hide,' he says, 'after +what you said to that feller sittin' beside me.' 'Well,' says Jimmy, +'he's a Russian,' he says, 'what was mixed up in some of the Nillyist +plots, and the only way to keep him quiet,' he says, 'was to tell him +you'd been driven looney by the cruelty of the Russian gover'ment,' he +says." + +Thus William Adolphus Turnpike, office boy, to Lucien Torrance, who +held a similar exalted position. They were sitting on the front stairs +leading to the adjoining offices occupied by Mr. Whimple and his friend +Simmons, the architect, in the city of Toronto. The city was then at +the transition period; its population had just passed the 200,000 mark, +and already included a fair number of lunatics who clamored for a +million people. But it had not yet made up its mind that dumping +sewage into the Bay and believing that it would not contaminate the +adjoining lake, whence came the water supply, was a system apt to +result in a large proportion of typhoid fever cases. People had +typhoid, and either died of it or got better, and in the latter event +they resumed the drinking of the city water. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +William had engaged himself to work for Mr. Charles Whimple, +"barrister, etc.," just one week previously in response to that +gentleman's advertisement for "a bright and intelligent office boy; one +who knows the city well." When he arrived at the office on the morning +after the insertion of the advertisement, Whimple found William busily +engaged in dusting off the lone table in his room. At the back of the +office, with its small, very small, ante-room, was the office of his +friend, Simmons, and as he was usually down an hour earlier than +Whimple, he "opened up" and kept an eye on things for the barrister +until he arrived. As Whimple entered, William greeted him with a +cheery "Good-morning, Mr. Whimple." + +"Good-morning, what are you doing here?" + +"I'm your office boy." + +"You are----" + +"Sure," said William cheerily, "I sent the other bunch away." + +"The other bunch----" + +"Yep; say, Mr. Whimple----" + +"But just a minute," Mr. Whimple interrupted, "how did you know my +name? Have we met before?" + +"Search me--if we did we wasn't interduced." + +"Then how did you know?" + +William stopped dusting and regarded him thoughtfully. + +"How did you know?" Whimple repeated. + +"I always know," the boy repeated slowly, and then, as though communing +with himself, "yes, I always know," and, as to-day, there was that in +William's voice that haunted and held Whimple, as it has done many +since. But that comes later. + +William went on still dusting slowly. "Say, Mister Whimple, I mayn't +be much, but the rest of the gang was the greatest c'lection er mutts +you ever seen. Honest, I don't believe there was one of 'em could say +the alphabet without thinking ten minutes first. And I needed the job +most anyway." + +"How do you know?" + +"Because I looked 'em over good, and I heard 'em saying how many hours' +work they'd do a day and how much they wanted for it, and most of 'em +was saying about how they showed their other bosses what's what. So I +knew they didn't want a job; they just wanted a place to bum in. You +should'er heard me shooing 'em away. I told 'em you had made your +selection and I was IT." + +Whimple smiled and William returned the salute. He saw in his employer +a young man, tall, with a brown-eyed, good-looking face, and a head of +red hair. And Whimple saw a rather thin but healthy-looking lad with a +somewhat long face, a nose that William himself always referred to as +"pug," round blue eyes, freckles, and hair--well, just "mouse coloured" +William's mother always called it. + +Their acquaintanceship ripened into friendship very fast; too fast +Whimple thought, for by mid-afternoon he had told the boy a great deal +about himself and his past and his prospects. And William had +listened, asking a question occasionally, sometimes interjecting a +remark, and always, so Whimple says now, with an aptness that surprised +and delighted him. William evinced no surprise and no regret when +informed that bright as were the prospects, two dollars a week, for the +present, was the maximum salary he could hope for. + +"Don't worry about that," said William when Whimple apologised for the +smallness of the amount. "It'll help some at home, and mebbe I ain't +worth no two dollars a week anyhow." + +"Don't underestimate yourself, William," said Whimple. + +"No chance of me doing that. Say, Mr. Whimple, supposin' I'm any good +and business improves, me salary goes up too--that's right, ain't it?" + +"That's right, my boy." + +"Then," solemnly, "it's up to us to increase the business, and to make +this office too small to hold the people that want to hire you." + +And Whimple smiled again. The lad's cheeriness, the eagerness of the +keen young face, and the tone of the voice put new heart into him. The +fame he had dreamed of on the day he had been called to the bar was +still a phantom; the struggle to earn a living in the profession he had +chosen in the years when youth brooked no obstacles was keener far than +ever he had believed possible, yet there remained to him hope, courage, +and the determination to "look for the silver lining." At thirty he +had few clients, and a legacy that brought him just $6.00 a week, and +often had been his only barrier against real want. His father and +mother had died while he was just a boy; relatives had given him a home +until at eighteen he had started "clerking" in a law office, and with +his wages and his legacy had carried himself through to the day when +his name appeared among those called to the bar. Simmons he had met in +the clerking days; the young architect was financially better equipped +than the lawyer, and Whimple had not hesitated at times to accept of +his assistance--though he never felt free until the obligation had been +repaid. It was Simmons who had insisted on the arrangement for the +adjoining office, though Whimple at first had strongly demurred. But, +indeed, an office floor with a front entrance and a rear stairway that +landed you on a lane leading to a back street was not without +advantages when money was scarce and bill collectors plentiful. + +To many it may seem remarkable, to others amusing, and to the minority +a thing unbelievable, that before the end of the first week William +should have been manager of the office so far as its routine was +concerned. Every one who has had the honour of acquaintance with a +first-class office boy will understand. Those who have not had that +experience will not, and to them is added those who do not regard boys, +office or otherwise, as having the remotest bearing upon, connection +with, or part in the working of the world of to-day. Your first-class +office boy inspires fear. He knows his indispensability; he knows that +more than anything else the boss loathes the trouble of hiring an +office boy; he knows--oh! what does he not know? You who have never +had to do with him, or depend upon him, go sit at the feet of him who +has and try to grasp the outer rim of understanding as to the depth and +height and width of the wisdom and learning, the profound knowledge of +the only human being to whom the Kings of Finance and Commerce (see any +daily paper) appear as they really are--just men. + +Sometimes an office boy is beloved--and that not always--for the +virtues that tell most in actual work. Or may be a streak of +cheeriness in the otherwise inscrutable bearing; it may be a confiding, +"Oh! may I trust in you, boss?" kind of manner; it may be that in the +man who hires him there still remains--though now well controlled--that +love of fun and careless mischievousness that seems to be peculiar to +the office boy of all nationalities. What one or what combination of +any or all of these qualities Whimple found quite early in William +still remains a mystery. + +Coming back to William, it is to be observed that while he became Grand +Master of Ceremonies in full charge of the office routine, he exercised +his authority with discretion and tact. By the end of the first month, +he had won Whimple to an announcement on the outer door to the effect +that office hours were from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and he had established +his own luncheon hour as from 12 to 1. "It wouldn't do for you," he +said gravely to Whimple, "to be takin' your lunch then, because you're +a per-fession'l man. You gotter keep up with the procesh if you wanter +make good." + +Whimple laughed, but nodded his acceptance of the idea. "You're an +inspiration, William," he said. "You've so much sunshine in your +composition that you are shedding it nearly all the time, consciously +or unconsciously, on the worthy and unworthy alike." + +And he spoke truly; William exercised no discrimination in this regard. +You could take it or leave it. Unless you had just lost some one near +and dear to you, or otherwise tasted the dregs of sorrow or remorse, +you couldn't ordinarily stay within a few yards of William and grieve. +Not that he had not suffered, young as he was. Not that he could not +and did not grieve with those he knew were in sorrow or distress; you +are not to think that of William. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +Whimple early discovered that William was not a model of integrity, +diligence, and rectitude. Though an office boy he had his failings, +and William's explanations of them were as curious, but quite as +characteristic, as the lad himself. + +"When it comes to business matters, Mister Whimple," he said with a +dignity that almost upset the young lawyer's effort to appear gravely +judicial, "it's me on the level. You can trust me to tell the truth +and do the right thing. But when it comes to spinnin' yarns, nobody +don't have to b'lieve 'em. Honest, I don't know when I'm telling the +truth about 'em myself." + +"That is a curious psychological problem, William." + +"Gee! is it as bad as that? I hope it ain't fatal." + +Whimple smiled. "No," he said, slowly, "and yet, my boy, there is only +one way to build up a good reputation. Do you go to Sunday school?" + +"Well--not reg'lar. Sunday's the busy time for me." + +"Busy! Why?" + +"Sure--I take the kiddies out if it's fine, and maybe we don't have the +bully times. Say"--his eyes were shining now, and he stood a little +closer to Whimple, who was sitting on the table--"there's Pete, he's +nine and a holy terror, and Bessie, she's six, and Joey, he's about +four, And Dolly--say, Mister Whimple, you'd orter see Dolly, she's got +big brown eyes, and brown hair, and a kinder solemn little face. +She----" + +"Are you spinning yarns now, William?" + +"It's between man and man now, Mister Whimple--this ain't no yarn. My +Pa says he uster think no man could keep a buncher kids like us and be +happy, and now he thinks no man could be happy without a bunch like us, +and Ma says it's hard scrapin' sometimes, but she wouldn't be without +one of us for a thousand feeter land on the main street, and that's +going some." + +"What does your father do, William?" + +"Pa, he's an express-man, and a good one at that, Mister Whimple. He +owns two horses and rigs, and I tell you he keeps agoing all day long, +Saturdays too, an' he's a-buyin' the house we're in, an' it ain't no +cinch of a job liftin' a mortgage. Many's the time I've heard him say +he wished he could lift it as easy as he lifts some of the trunks he +carts." + +"And what are you going to be, William?" + +And William was silent. He flushed a little, toyed with a button of +his vest, and finally answered in a low tone-- + +"I know what I wanter be, and sometimes I think I know how to get +there, and sometimes I don't, and I'd rather not tell it just now." + +"I hope you'll succeed, William--if your aim is a lofty one." + +"Well," drawled William, "it's some high, and Tommy Watson says I'm +bughouse, but I tell him he's a bit that way himself." + +"Tommy Watson, the auctioneer?" + +"Sure--say, Mister Whimple, ain't he a pippin? My Pa says he can make +people buy rocks and weep with joy on the bargains they're gettin' in +diamon's." + +That day Whimple called on Tommy Watson, famed as the peer of +auctioneers. To those who counted among his friends and acquaintances, +and they were as numerous as the wise "I-told-you-so's" on the day +after an election or a prize fight, Tommy was always an inspiration and +a delight. His long rambling store, with its wonderful stock of +furniture, books, nick-nacks, pictures, all that goes to add zest to +the life of the bargain-hunters and auction regulars, was a +gathering-place for all classes. Tommy knew and was respected by the +men whose names meant power and money; he was beloved by many a +wage-earner for the help he gave in the all-important problems of home +furnishing, and he was the idol of one William Adolphus Turnpike. + +Whimple lost no time in preliminaries. "I've got an office boy, +Tommy," he said, "and----" + +"One William Adolphus Turnpike, to wit," Tommy broke in. + +"The same; he's quite a character, Tommy." + +"A good lad though," said the auctioneer, "and a friend of mine." + +"He says you know what he wants to be, and that you think he's +bughouse." + +Tommy laughed. "He spends an hour here every morning," he said. + +"What!" + +"Turns up as regular as the clock at about fifteen minutes to eight, +and stays until he has just time to get to the office on the stroke of +nine." + +There was a long pause, each man regarding the other thoughtfully. It +was Tommy who relieved the situation. + +"So far as I know," he said slowly, "he has confided in no one but +myself and one other regarding his plans. He's only a boy; he may +change his mind any day. But I don't think it. I never knew any one, +man, woman, or child, so earnest and determined." + +"You know how I'm situated, Tommy; mighty little yet but hope--and, +thank God, I've never lost that. It's really a shame, Tommy, paying +him the princely salary of two dollars per, but I need him. Tommy, if +you think it best not to tell, don't." + +Tommy understood. "It might help," he said, "and I can depend upon you +to keep silence. Come along." + +He led the way to the back of the store, where his bachelor apartments +were situated--a bedroom and a library--a most curious library, for +Tommy was an omnivorous reader and particularly given to romances. + +In one corner of the room was a small bookcase with perhaps fifty books +carefully arranged; a little desk and an arm-chair. "That's his +corner," said Tommy abruptly; "look at the books." + +Whimple looked over the titles rapidly, then more closely. "Plays," he +murmured, "the lives of actors, more plays, _The Comedian, Garrick, +Nell Gwynn_," then turning to Tommy and raising his voice, "he wants to +be an actor?" + +"Yep." + +"But many boys think that--almost every boy thinks that." + +"But not the way this boy does." + +"Yes, but can he read these, Tommy? I never heard any one murder +English like William does. Yet he does it so winningly--that's the +word, I think--that any jury would acquit him. And his slang--uh!" He +shrugged his shoulders. + +"Fierce, ain't it?" said Tommy smilingly. + +"But can he really read these books?" Whimple reiterated. + +"You should hear him and see him tackling the dictionary when he's +stuck. Besides--I'm telling you everything mind in confidence--'Chuck' +Epstein reads with him." + +"Epstein! Whew!--and in his day he was the greatest comedian of them +all. And a Jew!" + +"And a man," said Tommy Watson with a note of challenge in his voice. + +"I've heard much of his kindnesses," Whimple said, "but know him only +by sight." + +"He's a great friend of mine," said Tommy; "he spends nearly all his +mornings here; has done since he retired from the stage. He's getting +feeble, but his mind is as clear as ever, and his heart--well, his +heart has never grown old." + +"William Adolphus Turnpike, Epstein, retired comedian, Tommy Watson, +auctioneer," said Whimple softly, and then looking up he found Watson +regarding him with a whimsical smile. + +"Us three, and no more--Amen, as the Three Guardsmen used to say," +Tommy said. + +"Well, not exactly in those words," Whimple replied. + +"But meaning the same," Tommy retorted, "so what's the difference? +Believe me," he went on, "the boy is safe with us. If his ambition +sticks--why, he'll land." + +"You're a good sort, Tommy Watson," said Whimple warmly as he left the +shop, "I wish I could do more to help the boy." + +"You're doing lots," said Tommy genially, "lots, and--well, the legal +world'll take off its hat to you yet." + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +Meanwhile our hero, as Vivian de Vere de Softley, the author of one +thousand love stories, would say, was pensively leaning out of one of +the office windows and thoughtfully taking pot shots at passers-by with +a pea-shooter. Preferably he selected as his marks gentlemen who +carried weight, and considered his best shot that which stung the ear +of an elderly banker who wore a silk hat, and was detested by all who +listened to his exhaustive speeches at banquets given by associations +that could not afford to leave him off their programmes. The banker +was exceedingly wrath, but as William was an expert in concealment, his +victim was foiled in his attempts to discover the cause of the sudden +stoppage of his flow of thought on his next great speech. + +The banker finally passed on, and William was aiming for his next shot +when something struck him on the shoulder. He turned smartly to +encounter the stern gaze of a lady, an elderly lady. Her parasol was +descending for another blow, but William adroitly dodged it. Nothing +daunted, she raised it again, and this time succeeded in rapping "our +hero" smartly across the arm. + +William dropped to the floor, crawled under the table, rose again and +waited. The lady walked gravely toward him, whereupon William again +followed the under-the-table route, and finally flopped into a chair by +his own desk. The lady regarded these manoeuvres with a gleam of anger +in her fine dark eyes. + +The boy had swiftly "taken her in," to use his own expressive phrase, +and afterwards was able to say that she wore a bonnet, not a hat, that +long ringlets of grey hair hung down each side of her face, that her +dress was of silk and black, and that she held in her hand a slender +chain, to which was attached a dog of the most melancholy countenance, +and a shape that made William grin. + +"What are you laughing at?" demanded the lady. + +"The dog; if it is a dog." + +"And a very good dog it is too." + +"Well, I've seen pictures of 'em," said William politely, "but I ain't +never believed it till now." + +"Believed what?" + +"The face and the shape----" + +"There's nothing the matter with the shape," was the tart response; +"Dick's a Daschund." + +"A what! Oh! Gee! Say, my tongue always rolls around like it had no +roots when I strike a word like that." + +"No wonder; a boy of your age should be at school." + +"School! not for mine, lady. I've gotter make a livin'." + +"A living--you! What are you doing here?" + +"I'm the office boy." + +"Office boy! Whose office boy?" + +"Mister Whimple's." + +"You're a liar," the words were snapped out with a force and directness +that William afterwards declared put him "on the blinks" for a few +seconds. + +The only retort that he would have made to one of his own sex rose +swiftly to the boyish lips, and stayed there. He rose--who shall say +what freak of imagination swayed him then--and took a step toward the +lady. His hand went to his cap--in the encounter he had forgotten it +until then--and off it came with a sweeping bow. He was no longer +William, or Willie, or Bill; he was no longer an office boy; this was +not Toronto. Here was the lady of the castle, proud, imperious, +haughty; he was one who served under the banner of her lord. Beyond, +was the great old house, surrounded with stately trees and fine +driveways, and Sir William Adolphus Turnpike, in a voice he did not +know, was saying, "Fair lady, I am thine to command. If I have +offended I prithee forgive; 'twas not my intent, I do assure thee." + +And the lady--what half-forgotten dreams came surging to her mind. +Long ago, so long ago, there had been a boy with a heart of gold that +had lost none of its admiration for her when the boy gave place to the +man. But on a far-off border line of the empire he had given his life +for the flag, and out of her life there had gone the dreams of a future +with him. All through the years since then she had held her heart +against those who would have stormed it, and now--and now--she tried to +speak, but her lips were tremulous and her eyes tear-dimmed. She +courtesied low and with grace, and William, who was standing with the +ink-stained fingers of one hand clutching his cap and the other held +where he thought his heart might be, felt a thrill of sympathy. + +"Lady," he said softly, "I await your command." + +And still she did not speak. Then William, true knight, threw down his +cap, placed a chair for her, carefully laid her parasol on his desk, +and waited. + +Presently, "Boy," she said gently, "where did you learn that?" + +"I read it somewhere," he said, "some of it, and I guess I just made up +the rest. I can't help it, lady. I often have them kinder spells." + +She was looking at him thoughtfully, and William blushed under her +scrutiny. + +"Don't be ashamed, boy," she said. "'Them kinder spells'"--and she +mimicked him so well that William laughed outright, "will carry you a +long way some day. You may sit down." + +William sat, and thereupon Dick, his mistress having loosened her hold +upon the chain, ambled over and placed his solemn-faced visage as close +to the boy's knees as he could get it. William lifted the dog which +snuggled close to his breast. + +"If Dick likes you there must be some good in you," said the lady: and +her voice was again sharp and firm. "Where's Whimple?" + +"He'll be here soon, I expect." + +"Umph! Poking around the law courts I suppose. He's never been here +when I want him." + +"Mister Whimple is a busy man," said William loyally. + +"Don't lie to me," was the sharp rejoinder, "I'm a Whimple. Miss +Elizabeth Whimple, if you want to know, and I'm his aunt. He would be +a fool and enter law against my advice, and I hope he'll starve for it." + +William's eyes narrowed. "Did you ever try starving, Miss Whimple?" he +demanded. + +"Heavens, no!--what would I want to try that for?" + +"Well, I'm glad if you never have to," was the answer. "My Dad came +near to it sometimes before he got onter his feet, and I ain't very old +myself, but I've seen the day I'd walked a long way to get my teeth +into a piece of beef-steak." + +"I don't believe you." + +"Well, of course, you don't have to," said William calmly. "That's a +funny thing about grown-ups. They'll believe any old lie if it's in +print, but the minute anybody tells 'em the truth straight outen his +heart, they don't----" + +"Boy," she interrupted sharply, "don't preach to me!" + +"Preach! me preach!" + +"Yes; you may not call it that, but it's preaching just the same. Now, +where's Whimple?" + +"Honest, lady, I don't know. He----" + +And here Whimple entered by the back door. For collectors were +beginning at this time to come in with requests for payments of the +monthly bills incidental to the upkeep of an office, and it was the +part of wisdom to ascertain before entering the office whether any such +were "at anchor." + +His aunt greeted him with a fair amount of cheerfulness, and at once +informed him that she had come to ask that he look after the interests +of her estate. + +"I've been acting as my own rent collector for years," she said, "and +I'm getting tired of it. I want you to look after that and after any +legal business arising therefrom, but mind you I'll pay you only the +legal rate, no more, relative or no relative." + +They passed into Whimple's room, whence the lady emerged some time +later. William opened the office door for her, and as she passed out +she admonished him to make good use of his time, and "never, never +enter law." + +"I'm about as near to it as I'll ever get," answered William politely. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +This is a chronicle of facts, culled from the life of William Adolphus +Turnpike and other personages, as distinguished from mere history. +Everybody in this age of research and cheap books, to say nothing of +magazines and newspapers, knows that history is not true. It is +established beyond doubt, for instance, that King Richard III. was a +man of loving disposition, and that the story of his being an accessory +to the death of the little princes has no foundation. We know also +that the Scots deliberately planned the loss of the battle of Flodden +in order to pave the way for their modern invasion of England and the +capture of all the good jobs in the empire. They simply lured the +English on, because they knew that no Englishman could live north of +the Tweed and ever get enough to eat, while every Scotsman is +impervious to stomachic or climatic conditions so long as there is a +position to be filled or a bawbee to be paid out. + +Here then, sticking to facts, is to be recorded that William Adolphus +Turnpike reached the office one Monday morning, some time after the +events last chronicled, wearing a black eye, an abrased nose, and a +scratched chin. Naturally, Lucien Torrance, office boy to Simmons, the +architect, and therefore on terms of equality with William, demanded an +immediate and detailed explanation, which William proceeded to give. + +"Did yer see the lacrosse match between the Easts and the Stars on +Saturday? + +"What! yer didn't? Gee! you missed it. Say, there was somethin' doing +nearly every minute till the police broke up the game and took the +players to the Number 4 Station. + +"What's that--did I take the kiddies? Not for a minute I didn't. +Would yer wanter take your little brothers or sisters---- + +"You ain't got none. Well, nobody's blamin' you, are they? I'm just +supposin' you had. Would you wanter take 'em any place you'd thought +there was goin' to be a scrap? Not much you wouldn't. I seen them +teams play once before when I was a kid. + +"What! Well, I like that. Fourteen last birthday, and I'm taking +nothin' from any feller my age around these parts and don't you forget +it, or I might forget I promised me mother I'd try not to fight for one +day. + +"Well, anyway I piked off alone to the flats to see the game, and, say, +there was about half a millyun people there. + +"What's that! There ain't half a millyun in the whole city of Toronto? +You'd be a peach of a booster for this town, wouldn't you? Suppose +there ain't, it sounds good anyway. Besides, you know very well I'm +just trying to give you some idea about the size of the mob. And say, +maybe there wasn't some tough mugs there neither. Uh! + +"Well, the referee he gives the teams a talking to about keeping the +nation-al game clean and free from disgrace. 'The first man,' he says, +'that forgets he's playing lacrosse and begins laying the hickory on +anybody,' he says, ''ll get a good long penalty.' + +"Then Alderman McWhirter takes a whirl at 'em; him with the spongy +whiskers on each side of his face, and a jaw like the vestibul of a +street car. + +"Vestibool, is it? Where did ye learn French? You muster lived in +Montreal. + +"You never? Well, hold your hair on; hold your hair on. Kinder soured +on your food, ain't yer? What d'ye eat for breakfast anyway? Malted +soapsuds, chipped mule fritters, er any o' them fancy foods? + +"Porridge! my, but you're away behind the times. Wake up, man, wake +up, the fast express is tearin' down the track and---- + +"All right. I'll proceed. So McWhirter gives the bunch a spiel a mile +long and would be going yet, but somebody calls out to him to dry up, +an' he gets red in the face and dries up, and the game starts. + +"For about one minute they played like Sunday school was a joy to them, +and then the Easts bangs the ball into the net and the goal umpire he +ups with his hand, meanin' a goal and---- + +"What's that? You know that means a goal, eh! Feeling pretty pert +this morning, eh! Mebbe you'd like to go on an' tell the story to +yourself. + +"Oh! all right, all right. Well, anyway, up goes the goal umpire's +hand for a goal, and down goes the umpire for the count, for Tip Doolen +of the Stars cracks him a wallop on his brain factory you could hear a +mile away. And all the Easts piles on to Tip and it took the police +fifteen minutes to get 'em untied. And the police sergeant he says, +it's Tip to the station, but the goal umpire wakes up and says he +wouldn't lodge no complaint, for Tip and him's friendly, only would +they please get a new goal umpire, he says, and they did. + +"Then the police sergeant wouldn't let 'em go on playing till he'd had +a little say, and you'd oughter heard it. He says, 'It looks to me +like most er you fellers is spoilin' for a clubbin', and I'd hate,' he +says, 'to disappoint you if that's the case. But I'm willing to stay +on duty a few hours beyond me time,' he says, 'in order to please you.' + +"And the fellers swear they're ready to go on with the game and play +like kinder-gart'ners. So the sergeant says, 'Let her go,' he says. + +"So it went all right for quite a while and there wasn't much doin' +except the noise, for both sides had big gangs there and you cert'nly +could hear 'em. + +"At the end of the second quarter it was a tie--two goals each, and not +more'n half the players on the mourners' bench. + +"What! You don't know what the mourners' bench is? Say, if you'd only +study the English language 'stead of loading your think tank with them +furrin' words you wouldn't need nobody to tell you that the mourners' +bench is just another name for the penalty bench. + +"But when the third quarter gets nicely started! Well, say, the +referee he puts one of the Easts off the field for trippin', and +another one of the Easts he swings his stick on the referee's slats for +all he's worth, an' the referee just has time to kick him in the shins +before a third feller gives the referee a biff under the ear and lays +him out. About half the people made a mad rush for the Easts and the +other half rushes for the Stars, and there's only six policemen there. +But the sergeant--say, my Pa knows him well--he's the wise guy. He +lets 'em all get going and you couldn't see anything but people shovin' +and crowdin' and hittin'. And then he chases for the caretaker of the +park where the flats are an' gets two lines of hose fixed on a hydrant +and two cops a holdin' the hose. And pretty soon two streams er water +hits the crowd, and you'd oughter have seen the way it bust up. +Honest, I never thought there was so many fast runners in the whole of +Canada. And when the most of the people is outer the way, here's +nearly all the Easts and the Stars a rolling around on the ground +tearin' each other to pieces. The water never fizzed on 'em. And the +police sergeant--my Pa says he's a strat-eg-ist--he says, 'It's just +adding fuel to the flames,' he says, 'to put water on 'em,' and looks +round, and I did too, and sees the patrol wagon coming along with more +cops in it. Them lacrosse fellers is just attendin' strictly to +business same as if there wasn't anybody in the whole province of +Ontario but them. And then the cops waded right in and clubbed them +fellers good and plenty, and---- + +"That's what I'm coming to, if you'd only keep the brakes on your forty +horse power tongue a minute. + +"Yes, sir, they squeezed the whole shooting match into the wagon and +took 'em to the station. + +"Sure they gave 'em bail that night, and soaked 'em five and costs +apiece in the court Monday morning. And I was telling my Pa about it, +and I says to him, 'Now,' I says, 'in a case like that, Pa, who wins?' +Of course I meant the game. + +"And my Pa says to me, he says, 'Well,' he says, 'it looks to me like a +draw,' he says, 'with first-class honors,' he says, 'to Sergeant Mackay +and second place to the magistrate,' he says. And he never bats an +eyelid when he says it. I tell you it's a pretty wise guy that can put +one over on my Pa. + +"What's that gotter do with my face! Gee, but you oughter to be in the +law--you'd be the peach of a cross-exam'ner you would. But just so's +to have no hard feelin's I'll tell you. I'm an East-ender myself, and +I made some noise too. One of the Star rooters got kinder mad at me +making a few remarks during the game, and when the mix-up starts I'm +laying for him. But he seen me comin' and I couldn't dodge the brick +he had. It's all right to pipe off about fighting square and fair, but +that guy wasn't lettin' his brick go to waste till he could think up a +motter. Not for him. He did just what I would have done if I'd seen +that brick first." + +But when Whimple asked for the cause of the battered visage, William +merely answered that he had collided with a brick. + +"Was the brick hurt any?" + +"Well, not so's you'd notice it," retorted William smilingly. + +"Um! It's rather unfortunate that it was such a hard object--for you, +I mean," said Whimple. "You see I had intended to start you collecting +rents to-day." + +"Me!" + +"Yes. Miss Whimple, my boy, is the possessor of some twenty houses; +four of them in your district, William, to say nothing of some choice +lots that are increasing in value every month. She's a wonderful +woman, boy; her dad left her four houses to begin with, and she's done +the rest. If I had her business ability, William, I'd be on the fair +way to being wealthy now." + +"But, Mister Whimple, my face won't matter. Like as not it'll give me +a chance to talk to the people and find out whether they're good +tenants or not. Let me try it, sir." + +"All right. One of the tenants down your way owes two months' rent +now, and in the other cases the rents are due to-day. Here are the +addresses. You look after these four tenants every month; I'll take +care of the others." + +And forthwith William Adolphus Turnpike set out, as he expressed it to +Lucien Torrance, "to round up some coin for Mister Whimple's aunt." He +was proud of the trust imposed in him, and could not forbear a parting +shot at Lucien. + +"You're gotter stay here," he said importantly, "and answer fool +questions when people call. But it's me to the front, Lucien Torrance, +on a man's job." + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +William was an unconscious diplomat. His business career had already +been marked by the devotion of much time to the consideration of the +easiest methods of dealing with problems as they presented themselves +from time to time, though not always with success, and his first +perusal of the list of tenants handed him by Whimple showed him that +the job of rent collecting would be no sinecure. He knew his own +district very well; the work and conditions, the family life, and many +other details of a more or less intimate nature, were matters of +knowledge to him. He read the list over again as he turned down a +street to make his first call, and then passed the first house on his +list, and kept right on until he came to Jimmy Duggan's coal and wood +yard. Jimmy was located in his office, a wooden shack with a tin roof, +where he was laboriously engaged in the monthly task of straightening +out his books. To him William confided the errand entrusted to him, +and over the habits and the career of the first-named tenant on the +list there followed a solemn conference. At its close, William, with a +"Much obliged, Jimmy," sallied forth to the house he had passed on his +way, and knocked sharply at the door. A girl, untidy, unwashed, with a +face that might have been pretty if the coating of dirt upon it were +removed, appeared at the bay window of the ground floor. William knew +the girl and she knew William. Unabashed, he endured her calm +scrutiny, banking on his belief that she would never "tumble" to his +errand. She looked a long time, but finally came to the door and +slowly opened it. Whereupon William promptly stepped inside. + +"Is Mister Jonas in?" he asked as he closed the door behind him. + +"No," she said timidly. + +"Ah! gone out for a walk I suppose?" said William politely. + +In the dim light of the hall she looked at him with fear in her eyes. + +"He's a great walker, I believe," William went on with a tinge of +sarcasm. "Out in the mornings, out in the afternoons, takes another +stroll in the evenings. Does he ever go to sleep?" + +She made no answer, and William, who was at least a head shorter, +patted her on the shoulder. "Cheer up," he said patronisingly, "it's +all right. I've just come for the rent, that's all." + +"For what?" she gasped. + +"The rent; hadn't you better show me where he is right away?" + +"Didn't I say he wasn't in?" she answered sharply. + +"You did, my dear, but I'm willing to forget it. I believe that kinder +answer goes in polite society when the lady of the house don't want to +see anybody, and the lady what calls hopes that the lady she calls on +ain't in. But it don't go with me." + +"But he ain't in," the girl whined. + +"Then he's out for the first time in three years," was the rejoinder, +"and it's funny he'd pick rent day for a walk; him owing two months' +rent at that. P'raps he left the money with you?" + +"No." + +"H'm. Then I'll wait till he comes back." + +"But he won't be back until to-night." + +"All the same to me. I can wait; that's part of my work." + +She shifted ground uneasily, and finally burst out, "He's in the +kitchen, Will Turnpike, and you can go in yourself. He's wild today." + +William walked solemnly through to the kitchen where Jonas was sitting +by the window in a great arm-chair. A weird-looking figure he was, +muffled in an old overcoat, though it was summer and the day was warm. +A growth of untrimmed whiskers through which peered crafty eyes, and a +mass of long matted hair topping a big head, gave an uncanny appearance +to the man, who was a helpless cripple through rheumatism. He glared +at William, who cordially expressed the hope that he was feeling a +little better. + +"Is that what she let you in for?" he demanded fiercely. + +"Well, I didn't just put it to her in that way, if you mean your +daughter," said William calmly. "I'm after some money, to tell you the +truth." + +"Money!" the old man shrieked the word. + +"You heard me first time," returned William politely, "and ain't you +glad your sickness don't hinder your hearing some?" + +"Money!" shouted the old man again. "Money! What do you want money +from me for?" + +"The rent," said William calmly--"two months, due to-day. You can +read, I believe," and he held before the old man's face two receipts, +properly made out for the amounts due. "I see," he said, pointing to +an open letter on the window sill, "that you got Mister Whimple's note +about it. I'm the coll-ect-or he speaks of." + +"You!" + +"The same, Mister Jonas." + +The man glared at him savagely, and then shouted, "You--you--get +t'hades out of this." + +"Sure, I'll get out as soon as I get the rent. But as for the place +you speak of--not for mine. This is a good enough world for me, Mister +Jonas." + +The old man fumed in helpless rage. He cursed William and his family +and their antecedents, cursed his daughter, cursed everybody and +everything for a full five minutes, and ended up with the declaration, +"I haven't got any money." + +William silently regarded him for a moment, and then leaning forward a +little said, very clearly, "Well, I guess you ain't making so much as +you uster when you sold light-weight coal on the big contract from the +city, but I'm told on the best au-thor-ity, Mister Jonas, that you +ain't ever likely to know what it means to be without money." + +For a long time then they looked at each other, fear on the old man's +face, William inwardly troubled, outwardly cool and unruffled. The old +man broke the silence. + +"Mary, Mary," he screamed, and his daughter ran to him, "pay this young +ruffian two months' rent, and get the receipts from him, and if you +ever let him in again--I'll--I'll kill you." + +When the transaction was completed, William turned to Jonas. "I'll be +here to the minute when the next rent's due," he said confidently, "and +it'll be ever so much nicer for you to have it ready, else," and here +he assumed what he believed to be the correct attitude for such an +occasion, "I'll have to have you turned out." + +Then he left, the old man hurling curses at him until the door closed. + +"He's gotter great line of talk," said William to himself. "Now for +Mrs. Moriarity," that lady being the next on his list. William knew +her for a good-natured, careless woman, who nevertheless was the real +head of the Moriarity household, which included nine children of +varying ages and sizes. Nothing was ever done on time in her house; no +bill was ever paid when it was due, though Mrs. Moriarity never tried +to evade one. She was just happy-go-lucky and careless. + +William approached the house with some misgivings. A number of the +younger Moriaritys were playing around the door, and just as William +approached them a drunken man staggered up, singing loudly. He fell +over one of the children, and the youngster set up a howl that brought +the mother to the open door. She reached it just as the man, thrusting +out a long arm, brutally flung another child on one side. With an +angry cry the mother rushed for the brute, but William reached him +first. Without a word the boy stooped, grabbed one of the man's ankles +firmly, and, putting all his strength into the effort, pulled his foot +off the ground. The man lurched heavily and fell full length upon his +face, just escaping William, who stood upright, as Mrs. Moriarity, +talking volubly, plumped down on the man's back. "And here oi'll sit +till a p'licemon comes," she said; "you, William Turnpike, kape a +lukout for wan." And even as she said it a policeman came along and +took the drunken offender into custody. As the policeman marched his +prisoner away, Mrs. Moriarity turned to William, who was trying to +comfort the little Moriaritys, for those who had not been hurt were +crying as lustily from fear and sympathy as those who had. In the +short struggle with the man William's face had received a buffet that +had re-opened one of the scratches, and this was now bleeding somewhat +freely. + +"For the luv of heavin, Willyum, did that brute do that to you?" cried +Mrs. Moriarity. + +William tried to explain, but she never heard him. "It's good f'r him +Moriarity wasn't here or he'd a bruk his neck," she went on excitedly. +"Come on in," she ordered, "all ov yez; come on, Willyum." And William +went. She comforted her offspring and bathed William's face in warm +water, unheeding his protests and deaf to his explanation of the +original cause of his injuries. It was only after she had made him +drink a cup of tea and had sent the children out to their play again +that he was able to explain his errand. + +"And yu're a rint collector--a bhoy loike you! Think ov that now. +Willyum, yu're mother ought to be proud ov yez. Sure an' oi'll pay the +rint: oi'd clane forgotten this was the day, but oi've some money by +me, bhoy, an' yez can have it." She escorted him to the door after the +rent had been paid over, patting him on the head, calling him a hero, +and telling him that "the rint wud always be rady for the loikes ov +him." And at the door, in the open light of day, she flung her arms +around his neck. "God bless yez, ye darlint," she said, and kissed him +warmly. William blushed all over, but went on his way rejoicing. +Whimple had told him that the other two tenants were always on time, +and this day William found it to be so. + +It was nearly six o'clock when he started back to the office, one hand +holding the rents thrust deep into a pocket. Whimple, who had been +growing anxious at the boy's long absence, and had been blaming himself +for asking him to do the work, met him half-way to the office. "I was +a little bit worried," he said simply; "I'm afraid I made a mistake +putting so much responsibility on you, William." + +But when, in the inner room of the office, William laid down the money +he had collected with the laconic statement, "It's kinder slow work," +Whimple's misgivings fled. + +"Bully for you, William," he said enthusiastically. "You're a winner. +There's a new day dawning for me--and for you. I have had two new +clients in to-day. You've brought me luck, boy." + +And William grinned delightedly. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +For a week before the first appearance in vaudeville of "Flo Dearmore," +Tommy Watson's behaviour alarmed his friends. He ate little; it was +plain to those who met him daily that he slept little, and William +Adolphus Turnpike confided to Whimple that Tommy was "shaping up for +the asylum." "He don't know what he's sayin' half the time, and the +other half he ain't sayin' anything, he's just singing Scotch songs, +and Tommy's singing ain't much diff'rent to the hootin' of a factory +whistle," he said earnestly. + +"You sing some old country songs pretty well yourself, William." + +"Pa says so, and so does Ma, but----" he paused. + +"Well?" + +"Well--I ain't laying out to be no singer. Tommy took me to one of +them singing factories one day, and the feller what heard me says, +'Well,' he says, 'he has a sweet enough voice, but that's about all for +him.'" + +"That was encouraging though." + +"But I ain't hankering to get my living by singing. Anyway, that's not +worrying me now--it's Tommy. Mister Epstein says he can guess, but he +won't tell." + +"Guess what's troubling Tommy?" + +"Yes--and I wish I did. Maybe I could help--if I am only a boy." + +"Well, we'll have to go slowly, William; it won't do to intrude on a +man's private affairs." + +"That's what Jimmy Duggan said when he laid out the burglar what was +crackin' his safe in the coal yard office; only this is diff'rent; +nobody ain't swipin' Tommy's money. I asked him and he says to me, +'Willyum, you know what our old friend Bill Shakespeare says.' And I +says, 'What?' 'Well,' he says, 'Bill has a few lines to say it don't +matter much who swipes me purse, it's what hits me heart that counts.'" + +"Um--well, that may be Tommy's version of it: Shakespeare's was +somewhat different." + +There the conversation dropped. Whimple thought no more about it until +the following Monday night when he received from Epstein an invitation +to go to the Variety with him. He met the old comedian at the door of +the theatre, and found Watson and William with him. They had seats in +the front row of the balcony. Epstein and Whimple sat together, Watson +next to the barrister, and William next to Watson. It was a fair bill +as vaudeville bills go, with Flo Dearmore about half-way down on the +programme. Whimple noticed that Watson paid no heed to the various +turns, though William was revelling in them. But when Flo Dearmore's +number went up he saw Watson lean forward with his arms on the rail in +front of him, and even in the vague light of the semi-darkened theatre +he noticed that his face was pale and drawn. The very simplicity of +"the turn" constituted one of its greatest charms. Flo came on the +stage and sang in a pure contralto voice several old country songs. A +pretty woman she was, not tall, but gracefully formed, with dark blue +eyes and a wealth of black hair, crowning a well-shaped head. She was +a remarkably expressive singer--you saw the scenes of her songs as +clearly as though you were wandering through them with Flo by your +side. The applause was heartier with every song; it grew into an +outburst of cheering when she sang "Come Back to Erin:" and at its +close bowed and smiled her acknowledgments. She would have left the +stage then, but the audience would not have it. Again and again she +advanced and bowed her thanks, and again and again the cheering rolled +out. Finally the lights went up, once more she stepped to the front of +the stage, nodded to the orchestra leader, who waved his baton, and +began "Loch Lomond." Sweet and clear the voice rose and fell; they +cheered after the first verse; they cheered again at the close of the +second; and then--she saw Tommy Watson, who was staring straight at +her, his face brighter now, his eyes aflame, his lips slightly parted. +What was it that brought the tears to her eyes; that made her falter +and sway a little, and then stand silent and helpless while the +orchestra twice started the air for the third verse, and the audience +begin to grow restless? + +The stage manager, alarmed and worried, was about to ring down the +curtain when, from the balcony, a clear boyish voice took up the song. +All eyes were turned in that direction. Flo Dearmore herself flung out +her hands as though urging the people to listen and the orchestra to +play on. Whimple started from his seat and then sat down again on +Epstein's sharp "Leave him alone," and William, looking down on the +stage, unconscious of anything but the vision of helpless loveliness +there, sang in his sweet boyish voice:-- + + "The wild flowers spring, and the wee birdies sing, + And in sunshine the waters are gleaming, + But the broken heart, it kens nae second spring, + Though the waeful may cease frae their greetin'." + + +She joined him then in the refrain, both keeping perfect time:-- + + "Oh! you'll tak' the high road and I'll tak' the low road, + And I'll be in Scotland afore ye, + But me an' my true love will never meet again, + On the bonnie, bonnie banks o' Loch Lomond." + + +There followed a scene the like of which the Variety had never +witnessed. For long minutes the applause and cheering echoed and +re-echoed through the theatre. Everybody told everybody else what a +clever act it was; but they had been "on to it" from the first. Scores +of people confided to other scores that they had noticed the lad come +into the theatre and take the seat reserved for him. They wondered how +old he was; if he was "her brother," and between times they hoped that +there would be a repeat. + +But as a "repeater" William would not have been a success. He was +trembling and almost hysterical when he sat down, and Tommy Watson was +in almost as bad a condition. Whimple was uneasy; Epstein only seemed +to be cool. He passed the word along, and, as the curtain went up for +the next act, the four friends quietly left their seats and walked down +the stairs into the main entrance of the theatre. Here they were met +by the manager, who seized Epstein by the arm. "Say, 'Chuck," he said +excitedly, "that was a great stunt. How much will the kid take for the +week?" + +Epstein smiled and turned to William. "I wouldn't do it again for a +hundred dollars a night," said William pointedly, "and I don't know +what I did it for anyway." + +"But, see here, my boy," said the manager, "there's big money in it for +you--say----" + +William, however, was already at the door, and Whimple, not wholly +understanding what lay behind Epstein's murmured, "Sorry--but I'll have +to explain later," followed him. + +The manager was talking now to Tommy. "Flo Dearmore wants to see you, +Mr. Watson," he said. "Do you know her?" + +Tommy nodded. "Come along then--you coming too, Epstein?" + +"No." The old comedian smiled affectionately on Tommy as the latter +went off with the manager, and then walked away slowly, his lips moving +as though he was communing with himself. + +At the door of the dressing-room the manager left Tommy, who knocked +gently. The door was opened at once by a coloured maid of uncertain +age, who turned to her mistress at the sight of Tommy. "It's a gent, +honey," she said, and Flo, who was already in street attire, turned to +the door. "Come in, Tommy Watson," she said quietly. "Toots," to the +maid, "leave us a little while." + +Tommy stood near the door, his eyes sparkling, his cheeks full of +colour now, his hands rigid by his side. Flo waited, her own cheeks +burning, her heart beating fast. Tommy came a little nearer to her, +and, "It seems like a long, long time since you went on the stage, Flo +Dearmore," he said. + +She nodded, and recovering a little of her dashing self, answered, +"It's only ten years, Tommy." + +"No," said Tommy, "it's more than that--it's all of twenty." + +"Tommy!" + +"I'm forty and you're thirty--think of that, Flo, and you were ten the +first time I saw you on the stage. Don't you remember the pantomime in +the old schoolhouse? You were the Queen of the Fairies, and----" + +"Yes, but I was still a school-girl." + +"And your heart was already set upon the stage. I've never forgotten +that night, Flo; such a winsome little fairy you were." + +"But--but----" she faltered. + +"I did--I tell you," he asserted stoutly, as though she had +contradicted him--"I fell in love with you that night; I watched you +grow into young womanhood, Flo; and always--and always--you filled my +heart." + +"Don't, Tommy." + +"And when I asked you--and when you laughed----" he broke off abruptly. + +"Don't," she pleaded--"don't, Tommy. It was cruel of me----" + +He came nearer still--his arms outstretched now. She rose with a +swift, "No, no, Tommy, I cannot--not yet--wait a little longer--give me +a little time," and there was a note of appeal in her voice. She went +on rapidly. "I must feel that I can give you all that you would have, +Tommy. There is no other man--believe me--and my work--my work--well, +it is not all now. There are times when--" and again she halted. Then +looking at him bravely, she said, "Tommy, if you are of the same mind +at the end of the season, and there is no other woman," this with a +gleam of mischief in her eyes, "perhaps I'll know for sure." + +And Tommy, the silver-tongued auctioneer, the man whose eloquence +opened people's pockets and made them buy bargains they didn't want, +meekly accepted her rebuff when she refused even to allow him to kiss +her hand, and left her when she said, "It must be good-night, Tommy, +now." + +The next morning the newspapers with one accord paid tribute to the +cleverness of the Loch Lomond scene in "Flo Dearmore's turn," and at +every remaining performance it was repeated. But William had no part +in it. A choir boy from a city church got "the big money" the manager +had talked of. And Tommy Watson, who attended every performance during +the week for just so long as Flo Dearmore's act lasted, began to eat +like a man who had many slim meals to make up for. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +The truth as to William's turn at the Variety having gradually become +known among his friends, he assumed, in the opinion of various of his +youthful associates, an importance not hitherto felt for him, and this +manifested itself in the form of an invitation to take part in "Uncle +Tom's Cabin," to be presented by the Berkeley Junior Dramatic Society. +William's eager consent was somewhat dampened when he was informed by +the young and ambitious manager of the production that he would have to +take the part of a small coloured boy and that there were no lines for +him--particularly. "You'll just come in kind of incidental," said the +manager--who was not much older than William--"and sing a piece." + +"Not much. No singing for mine." + +"Pshaw! It'll be dead easy, and I bet it'll make a hit too. You know +the stunt--lights down--spotlight on the stage--you in it singing in a +low sweet voice 'Loch Lomond.'" + +"What!" + +"Sure thing." + +"What in Sam Hill has 'Loch Lomond' gotter do with 'Uncle Tom's +Cabin!'" demanded William truculently. "Them niggers never even heard +of it, I'll bet." + +"Well, this ain't no ordinary Uncle Tom's show, let me tell you that," +retorted the manager. "We've doctored it up quite a bit. It's too +slow for our bunch the way it is put on by most companies." + +"But 'Loch Lomond' in a nigger show! Gee! you're crazy. Next thing I +know you'll want me to wear kilts." + +"I never thought of that," said the manager thoughtfully; "but, say, +that would be an elegant stunt. Let's do it." + +"Not with my legs," said William. "Didjer ever see 'em? They're about +as fat as fishing rods." + +"All the better. It'll bring the house down, I tell you." + +"Well, I don't want any house falling on me the way that'll be liable +to when it sees me in kilts and me face black--'oh! mother, mother, +mother, pin some clothes on me,'" he concluded sarcastically. But in +the end William was won over, and he entered into the rehearsals with a +whole-hearted determination that gladdened the manager's heart, and +made half of the rest of the cast jealous. + +You who discriminate in the choice of plays; who talk learnedly of the +art of Irving, Mansfield, Forbes Robertson, and Miller; you should have +seen that presentation given to a packed house. There were all of +three hundred people in the Berkeley Junior Dramatic Society's club +house that night, and every one of them parted with coin of the realm +to the amount of one quarter of a dollar for admission, and never a one +complained that he or she didn't get all of it back in real value. + +The scenery and all accessories, including the costumes, were +home-made. Who can value the loving care and thoughtfulness that +mothers and sisters put into every stitch of those costumes; with what +interest they studied the play, as "doctored," in order that the +garments might be historically correct? And who shall fittingly +describe William's kilts, as made by Mrs. Turnpike from a Scottish +shawl? William appeared in the first scene, without having anything to +say, but the costume spoke for him. There was a shout of laughter as +he walked across the stage for the first time, to be renewed when a +shrill voice invited all and sundry to "pipe them legs." The audience +piped them--they were encased in black stockings--and laughed again, +whereupon William advanced to the front and, pointing an accusing +finger in the direction of the original "piper," shouted, "I'm on to +you, Tom Edwards: everybody knows you're so bow-legged you wouldn't +dare wear anything but long pants." It took the audience some time to +recover its equilibrium, but eventually the play proceeded to the scene +where Eliza made the perilous trip across the floating ice. + +Eliza, a buxom girl with a heavy tread, carrying a large rag doll, made +the flight very slowly. She didn't trust "them cakes of ice," knowing +full well that packing cases, however stoutly built, and however ably +disguised in white cheese cloth, were parlous things for a lady of her +weight. The prompter urged her in an audible voice to get a move on, +to which she retorted sharply, "Shut up, I ain't going to break any of +my legs for fun." + +But when the baying of the bloodhounds, faithfully imitated by the +entire company, only partially concealed in the wings, was joined by +the barking of the real live dog in the show, she began to move a +little faster. She moved faster still when the real dog, a fair-sized +animal of uncertain breed, wearing a stout muzzle, broke away from the +"crool slave masters" and dashed towards her, and just as she lit on +the last cake of ice it gave way. The excited and hilarious applause +of the audience, together with Eliza's frantic screams, struck panic to +the heart of the already frightened dog, which, turning towards the +foot-lights, made a flying leap into the audience. Fortunately it +landed on the stout knees of William's Pa, and that worthy, firmly +grasping it by the neck, and thus effectually stopping its barking, +carried it to the main door and threw it into the street. Whereupon +the scene proceeded, the stage carpenter and his staff of one having +meanwhile extricated Eliza from the cake of ice and started her on the +concluding portion of her journey to safety. It was then that William, +burning to distinguish himself, and having a vague notion that "Chuck" +Epstein, who was in the audience, had once declared that the actor who +could interpolate telling lines in his part was on a fair way to fame, +advanced solemnly to the front, regardless of the dropping curtain +which landed on his shoulders and flopped ungracefully around him, to +declare in his loudest voice, "And I wish to say, that the man what +hits a woman is a coward." William and the curtain were somehow parted +by the now irate manager, but the audience insisted on the "nigger +kiltie" returning to the front, while they gave him another hearty +round of applause. + +A lecture behind the curtain, in which the manager, the stage +carpenter, Eliza and Legree, and Uncle Tom combined, seared William's +soul to the centre, though he said not a word, and the play went on. + +The death-bed scene, described in the home-made programmes as the +"grand finally," included the appearance of "the sweet boy singer, +William Adolphus Turnpike, in 'Loch Lomond.'" Little Eva was dying +beautifully when the pianist, who was not at all merciful to the +uncertain age and still more uncertain tone of his instrument, began +the air. William, who was one of the group around the bed, advanced +and began to sing. The audience ceased its snickering after the first +few words to listen intently. To many it was a beloved song; they +could forget the incongruous surroundings in the sweet memories it +recalled, and to others it appealed, as many old-world songs do, by its +plaintive sweetness. William was making a hit, and he knew it. Boy +though he was, he felt to the full the bond of sympathy between himself +and the audience. There was a queer sensation in his heart as he began +the last verse, and he wondered if he could finish it. He had reached +the second line when the voice of the prompter, imploringly pitched, +begged him to "hurry it up; little Eva's bed's a falling down." +William turned sharply toward the bed and, as he turned, something gave +way at his waist. He rushed to the death-bed, snatched therefrom the +coverlet, wrapped it majestically around him, and walked off the stage, +leaving behind him a little plaid heap--the kilts. The curtain dropped +suddenly in response to the manager's frantic signals. Little Eva, the +boy who had also taken the part of Legree, jumped from the bed +hysterically crying, "You spoiled me part," grappled madly with the +manager, and while the battle raged, William Adolphus Turnpike, +coverlet and all, slipped quietly out of the back door and raced +frantically for home, only two short blocks away. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +"When I feel gloomy, I'm good and gloomy," said William to Lucien +Torrance one sunshiny afternoon in June, as they sat together in +Whimple's office, their respective "bosses" being out "on business," +another way of saying that they had gone to the baseball match. + +"This is one day when I'm gloomy, and I just gotter gloom--it ain't no +good your buttin' in and telling me to cheer up and all that kinder +rot. No, sir, I just gotter gloom till it's all over." + +"What have you got to 'gloom' for to-day?" ventured Lucien, "it's a +bright, cheery day; the sun is----" + +"The sun might be the moon for all I care," interrupted William +impatiently. "I got up gloomy, and likely as not I'll go to bed +gloomy. Gee! this is a rotten world sometimes." + +"Maybe you're ill," suggested Lucien. + +"Ill nothing--don't you ever feel gloomy?" + +"Not without good cause." + +"Well, I'd just hate to be you. Sometimes a song, or somebody humming +a tune, sets me gloomin', or something I read, or sometimes it ain't +nothing at all that I could tell. It just comes and sticks around till +I don't know whether I'd sooner be a gloomer or a merry-ha-ha feller, +with a smile for everybody and everything. I uster get that way in +school sometimes, and I hated school bad enough, except the play time, +but I sometimes wish I was back again." + +"Why?" + +"How the dickens do I know? Don't you?" + +"No--I've made up my mind to a business career, and----" + +William broke in again. "Well, you cert'nly have your mind well +trained. If I had a mind like that, I'd take it out and dump it into +the Bay every once in a while." + +"How could I do that? I'd have to commit suicide." + +"Well, you're a living suicide anyway, with a mind like yours," said +William. "It's too regular, that's what it is." + +They sat silent for a long time. Lucien was afraid to speak, and +William was just "glooming." He turned to his comrade at last, and +began, "Say, whenever I get the gloom on me, sooner or later I get to +thinkin' about the first day Pete went to school. That was two years +ago--and he's nine now, and maybe he don't like school. Say, he'd go +without a meal rather'n be late. He's got that medal bug in his brain +pan; you know the game, never late and good conduct for about seventeen +years, and you get a medal that's pretty to look at and no darn good to +help you get a job. There's one good thing about Pete though, even if +he is a kid." He paused. + +"What is it?" + +"He can fight. Say, Lucien, you'd oughter see him at it. Why, last +week he had three fights with one feller." + +"What for?" + +"Well, the guy licked him the first two times, and didn't know any +better than to go around and beef about it. So Pete tackled him again +and licked him good and plenty, and every day since then Pete asks him +does he wanter fight again, and he says, 'No.' That's the way with +some folks, they know when they've had enough, but Pete never does; he +just stays with it till he wins out, then he looks for another fight. +But he's cunning, Pete is, he don't fight around the school none--Pete +wants that medal. + +"But I was going to tell you about the first day he went to school. +One morning Pa says to Ma, 'Well, what about Pete starting school?' he +says. + +"And Ma gets kinder white and her lips is trembly, and she says, 'I +guess he'll have to go,' and she says to Pete, 'Do you wanter go to +school, Pete?' and Pete says he's crazy to go. + +"So Pa says to me, 'You'd better take him along, Willyum, I guess +there's no need for me to go tottin' up there.' + +"But Ma says to Pa, 'I'd kinder like you to take him, Joe, the first +day,' she says, 'and I'll go and meet him at noon,' she says. + +"And you bet Pa does what Ma asks him, he's that set on her. So Pa +takes him, and I seen Ma crying when they starts, so I pikes out after +'em quick, for it makes me feel kinder queer to see Ma and Pa feeling +bad about anything. + +"Pa goes to the principal, and he asks Pete the same old fool things +they ask every boy and girl what goes to school, and finds out Pete can +read and write some, so he sticks him in the first form, and, of +course, it's a lady teacher. She bends down and pats Pete on the +head--he's gotter great mop of curls--and says, 'Well, my little man,' +she says, 'I hope you'll be a good scholar.' 'Sure,' says Pete, +'anything to oblige a lady.' So she laughs and says, 'What did you say +your full name was?' And Pete shuffles around some, and then he says, +'Peter Cornelius Turnpike,' he says. + +"Well, that set some of the kids a snickerin'; and one of 'em, a boy +about Pete's size, says, 'Gee! what a name.' Pete walks over to him +and says, 'My Ma likes it, and anything she likes goes, see,' and with +that he pastes the kid one in the eye, and right there they goes for +each other fierce. + +"Sure the teacher stopped 'em. Didjer ever know a woman that wouldn't +stop boys fightin' or get somebody to stop 'em? She stops 'em all +right, and keeps Pete in after school to give him a spiel about being +good and a credit to the school and his Ma and Pa, and right there she +plants the idea in Pete about getting a medal. + +"When I gets out after school there's no Pete, so I ask some of the +kids, and they says the teacher's talking to him. I waited around, and +all of a sudden I sees Ma coming along, and I'm just going to speak to +her when along comes Pa. He lets on he's just coming that way on +accounter business, but his face gets a kinder red, and Ma laughs a +glad little laugh. And when I told 'em about Pete being kept in, they +both looks awful solemn and plunks down on the steps to wait for him. +Pa, he takes one'r Ma's hands and tells her to cheer up, and Ma says +she can't, she feels gloomy, and the house was awful lonesome with both +the boys away. So, just when I think there's going to be a crying +match, out comes Pete with his face a shining. Ma grabbed him and +kissed him like she'd never stop, and Pa hoists him on his shoulder, +and the procesh starts for home. + +"Well, both Ma and Pa were for Pete staying home that afternoon, but +not for Pete. He was crazy for school. He told 'em what he'd done, +and Pa laughs and Ma tells him he'd orter be ashamed to laugh at his +boy fightin' the first day he's at school. But Pa laughs some more and +says, 'It ain't a bad sign,' he says; 'they gotter fight some time or +other, and there's nothing like starting early,' he says. + +"So Pete and me goes off to school in the afternoon, and Pa says to Ma, +'Keep a stiff upper lip, Ma, the boys are all right,' he says, and I +guess Pa knows. + +"There's quite a bunch in our family now, and some of 'em ain't old +enough for school yet, and I s'pose Ma 'll feel gloomy about 'em when +they start, same as she did about Pete." + +He rose, put on his cap, and informed Lucien that he was going to look +at the bulletin boards to see how the baseball team was doing. "I hope +they'll lose," he added. + +"Why?" Lucien demanded. + +"Well, they've lost three games in a row now to the tail enders, and if +they lose this one it'll make me gloomier'n ever, and maybe I'll be so +gloomy there'll be no sense in it, and I'll begin to cheer up." + + + + +CHAPTER X + +It was Miss Whimple who heard the first detailed account of William's +experiences as a rent collector, and she heard it from William's own +lips. She sent a note to the office one day, asking Whimple to send +the lad up, ostensibly with some papers, "but in reality," she added, +"because I want him to take luncheon with me; I want to ask him about +some things." + +"And if she wants to ask him she'll ask him, all right," Whimple mused +to himself, "and William 'll have to answer, for Aunt is a remarkably +bright woman, and a remarkably direct woman, too." + +To William he said, "You'll take these papers up to Miss Whimple, and +you'll take luncheon with her at her house----" + +"I'll--I'll--what's that?" + +"Take luncheon with her." + +"Gee!" said William, and then--"Say, honest, Mister Whimple, has she +gotter bunch of servants?" + +"No--only two." + +"A butler?" + +"No--no, a maid, and a man who looks after the grounds and the horse +and that kind of work." + +"Gosh, I'm glad of that. The idea of me eatin' with rich folks with +one of them solemn butlers that you read about standing behind me +chair--why, honest, I'd choke to death on the first bite." + +Leaving Whimple, William marched into Simmons' office and demanded of +Lucien Torrance, "Have you gotter clean han'kerchief?" + +Lucien said he had, and produced one in proof of his assertion. +William snatched it from him; seized the jug of ice water, the common +property of the occupants, soused one corner of the handkerchief, and +calmly, but vigorously, wiped his face with it, using the unwetted +portion to dry his visage. Lucien's protests had no effect on William. + +"Don't get mad, Lucien," he said soothingly. "I'm invited out to eat +with a lady. I gotter keep my own han'kerchief clean, and you wouldn't +like me to go with a dirty face, I know. Just hang it outer the window +and it'll be dry in a minute," and thereupon he departed. + +Miss Whimple lived a considerable distance beyond the then city limits. +She occupied what had once been a farm-house, solidly built, and +surrounded by several acres of land, including a small but excellent +orchard. She owned a good deal of land in the neighbourhood, now one +of Toronto's finest residential districts. + +As William turned into the driveway leading to the front entrance, he +was hailed by a man who was cutting the grass around one of the flower +beds. "What'll you be wantin', laddie?" said the grass-cutter. + +"To see Miss Whimple," answered William readily. + +"And what for?" + +William eyed the questioner, and with a gleam of mischief in his eyes, +replied quietly, "On business." + +"Aye--business, they'll all be saying that. She'll no see ye, ma lad, +so you better be tellin' me, and maybe I'll be able to tell ye the way +to be goin' aboot it." + +"What part of Scotland did you come from?" asked William sweetly. The +man glowered at him--the boy went on, "You could never deny you came +from Scotland, the thistles is just stickin' out on you in bunches." + +"You're a verra cheeky young----" began the man, but William cut him +short with, "Save your breath, Scotty, I know more about myself than +you can ever guess." And then changing his tone, he asked sharply, "Do +you own this place?" + +"Miss Whimple is the owner, young man, and I'm thinking----" + +"Don't--don't get to thinkin'. It'll stop the grass-cutting if you do; +but seeing that you don't own the place I guess it's no good asking you +what you'll take for it----" + +"Ye young----" began the man, but whatever else he might have said he +kept to himself, for at that moment a woman appeared at the front +entrance of the house and called, "John, ye'll be leaving the laddie +alone--Miss Whimple's expectin' him." + +William walked up to the woman, lifted his cap, and asked in his best +manner, "That gentleman back there a relative of yours?" She smiled at +the audacity of it perhaps, but answered, "Aye, the gowk's marrit till +me, but I'm sometimes feared I made a mistake takin' peety on him. +Will ye come in--if your name happens to be Tur'r'rnpike." + +"Well, it's something like that," answered William cordially as he +stepped inside, "but it don't often get so many 'r's' slung into it." + +Miss Whimple appeared in the hallway and extended a hand to William, +who squeezed it heartily and hoped the lady was well. She was, she +said. + +"Well, I'm glad to hear it," said William. + +"Umph--it doesn't take the boys long to follow the example of the men. +Now, you don't really care a cent about my health, and you know it!" + +"You're wrong, Miss Whimple," he answered, and there was earnestness in +his tone. "I like people I know to be well--most of them anyway." + +"You don't care whether the others are or not?" + +"Well, some of 'em--some of 'em. You see there's a few wouldn't know +what to do with themselves if they was well, and the others--well, +never mind 'em." + +That was a rare luncheon. William ate heartily and praised the +cooking, two things that pleased both Miss Whimple and the maid. "I'm +good and hungry," he said by way of explanation, "and Pa always says it +ain't no disgrace to be hungry, and it's only a chump what won't eat +all he can when he gets next to it. There's enough as can't get what +they want to eat, he says, when they need it most, without anybody's +what's hungry playing manners when they can get it." + +He liked Miss Whimple's direct manner of speech and her habit of +insisting upon answers to her determined questioning. It was in answer +to her demand that he gave the story of his experiences as a rent +collector, and he gave it well. He started out easily enough, but was +quick to see that she was following him with keen interest; he noticed, +too, that the maid had ceased altogether the "clearing away" process, +and was standing by her mistress, listening with shining eyes and mouth +slightly open. Their interest thrilled him, it mattered not that the +audience numbered only two--it was to him as though nothing in the +world mattered but the recital of his story in such a manner as that +those two should live it with him. He rose as the recital proceeded +and paced the floor, using the chairs occasionally to indicate the +positions of himself or some of the others who had played their parts. +And the women laughed and applauded, or murmured words of sympathy and +understanding as the tale proceeded. It came to an end somewhat +abruptly, William suddenly embarrassed, half ashamed, altogether shy, +longing to get out of the house and back to the office. "And that's +all," he ended curtly. + +"And did Mrs. Moriarity say anything when she kissed you?" asked Miss +Whimple slyly. William blushed--he did not often feel so hot and +uncomfortable at a mere question. He felt a sudden rush of anger at +himself for blushing, and some annoyance at Miss Whimple as the cause +of it, and it was only after she had repeated the question that he +answered, "Yes--she--she--says, 'God bless ye, darlint.'" + +They allowed him to go finally, but it was only after Miss Whimple had +exacted from him a promise that he would bring Pete and the other young +members of the Turnpike family to spend a Saturday afternoon with her. + +The maid accompanied him to the door, and stood watching him as he +walked down the path towards the gate. William noticed that the +grass-cutting operations had brought the maid's husband closer to the +house. "John," said the maid, "ye'll nae be needin' tae stop the +laddie wi' ony of yer fulish questions. If there's onything to tell +aboot him, I'll tell it." + +The man looked at her sharply, and William, as he passed him, said +softly, "Gee! but you married men have the hard times." And he ducked +in time to avoid a good-sized piece of wood that the man hurled at him. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +William was not long in fulfilling his promise to Miss Whimple to take +his younger brothers and sisters up to spend a Saturday afternoon at +her house. His mother started early on the task of getting them ready, +and spent an anxious hour keeping them clean and tidy until William +arrived from the office and "cleaned up." She watched them, with pride +and tenderness on her face, as they departed, Bessie and Joey, aged six +and four years respectively, in front, where, as William put it, he +could "keep an eye on 'em;" William and Pete, with Dolly, the baby, two +years old, toddling along between them. As a shepherd, William herded +them by street car and on foot, until they reached the Whimple house. +Miss Whimple was at the gate to meet them. "Here's the bunch, Miss +Whimple," he said smilingly, and then contrived to get in an aside to +Pete, "Now you mind what I said about behavin' or I'll knock your block +off when we gets away." + +The youngsters were timid and shy. They hung to William closely for a +while, with hazy notions only of what to do with themselves, and from +sheer embarrassment rebuffing the kindly advances of Miss Whimple and +the maid. They began to feel more at home when Miss Whimple suggested +a tour of the grounds, and a visit to the barn to see the cows, two +fine Jerseys, and presently they began to talk to her and to one +another with freedom, all but Dolly. Miss Whimple, who was greatly +taken with the little toddler, noticed that William was particularly +tender toward her, his hands were ever ready to lift her, or guide her +over rough ground, he suited his steps to hers when she walked, and all +the time he kept up a running fire of baby talk. Dolly was all dimples +and smiles; she seemed to be perfectly happy and contented, but she +made no sound. It was some time before Miss Whimple noticed this, and +when she said to the little one, "Such a little pet, I'll warrant you +talk a lot to your mammy though," Dolly smiled at her and then turned +to William her wonderful brown eyes full of questioning. William +smiled back, "She likes oo, Dolly," he said softly, and then looked at +Miss Whimple, his eyes moist, his lips trembling a little. He tried to +speak, but could not find words. But Miss Whimple understood. Her +hands went to her breast. "Oh--" she murmured, "I--I--didn't +understand, William, I--I----" Down on her knees she went near one of +the flower beds, pulled therefrom a rose, and, with the tears +streaming, pinned the flower to Dolly's dress, saying half to herself, +"Deaf and dumb--deaf and dumb--poor little mite. God bless +you--and--help you." + +Thereafter she made Dolly her special care, and the child seemed to +like it, making occasional dashes on to the lawn to join William and +the others, whose restraint having passed were playing with joyous +zest, under the direction of the elder brother. + +It was getting near to tea time when "Chuck" Epstein appeared on the +scene. Tired of their play, the children had assembled on the +verandah, Dolly sitting on Miss Whimple's knee looking over a picture +book, the others listening to one of William's fairy stories. "Chuck," +whose acquaintance with Miss Whimple dated back many years, took a seat +near them. He was joyfully greeted by William and "the bunch," and +Miss Whimple felt something like a pang of jealousy when Dolly wriggled +from her knee and went to Epstein. It was only for a moment though, +the child was palpably so delighted to be with the old comedian, whose +smile of greeting to her was wonderfully expressive. He tenderly +lifted her to his knees, and with an arm around her little body, held +her close to his side. William was dethroned, and he knew it, and +accepted the situation quite calmly, though he did not laugh so +heartily as the others when Pete demanded, "Tell us one of your +stories, Mr. Epstein, they beat Billy's to bits." And Epstein told +one, and then another, and another. He acted them too. The children +screamed with delight as he changed his voice to each character of the +story, yes, and changed his very appearance as they watched him, and +all so naturally, so easily, that they seemed to be hearing and seeing +so many different people taking part in the unfolding of the tales. +They were almost hanging to the old man, when the maid appeared with +the announcement that tea was ready. They entered the airy +dining-room, crowding around "Chuck," all begging to be allowed to sit +next him, and the argument grew so heated that William had to settle +it. "Dolly on one side," he said with emphasis, "and Bessie on the +other, and everybody keeps quiet or gets out," and then in a loud +whisper to Pete and Joey, "Don't you be makin' hogs of yourselves. No +more'n three pieces of cake, mind." + +But the terror of William's threats faded before the hunger of "the +bunch," and the determination of Miss Whimple and the maid, to say +nothing of Epstein, to see that it was appeased. Pete ate until even +to chew became a decided effort, and when Miss Whimple pressed him to +take "just one more piece of pie," he answered wearily, "It ain't no +good, Miss Whimple--I'm full to the collar bone." + +William, who had been glaring at him for some time, remarked +scathingly, "Gee, you'd think you never got a square meal at home," to +which Pete promptly retorted, "Well, I wasn't going to let Miss Whimple +think I couldn't eat her cooking." + +Tired, happy, and full, William and "the bunch" departed at last, Miss +Whimple and Epstein going with them to the electric car--a quarter of a +mile away from the house--the old comedian, despite the protests of +Miss Whimple and William, carrying Dolly all the way. He kissed her +gently as he placed her in the car, and the child threw her arms around +his neck and pressed her little cheek against his for a moment ere he +left. + +When the car had disappeared from view, Epstein escorted Miss Whimple +home. They walked in silence for a little distance, and then she asked +him suddenly, "When did you first meet William?" + +"Three years ago," he said smilingly. "It was a chance meeting. You +know," with a touch of sadness in his voice, "the people of my race are +not always kindly treated--even in so new a country as this--and so +big," he went on musingly. "Who shall say what Canada is to be in the +future?--I see things, I see things--a great northern power; men of +many races blended together in one great nationality under the British +flag. Well for her that her statesmen build truly, well for her----" +he broke off abruptly, and with a quiet, "I beg your pardon, we were +talking of William. I was walking along the street one day, in a +section of the city where many of our people live, when a 'rags and +bones man' came along trundling a well-laden push cart. Three young +roughs began to bait him. They threw his cap into the middle of the +street, overturned his cart, and began to attack him when William's +father intervened. He was driving his express wagon near the scene. +He jumped from the wagon, laid one of the roughs out with his fist, and +turned on the other two. William, who had been riding with his Pa, +took a hand in the proceedings then, climbing from the wagon and using +the whip on the roughs. They turned and fled. William and his Pa +helped the 'rags and bones man' to right his push cart, and then I +introduced myself to them. The father turned my commendation aside +with a good-natured remark to the effect that three to one wasn't fair +play, and William added, 'What Pa says goes,' and there you are. He's +a brave lad, a good lad, full of mischief I know, but--but he's full of +determination too. William will go a long way. I will not live to see +it; my days are few now, but I'll die the happier," he added softly, +"for having known William Adolphus Turnpike." + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +It was a big feeling William that reported for duty on the succeeding +Monday morning. "Importance" was written large on his face, and again +expressed in his every action. Lucien Torrance timidly ventured +several questions in the hope of elucidating the why and wherefore of +William's attitude without receiving any reply. "Say," drawled William +after another attempt on Lucien's part, "what's the difference between +you and a clam?" + +"I don't know." + +"Of course you don't; a fellow like you'd never know." + +"Well, what is the difference?" demanded Lucien desperately. + +"Well, a clam ain't no good unless it's baked, and that's what's the +matter with you, Lucien Torrance." Whereupon Lucien imitated a clam to +the extent of shutting his mouth and keeping it shut. + +In the afternoon, Whimple having departed to the law courts, where the +growth of his business was beginning to take him quite often, William +ordered Lucien to keep an eye on the office while he went across the +road to study the baseball scores. "The way them Torontos is playin' +on the road," he added by way of explanation, "has me goin'! They won +five outer the last six games, and they're up against the Buffaloes +to-day, and that's a hard team to beat. But Torontos can do it, +b'lieve me--two outer three from Buffaloes my guess--have you got any?" + +"No--I don't care who wins. Baseball doesn't interest me." + +"What's that! Say, you're the limit; the last--the very last limit. +Is there any game whatever that stirs your thick blood?" + +"Lawn tennis." + +"Lawn--Oh, cheese it, Lucien, cheese it. First thing I know you'll be +tellin' me you play chess too." + +"Indeed I do. Father is teaching me the game; we play nearly every +night." + +"Halt! who goes there?" William rolled out the words as though the +fate of armies depended on them. "The ch-e-eld wonder of the +cen-tury," he went on, waving his arms dramatically. "Pass the +ch-e-eld wonder and be careful with him." He walked around the +bewildered Lucien, pretending to examine his head very closely. "Ah," +he said, after the first scrutiny, "now I begin to tumble." His voice +was now low-pitched and full of pathos. "Now I'm getting on to the +reason for those grey hairs on so young a head." He placed one hand on +Lucien's shoulder, and covered his own eyes with the other. "Me +boy--m-boy," he murmured brokenly, "you're breaking my heart, my strong +manly heart what's held up this many a year--against who knows what. +Lucien, Lucien, you're burning the gas in both jets, to say nothing of +the escape in the middle. Leave me, boy--leave me to my grief." + +Lucien brushed William's hand off his shoulder and blurted out angrily, +"You're crazy." + +"Well, I'd sooner be crazy, if I am crazy, than be sane the way you +are," returned William loftily. "'Chuck' Epstein says everybody's got +a looney streaker some kind; else, he says, they'd all die young. It's +a tough outlook for you, Lucien," he added as he departed. + +Ten minutes later William returned, bringing with him a fine bulldog +attached to a stout string. William's eyes were shining, and his lips +were parted in a wide grin of delight. "Say," he cried to Lucien, "get +on to the pup." + +Lucien didn't like the looks of the dog, and backed hastily away. + +"Aw gee, he won't eat you," said William disgustedly. "He's a good +one, a prize winner; and the cop says Briscombe the banker owns him." + +"Well, what are you doing with him?" + +"Me! The dog just nat-ur-ally adopted me, Lucien. I was standing +looking at the bulletins--and the Torontos is leadin', don't you forget +it--when I feels something rubbing at me leg, and here's his nibs +making up kinder friendly like. So I takes hold of the string and +hunts up a cop and tells him about it. And I says, 'He looks like a +good dog,' I says, 'I s'pose you can take him over to the station and +leave him till the owner's found.' And the cop says, 'Not for mine,' +he says, 'I ain't going off my beat to be a godfather to no dog. It +belongs to Mr. Bill Briscombe,' he says, 'and I'll bet he'll give you a +two spot if you take it to him.' So I goes along to Briscombe's bank, +and the place is shut up tighter'n a drum. Say, but them bankers has +the classy hours. And Briscombe lives about a mile north of the city +limits, so I guess I'll have to take the dog up there to-night." + +"Well, where are you going to put him in the meantime?" + +"I'll just hitch him up to Mr. Whimple's table. He won't be in till +near closing time, and then he'll just tell me I needn't stay, like he +usually does." + +And forthwith the dog was hitched. He did not display any decided +signs of displeasure, though evidently ill at ease. Lucien could not +be persuaded to go near the dog, but William was quite solicitous for +the animal's welfare. He fed it on tea biscuits, surreptitiously +abstracted from Lucien's luncheon box--that worthy being somewhat +partial to the delicacy. Also overlooking the formality of asking +permission, he used Lucien's cap as a holder for a liberal helping of +ice water from the office jug. The dog ate the biscuits, but spurned +the ice water, which William promptly emptied from the open window. +Then things happened. + +When the ice water fell, most of it fell upon the head of a +distinguished K.C., who was using his hat as a fan while he discussed +with an acquaintance some of the questions attendant upon a provincial +election then looming up. Some of the water sprinkled the K.C.'s +acquaintance. Both men looked up quickly enough to note drops of water +trickling from the sill of the open window, and as one, both turned and +dashed up the front stairway to Whimple's office. William's hearing +was acute; he did not like the sound of the hasty footsteps, and he was +quick to surmise the cause. He made for the back stairway and +descending in quick time, traversed the lane until, by a roundabout +way, he emerged on the street, and came to a standstill at a point on +the opposite side of the street, but in front of the office building. + +The K.C. and his acquaintance by this time had burst into the office +and dashed into Whimple's room on the run, not noticing the dog, over +which the former fell full length. The bulldog had no particular +grievance against the K.C., but he had a decided objection to playing +cushion to him, and he snapped at the first thing he could get his +teeth into. This, fortunately for the ornament of the bar, happened to +be his coat tail, and on this the dog took a firm and impassioned hold. +The K.C., by this time aware of the dog's presence, half rolled and +half scrambled toward the door, the dog hanging so determinedly to the +coat tails that, between the combined efforts of man and dog, the table +began to move, and moved until it stuck at the jambs of the door. The +dog could not go any further; the K.C. gave a final rolling jerk that +left the dog half choked, but plus a large section of coat tail. The +K.C. thereupon rose, dust-covered, his dignity gone, murder in his +heart, wrath on his face. + +Lucien Torrance seized this unfortunate moment to leave the office of +his employer and to enter that of William's. With a cry of +satisfaction, the K.C. sprang at him. "Now I have you, you young +villain," he shouted, and without more ado he posed the frightened and +dazed Lucien in an old-fashioned attitude across William's desk, and in +a manner that bespoke some knowledge, proceeded to thrash him. + +Lucien was screaming, "It wasn't me--it wasn't me," when Whimple +entered the office, also on the run, flung aside the perspiring +K.C., righted Lucien, whom, on his entrance, he had thought +was William, and demanded angrily the meaning of the disturbance. +The K.C. wrathfully explained from his point of view; Lucien +tearfully, but firmly, declared that he was in no way +responsible. "William--brought--the--dog--here," he sobbed, +"and--he--threw--the--water out of the window." There were cries for +"William," but no William responded, and all the time the dog, hanging +on to the captured piece of coat tail, surveyed the scene in calm +silence. + +Whimple and the K.C., after some further parleying, essayed the task of +releasing the dog and allowing the K.C.'s friend to leave Whimple's +room. But they found themselves confronting a problem that their legal +training could not solve. For the dog, thinking that they wanted his +trophy, laid the piece of coat tail on the floor, placed thereon one +paw, and bared his teeth for fight. Both men were angry; both men were +puzzled. Each urged the other to action, and each held the other +inferentially to be lacking in courage. + +It was Lucien who suggested a way out. "If the gentleman in Mr. +Whimple's room would get on the table from the back and cut the string, +the dog would run away, I'm sure." + +The plan was adopted, Whimple, Lucien, and the K.C. having first taken +a strategic position in the corridor leading to the rooms of Simmons, +the architect. The string was cut, and the bulldog, having again taken +the piece of coat tail between his teeth, walked slowly out of the +office and down the stairs to the street. William saw him emerge, and +ran across the road. The dog greeted him in a friendly manner, and +William, taking the now shortened string, started for Briscombe's +residence, for, said he to the dog, "It looks to me like there's been +some trouble, and I guess I'd better not go back to the office until +the morning." + +And Briscombe, the banker, gave William two dollars for bringing the +dog home. "But," said he, "where on earth did he get that piece of +cloth?" + +"I ain't sure, but I think I could make a good guess, Mister +Briscombe," said William, and thereupon he departed for home, where +later he slept the profound sleep characteristic of all office boys. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +William was at the office half an hour earlier than usual the next +morning. He entered cautiously by the back stair, and reconnoitred +carefully before closing the door. Lucien was the only person in +sight. He preserved a profound silence to William's first questionings +as to the happenings of the previous afternoon, but when William gave +him one minute in which to decide on fighting or telling the story, he +told. His narrative was curt and his demeanour cold: it became quite +frosty when William laughed delightedly over the recital of the +thrashing Lucien had received. + +"Where did he hit you, Lucien?" asked William when the story had been +told. + +"In this room," answered Lucien with dignity, and William roared again. + +Lucien waited until the laughter died away and then called attention to +the fact that there was a letter on William's desk. "You're right for +once, Lucien," said William, who had noticed the letter on first +entering the room. He picked it up, aware that Lucien was watching him +closely, and feeling certain that the letter did not contain good news +for him. Therefore he slipped it into his pocket and walked out of the +office to the Bay front, where, with his feet dangling over one of the +wharves, he slowly opened the envelope and unfolded the enclosure. The +letter was as follows:-- + + +"DEAR WILLIAM,--In view of the events of this afternoon, the full +details of which by the time you get this you will doubtless have +gleaned from Lucien, it is impossible that you should longer remain in +my employ. I am very sorry to lose you, but there is a limit to the +length that even an office boy can be allowed to go. + +"Yours sincerely, + "CHAS. WHIMPLE." + + +"Fired!" said William to himself, "fired! Well, I ain't surprised. +Tough luck though." He read the letter through again, and continued +his soliloquy. "Well, after this, no more dogs for me. Gee--but I +hate to leave that place. It beats the band how things will turn out +rotten just when the luck seems to be all right." + +But William didn't spend much time in regrets. The day was blazing +hot, the civic tug for the free baths off the Island sand bar was about +to leave the wharf, and he constituted himself a part of the noisy +human freight with which it was laden. He had a glorious swim, and at +noon time surprised the Turnpike household by arriving for luncheon, +having during his business career eaten that meal--packed by his +mother's hands--in the office. Quite frankly, and with the mimicry +which was the pride of his father and a constant source of astonishment +to his mother, he related the whole story. His mother grieved despite +her laughter: his father laughed and sorrowed not. "It'll come out +right in the end," he said philosophically, "and if it don't, you'll +soon get another job." + +"Sure," said William; "don't you worry, Ma," he added. After the meal +he departed, his head full of a plan that had been nebulous only after +his first reading of the letter, but which now seemed to promise much. +The more he thought it over, the better he liked it, and despite the +heat, he walked quickly to the "Emporium" of one Walter Wadsworth. +Walter was the owner, manager, and entire staff of the "Emporium," +which consisted of a rickety two-storied structure with a shooting +gallery on one side, and a peanut, candy, tobacco, and fruit department +on the other side. Walter, whose friendship with William was as old +almost as the boy himself, owned the building and the land, as well as +a more valuable property near by. But his greater claim to importance, +in the opinion of most of the boyhood of Toronto, lay in the fact that +for years he had held the refreshment privileges in the baseball park. + +After a few preliminaries, William said, "The team's due next week, +ain't they?" + +"According to schedule," answered Walter, a thick-set, pleasant-faced, +middle-aged man, who wasted few words, and who, in his day, had been a +star of the diamond. + +"How's the chances for a job?" + +"I thought you were in the law business, young fellow?" + +"Well--I was kinder makin' a dab at it." + +"Chucked it already?" + +"No," said William, "it kinder chucked me. + +"Umph! Watcher want?" + +"Well, what's the matter with me having a basket and selling stuff +around the stands?" + +"You're on, William: you're on. I've had an awful bunch of dubs on the +job so far this season, and I'd be glad to let you have a try." + +"All right: and what do I get for it?" asked William in a business-like +tone. + +"Well, of course, you see the game for nothing." + +"Yes--" said William, slowly, "or some of it, between sales." + +"Well, I never knew any one of the boys yet but could give all the +details of the game, whether his sales were good or not. I guess you +won't miss much of any of the games." + +"Go on--I see the games free," said William, "and----" he paused. + +"And you get ten cents commission on every dollar's worth of stuff you +sell." + +"Any of the boys ever say they got too much?" inquired William, with a +pretence of eager interest. + +Walter smiled. "Not that I remember," he answered, "but they don't do +so bad." + +"All right," said William, "I'll be on hand for Monday's game. But I +can't afford to be loafin' until then. Anything doin' before that?" + +"This place ain't had a cleaning up since I don't know when," replied +Walter, "and there's a lot of old boxes in the back yard that have to +be broken up for firewood sooner or later, and stored in the cellar. +Want to tackle the job? There's a few dollars in it anyway." + +"Sure," said William, and set to work forthwith. He toiled steadily in +the Emporium, but not with his usual cheerfulness, for he was really +sorry to be away from Whimple's office. The more he thought of the +causes leading up to his dismissal, the more he wished that Lucien had +been responsible. "He got the lickin' anyway," said William to himself +with a smile, "but darn a fellow like that: I wonder if he ever made a +fool of himself in his life." + +It was at this moment that William noticed a large megaphone, one of +Walter's cherished possessions, in the back part of the Emporium. +"Say, Walter," he cried excitedly, "let me have a crack at the +megaphone." + +"Go ahead," said Walter good-naturedly, "but don't blame me if you get +pinched for disturbing the peace." + +William carried the megaphone upstairs, rested one end on the sill of +the open window, and took a critical survey of the passers-by on the +street. + +"Wow!" he cried aloud, and as though addressing some one in the room; +"look who's acomin'." He hastily adjusted the megaphone, waited until +he thought the person he had spoken of was within striking range, and +then there arose a weird shriek that attracted the attention of +everybody within seven blocks of the Emporium. It filled the heart of +one boy momentarily with fear, and brought him to a sudden standstill +without at once becoming acquainted with the source of the noise. He +looked around bewildered, and, as he looked, voices seemed to bellow in +both his ears, "Good evening, Lucien. How many stamps did you lick +to-day?" + +Several people halted, irresolute, eventually focussing their gaze on +Lucien, who, having now noticed the megaphone, was staring towards it +like one under the influence of hypnotism. Again a question bellowed +forth from the megaphone, "Oh, Lucien: where did he hit you?" and +Lucien, waking up to the truth of the situation, for once displayed +some evidences of his youth. He shook his fists towards the open +window, and cried out threats of vengeance on William, but those were +soon drowned in another blast from the megaphone. "Get on to Lucien, +ladies and gents, the chee-ild wonder of the century." It was then +that Lucien, with a final shake of his fists, turned and fled. William +laid the megaphone away and walked down the stairs, to find Walter at +the door gazing after the fleeing Lucien. + +"That kid was hollering something about knocking your block off," said +Walter. "He seemed to be sore on you." + +"Maybe he is," answered William, slyly, "but yesterday he was sore for +me." + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +During the next few days William found plenty of work to do at the +Emporium, and in the intervals of leisure he consulted gravely with +Walter Wadsworth on the methods to be followed to attain success as a +pedlar of refreshments in the stands of a baseball park. He did not, +however, neglect his morning lessons with "Chuck" Epstein in Tommy +Watson's auctioneering rooms. There is this to be added too, that +neither Epstein nor Tommy questioned him as to the loss of his position +with Whimple. They had laughed with the latter over the causes +therefor, but as William did not mention it himself, they carefully +avoided opening up the question, knowing from their experience with him +that, in his own way, and at a time of his choosing, the lad would talk +of it. + +William was, however, a puzzle to Wadsworth, though he had been +acquainted with him so long. In the intimacy of their relationship at +the Emporium, Wadsworth found himself constantly amazed at the lad's +shrewdness, at his vocabulary of slang, the readiness with which he +could turn from the sheerest of jibing and fun-making to the recital of +a bit of "Bill Shakespeare," or a scene from the plays of other +authors. "Where on earth do you get it all from?" he asked William one +afternoon when the lad, with real dramatic fire, had recited "Henry's +oration to his men before Agincourt." You, dear reader, know it, of +course. + +"Outer books," William said, all slang and smiles again. "Say, Walter, +it beats the band and the good stuff some of them guys had in their +think-tanks, and it fits in, a lot of it, like they were toddlin' +around Toronto to-day." + +"It certainly does--some of it," said Walter. "I wonder if they ever +played baseball in those days?" + +"Not so far as I can make out," answered William. "Half their time +they were fighting, and the other half making love: that is, most of +'em. Our friend Bill Shakespeare and a few others were writing plays +and acting them too." + +Walter stood at the door for a minute and watched William as the latter +walked away from the Emporium that evening, and to himself he said, +"He's a corker that one; but there's a heap of boy in him. If there +wasn't, that stuff he's carrying around in his brain would soon drive +him to the daffy house." + +The great day arrived at last, and William, keen for business and a new +experience, reported early at the baseball grounds, where Walter +Wadsworth supplied him and a dozen other boys with uniforms of white +cotton. The caps bore in letters of gold an appeal to buy a certain +baking powder, and on the back of the coats, in black letters, was an +announcement regarding the charms of a particular brand of chewing +tobacco. + +"It's a shame," said William with sarcasm, "that there ain't any +reading on the pants." + +"Yes, it is too bad," answered Walter, solemnly, "but you can never get +everything you want in this world. I get the caps and the suits free +for the advertising they have on 'em; they're not so bad, it might be +worse." + +"It might be," answered William, "but not much," as he departed for his +section of the grand stand with a basket hanging from his neck and a +small megaphone attached to one wrist with a strap. In the stand, +William's courage deserted him for a few minutes: the crowd was large +and included many ladies. The lad was uncomfortable; his voice seemed +to have deserted him utterly. All the fine things he had meant to say +were for the moment forgotten. It was not until a woman had purchased +a bag of peanuts, and a man a cigar, that William became convinced that +his goods were wanted, and that restored some of his usual confidence. +He began to call out his wares and found that sales were easily made, +though not so rapidly as he had hoped. But as the game progressed, his +courage steadily rose. The Toronto team was playing that of Buffalo, +an ancient and honorable enemy, and the game, in its initial stages, +was very close. With the score one to one in the third innings, +William found that his voice had come back, and he began to use it with +all his power and most of his courage. + +"Peanuts, popcorn, chewing gum, candy, cigars, and tobacco," he shouted +as he walked along the aisles: "here's where you get 'em at the lowest +prices and finest qual-ity." + +The responses were becoming readier, but not fast enough, and William +began to use the megaphone. Taking a stand in front of the lowest seat +and addressing the crowd impartially he asked, "Did all you folks leave +your money at home, or ain't you never had any?" Some of the people +laughed, and the emboldened William went on, "Ladies, what's the good +of a ball game without peanuts or chewing gum? I've got a lot of both +to sell," and that resulted in a goodly number of sales. Then he tried +again. "There's lots of fellows here with girls, and it's a shame the +way they're letting the girls suffer for a little candy, or chewing +gum, or peanuts. Make the fellows loosen up, girls!" The crowd +laughed, and William tried in vain to respond to the demands for his +wares from all quarters. His basket was soon emptied, and in a little +while he had disposed of his second load. He sold others, but when the +game had advanced to the sixth innings, with the score still one all, +he found the people almost unresponsive to his appeals, and, returning +to Walter's little store under the grand stand, changed into his street +clothes and rushed back to see the finish of the game, his first +venture as a pedlar having netted him the sum of fifty cents. + +The game had reached its critical stage, "the fatal seventh innings," +when William again made his appearance known. The crowd was painfully +silent, for the Buffaloes, with only one man out, had men on the first +and second bases, and the heaviest hitter of their team at the bat. +The batsman spat on his hands, wiped them off in the dust around the +home plate, and set himself firmly for a swing. The Toronto pitcher +having almost succeeded in tying himself into a bow knot suddenly +unloosened, and sent in a swift drop ball, and even as it sped the +voice of William, well modulated through the megaphone, but quite +distinct, cried out, "Strike one." Strike it was, the batter missing +the sphere by several feet, and following the miss there came in +stentorian tones from the umpire the words, "Strike one." + +"Why did you call it a strike before?" yelled the batsman. + +"Never opened my mouth," retorted the umpire, and the crowd laughed. + +The batsman again set himself for a swing, and the pitcher once more +tried to make a human knot; again the ball shot, this time straight and +true for the plate, and as it did, William, with a volume of agonised +pleading in his voice, yelled, "Mind your head." Instinctively the +batter ducked and, of course, missed the ball, while the umpire +dispassionately cried, "Strike two." The batter grieved loudly and +bitterly. He accused the umpire of having eyes like a codfish, and of +being stampeded by "some guy in the stand." He declared him to be +incompetent to the verge of insanity, and wondered, in a voice that +could be heard all over the field, how he had kept out of the asylum so +long. His team mates supported him loyally, and incidentally demanded +of the Toronto team's manager that William, whom they had discovered as +the source of the heavy batter's discomfort, be instantly removed from +the grounds and kept therefrom until the game was over, while the +impatient, but delighted crowd, cried at intervals, "play ball," "put +'em off," "give the game to the Torontos." + +The manager of the Torontos disclaimed all or any responsibility for +William. "Nay, nay, Pauline," he said gently, when the Buffalo manager +repeated his request, "if the boy annoys you, put him out yourself, or +ask the police to do it." + +"You know what'd happen if I tackled that boy," answered the Buffalo +man heatedly: "why, that crowd would eat me." + +"Not in your present condition," retorted the Toronto man affably, +"you're too hot." + +The Buffalonian appealed to a police constable, but that worthy shook +his head. "There's only me and a sergeant here," he said, "and we +ain't over anxious to start a riot." The sergeant strolled up and was +consulted. + +"It can't be done," he said sagely, "there isn't a section under the +law or the regulations governing the force that'd justify me putting +the kid out. He ain't hurting anybody anyway." + +"But he's putting our man on the pork," cried the Buffalonian +disgustedly; "how in the name of Uncle Sam is the team to go on playing +with that kind of a racket!" + +"It's nothing to the racket there'll be if you don't go on with the +game," said the sergeant quietly, as he walked back to the stand. And +the game went on. The batter was struck out on the next ball, and the +crowd shrieked its delight, the innings closing without a score. + +When the eighth innings started, William, all swagger and confidence, +started on a new tack. "Fans and fan-esses," he said, addressing the +crowd through the megaphone, "why don't you root? Make a noise like +you meant it. The Torontos have simply gotter win this game; they need +it, but you gotter help 'em. Now then, every-body--ROOT," and "root" +they did, arduously, continuously, joyously. The din was terrific, +ear-splitting, and weird. Everybody had a different idea as to the +best methods of rooting, and even the fanesses made noises of sorts. +Nobody thereafter heard what the umpire said, they gathered his +decisions only by the result of the various plays, and when, in the +ninth and last innings, the Torontos batted out the winning run, one +prolonged wild "root" spread the glad tidings to all and sundry outside +the gates for many blocks around. + +William, with a final yell through the megaphone, hurried back to +Walter Wadsworth's stand, and there ran into Whimple and Simmons, who +were pledging each other in glasses of lemonade. The boy paused +irresolutely. + +"William," said Whimple, who was also rather embarrassed, "was it fair?" + +William smiled. "Well, Mister Whimple," he said, "when that bunch was +here once last season for a series of five games, my Pa took their +stuff from the station up to the hotel in one of his express wagons, +and I was with him, so, of course, I helped to lift the stuff off the +wagon, and when I'm through the same manager what they have this year +slips something into my hand and I thought it was a dime, and he says +to me, 'I hate to give a Canuck anything,' he says, 'but you are a +bright chap, only don't spend it all at once,' and when he goes into +the hotel I opens up my hand, and there's one of them dinky little +American cents. You bet I was mad, but my Pa says to me, 'It's mostly +a long street that don't have cross streets, William,' he says, 'so, +keep your hair on.' I did, and I guess me and that Buffalo man are +quits now." + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +One afternoon, a few days afterwards, Whimple, dropping into Tommy +Watson's store, found the auctioneer and "Chuck" Epstein gravely +examining a doll's carriage and its occupant, a doll eminently +respectable in mien and terrifically blue of eye. + +"Is this a new line, Tommy?" Whimple asked. + +"No--it's 'Chuck's' purchase, he intends to present the outfit to a young +lady." + +"To Dolly Turnpike," said Epstein quietly, "it's her birthday to-morrow; +what do you think of it?" + +Whimple examined the carriage and the doll as closely and as gravely as +the others had done, and expressed the opinion that it was all right. He +added the hope that the young lady would think so too, and the opinion +that she was extremely fortunate in having among her friends so +thoughtful a man as Epstein. + +It is doubtful if Epstein heard him, although it was quiet enough in the +back part of the store where the three had conducted their examination. +Whimple started to repeat his hope when he became aware that Tommy was +shaking his head and holding a finger to his lips. Whimple thereupon +broke off in the middle of a sentence and kept silence. + +Epstein was looking at him, but not with the eyes of one who sees the +object he gazes on. Whimple thought to himself that he had never dreamed +the retired comedian was as old as he looked now. He wondered if it +would be kindly taken if he should advise the old man that home and a +rest in bed would brace him up a little, when Epstein began to speak. + +"My little girl," he said, in the rich round voice his friends loved to +hear, "was born on the same day of the month that Dolly was. Only, a +long time ago--quite a long time ago, or perhaps I only dream that it was +long ago," he stammered and paused, and then went on. "She would have +been thirty years old now, wedded, no doubt, a mother, perhaps--what +dreams--what dreams----" Again he paused. + +Tommy Watson rose softly, went to the front door, deliberately locked it, +and then returned to Whimple and Epstein--who was talking again. "I had +retired from the stage, happy and contented, to take up a business +career, so that I might be with my wife and child, and the other +children, if they should come. We loved so well--we loved so +well--and--and----" again a long pause. And then, as though some one had +spoken to him, "Yes, yes, I went back to the stage again, but that was +afterwards; and how they welcomed me and cheered me and praised me; for I +made them laugh as in the olden time, but my heart was gone. + +"My little girl was two years old when we began to notice the shadow. +Just two; with a wealth of brown hair and eyes, her eyes--they were brown +too; such a brown, so wonderful, and they were her mother's eyes. The +shadow darkened; the little tongue became strangely quiet, the little +limbs were tired so easily, the little hands were all too often idle. +But how she clung to us--she seemed to know that she must go, and so she +slipped away at last, so gently--so gently--and we could not hold her. + +"What is a man anyway?" he demanded abruptly, but they did not speak: +they knew he did not see them. "What is a man?" he reiterated. "I have +made thousands laugh the world over: I have driven away their sorrows and +heartaches, for a few hours at least, but I could not drive away the +shadow; I could not, I could not. Nor could she who held first place in +my heart and first place in the heart of our darling." His voice lowered +again and he went on, "After--after--we had laid her little body in the +graveyard we went to the home of a friend, thinking--thinking: I know not +what. But when the night came, I could not rest nor even sit still, and +all the while she was listening, listening, and looking at her arms. I +knew, I knew: for my heart was bleeding too, and at last I took her arm, +and together we went back to our own home; 'For it seems to me,' said my +wife, 'that I hear the patter of her little feet moving about the rooms, +and I hear her crying, "Mamma: Dad-dy:" and we are not there, Jacob, and +she'll be so lonely, so lonely.' + +"I was thinking that too. I could not have stayed away, and so back we +went. She--she--my wife, seemed more content there. But always I +noticed that she seemed to be listening and waiting, and often she smiled +and talked as though she was answering the little one, but--but----" his +head was drooping, he seemed to be falling asleep. Whimple stirred +uneasily, and Tommy Watson, whose cheeks were wet with tears, shook a +warning finger at him. The old man looked up again. "The shadow came +again," he said quietly, "and somewhere--somewhere--they are waiting for +me. Men differ on religion, and fight over the future state. What do I +know of it? I don't know. A Jew, though a British subject born, a +comedian--some say I have no religion, and never had. I don't know. +But, oh! I know they wait for me--and where they wait is home." + +For a long time there was silence; Epstein was the first to break it. He +stood up suddenly, and with a new light in his eyes asked of Whimple, as +though seeing him for the first time that day, how he liked the carriage +and the doll. + +"Fine," said Whimple as heartily as he could, for his throat was lumpy +and his heart was beating quickly. + +"I'm glad of that. Why, what's the matter, Tommy, you look as though you +had been crying?" + +"Slight cold in the head," returned Tommy rather abruptly, "rotten time +of the year to get a cold too." + +"It'll be all right in a day or two, I hope," said Epstein. "I must be +going to Turnpike's. I want them to give this to Dolly to-morrow. You +know I had a baby girl one time"--he proceeded quite firmly--"she--she +died--and Rachel, her mother, followed--shortly. We called her +Dolly--after Flo Dearmore's mother, who was very good to us"--here he +looked smilingly at Tommy, who had blushed at the mention of Flo's +name--"my little girl had beautiful brown eyes--just like Dolly +Turnpike's." + +He left them then. Whimple lingered a little while and finally blurted +out--"I never knew that about Epstein." + +"I've heard little bits of it," said Tommy, whose eyes were still moist. +"Say, but he's a wonder though." Whimple agreed. Twice he made as +though to go, and after the second attempt he asked bluntly, "Does +William come here every morning yet?" + +"Yes," answered Tommy. + +"Well, I--that is----" he did not finish the sentence, and did not know +how he could, but Tommy saved him. "That's all right," he said, "I'll +send him over right after his lesson to-morrow. Whimple, you know what +the good book says: it's more blessed to take a man on again than to +refuse to give him another chance." + +"Well, I don't just remember that," said Whimple, "but I do know that +I've had sixty applicants in response to my advertisement for an office +boy, and of all the----" + +"I know--I know," broke in Tommy, "there's mighty few William Adolphus +Turnpikes in this world, and he'll be just as glad to get back as you +will be to have him." + +"Confound him," said Whimple, but he laughed as he said it. + +"Sure, but that'll be all right so long as the two of you get together +again." + +When Whimple reached the office the next morning he found William there. +The lad's face was shining with pleasure. "I'm sorry about that dog +business, Mister Whimple," he said, "and I'll try to be good." + +"All right, William," said Whimple happily, "let it go at that." But to +the surprised and disgruntled Lucien Torrance, William said darkly, +"Well, what between you and the bunch that was after my job, I guess +Mister Whimple was nearly crazy. It's more'n one man can stand for +keeping you straight; it beats me how your own boss can put up with it." + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +The provincial political pot, which had been simmering all through the +early spring, boiled over in July of that year. The Legislature was +dissolved with all the solemn formalities attendant upon the death of +an important public body, and many gentlemen with aspirations for +public office or government jobs found that they must forego much of +the joy that was offered in the shape of baseball, lacrosse, and rowing +fixtures, and get out and hustle for their respective "grand old party." + +The issues at stake in the contest, according to Tommy Watson, were +such as no self-respecting auctioneer could put on the block at any +sale and not blush for shame. "It's just a case," said he, "of the +government, knowing they cannot be beaten, wanting to make sure of a +new lease of power," and Tommy, as usual, was not far wrong. But if +there were no really great issues in a general sense, there was a big +one in Mid-Toronto, and stripped of all party rhetoric and verbiage it +was this: "Shall 'The Big Wind' continue to represent us?" + +The people were tired of "The Big Wind." So was the government. But +the government dare not say so, while the people--including the many +who had voted for him four years before--hoped that "The Big Wind" (his +real name does not belong to this chronicle of facts) would have sense +enough to blow himself out of public life. He might have done that if +some of those who called themselves his friends had been strong enough +in their friendship to have so advised him. For even in the +moments--and they were many--when he thought much of himself, "The Big +Wind" had glimmerings of common sense. + +The government had taken him up for reasons that at the time seemed to +be sufficient. He was the sole male survivor of a family that had done +much for Toronto; was the possessor of a large fortune, and a liberal +giver to charities, as his father in his lifetime had been; his +position socially was distinguished, and he was a handsome man, tall +and straight, with a fine olive-complexioned face, well set off with +mustachios and an imperial. Much had been hoped from him, a cabinet +position was in his reach, until the day he made his first speech in +the Provincial House. That was a day indeed. The party papers had +blazoned the announcement the day before that on the morrow "The Big +Wind" would make his maiden address in the House, taking as his subject +"two or three important matters in connection with the budget. A rare +treat is in store for those who will be able to attend," and all the +rest of the hyperbole that the party papers--except yours, dear +reader--are wont to indulge in. Of course, the galleries of the House +were crowded, and on the floor every member was in his seat. In the +press gallery the attendance of managers and editorial writers was as +large as that of the men who do the real work on newspapers--the +reporters. All the reporters representing the government papers had +been instructed to give "The Big Wind" pretty fully, while the men from +the opposition papers had been informed that they might give him a +"good show." When he arose to address the House, the government side +greeted him with cheers, and the opposition joined in the desk pounding +that followed. + +"The Big Wind" started gracefully--he always did that, and the House +listened indulgently while he patted every one on the back--not +forgetting himself. This occupied some fifteen minutes, during which +the reporters began to ask one another in whispers, "Why doesn't he get +going?" They were beginning to wonder if he would ever get going when +he said, "And now, Mr. Speaker, as to the budget." There was a +suppressed "Ah!" in the press gallery, followed by a surprised "Oh!" +when "The Big Wind" averred that "budgets" had been known since the +world began. He delved into a pile of manuscript, and made some +allusion to the Book of Genesis--without giving any one the slightest +idea of what he was talking about. He paid a great deal of attention +to Genesis, he stayed with it for an hour or so, in fact. People began +to leave the galleries, members left the chamber to find solace in the +smoking-room or the library. The managing editor of the chief leading +government organ, who had condescended to take a seat in the press +gallery, told the three reporters representing the paper to cut the +speech to one column, and himself returned to his office. An hour +later this editor telephoned to the press gallery and asked one of his +reporters, "Say, where is that chump now?" + +"Well," answered the reporter, "he's just figuring on leading the +children of Israel into the promised land." + +"It's a pity the Egyptians couldn't kill him," shouted the editor; "cut +him down to half a column." + +And "The Big Wind" went on blowing. At six o'clock he had left the +children of Israel to their fate, and was grappling with the Norman +invasion of England. The House adjourned for dinner then, and it is on +record that as they walked the corridor to the dining-room, a member of +the cabinet asked the premier, "Where in the name of all we stand for +is this fellow going to land?" that the premier, without even the trace +of a blush, answered in two words, and that one of them rhymed with +"well." + +"The Big Wind" resumed his address at eight o'clock at night and +concluded it at eleven, with a few playful allusions to the Peninsular +War and an expression of regret that time did not permit of his dealing +with other matters no less important. + +And this was the man that Mid-Toronto was asked to return again because +his own party was afraid to antagonise him, and the opposition felt +that they hadn't a ghost of show to carry a riding that for twenty +years had beaten their candidates by large majorities. It looked +indeed as though "The Big Wind" might be elected by acclamation. + +Two weeks before the official nomination, Whimple, himself a dabbler in +politics and a supporter of the government, heard, with other rumours, +that an independent candidate would be in the field in Mid-Toronto, and +the next morning the rumours were declared, by no less a personage than +William Adolphus Turnpike, to have truth as their foundation. + +"You live in Mid-Toronto, William," said Whimple, jocularly, "and you +ought to know what's going on there!" + +"Well, I know a few things," said William, smilingly. + +"Such as----" and Whimple paused. + +"Politics," said William, grinning. + +"Yes!" + +"A fight--a fight, and it'll be a loller-palluselar." + +"A what?" + +"That's just a word my Pa uses, Mister Whimple--honest, I couldn't say +it more'n once a day." + +"And who's going to fight 'The Big Wind,' pray?" + +"The People's Party." + +"The--what--oh! I say, William, what kind of a game is this?" + +"No yarn--it's straight goods. The People's Party was formed last +night, and picked their man." + +"But, how do you know that? There's nothing in the papers about it +this morning." + +"No, because Tommy Watson's the press agent and secretary, and he says +it's time enough to give it to the papers to-night, so he's going to do +it." + +"Tommy Watson! What on earth is he butting in for? He doesn't live in +the riding!" + +"No, but he was at the meetin', him and a few others--about seven +altogether--and he says, 'I'll keep the minutes,' he says, 'and load up +the papers.' The meetin' was held in our house," William went on, "and +my Pa was elected to the chair. Gee! it was an elegant meetin': Pa +made a corking speech. He says, '"The Big Wind" ain't to blame much +for thinking he's the white-haired darlin',' he says, 'because his +friends should put him wise that he ain't.' And Tony Gaston, what +drives oner Jimmy Duggan's coal-wagons, he says, 'The Bigga de Wind is +an awful mutt,' so he ups and asks why don't Jimmy Duggan run, so Pa +says 'Carried,' and Tommy Watson makes 'em do it all reg'lar, and they +forms the People's Party and puts Jimmy Duggan up for their man." + +"It sounds foolish," said Wimple, reflectively. + +"Well," said William, slowly, "that's what Tommy Watson says. 'It +looks foolish,' he says, 'and that's just where a lot of other people's +goin' to be made look foolish too. The party men'll be thinking +there's no chance for Jimmy, and first thing you know he'll slip in.' +So they asked Jimmy is he game, and Jimmy says he's game to buck up +against any government anywheres, he says, especially one what'll stand +for 'The Big Wind.'" + +William paused, and then went on slowly, "Say, Mister Whimple, my Pa's +a wonder to know what's what, and he says quite solemn to Tommy Watson +after the meeting's over, 'Jimmy's the best man in a fight of any kind +I ever knew,' he says; 'b'lieve me, Mister Watson,' he says, 'he'll +punc-ture "The Big Wind." This part of the city don't have to stand +for a gas-bag that ain't even got sense enough to burst when it's too +full, and we ain't going to stand for it,' he says." + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +Whimple found the secretary and press agent of the People's Party +busily engaged in the back of his store preparing reports of the +nomination meeting for the newspapers. + +"What's this I hear about a fight in Mid-Toronto, Tommy?" he asked. + +"Meaning that the news has been gently broken to you by one William +Adolphus Turnpike?" + +"Yes." + +"Well, put your money on Jimmy Duggan, coal and woodyard man, defender +of the rights of the common people, candidate of the People's Party, +the valiant David that's going to knock the stuffing out of the false +Goliar----" + +"Isn't it Goliath?" suggested Whimple, mildly. + +"Well, maybe you're right, but, any way, there'll be an awful explosion +in Mid-Toronto on August tenth, duly fixed by royal proclamation as the +day on which the manhood of this fair province----" + +"Oh, drop it, Tommy----" + +"If the gentleman has any questions to ask I'll be pleased to answer +them at the close of my address," Tommy went on. "I was about to say +this fair province of Toronto, rising in their might, will go to the +polls, well knowing that under the freedom and liberty which is theirs +by right of the grand old flag----" + +"Tommy, shut up!" + +"I was about to say, they can vote as they darned well please, and the +same will be mostly the way they've voted every election the last +fifteen years--except in Mid-Toronto." + +"Are you through?" + +"Well, that's all I can think of just now." + +"But what's the use? You haven't got the shadow of a chance. Why, the +government 'll be returned hands down." + +"Sure; but 'The Big Wind' won't. He'll be returned sky high. Don't +you forget it. Why, Mid-Toronto's just seething, Whimple--just +seething. Every patriotic soul in the riding is repeating that +well-known verse from Bill Shakespeare's 'Saturday Night in London':-- + + 'Breathes there a man with soul so punk, + Who never to himself has thunk, + By hedges and by hook or crook, + We'll surely give Big Wind the Hook.'" + + +"Shakespeare! Shakespeare! Are you sure, Tommy?" + +"Well, perhaps it wasn't him; but he's as good as any to tack it to." + +"But, Tommy--seriously, is Jimmy Duggan going to fight?" + +"Fight!--you bet your life he's going to fight, and he's going to win, +too." + +"Umph!" + +"Umph again, Whimple, you and the government will be umphing to the +finish, and then you'll umph some more." + +"But look here, Tommy, you know the opposition and its press has had +the government tottering to its fall every election these fifteen +years, and it's as solid as ever." + +"Well, we'll make a dint in its solidity any way. You keep your eyes +on Jimmy Duggan." + +And Whimple did; others were a little slower to turn their gaze in that +direction. They treated Duggan and the People's Party as a joke until +the official nomination meeting when the strength and enthusiasm of +Jimmy's supporters jolted them. There was a hurried consultation +thereafter in the government's campaign quarters. Cabinet ministers +were turned loose in the riding; the city papers supporting the +government, though loth to do it, began to play up "The Big Wind." +Every hall in the riding was hired for every night of the remaining +week of the campaign, and two or three meetings were held every night. +The People's Party and Jimmy Duggan could not afford to rent halls; +their material platforms were express and coal delivery wagons drawn up +on vacant lots: their speakers, outside of Tommy Watson, were men who +laboured in the factories and workshops, or, like William Turnpike's Pa +and Jimmy Duggan himself; had little businesses of their own. Jimmy +could talk--after a fashion. "Pa" Turnpike did a little in the +speech-making line. Tommy Watson did a great deal, and so did Tony +Gaston, who had distinguished himself by nominating Duggan on the night +the People's Party was formed. + +Tony was a treat; William followed him around from meeting to meeting, +declaring one of Tony's speeches to be worth more than all the others +put together. "Gee! you'd orter hear him, Lucien," he said to Simmons' +office boy one afternoon. "He's a Dago--but he's white. He gets +leaning over the side of a wagon and he waves his arms till you'd think +he'd shake them off, and all the time he's spitten' out words so blamed +fast you'd wonder his tongue don't drop off. 'Ladies and der Gents,' +he says, 'dis is de pr'r'oudest minnit of me life. It's an honor to +stand befacin' such a audonce to spek a wor'r'd,' he says, 'for me +frend, James de Duggan.' Somebody yells, 'Well, yer work f'r him, +that's why.' 'Sure, I wor'rks for him,' says Tony, 'and I wor'r'ks +har'rd f'r him,' he says, 'and that's more'n you do f'r the man dats +payin' you good mon ev'ry week what you don't ear'r'r'n. Ladies and +der Gents,' he says, 'har'rk nottin's to dat loaf-er, but vote f'r the +frends of de honest wor'r'k de mans and stick de Big Wind so up he +blows-puff.'" + +But a new problem faced the People's Party when, for the final four +days of campaigning, "The Big Wind's" committee announced a band or an +orchestra at every meeting for every night. + +"That'll take lots of our people away," said Tommy Watson, +thoughtfully, when he read the announcement. "What can we do, I +wonder, to meet it?" But William's Pa was solving the difficulty while +Tommy was pondering over it. Flo Dearmore--the theatrical season being +over--was in town, living, as she always did between seasons, with her +mother. She was immensely interested in the contest, the faithful +Tommy Watson, whose courting of her was proceeding with some success, +keeping her fully informed, and when William's Pa called on her, she +listened to his request with interest, refused to consider it at all, +but, woman-like, changed her mind, and appeared that night on one of +the People's Party platforms--an express wagon loaned by Turnpike. +Tommy Watson was in the chair, and he almost fell out of it when he saw +Flo approaching the wagon. Almost before he could move, she was seated +beside him, many willing hands having assisted her on her way. + +Tommy's eyes were popping and his mouth was gaping. He framed his lips +to question her, but the words would not come. Flo greeted him +demurely, and smiled mischievously over his evident embarrassment. +"Don't worry, Tommy," she said, "I'm in this fight too. They're not +going to beat your man if I can help prevent it. If they have their +bands--well, I can sing still," with just a touch of pride. + +"Flo--Flo," gasped Tommy, "you're a brick. There's lots here who know +you, and some of them know you're going to be Mrs. Tommy Watson pretty +soon, and they'll tell the others. Flo, this is worth hundreds of +votes to us. Oh! but you're a woman in a thousand." She flushed with +pleasure at this. "You'll have to tell me later all about it," Tommy +went on; "who put you up to this, or did you think of it yourself?" + +"It was Pa Turnpike," she said. + +"Good old Turnpike. Say, but that Pa of William's is certainly smart. +You remember William: the lad who sang for you at the Variety." + +And just here Jimmy Duggan, who had been making a brief address, +finished suddenly, as was his wont, with an invitation to all, "whether +they know me or not, to solemnly weigh the merits of the two +candidates, and to decide in favour of the man whose platform +prin-ciples are those for which the common people have long been +fighting, and if you do, you'll vote for me." + +On the instant that he finished Tommy Watson was up. "The next +speaker," said he, "will be a singer. (Cheers.) Our respected town's +lady, Flo Dearmore--(cheers)--who has won a high place on the stage. +She is for Duggan--(loud cheers)--and says it'll break her heart if he +ain't elected, and that wouldn't do. (Cheers.) She's a woman in a +million." + +Here some one cried out, "Why don't you marry the lady, Tommy?" + +"I'm going to, and pretty soon," answered Tommy, promptly, turning +toward Flo as he spoke. All blushes, she nodded her head +affirmatively, while the crowd shouted approval. Then she sang for +them--two songs only--and afterwards went on to another meeting, +accompanied by Tommy Watson, Tony Gaston, and William, where she sang +again. And William's heart was throbbing with happiness, for, from the +night in the Variety, when he had first seen her on the stage, he had +placed this lovely lady in a niche of his heart next to that occupied +by the mother to whom he was an unsolvable puzzle. He would have +followed her to fifty meetings that night had she been going to that +many, but his happiness was the more nearly perfect because the lady +and Gaston were going to the only other Duggan meeting together, and he +would be able to worship her, and listen in ecstasy to her singing, and +afterwards hear one of Tony Gaston's fiery orations. + +"Gee!" said William to himself: "ain't this the great luck?" and then, +with an admiring glance at Flo, "and ain't she a pippin?" + +Of course, Jimmy Duggan won. Even the present generation of hustling +Canadians know that, though many of them could not tell an inquirer, +off-hand, the name of the Canadian Prime Minister who preceded Sir +Wilfrid Laurier. Of course he won--by a bare 3000 majority--that's +all. Mid-Toronto shouted itself black in the face that night, and went +about its own business for the next seven days in a manner that one +eminent alienist would have described--had he been giving expert +evidence for the defence at fifty dollars per hour--as "between a state +of hysterical mania and senile decay, but not close enough to the one +to necessitate confinement in an asylum, or to the other as to require +the attention of a trained nurse." Jimmy Duggan was the least affected +of any of the People's Party. He made fifty-five brief speeches of +thanks in various sections of Mid-Toronto, and made his last to Tommy +Watson, Tony Gaston, and Pa Turnpike, who escorted him to his home. + +"I owe most to you three," he said earnestly, "and you'll have to help +me think up some kind of legislation to press for. There's one thing +we have to be glad about though," he added. + +"What's that?" asked Tommy. + +"Well--I ain't a government man, so it's no good anybody coming to me +to worry me to death trying to get a government job for them." + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +"What are you going to do about William?" That was the question Flo +Dearmore asked of Tommy Watson one afternoon when Tommy should have +been attending strictly to his business as an auctioneer, but was +neglecting it for the business of courtship, which, he declared for the +one hundred and ninety-ninth time, had more charms for him than the +most exciting sale he had ever conducted. + +"Well, what about him?" was Tommy's answer. + +"Isn't that Scottish though?" said Flo: "question for question." + +"You know the old proverb," Tommy said, smilingly, "'don't answer too +quickly, or you'll put your foot in it.'" + +"I never heard of it before," she said, "and I don't believe there is +such a proverb." + +"It's something like that, anyway," retorted Tommy; "but, coming back +to the question I asked, what about William?" + +"I asked it first." + +"You're beginning to get your hooks in for the last word rather early, +aren't you?" + +"Tommy Watson! make no mistake about me. I'm going to have the first +and last word now and--and----" + +"To the end of your married life, I suppose," broke in Tommy with a +sigh so heavy that it shook him. + +Flo tapped him on the head with the fingers of one dainty hand. +"You're almost intelligent at times, Tommy Watson," she said, with mock +seriousness. + +"Yes," he retorted, "yes; almost intelligent enough to go on the +stage," and then he spent the next ten minutes in explaining that he +had meant to convey no reflections; that his sweetheart was the +dearest, most lovable, and most intelligent person in the world; that +he would never have made, and never could make, an actor: that he was +the biggest bonehead in the boundaries of the City of Toronto, and all +his friends and acquaintances knew it. She made him withdraw the last +assertion, and beg her pardon in his nicest manner for insulting +himself and his wife to be, and then came back to the subject of +William. + +"There's promise in the boy," she said, "he'll be a great comedian some +day, if he gets a fair start." + +"Yes, and he knows it, too," Tommy commented, "confound the kid. +Sometimes he drives me frantic, but all the time I like him. He hasn't +got the faintest notion of ever being anything but a comedian. He's +almost uncanny. What he doesn't think of hasn't been thought of by +anybody yet, I'll bet. He can't find words, often, to tell what his +thoughts are, and then he falls back on the greatest line of slang I've +ever heard. Only yesterday he said to 'Chuck' Epstein, 'Many's the +time when things all go wrong I've felt like going home and crying, +honest. Then, when I'd get home, there's Pa dead tired, but chirpin' +like a cricket, and Ma tired too, but hustlin' around gettin' supper +for Pa and the kids and me, and Dolly and Pete and the others all +waitin' to see what line I'm going to take. So I gets busy and cuts +up, and, say, maybe we don't have the merry ha ha times, and my Pa says +to me often, he says, "William, make 'em laugh; a feller what can hide +the sores in his own heart," he says, "while he's makin' somebody else +laugh," he says, "he's a winner more ways than one." And it's true, +Mister Epstein.'" + +"Yes," said Flo, softly, "it's true." + +"But now, here's the situation," Tommy went on. "William's Pa is doing +pretty well now, and he won't stand for any charity game. If the boy +will go back to school, Pa Turnpike will cheerfully consent, but +William won't. He's very stubborn on that point. 'Not for mine,' he +says. 'If I could stick to history and reading lessons, all right, but +the rest of the truck they try to shovel into a boy's head at school +kills me dead. Say, I've come outer the school some days almost scared +to put me feet down for fear they'd slip over the edge of the world, +and I never really know whether the sun goes around the world or the +world around the sun, and often I ain't been sure whether the sun might +hit us, or us hit the sun, and everything bust to pieces.'" + +"Well, you'll have to try persuasion on him." + +"We're trying it," said Tommy, "and I think we're beginning to see +daylight. It's down to the point now where William comes over and +takes luncheon in my room with Epstein and myself, and he gets an hour +of reading and instruction from the old man then, in addition to the +one in the morning. We arranged that with Whimple, and William walked +right into it. If we could only get him to cut out the slang----" + +"What!" + +"Well, that's just what Epstein said when I suggested it to him." + +"I should think so, Tommy Watson; that boy is a natural born 'slanger.'" + +Tommy laughed. + +"You're laughing in the wrong place, Tommy--that boy will go on +absorbing slang to the end of his days, unless you're foolish enough to +shame it out of him. By the time he is ready to go on the stage he +will have a stock-in-trade of slang that will be the making of him, for +he is so apt and ready with it. But, tell--no, I'll tell Epstein +myself--to take care that his slang does not mar the rest of his +speech. He must not be allowed to get into the way of just mouthing +slang and nothing else. Does he read well?" + +"You should hear him, Flo: it's a treat, and when he gets stuck on a +big word he dives into the dictionary head first, or questions Epstein +until he can say it properly and understand its meaning." + +"That is real progress. He's a delightful mimic, too." + +"Yes: he takes off Epstein, or Whimple, or myself, to the life." + +"The latter must be extremely difficult," said Flo, demurely. + +"True--quite true--for there's no doubt I'm a wonderful man, Flo," +answered Tommy, solemnly: "so inscrutable and impassive--is that the +way to say it--so adept at hiding my inmost thoughts, so----" + +"But you needn't squeeze my hand so hard, Tommy, while you pronounce +your eulogy; it isn't an auctioneer's gavel." + +"It's a very pretty hand, though," Tommy said with a smile, "a very +pretty hand." + +"Are you an impartial judge, Tommy?" + +"Well, I can't say I have much experience in regard to the hands of the +fair sex, but I'm willing to bet there are none like yours in the wide +world." + +"And you have travelled so much of it." + +"Not lately, perhaps, but I once spent four hours in Montreal, 330 +miles away; think of it! and half a day in Hamilton--that's all of +forty miles off--and Toronto never looked so sweet to me as it did when +I got back to it. Good old Toronto; it's been kind to me. It has +given me the dearest of all women, and a good business, and--and----" +he kissed her hand and a few minutes later departed. + +At a down town corner he ran into William, who was studying with great +interest the baseball bulletins displayed outside of a newspaper +office. William was one of a pretty large crowd that was doing the +same thing. News bulletins seemingly had little attraction for the +majority of them. As Tommy neared him, William remarked to a man in +the crowd, "Gee! wouldn't that jar you?" + +"I don't see why: that's a very important piece of news. It isn't +every day the city council decides to spend so much----" + +"City council my neck," broke in William, rudely, "what's that got to +do with the score?" + +"Score! what score?" + +"Oh, gee! I thought I was talking to a baseball fan." + +"You thought wrong, young man," retorted the man, sharply. "I've no +patience with such frivolous things." + +And then William caught sight of Tommy. "Say," he called out, "what do +you think of that score?" + +Tommy, himself an enthusiast, studied it carefully. "Jersey City two, +Toronto one," he said aloud, "and down we go to second place, William." + +"Yes; and Jersey City putting us there! Say, that team of ours is +certainly on the pork." + +"Oh, they're not doing so badly; we're only a few points down." + +"Only? What's the use? Every time they lick the good ones they fall +down when they stack up against the tail-enders; it's rotten." + +"Cheer up, William, cheer up! The team will soon be home for another +long series, and then they'll soar." + +"Yes," said William, gloomily, "to the bottom." + +"You seem to be downhearted; what's the matter?" + +"Mister Whimple lost a case to-day." + +"Well, lots of lawyers do that. In baseball, or law, or anything else, +William, you've got to lose sometimes. Remember the old saying, 'It's +better to have tried to buck the line, and failed, than never to have +tried at all.'" + +"But Mister Whimple's just getting a good start, and he can't afford to +lose cases. It gives him a bad steer with people that's looking for +lawyers in the winning column!" + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +The plans that men make in the belief that the knowledge and wisdom of +the adult mind knows what is best for youth are many and of small +account. For the youthful mind sees easily through the most of them, +intuitively perhaps, and not by methods of reasoning, and decides for +itself whether it shall accept or reject them. And office boys +constitute a particularly abnormal department--if such it may be +termed--of the youthful mind. This is merely a roundabout way of +preparing the readers, if any, of this veracious chronicle with the +fact that William had not, as Tommy Watson supposed, "walked into" the +plan whereby he was to receive an additional hour of tuition from that +prince of tutors, "Chuck" Epstein. If this was a history, the truth +might be coloured with the glamour of romance at times. But, as Tommy +Watson himself was wont to say, "Facts are real, facts are earnest, +facts are very stubborn things, facts are facts where'er you find 'em, +facts are what gives truth its wings." Therefore, it is here set down +in black and white that William himself engineered that additional +hour, and the wise men who thought they had initiated it patted +themselves on the back because it was a success. + +William, of a truth, was beginning to find himself by finding others +out. He had discovered, and it was a bitter shock to William, that +Lucien Torrance, for whom his feelings were tinctured by good-natured +tolerance, was making good use of his spare time around the office. +Lucien had no "vaulting ambition:" he would hardly have understood the +meaning of the words. He wanted to improve his position though, and he +practised consistently on the typewriter, he took lessons in shorthand, +and was beginning to master the intricacies of bookkeeping, taking his +lessons therein at a night school. His desk was always neat and clean, +and the clerical work that Simmons, the architect, was beginning to +trust him with was well done. + +William's desk always looked to be over-crowded, and was never neat. +Periodically, the lad had a cleaning-up day, but he never seemed to +make much headway in getting rid of the assorted mass of newspaper and +magazine clippings that he accumulated with avidity. It was an amazing +collection, and every bit of reading in it, and every picture, referred +to comedians; always comedians. + +Lucien Torrance tackled him about it one day. "Why don't you throw all +that truck away?" he said; "it's an awful lot of rubbish." + +"Truck! Rubbish!" + +"Yes: what do you want with that?" + +"You wouldn't tumble to it if I told you," William answered, so mildly +that Lucien, who had expected a stinging rebuke, was almost overcome +with surprise. "It's a secret," William went on, "a dark secret, but +one of these days you'll be paying good money to find out about it." + +"Not me." + +"Yes, you, Lucien Torrance; you'll be doing it, and paying for your +girl, or your wife, perhaps, to help you find it out." + +"I haven't got a girl, and as for a wife, I'm only fifteen----" + +"Don't give your age away," interrupted William. "I told you you +wouldn't understand, and I ain't going to waste any of my breath trying +to make you now. Some day you will, unless you turn to stone, like the +fellow at the show last week." + +"Oh, you mean 'the petrified man.'" + +"You've got the name down fine, Lucien; I wanted to say it, but, +honest, I couldn't. I thought it was stiffified, or something like +that. But don't worry about me and this 'truck' and 'rubbish,' Lucien; +I'm not daffy yet. Let's talk about something else." + +"What?" + +"Love, for instance." + +"Love: what on earth do you want to talk about love for? Are you----" + +"Not on your life," interrupted William, hurriedly, "no skirts for +mine. Why I wouldn't worry about any woman in the world but Ma or my +sisters. But I'd like to get at the bottom of this love business +anyway. 'Chuck' Epstein says love is the greatest thing in the world, +but it makes the most trouble. Can you beat that?" + +"I don't know anything about it----" + +"No, no; I don't figure that you do, Lucien. But when 'Chuck' says it, +he says it to Tommy Watson, and Tommy heaves a sigh big enough to burst +the store to pieces if the door hadn't been open so's the sigh floats +out into the street and blows an old gent's hat off, and----" + +"I don't believe it." + +"I know you don't, Lucien: that's another of your troubles. Some day, +maybe, your mind'll take in somer the things you're missin' now, and +maybe it never will. But, anyway, Tommy says, 'You're right, "Chuck,"' +he says, kinder gloomy like. Now, whatjer think of that, and him going +to be married to Flo Dearmore in August?" + +"Tommy Watson is?" + +"Sure." + +"I always thought he was an old bachelor." + +"Well, you think again, Lucien, think again. Tommy ain't so old; and +it seems to me every man's a bach-e-lor until he gets married. Now, +you'd think Tommy'd be fairly bustin' with joy, and maybe he is; I +don't know. But he goes around singing all them mournful songs, and, +say, you'd ought to hear him singing. Oh, gee! Honest, Lucien, the +fog horn over on the Island's a treat to it. Your boss was over once +when Tommy was whanging away on oner them songs, and he says, 'Heavens, +Tommy, when's the funeral?' and Tommy says, 'Guess again, Simmons,' he +says. 'It's for very joy I'm singing.' So your boss says, 'Well, it +ain't a fair deal for you to be so all fired joyful as to kill +everybody else's joy,' he says; so Tommy shies a book at him, and +Simmons ducks, and the book hits a vase and smashes it. Well, you'd +think Tommy would be mad at himself and at everybody else because of +that, but he laughs and says to Simmons, 'Better the vase than your +head, Simmons. Gee! I'm so happy I could smash everything in the +place.' So your boss says, 'Wait till your wife begins to try her +cookin' on you.' Then Tommy gets after him, and Simmons scoots, and +Tommy begins again on Scotch songs; all the slow, sad ones, and, +honest, I had to go out too." + +"You spend a lot of time there, don't you, William?" + +"Sh--sh--Don't be sleuthing around, Lucien, you might find out +something, and I'm afraid the blow would kill you. Anyway, I asked my +Pa about this love business, and he kinder laughs, and looks at Ma, and +she laughs too, like when she's pleased about something, and they +kisses each other right there, and Pa says, 'It'll come to you some +day, boy, please God, and when it comes----' and then he kisses Ma +again and don't finish what he's started to say, and I don't ask him. +I know enough anyway to know when Pa ain't going to be no mark for a +buncher questions, but it's got me going. There's Miss Whimple loved a +fellow when she's young, and he gets carved up by some black fellows in +a desert around Egypt somewhere----" + +"The Soudan." + +"That's the name; who told you?" + +"My father's brother is a soldier, and he fought the Dervishes." + +"That's the bunch. Say, you certainly know something, Lucien, +sometimes. So, Miss Whimple don't get married, and it's the icy mitt +for anybody that asked her; and plenty did." + +"She's a funny old----" + +"You say a word about her, Lucien Torrance, that ain't nice, and I'll +knock the head off'n you. She's--she's--well, there ain't another like +her except Ma." + +"I wasn't going to say anything----" began Lucien. + +William cut him short. "You started wrong then," he said, "that's all +there is to it; and now what about your boss?" + +"Mine?" + +"Yes; he's going crazy about a girl." + +"He's what?" + +"You heard me; you know you did. Say, he can't sleep nights thinking +of that girl, by the looks of him, and he don't see her more'n seven +times a week, and she's just as looney about him too; but she ain't +showing it much." + +"I don't believe it!" + +"There you are again, and a lot of this thing going on under your very +nose. Say, you're sticking so close to business you can't see a blame +thing but your work. Do you ever have a day dream, Lucien?" + +"I'm too busy." + +"That's it, busy--too busy to have day dreams. Gee, I don't know what +I'd do if I never had 'em. Say----" + +Whimple entered at this moment with Simmons. The lawyer was urging the +architect to "buck up." William smiled. "The girl loves you," Whimple +said, in an undertone, but not pitched low enough, for the two boys +heard it quite distinctly. William winked at Lucien, and the latter +blushed. Simmons refused to be comforted, and passed into his own +office, melancholy settled heavily on his usually bright face, and +Lucien followed him. + +"William," said Whimple a few minutes later, "will you please take this +letter to Mrs. Stewart, and wait for an answer?" + +William's "yes" was prompt. He liked Mrs. Stewart, a young and pretty +widow, to whom of late he had carried a number of notes. While he was +putting on his cap, Whimple, who was sitting in his own room, began to +sing softly. William did not pay particular attention to the air +until, as he started toward the outer door of the office, Whimple's +voice rose a little, and then he listened intently. Whimple could sing +well, and he was singing well now, and the song was "Annie Laurie." +William paused irresolutely, looked at the letter, counted swiftly on +one hand, then opened the door, and ran quickly down the stairs. At +the bottom of the stairs he paused again, once more he counted, and +then said to himself, "Friday, and I've taken five letters to her this +week, and brought five back, and--and--I thought I was smarter'n +Lucien. Dang it, all the men are going crazy together." + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +The real awakening of William to the sterling qualities of Lucien +Torrance came with the Binks' knitting factory fire. The story was +told in full detail by the newspapers at the time, but the public +memory is not long, and, because this is a record of facts, it is here +re-told, from the view-point of William and Lucien. The factory, in +which some sixty girls were employed, was a three-story building, +facing the rear of the building in which were located the offices of +Whimple and Simmons. On one side it ran so close to the latter +building that even the boys could, by a little stretching, touch the +sill of a window to the right of the window in the room that served as +office for William and waiting-room for his employer's clients. + +The fire broke out one hot afternoon in August in the lower floor of +the factory, and, as the building was "modern and fire-proof," the +flames naturally spread at a terrific rate. Some thirty of the girls +managed to escape from the lower floor at once. The escape of the +others was cut off completely, the one iron ladder, designated as a +fire escape, and running down to the ground, being, on its lower rungs, +"wrapped in flame," as the reporters have it. + +William and Lucien, who had been making faces at some of the girls at +the time the fire broke out, were shocked into helplessness for a +moment. Lucien recovered first. "Quick," he said, grasping William by +the arm, "we can help." He half pulled William into Simmons' room, +"Grab the other end," he commanded, curtly, himself seizing one end of +what appeared to be a long table top. In reality it consisted of three +stout planks braced together underneath, and resting on scantling +supports. Several plans were pinned to the top, and these Lucien +yanked off without ceremony. Between them the boys carried the table +top to the window, and, though for a few seconds it seemed that their +combined strength was not equal to the demand on it, they succeeded in +placing one end of it on the sill of the open factory window, around +which the imprisoned girls were gathered, some screaming wildly, others +pale-faced, but quiet. A rough bridge was thus formed between the +factory and Whimple's office. Lucien crossed it first, with William a +close second. The boys urged the girls to "get a move on, one at a +time," but it was not until William had escorted the heaviest one +across to Whimple's office that the others, despite the rapid approach +of the fire, could be persuaded to venture. Convinced of the safety of +the "bridge," they began to make the journey rapidly enough. Lucien +calmly and quietly encouraged them. William said nothing, but he +carried out with alacrity every suggestion Lucien made. + +By this time a detachment of the fire brigade was on the scene. Three +of the firemen, with a hose, rushed up the front stairs of Whimple's +office and to the window through which the girls were coming. + +"Well, I'll be swizzled," said one of them, excitedly, "who made the +bridge?" + +One of the girls paused a moment before leaving the office. "Two +boys," she cried, hysterically, "they're in the factory helping the +other girls." + +"Bully for them," shouted one of the firemen. The next moment he +hurried across the "bridge," which bore his weight splendidly, and +assisted the boys. Other firemen, with more hose, arrived, and several +streams of water were soon playing on the factory walls below the +"bridge." + +"We'll save this building, anyway," said one of the firemen, handling a +hose from one of Whimple's windows. And save it they did. + +As the last girl crossed the bridge, the fireman who had been assisting +Lucien and William ordered them to get out quickly. The big room was +now full of smoke, the lads and the firemen were almost choked with it, +and tongues of flame were beginning to lick one of the wooden partition +walls. Just as the man spoke, the partition fell. A burning scantling +struck Lucien on the head and sent him to the floor. In a moment +William grabbed the burning timber with his bare hands and tried to +lift it, but without the assistance of the fireman, who inserted his +hook-axe under it, and added a man's strength to that of the boy's, he +would not have been successful. Lucien was still conscious when they +picked him up, and, with the assistance of William, made the journey +across the "bridge" to Whimple's office in safety. Here kindly hands +temporarily bound up his wounds and those of William too, the latter +meanwhile asserting loudly, "Lucien did it; he thought of it; Lucien +did it." + +Finally, Lucien's parched and cracked lips parted in a smile. +"Couldn't have done it without you, William," he gasped, and then the +floor, so William Adolphus Turnpike afterwards solemnly asserted, rose +up and hit him, and he knew nothing more until, in the evening, he woke +up in a private ward in St. Michael's Hospital. There were only two +beds in that ward. When William opened his eyes, a kindly faced +nursing sister was bending over him. + +"Where's Lucien?" he demanded. + +The sister smiled. "In the bed near you," she said, gently; "his +mother and father have just left him; he's----" + +William sat straight up in the bed. "Say," he said, brokenly, "he +ain't going to die, is he?" + +"No," she answered, "he's doing splendidly, and he's fast asleep." + +William laughed happily. "Oh, but he's a pippin, a real pippin; and me +thinking he was a dub. If he wakes up, and I'm asleep, nurse, you can +tell him from me that I'm a mutt. He's the real thing, is Lucien." +Then he looked down at his hands, swathed in bandages, and grinned. +"Kinder early for winter mitts," he said. "Gee, but my hands sting! +Has my Ma and Pa been here?" + +"They're here now, waiting to see you. They've been here for two +hours, William." + +"Two hours! and me lying on the downy while they're worryin'. +Me--uh!--I ain't worth it." + +The sister opened the door, and Mr. and Mrs. Turnpike, with anxious +faces and eyes somewhat dimmed, were soon bending over their boy, +kissing him, and whispering words of love and praise and sympathy. +After their farewells, William turned to the sister with shining eyes. +"Nobody ever had a Ma and Pa like mine," he said, "and my hands are +sore, but I'm tired--tired--" he closed his eyes--"and I'm a mutt. +Lucien's got it on me all over when it comes to a show down." And +William slept. + +There followed a strange experience for the two boys. Reporters +interviewed them, and the interviews mostly read as though the boys +were past masters in the use of correct English. One enterprising +reporter wrote up William's story just as the lad gave it. The +majority of readers appreciated that interview because the lad's +language appealed to them, but by the time the editor of the newspaper +in which it appeared had read the third letter from "pro bono publico," +protesting against the putting of so much slang into the mouth of a +mere child, he regretted that he had not made the reporter re-write it. +Being human, he, of course, lectured the reporter with asperity, and +the reporter, being a man of spirit, instead of taking the lecture to +heart, resigned, entered the field of literature, and, in a +comparatively short time, became a noted writer of short stories. He +blessed William at the time and ever afterwards for opening his eyes to +the possibilities of the boy in fiction--and fact. + +Two days in the hospital was enough for William. He gave his ultimatum +to Ma and Pa after the mayor had called upon Lucien and himself to +express admiration "on behalf of the citizens of Toronto," and informed +them that they were to be presented with gold watches "as a permanent +token of appreciation of their bravery." + +William insisted on going home that day. "Another day here," he said, +"with bunches of people buttin' in and slobberin' over me, and I'm a +dead one. Besides! it was all Lucien; I'm no bloomin' hero." + +Lucien was sick of it too, but, because his injuries were the more +serious, he had perforce to stay a little longer in the hospital. + +The presentation of the watches was made in the mayor's office one week +after the fire. It was a painful ceremony, so far as the boys were +concerned, and they were immensely relieved when the last word had been +said, and their admiring parents were allowed to proudly escort them to +their respective homes. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +It required the combined efforts of Whimple, Epstein, and Watson to +persuade William to take a two weeks' holiday before returning to work. +He didn't want to go to the country: knew he would die after two days +there: was positive he was as strong and as able to work as he ever had +been: and, in short, he wouldn't go. Watson wormed the truth out of +him after an hour's private talk. "I'm just crazy about keeping up my +lessons with Mister Epstein," said William, finally; "I feel that I +can't afford to miss one; I wanter be something, Tommy, and I'm finding +out every day how much of a dub I am." + +Tommy suppressed a strong desire to whoop; the spirit of the lad was so +manifest; his earnestness so marked. But, as calmly as possible, he +said, "Don't worry on that score, William, a rest will do you good. +Besides, if you go where Mr. Whimple wants you to, you'll not miss a +great deal. I know the boys in that family. They're clean; they have +a good library, and--oh well, you go! Remember the proverb: 'It's +better to go slow sometimes, than to hustle all the time.'" + +William was back at work two weeks before Lucien, who, on leaving the +hospital, had also gone to the country. The boys greeted each other +cordially the day Lucien returned, and spent some time, on the first +opportunity afforded, in recounting their experiences. Lucien told his +in a plain, matter-of-fact way, and declared he was immensely relieved +to be back again. + +"Well," said William, when it came to his turn, "I'm glad to be back +too. Not that I didn't like it. Say, after the first day, I enjoyed +ev'ry minute. I went to the Millers' farm at Varency, in Haldmand +County, and maybe they ain't THE PEOPLE. B'lieve me--well--say, +honest, Lucien, all the fool things I uster think about farmers, +callin' 'em 'Rubes' and 'Hayseeds,' and such like, and about their work +and houses and everything, makes me feel like kicking myself from here +to home, and that's quite a walk. If I was oner them kind that wakes +up in the night and thinks about the past, I'd blush in the dark for +the fool I was. But when I falls asleep it's me's a log till somebody +yells in my ear that breakfast's ready. Anyway, what I used to think +about farmers is buried deep, with a lot more foolish truck I've been +getting rid of this last few weeks. + +"Say, there's three fellows there, Emerson, Laird, and George, and +every one of 'em's over six feet, and wide too, and smart, uh! Laird, +he's a schoolmaster already, and you'd orter hear him telling stories +about them old Romans and Greeks, and explainin' things that a dub like +me's sure to get stuck on. The other two they say one schoolmaster to +a family's enough, and it's them sticking to the farm, and they ain't +no slouches on farming neither. They've read an awful lot, and +attended lectures, and got things down fine. They doctor the horses +and cattle when they're sick, and, unless they break a leg or something +like that, they doctor themselves too. Emerson, he's a swell re-citer. +Honest, Lucien, he'd make you laugh, or cry, or anything, with the +pieces he knows by heart, let alone what he can do with pieces he ain't +never seen before when he reads 'em out for the first time. And +George, he can clog-dance, and play the banjo like a pro-fessional. +And the girls are smart too; there's four of 'em. Gee! I thought I'd +have to go home long before two weeks was up, they were so kind to me. +The boys and their Dad--they always called him that--uster work like +blazes from daylight, and often before, right on until evenings, and +then we'd sit around on the porch after supper, and--and----" he broke +off abruptly. + +"Yes?" said Lucien, quietly, after a moment's silence. + +"Say, Lucien, did you ever get a hunch all of a sudden, just when +you're enjoyin' yourself, that it'll never be the same again?" + +Lucien answered with a prim, "Oh, yes--sometimes." + +William went on, "Don't it grip your heart--don't it? We'd be sitting +there--the house is built on pretty high ground, and on one side +there's quite a valley, with a little stream running through it; they +call it a river, but it ain't; and lots of big trees, and some willows. +And our old friend, the moon, would be glummerin' around, and making +paths on the water, and you'd hear the frogs, and crickets, and +sometimes the creaking that the wagons would make as they passed. +That's all; there wouldn't be another sound for a while, and then +Emerson'd begin to recite, or George would play the banjo, or Laird +would tell us stories about them old fighters long ago. And all of 'em +know the names of the stars--whatjer think of that?--and they'd talk +about them like they were old friends, especially their Dad, for he +came from Scotland and was a sailor. Oh! it was great--great. Then +some one would begin to sing, and everybody would join in the chorus. +First, they'd sing somer the new songs; then the comic ones; then it +would be 'Annie Laurie,' 'Will ye no come back again,' 'The Low-backed +Car,' 'Willie, we have missed you,' 'Nellie Grey,' 'My Old Kentucky +Home'--all the old-timers. I'd join in too, and one night when we were +singing 'Will ye no come back again,' that think tank of mine got outer +gear someway, and starts a hammerin' on one thought: 'It'll never be +the same again--never--never--never,' and it made me feel bad, I tell +you, but I went on singing. I had that kinder feeling three or four +times after. It sounds crazy, don't it, Lucien? but, oh, it's true, +it's true! But, don't you forget it, I had a bully time. I don't know +when I really liked it most; in the early morning, when everything's +bright and fresh, or at night, when it's still, like I'm tellin' you. +There's one thing I noticed about the nights, too, that got me going." + +"What's that?" + +"The stars. Say, Lucien, they seem to be so much closer than they do +in the city; and more of 'em: that's because there ain't so many +buildings, and you can see more sky. Sally used to say----" + +"Sally!" + +"Yes, Sally! she's the youngest, and at that she's a little older'n I +am. And there ain't no mother in that house, because their mother died +just when Sally was a kiddie, and they're all mothers and fathers to +her." + +"William--is it----?" + +"Now, hold on, Lucien; hold on. Don't bite on anything until you're +sure you can swallow it. Say, she's a wonder, Sally is! There's been +something wrong with her spine for about four years, and she can't +walk, 'cept once in a while she kinder hobbles slow around the table. +They have a big wheel chair for Sally, and always when it's fine they +wheel her out on to the verandah, and there she sits for hours an' +hours. You'd think she's have a grouch being the way she is, but, +honest, Lucien, she's enough to make all the grouchers get a hunch to +throw themselves off the earth, she's that chirpy. Laugh! she's got a +laugh 'ud chase the blues outer anybody; but she's mighty sad too, +sometimes, when she thinks no one ain't watchin' her. Sally's a +wonder, Lucien--and she's got big brown eyes, and brown hair fallin' +all around her face, and the sweetest mouth----" + +Lucien had occasional flashes of originality, and struck in with one. +"Sweetest--the sweetest----" + +"Yes," said William, firmly, though he blushed slightly, "sweet. And +if you're trying to be wise about me getting tangled up with the fair +sex the way you think, cut it out, cut it out. You're on the wrong +track, and the danger signal's set against you. But she's certainly a +wonder. Sometimes I'd be two or three hours in the field with the +boys, and maybe it ain't enough to keep a fellow's think tank humming, +to try to learn a quarter of what they know about the soil, and what to +do with it, and about the insects, and roots, and everything. Then if +I'd get tired I'd go and sit on the porch by Sally, and we'd just talk, +or perhaps we'd both have a book, and just sit there readin', and I'd +get tired readin', and begin to think about things, and one day, when +I'm doing that I turns sudden, and Sally's looking at me, and she says, +'Yes, it is a big world, Willie'--they all called me that--she says, +'and we're none of us nearly so im-port-ant as we like to think we +are.' Gee! I almost swallowed me neck, for I was just thinking that; +and she read my thoughts often like that, as easy as---- Oh, well; I +told her all about my plans, and what I mean to be, and--and--I've got +to get busy and write to her now. I promised to." + +Lucien smiled slightly. + +"Rub off the smile, you hero," said William, pleasantly, himself +smiling too; "there's none of that love business going into my letters." + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +Sally read that letter, sitting in the porch in her wheeled chair; +first to herself, and later aloud to all the members of the family. It +was scarred by blots and erasures; in some places William had obviously +"stuck" on words, and, after writing them as he thought they should be +spelled, had consulted the dictionary to make sure, and had re-written +them. + +This is what Sally read:-- + + +"DEAR SALLY,--The Toronto baseball team is on the top of the heap +again, and all the rest of the bunch is laying around like old tin cans +waiting for the garbage man to collect them. Looks like the pennant +for us. I'm half crazy about the team, so's Tommy Watson, and the +other half of him's bughouse about Flo Dearmore, so he's a rare subject. + +"Lucien's all right now. He's surprising me all the time. A husky kid +came into the office to-day with a message and got kind of sassy when I +told him the boss was out on business, so I gave him a swat in the eye, +and he was just about wiping the floor with me when Lucien tackled him, +and in about five minutes that kid was a sight to see. He cried +fierce, but Lucien wouldn't quit till he said he'd behave himself the +next time. So I says to Lucien, 'Well, if you ain't the artist with +your fists; where in Sam Hill did you pick that up?' and he says his Pa +used to be a pretty good boxer and gave him lessons. And me thinking +yet in spite of the fire that he was a kind of sissy boy. So I began +to believe what Tommy Watson says, that you can't tell what's in a +fellow until he has a chance to show it, and lots of fellows ain't +going around hunting up chances, they just wait till one comes. +Anyway, Lucien's a pippin. + +"My Pa got another man to work for him, and he's bought a team of +mules. Mules are the dickens to work steady all the time. Pa says he +don't know yet which has the most sense, the mules or the new man, but +the man's good and honest, and the more work he gets, the more he +smiles, and smiles is about all the language he has. I never saw a man +what could say so much with a smile. Honest, the horses and mules get +frisky the minute he gets into the stable, like they were saying, 'Here +he is, cheer up.' When he gets them, Pa tells the bunch at home the +mules ain't brought up in no riding school, but Pete's not hearing very +well or something, and the first chance he gets tries to prove Pa's +wrong. So Pete's going around now with six stitches on the front of +his brain works, and he's that wise about mules a mule doctor couldn't +beat him. + +"I told Ma and Pa a lot about you, and Pa says he'd like to know you. +He's great on people what has a lot to put up with, and don't shout +about it. And Ma she looks at Dolly, and says, 'God bless her,' +meaning you. + +"Jimmy Duggan, you remember I told you all about him, he wants to bring +in some bills when the Provincial House meets, and he says to ask your +father and the boys to think something up, because he says the city +people have so many crazy schemes he's afraid to try anything for them. +So ask them, please. + +"My feet are tired chasing letters to you know who for Mister Whimple. +She's a fine lady though, and I hope the boss will marry her. When I +took a note up yesterday, she was talking to me about my visit, so I +told her a lot of things I thought she's like and about your brother +George going courting, and she says, 'It's a terrible thing this love, +William,' and I asked her does she suffer much from it. So she blushes +awful red, and looked prettier than ever, and says kind of like she +didn't remember I was around, 'Most women do--most women do, and I +never really knew until now what love was.' Now what do you think of +that, and her married once before! Mister Simmons, he's Lucien's boss, +he says her husband was an awful booze fighter right till he died, and +my Pa says there ain't any man yet that's ever been able to win a fight +against booze so long as he's willing to let booze get into his inwards. + +"I guess this letter will make you awful tired, specially if it's a hot +day, but there's seems to be so much I'd like to tell you. You +remember the old man I told you about that I collect rent from, the +fellow that has rheumatics. He's getting quite chummy with me now. I +was there the other day, and he hardly swore at all. He says he's +sorry he's wasted so many good cuss words on me when he's got so many +relatives waiting for him to die so's they can get his money. Honest, +the way he curses about those people is awful. I told Tommy Watson +about him one day, and Tommy says the Good Book is dead against wasting +anything. A man like that, he says, could make a great hit by saving +all his curses for one year, and then letting them loose on one of the +people he don't love. Whoever got them would never forget, and they'd +think more of Mister Jonas than they do with him throwing curses around +as though they were cheaper than newspapers. + +"Tommy's got a great set of hired help in his store. One of them's +from Aberdeen, and the other from London, England, and you ought to +hear them. Say, they're fighting all the time about the battle of +Bannock-Burn, a million years ago or so. I butted in one day, and +says, 'Well, ain't that battle over long ago?' and I got what was +coming to me all right, just like butters-in usually does. They got me +in a corner and talked at me for half an hour straight. When one would +stop to draw his breath, the other would go on talking. I began to +feel sick--real sick--no joking, and all of a sudden I burst out +laughing. I don't know what for, I didn't want to laugh, I felt more +like crying, but, by ginger, I couldn't stop. I laughed, and laughed, +and then some more, and the tears were running down my cheeks all the +time, and I was rolling around like I had wheels for feet. So those +two ninnies began to look solemn, and the Englishman shook me a bit, +but I couldn't stop. Then he began to snicker like a chump, and first +thing he knew he was hanging over one of Tommy's bargain bedsteads just +laughing, laughing, laughing, though it was more like crying too. The +Scotchman started next, and every time he laughed he rolled into +something until he fell on the floor and just lay there laughing. + +"I suppose we'd be laughing yet or else dead of it, only Tommy came in. +He took one look around and his face got awful white. He asked me +something, but I could only sputter, then he tried the Scotchman, but +he only rolled some more--gee! it makes me giggle to think of it. So +Tommy rushed to the 'phone and called up a doctor, and then he ran out +of the store and got a cop, and when he gets him in he says to the cop, +'They're dying,' and the cop says, 'Like blazes they're dying,' he +says. So that got me going worse than ever, and the cop was beginning +to snicker too. So he pulls out his baton and he yells out, 'I'll +knock the block off the first yap that lets out another laugh,' and he +gives the Englishman a poke in the slats to show he meant it. And you +bet we quit on the spot. Me, I made a grand sneak the minute I found I +could stand straight, and just as I'm getting out, in rushes a doctor. +Tommy told me after he had to give the doctor four dollars, but the +money was nothing to the way he sweated trying to explain. + +"The next time I write I hope it'll be better written. I've found a +place where I can take night lessons three times a week in history and +reading and writing, and you bet I'm taking them. + +"With best wishes to everybody and hoping George is getting along all +right with his courting. + +"W. A. T. + +"P.S.--Lucien is showing me how to box every chance we get." + + +William deliberately omitted from his letter a conversation with Miss +Whimple regarding Sally. He had made a special journey to see the lady +because he remembered hearing her say something about wonderful cures +at a certain hospital to the work of which she had given time and +money. She heard him through, touched by the depth of his feeling for +the sufferer, and promised to make inquiries of the surgical staff as +to what could be done. + +"Don't be too hopeful, William," she said, kindly, "they cannot really +tell until they see the patient. But they've done almost everything +except furnish new spines; and goodness knows there are many people who +ought to have them if they could be made. There are too many jellyfish +men and women in the world to-day, William." + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +Reformations are slow--except when they're sudden. Some +reformations--of individuals as well as nations--have followed upon +years of effort, toil, and suffering: others have been materially +accelerated by the use of the axe. William's acquaintance with the axe +was limited to its use as an instrument for occasional spells of +firewood-chopping: but at heart he was a reformer, and, unlike most +reformers--judging them, of course, by the doubtful value of +histories--he started upon himself. Tenacity was William's greatest +asset; when he adopted a line of action he "stayed with it," to use his +own expressive phraseology. Having found the place spoken of in the +letter to Sally, where he could take night lessons in history, reading, +and writing, William became an attentive and consistent attendant. +Tommy Watson and Whimple were fearful lest he should undertake too +much, finally tire of everything, and lapse into a drifter. Epstein +ridiculed their fears and scorned their arguments. "Leave the boy +alone," he said, "he knows what he wants, and he'll get it." + +There were glorious nights when William longed for a trip on the Bay to +the Island, or an hour's loafing in the parks, but when the longing +took possession of him on lesson nights he fought it down with +firmness, and he usually won. He confided in Epstein occasionally, and +the wise old comedian let him talk as long as he wished about it, +offering no suggestions or advice. He never went beyond, "Well done, +boy," or "Stick to it," but to himself he often said, "He'll do; he'll +do." + +William neglected his lessons occasionally, as, for instance, once, in +the first week of September, but it was in a good cause. He thus +explained it to Lucien. "You shoulder seen the Turnpike bunch at the +exhibition yesterday." + +"So that's where you were. Mr. Whimple said he understood you were +engaged on important private business matters." + +"Well, he ain't far wrong the way I look at it." + +"And were you----?" + +"Yes," broke in William, "I was around when the lion broke outer the +wild beast show--I'm coming to that soon. Pa took the whole bunch of +us: he's been taking the whole family since I can remember, and we +always have a good time. + +"Well, of course it takes Ma about two hours to get the bunch +ready--say, ain't kids the worst! I suppose she must have washed off +Joey's and Bessie's face four times before we got started. After the +second or third time, Pa takes 'em upstairs and makes 'em lie on the +bed until the army is ready to advance. 'I've heard about machines for +washin' dishes,' he says, 'but it takes a pair of hands and a lot of +soap for washin' kiddies' faces, and hands is liable to get tired, so +there you stays until Ma's had a chance to get cleaned up,' and they +stayed. + +"Well, we gets to the grounds about eleven o'clock, and all us kids had +a lunch in a box, or a bag, or something, and Ma and Pa had two big +baskets fuller grub besides. You'd thought there was enough to last a +week. As soon as we gets inside, Pete says he's hungry, he's afraid he +can't walk none unless he has something to eat right away. Pete always +lays for the grub, you bet. So Pa he lets on he's considering +something, but we all know what it is, because he's played it on us +before, and he winds up by taking us down to a swell lunch place near +the lake. Honest, it's as clean nearly as our house, and there's +mighty few houses that's cleaner. So when Bill Thomson--the man what +runs it--sees us coming, he looks mighty solemn, and we all knew what +he's going to say, and he says it. 'Ah,' he says, 'there's the +Turnpikes what's going to drink up me last drop of tea and all me +gingerbeer. Well'--and then he heaves a great sigh--'let 'em come--let +'em all come: it'll ruin me, I know, but somebody always has-ter go +under.' + +"And Pa says to him to 'cheer up, and how's business?' + +"So Bill says it's rotten! the worst in years. So far as he can see he +ain't even going to pay expenses, and he wishes he'd let the thing +alone. And Pa don't say anything then, but when we've eaten till we +can't eat any more, specially Pete, Pa says to Ma, 'Bill Thomson's been +runnin' that lunch counter for twenty years, to my knowledge, and he's +never made anything on it, to hear him talk. But I notice he's got +three nice houses all his own, and a fine trotting horse, and him an +express man, too, and I'll bet he ain't got all the money for them +houses outer the express business,' he says. + +"'It's a good business, though,' says Ma. + +"And Pa says, 'You bet it is, Ma, it's been good to us anyway.' + +"Say, maybe my Pa don't know where to take folks at the exhibition. +There's mighty little we didn't see, I'm tellin' you; and chirpin' all +the while Pa was too. He's better than a minstrel show to go anywhere +with, my Pa is; he'd make even you laugh, Lucien. Well, anyway, along +about four o'clock Pa thinks we'd better see oner two of the shows in +the midway, so's we can get another meal in good time to see the night +doings in fronter the grand stand. So, us to the midway, and we ain't +more than half in when we runs across the wild beast show. There's a +cage on the platform in front of the show, with a pretty fierce lookin' +lion in it, and the spieler he's telling the folks how this lion has +eaten four or five people, and he ain't never been sub-dued. 'But,' he +says, 'Seenor'r Dan-rell-o will go into his cage at every performance,' +he says, 'at the peril of his life.' + +"So, a young fellow what's listenin', he says kinder flip, 'Is the +peril much?' + +"So the showman says he ain't answerin' no fool questions, but if +anybody what looks like they had brains is asking in-tell-i-gent +questions, he's ready to answer 'em. + +"So the young fellow--he's a husky lookin' chap--he says the show's a +fake, and the man on the platform gives him a wipe over the head with a +whip he had. Then you'd oughter have seen things happen. That young +fellow's pal grabs the showman by the legs and pulls him down to the +ground and proceeds to hammer him some. The crowd's kinder excited and +shovin' around and saying things to each other without knowing what +they're doing, when the young fellow what really starts the row lets +out a yell you could hear a mile away, and the crowd hushes up kinder +sudden; I guess everybody got cold chills down their backs all at once. +While they're wondering what's coming next, the fellow puts out his +hand and grabs the bars in front of the lion's cage, pulls two or three +of them out, and gives that lion the awfullest punch right on the +stomach; honest, Lucien, you could hear it like somebody pounding +beefsteak to make it tender. Well, everybody comes to their senses, or +else loses 'em again, whichever you like, all of a sudden, and the +women that don't faint gets screechin', and the men are hollerin' for +the police, and all except them as are laying in faints begins to run. +We were pretty well up to the front, and when Pa sees the young fellow +pull out the bars he turns kinder white. Then he grabs Dolly and Joey, +and says to the rest of us, 'Vamoose ahead quick,' he says, 'though I +don't think there's much danger,' and Ma don't say much, but she ain't +trying to get far ahead of Pa and we keep turnin' around. At last Pa +says, 'No more runnin',' he says, and he puts Dolly and Joey down, +takes their hands, and begins to walk back towards the show just as a +lot of cops came running up, and so we all go back, and there's that +young fellow has the lion by the tail and he's whipping it to beat the +band, and making it walk slow up the steps. So, by and by, when things +get calmed down again, Pa finds out that them cage bars is wooden ones, +and the lion's about forty years old, and honest, Lucien, all its teeth +are false, and so's most of its claws, and just about all it can do is +to roar and roll around enough to make it look fierce with red lights +and all that around it when Seenor Dan-rell-o goes into the cage. +Don't you believe the yarns the newspapers had about that fellow taking +his life in his hands and all that. If the police hadn't stopped him +he'd likely have taken the lion home and kept it for his kiddies to +play with, if he's married. + +"Well, Pa says they're ain't much sense paying to see the wild beast +show after that, 'cause the best of it is on the outside. The next +thing we run across was a show of trained horses. They had a trick +mule outside to attract the crowds, and the spieler says the man, +woman, or child what can stay on the mule's back one minute gets a +dollar and a free ticket to the show. So we watched a few minutes and +saw quite a few fellows try, and the mule threw every one before the +minute was up. Pa he was kinder fidgetin' and snorting like he thought +the triers was a poor bunch, and Ma she says kinder scared like, 'Let's +go, Pa;' but Pa he steps forward, and he says low to the man will he +let our bunch in if he stays on the mule's back a minute. The man he +lets out a blast of a laugh, and he says, 'Ladies and gents,' he says, +'here's a man wants to take a children's home into the show free if he +can stay on the mule a minute,' he says. 'Oh, gather round and see the +fun--oh, gather round.' Pete, he's for rushing at the man, but I holds +him back, for I see Pa's eyes, and I know that mule's going to be +pretty miserable in a few seconds, and the man's going to be worse if +he gets off any more of his chin about the family. Of course the mule +stands as meek as a sheep while Pa gets on--them trick mules is trained +to do that--and the crowd's waitin' for him to throw Pa up in the air, +or roll him off, but the second Pa's on that mule's back his hands has +a grip on his neck near the jaw, and, b'lieve me, Lucien, that mule +began to turn white in the face. It seemed no time before the beast +was kinder staggerin' around like a drunk man, and the spieler +hollerin' for Pa to let go. 'You win,' he says, 'you win--get off--you +can have everything you want. Dang it, man, you're killing that mule.' + +"So Pa's pretty busy keeping his grip, but he says, 'I'm trying a new +hold,' he says, 'and I'll try it on you next, unless you apol-o-gises.' + +"So the man begs Pa's pardon, and ours, and Pa got off, and we all went +into the show. It wasn't so bad at that either: any old day any wise +guinea thinks he can put one over my Pa's he's stacking up some trouble +for himself. + +"Well, we had another meal then, and we ate so much that even Pete was +nearly satisfied. He got through the rest of the night on three bags +of peanuts, some pop-corn, and some grapes; but that's easy for Pete, +he can eat until he begins to shed buttons off his clothes so fast +you'd think it was raining. Then he'll go to school, or out to play, +for an hour or so, and back he comes ready for more. + +"We saw the grand stand show and the fireworks. Well, it's a pretty +good grand stand show this year; but you've seen it, so what's the use +spielin' about it? I'm glad I got off to go with the bunch, for I +cert'nly had one swell time." + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +The day before the marriage of Flo Dearmore and Tommy Watson, the +latter's assistants in his auctioneering rooms signed a formal and +formidable looking agreement, framed by Whimple, and copied in +duplicate by one William Adolphus Turnpike. It was William's first +piece of typewriting for his boss, and he was mightily proud of it, for +it was neatly done, so neatly done in fact that it did not need a +single correction. And William's pride was the greater because he was +asked to accompany Whimple to the store, there to witness the signing +of the agreement. The ceremony was a solemn one--too solemn almost for +William--whose efforts to maintain a dignified bearing were almost too +much for Tommy. Whimple had no difficulty in maintaining the pose of a +lawyer engaged in a serious case, while the assistants were too +frightened to be anything else but soberly sheepish. The main clause +of the agreement was read over twice, the assistants affirming in timid +tones that they knew what it meant, and believed they had sense enough +to live up to it. And it ran something like this:-- + +"And we the parties hereinbefore and hereinafter referred to as +assistants to Thomas Watson, auctioneer of the said city of Toronto, +County of York, do hereby solemnly agree and bind ourselves on our +honour to respect such agreement; that we will not during the absence +of the said Thomas Watson from his lawful place of business during the +period of four weeks dating from the date of this agreement, to which +in the presence of witnesses we have signed our names, discuss, argue, +talk of, whisper, or shout in the presence of each other, or write or +read in the presence of each other, anything relating in any manner to +the Battle of Bannockburn or any other battle fought in or out of +Scotland or England or elsewhere between armies or forces or +individuals of either of the countries named. We also agree that we +will not in the presence of each other, by actions or other show that +might be so construed, attempt to convey each to the other any thoughts +we may have as to such battle, or battles, or conflicts. And we +further declare that we know and understand and comprehend the meaning +of the foregoing in all respects, that we are over twenty-one years of +age respectively, and are not subject to the control or permission of +parents or guardians in entering into the agreement as set forth in the +foregoing, and in the succeeding clauses of this agreement." + +They signed both copies solemnly, William signed them too, as a +witness, and so did Whimple. One copy was nailed to the wall at the +back of the store, the other was given to Whimple, who was also given +power of attorney by the auctioneer during the absence of Tommy on his +honeymoon. + +The first wedding that William Adolphus Turnpike ever attended as a +guest was that of Tommy Watson and Flo Dearmore. The formal invitation +was a startling surprise to the lad. It arrived at his home one +morning just as he was about to depart for the office. He read it +through three times, and then handed it over to his mother. "Ma," he +cried, "look at that!" She read it through, and a blush of pleasure +tinged her cheeks as she did so. "A church wedding, Willie, and you +invited; and then there's a--a--a de-jun-er. I guess that means a +spread at the house of the bride's mother." + +"But me! Ma: why, I'd feel like a fish outer water among the bunch +that'll be there, unless," he added thoughtfully, "'Chuck' Epstein goes +too, and I can hang onto him." + +The time between the reception of the invitation and the wedding was a +trying one for William. He worried about what he should wear--and his +choice was rather limited--but he worried more about what he should +give, "For," said his mother, "you'll have to give the bride something: +everybody does that when they're invited to a wedding." In the crisis +of his dilemma over this proposition William consulted "Chuck" Epstein, +and the result of their deliberations was the sending to the +prospective bride of a parrot "that could talk to beat the band," as +William said. Epstein never told him that he had himself paid the +original owner of the parrot a larger amount than William could spare, +and had arranged with him to accept the sum that the boy offered. And +of all the gifts that Flo Dearmore received from others but the man of +her choice, that parrot pleased her most, "For," said she, "he is the +slangiest bird imaginable, and sometimes he uses swear words--just like +my Tommy." + +The wedding, which took place at "high noon" in an Anglican church, was +a wonderful experience for William. With "Chuck" Epstein, he had a +good seat near the altar, and many were the smiles and knowing nods +exchanged between other invited guests at the evident eagerness of the +lad to take in all the proceedings. And yet no other person, perhaps, +in the assembly--and it was a large one--felt more than William the +real solemnity of the ceremony. He was not very clear as to his exact +feelings, but the dignity of the rector, the simple beauty of the +marriage ritual, the singing of the choir, the love light in the eyes +of the bride and of Tommy, combined to impress him profoundly. He +smiled once, in fact he scarcely suppressed a snicker, but a warning +touch of Epstein's hand aided him to control himself. + +The "dejeuner" almost put him "on the blink," he declared afterwards. +He was conscious only of two things: first, that the bride, amid all +the sweet confusion and merriment incidental to the occasion, found +time to introduce him to several ladies as "the dearest and cleverest +boy I know, next to Tommy," and that when the toasts were proposed he +had to make a speech. Epstein assisted him to stand, for the lad was +overwhelmed with embarrassment that amounted to fear. He never knew +just what he said at first, but when he recovered sufficiently to +realise that the faces turned toward him were kindly, and the smiles +were encouraging, his self-possession returned. Observant always, and +quick to see the right thing to do, William hoped that "Mister Watson +and his wife would live happy ever after, and," he concluded, with a +smile that was full of confidence, "I nearly snickered once when the +marriage was on. That was when the minister says something about, 'Do +you, Thomas Watson, take this woman for your wife?' or words something +like that, and I says to myself, 'Does he! Gee! And him looney +about----'" The rest was lost in a breeze of laughter and joyous +acclamations. + +Afterwards there was more hustle and bustle, and finally the bride and +groom started for the railway station, with all the accompaniments +considered so necessary to start newly wedded couples on such journeys. +Others may have noticed, William certainly did, that though she smiled, +there were tears in Mrs. Dearmore's eyes as she stood at the doorstep +and waved her hands in farewell. And, as he left for the office, +William was thinking of that. "It means a lot for her," he said to +himself--"a lot. She--why--Flo will be--" he paused--"of course, of +course, it's always the way. It'll never be the same again for Mrs. +Dearmore, or Flo, or Tommy. This is a rummy world." + +Later in the day he dropped into Tommy Watson's store and found the +assistants engaged in the hottest kind of argument. They took no +notice of him at all; indeed, they did not know he was there. He +listened for a few minutes, wrathful and unhappy, because he felt that +this was the time above all others when Tommy's business should be +attended to with diligence and enthusiasm, and then, still unnoticed, +he stole out of the store and ran back to the office. Whimple was not +in, and William, hastily glancing over his employer's daily reminder, +made a bee line for the county court. Here he found Whimple, having +just successfully emerged from a case in which he had defended a man +accused of theft, chatting with the county crown attorney. + +"Excuse me, Mister Whimple," said William, abruptly, "but them guys are +at it again." + +"Meaning----?" began Whimple. + +"In Tommy Watson's store," William went on hurriedly, "and, honest, +it's fierce. I was in and outer the store, and neither of 'em even +looked at me." + +Whimple bade adieu to the crown attorney, and started away with William. + +"What are they fighting about now, William?" said Whimple, disgustedly, +as he hurried along the street with William by his side. + +"Home r'rule fer I'r'r'reland or 'ome rule for Hireland! I don't know +just which," answered William with a smile. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +Some chronicles are so burdened with matters that are irrelevant as to +cause to those who have an eye for the main story and nothing else much +trouble and more annoyance. But in this, the true chronicle of events +in one period of the life of William Adolphus Turnpike, only that which +is of importance has been dealt with. This is almost a superfluous +explanation, for the reader who has managed to keep awake thus far has +long ago become seized of the fact. There lapses between what has gone +before and what is here written a period of nearly five years. Happy +years they had been to William and the Turnpike "bunch." The elder +Turnpike's business prospered exceedingly, and William was well +advanced towards his cherished goal. Whimple and Tommy had long ceased +to worry over him, for the lad was developing into a sturdy and healthy +youth, taller than the average, still on the slim side, but strong and +sinewy. There was little grace about his movements, though he had +developed in courtesy and consideration to a surprising degree. He +sometimes worried over his lack of graceful movements. "I've stood in +front of the glass many a time," he said to Epstein, "and practised +trying to be graceful, but it's no go. I'm as awkward as a duck; +what'll I do?" + +"Nothing," said Epstein, gravely, "nothing, my boy. It will be best +for you if you are always naturally as awkward as you are to-day. Many +comedians have tried for years to acquire what you have as a gift of +nature. It's a great asset." And William took the old man's word for +it. "You know best," he said emphatically, "and whatever you say goes." + +Epstein smiled happily. The old comedian did not seem to have aged +very much in the five years. He declared he felt younger, in fact. +Between him and William there had grown a friendship strong and +complete. The lad trusted implicitly in the man: his gratitude to him +was unbounded, he evinced it by his attention to the lessons, still +continued, by every little thing he could do to show that the tuition, +so unselfishly given, was bearing good fruit. It was hard drilling +often: there were days and weeks when the heart of William was torn +with doubts and fears, but always when it seemed that he could not bear +the strain, he tackled his tasks once more with the determination his +friends had so often noted, and the difficulties would fly, the rocky +path become smooth, and the heart of William would rejoice in another +victory. + +Whimple's business had attained quite respectable proportions now. He +was able to pay William a fairly good salary, and the lad was earning +it, for he had adopted as his motto one of Tommy Watson's proverbs: +"The man who earns what he gets is a dub; the fellow who always does +more than he's paid for gets to the winning post first." Whimple +himself, on the shrewd advice of his aunt, had bought and re-sold to +excellent advantage pieces of property in the rapidly developing +suburbs, and was beginning to be known as an expert on law in regard to +property. He had also, on the advice of his heart, and without +consulting any one but the lady herself, married Mrs. Stewart, and +William was almost as proud of his "boss" for doing that as he was of +his own ability to keep the books and do all the clerical work of the +office. + +There was a new Watson too--you have guessed that, of course. A +one-year-old image of Tommy, who would have had half the doctors and +all the trained nurses in town at the newcomer's advent, if his friends +had not restrained him. + +And Tommy, who, at the time of his marriage, had considered himself +fairly well able to meet all current demands on his purse, and even to +retire and live in reasonable comfort on what he had managed to put +away, got cold feet as soon as he realised that he was a father. The +first cry from Tommy junior brought the cold sweat to the brow of the +auctioneer, who was sitting in his home "den" awaiting news from his +wife's room. He stole softly downstairs and made his way to the +verandah, in the belief that some of the neighbour's children were +playing there, and bent upon driving them away. But there were no +youngsters on the verandah, and Tommy, with a sudden realisation of the +meaning of that cry, went back to the den, grinning foolishly, and +hungrier than ever for news. When the doctor finally came to him with +a hearty, "Well, Dad, there's a bouncing Tommy junior to look after +now," Tommy asked first, "How is she?" + +"Fine," answered the doctor. + +"And the kiddo's a boy?" + +"Yes," said the doctor, "and he's a dandy; you can see 'em both soon," +he added, as he left the room. + +"Me a father!" said Tommy to himself. "Me! Oh, joy--and a boy!" He +seized the cushions on the lounge and threw them up to the ceiling +joyously. "If I was at the store," he said aloud, and addressing the +cushions, "I'd use you to smash something with." + +Then he took a writing pad and began to cover it with figures, and the +more he figured, the less pleased he seemed to be with the results. +Finally, "Ahem," said Tommy, "I've got to work now: this'll never do; +can't let the wife and kiddy want for anything. Wonder what we'll have +to get for him first?" And after more figuring, "Well, it's no good +getting cold feet over the proposition: it's me with me nose to the +grindstone, and I guess I can stand it for some years yet." + +There was joy in his store when he arrived there the next morning, +proudly happy. Epstein and Whimple were there, and they greeted him +with dignified pleasure. The Scottish and English assistants, who were +still at loggerheads over the battle of Bannockburn, were no less +sincere in their congratulations. When Jimmy Duggan, M.P.P., called to +add the compliments of the People's Party, Tommy was fairly beaming. +Oh, but it was good to have such friends. But the congratulations that +touched him most of all were those of William and Lucien, who called +together. The youths were embarrassed, they hardly knew what to say, +and what they did say was incoherent. But Tommy knew the kindliness of +the hearts that had prompted the call, and he blew his nose and +shuffled his feet uneasily as the boys, after an awkward silence, +departed. + +Lucien and William were fast friends now. The former was still with +Simmons, the architect, who, like Whimple, was beginning to achieve +success, and now occupied a separate office suite. He was growing +fast; was stouter than William, much slower in action and speech, and +was giving promise of developing into a successful business man. +William had confided his plans to Lucien long ago, and had been +delighted with the real interest with which they had been received. +They often talked about them, and Lucien had even given some +suggestions that William had acted upon and found to be good. And one +day Lucien had completed his conquest of the coming comedian by a +simple remark. William, in a more than usual friendly outburst of +confidence, had built castles in the air, based on his conviction of +attaining success. + +"And if," said Lucien, "you should become a famous and wealthy actor, +and have a theatre of your own--I--I----" he looked at William +wistfully. + +"Yes, Lucien." + +"Wouldn't it be nice if--if--I was architect enough to design it for +you? I--I would like----" + +"Oh, Lucien!" That was all William said, but Lucien laughed happily. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + +Jimmy Duggan, too, had been doing things during the years. In the +early days of his first session of the legislature Jimmy was regarded +as something of a joke by government and opposition sides alike, and by +the press of both parties. He was constantly referred to in the +newspapers as "Mr. Duggan, the People's Party," and when it came to +recording votes on various questions there was sure to be a note to the +effect that "The People's Party voted solidly" for or against the +proposal, or Bill, or amendment, as the case might be. And Jimmy +rather liked it. In the course of time he became thoroughly acquainted +with "all the boys" in the press gallery. The embarrassment of his +detachment from either of the straight political parties was a strong +factor in ripening his friendship with the "gallery," and very soon the +reporters began to welcome his advent to the writing room, a well-like +structure between the actual press gallery and one of the galleries +used by the public. For Jimmy had an amazing fund of stories, and knew +how to tell them, and he also knew that there were times when silence +was imperative, and on such occasions he smoked his pipe and marvelled +while the reporters turned out reams of copy for their newspapers. + +To the leaders of the respective parties Jimmy was a real puzzle. They +made overtures to him, by proxy, of course. Far be it from any leader +of any political party to ever care one red cent whether an +independent, real or imitation, would consider throwing in his lot with +a party. Far be it, but--well, the overtures were made, and Jimmy +received the envoys who bore them on separate occasions with +cordiality. One envoy reported that Jimmy would support his party +through thick and thin, and the other reported, "We have him, hide and +boot and all." He was no chicken--Jimmy. + +There was some curiosity as to when Jimmy would make his first speech +in the House, and on what subject. The press gallery, to a man, was +willing to bet that it would be interesting, and not one-hundredth part +so long as the first speech made by "The Big Wind." Attempts to pump +Jimmy were of no avail, for he declared with emphatic words and +gestures that he didn't know. "All I'm sure of," he said, "is that +I'll make one some day, if I don't drop dead of heart disease when I +get up to speak. I hope it'll be some nice quiet afternoon; there's +too many folks here at nights to suit me." + +"Well, but you addressed far larger audiences during your campaign," +said one of the reporters. + +"Yes," answered Jimmy, "but it was a different crowd; most of the bunch +that comes to the galleries here at nights are pretty keen politicians. +Lots of 'em have been coming for years. They know all the points of +order, and everything like that, and because I'd know that they knew I +was tearing holes in the rules of the House, and the English language, +I'd likely feel that I'd better not take a fling. But, what's the use +of talking?--I don't know what I'll say or do. Did any of you fellows +know Father LeRoy, down our way, who died a little while ago?" + +Some of them had known him. + +"Well, fifteen years or so ago, there was a gang of housebreakers and +burglars that got on people's nerves. They pulled off many a robbery, +beat up a number of people, and had the whole district terrorised. The +police didn't seem able to get on to any good clues, though goodness +knows they worked hard. Well, it got so that people were afraid to +leave anything worth while in their houses when they went to church +services. So they stayed at home more frequently than usual. Father +LeRoy felt pretty bad about his own people who did this, and prayed for +an end to 'the plague,' as he called it. He was sorrowful, too, about +the robberies, because he had a sneaking suspicion that some of his own +parishioners were mixed up in them, and he was right. + +"He wasn't much of a man for size, the Father, and was never known to +have displayed any great strength, but he had a bright, keen eye, a +firm step, and a hearty hand-shake that showed he was healthful, anyway. + +"After mass one Sunday, I shook hands with him at the door--he was +always there for a word before we went--and I says to him, 'Father, +you'll be having the gang breaking into your house first thing you +know.' + +"He laughed kind of easy, and says, 'Well, if they come, I hope they'll +be peaceable, for, above all things, I am a man of peace.' + +"'And if they're not?' I says. + +"And he shrugged his shoulders--that was the French of him from his +father--and says, 'I don't know what I'd do, but I'd do the best I +could.' + +"Sure enough, they did break into the Father's house the next night, +three of them, and they got into his room on the second floor, and woke +him up from his sleep, because they couldn't find anything worth +stealing. They stood beside his bed, three hulking brutes they were, +and threatened him with fearful things if he didn't at once get up and +show them the gold and silver plate they believed was in the house. So +he got up kinder quietly, and put some of his clothes on, and all the +while they were saying very soft-like awful things about the church, +and Father LeRoy wasn't saying anything, but all of a sudden he turns +the key easily in the door, locking it on the inside, you see, and +slips the key in his pocket. Then he looks at them, and they're very +close to him and very fierce, and one of 'em says, 'We smashed old +Tom's head'--that was the Father's servant--'just because he opened his +mouth to yell, and now we'll pound yours to a pulp,' and the next +minute that fellow went down with a broken jawbone and a stomach that +never got well again, I guess. The others threw themselves upon the +Father, and a few minutes afterwards the whole neighbourhood was +awakened by the yells and shoutings from the house. People and police +were soon there: they broke into the house and burst into the Father's +room, and there he was, a little pale and breathing heavy, and the +three men piled on the floor in a heap, moaning and groaning, and all +covered with blood. I was one of them that rushed in with the police, +and when things got quietened down a bit I found old Tom in the kitchen +with a pretty sore head, but not in danger. Well, one of the police +inspectors and me stayed the rest of the night with the Father, though +he didn't want us to. + +"The inspector shook the Father's hand about a million times, and he +says to him, 'Sir,' he says, 'what did you think when you locked that +door?' + +"And Father LeRoy said very slow, 'I thought to myself, I don't know +what I'll do, but I'll do the best I can.' + +"'You can take it from me,' says the inspector, 'and I'm an Ulster +Orangeman at that, there isn't a man on the force to-day could have +done better,' and he shook the Father's hand again. + +"Maybe," concluded Jimmy, "nobody'll ever want to shake my hand after +my first speech, and give me praise, but I'll do the best I can, +anyway." + +The Honorable the Provincial Secretary gave Jimmy his first chance in +the annual statement on the hospitals, charities, and prisons of the +province. The Secretary dilated at some length on the reasonable +prices at which supplies had been obtained, particularly coal and wood. +The opposition attacked the Secretary's statement on general grounds. +They always did that, anyway: obviously, anything that the government +did must be wrong, and the debate that followed dragged along for two +or three days, until even the most incompetent men in the House had +said something about it, and had kicked because their speeches did not +get more space in the newspapers. The House was tired to death of the +discussion, and there was a joyous trooping in of members when the +whips sent word that a vote was in sight on an opposition resolution +that the salary list of the Provincial Secretary's Department should be +cut in half. But the end was not yet. Just as the Speaker began to +put the question Jimmy rose. A half-suppressed groan rose with him, +for the members were really tired. Jimmy heard it, but he only smiled. + +"On behalf of the People's Party," he said, "I would like to ask the +Honorable the Provincial Secretary a question or two before the vote is +taken, and I presume he'll answer them." + +"Cheerfully," said the Honorable, who was smiling. + +"I would like to ask then, Mr. Speaker," said Jimmy, "if the honorable +gentleman knows anything about coal, or the coal business." + +"I do not." + +"He is advised by his officials, I presume?" + +"I am"--no one was paying any attention to the Speaker now--the +questions and answers were being exchanged straight across the floor of +the House. + +"The honorable gentleman stated," went on Jimmy, "that at last the +Toronto coal ring had been checkmated, and he had made a thoroughly +good bargain with Howilton dealers." + +"Yes." + +"Does he happen to know that the Howilton men turned over their +contract to the Toronto ring?" + +There was a pause. The Provincial Secretary looked his surprise, but +sat still. + +"Because that is the case," proceeded Jimmy, calmly. "In fact, the +Howilton companies that got the contract are owned by the Toronto ring, +anyway." + +The Provincial Secretary rose hastily, and as hastily expressed the +opinion that the honorable member for Mid-Toronto was mistaken. "It is +a grave charge he makes," he said, "and I do not think it has any real +foundation." + +Jimmy ignored for a moment the challenge as to his veracity. "The +Howilton companies," he said, "are owned by the Toronto ring. But if +the Provincial Secretary had known it, he could have been independent +of the ring." He paused, but the Provincial Secretary was sitting +gloomily silent. "There are at least three new coal firms in this +city," said Jimmy, "that are out of the ring, and they could have +filled the orders at still smaller prices than the government paid. +But the government chose to send out circulars on its old lists, on +which the names of the new companies do not appear, instead of +advertising for tenders, and giving all a chance, and the government +has been stung--that's all." + +The opposition members were pounding their desks as Jimmy sat down. +The government side was silent. The Provincial Secretary rose and +declared in solemn tones that he would ask "to-morrow" that a committee +of the House be named to investigate the whole matter, and he hoped the +honorable gentleman would bring all the facts in his possession before +it. + +"I will," said Jimmy, laconically, and he did, with the result that the +government got a rare black eye that set it rolling down the Hill of +Overthrow, at the bottom of which, a few years later, it landed, and +landed hard. + +"I did my best, anyway," said Jimmy, when, the House having risen, the +reporters gathered around him to compliment him on his maiden speech. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII + +Sally Miller was able to walk a little now--a very little--but firmly, +and without the effort and the pain that the journey around the table +had cost her in the old days. She was living with Miss Whimple, who +had insisted on it from the day the doctors had declared the girl fit +to be removed from the hospital. There was no certainty of an absolute +cure: the doctors could not promise that, but, with every month, the +hope of ultimate recovery strengthened. She had been a long time in +the hospital, nearly two years, before the signs of improvement were +marked enough to admit of encouragement. She was a good patient, +Sally: her cheerfulness and animation, her belief and trust in the +doctors and the nurses won their hearts. There were many black hours +for her; home-sickness, pain, doubt, these were hard things to bear. +In the still of the night she often lay sleepless, fighting with the +sorrow and longing that oppresses, and striving to repress the +exclamations that pain brought to her lips. And she won. "She always +was a winner," William used to say, "and always will be." + +There were no lack of visitors to Sally during her stay in the +hospital. Her own relations made frequent trips to the city to see +her. Miss Whimple was her most constant caller, and the next was--not +William. He did manage to call often, but not so often as Lucien, and, +somehow, Sally began to look forward to Lucien's visits with delightful +thrills of anticipation. Miss Whimple smiled about it, and William +laughed. Sally smiled, too, but, such a smile! She enjoyed William's +visits immensely. He was seldom serious with her, and he always had +funny stories to tell. In fact, he clothed the most commonplace +incidents of the day with humour when he spoke of them, and shamelessly +invented stories when he had no actual foundations on which to build +them. And Sally always knew when he was spinning yarns, and William +knew that she did. Miss Whimple was rather disappointed over William's +attitude toward the girl, and so expressed herself to Epstein one day. +The old comedian displayed unwonted heat in his answer. "Such +foolishness," he said sharply, "give the lad a chance. There is a +great career before William. If he begins thinking of love, or thinks +he is thinking seriously of love now, it will be the end for him. I +hope you have not been trying to put any such nonsensical ideas into +his head." + +Miss Whimple did not answer. The gruffness of the old man hurt a +little. He was quick to understand her silence, and after a while said +gently, "I beg your pardon: I did not mean to be angry, I--I--the boy +and his future are very dear to me--you--I----" + +She laid a hand on his arm. "I know--I know," she said. "I'm a +foolish old maid. You are right about William, but, sometimes, those +who have lost much dream pleasant dreams and build fairy castles for +those who help to make their sorrow easier to bear." And then they +talked of other things, of William's future, of Epstein's success, of +Tommy Watson's boy. + +Meanwhile, Sally was sitting on the verandah of Miss Whimple's home, +going over again to herself all the memories of her first meeting with +Lucien. She had been three months in the hospital when William had +brought him to her, and was sitting up in bed dressing dolls for a +Christmas-tree for the infant patients in the institution. William +came to the bedside with his usual easy air. Lucien hung back a +little, shy, embarrassed, and blushing. William took hold of his +sleeve and dragged him forward. "Allow me, Miss Sally Miller," he +said, with a smile, "to introduce to you Lucien Torrance--Lucien +Wellington Torrance, to give him his full name. Mister Torrance--Miss +Miller." + +They shook hands gravely, and eyed each other in silence. + +"This," went on William, in a more serious tone, "this, Sally, is the +chap I used to think was a mutt--honest--until I woke up one day and +found that I was it. I was the M-U-T-T," he spelled out the word, "and +Lucien had me beaten a mile for brains and bravery." + +Lucien was blushing furiously now. "Don't," he pleaded. + +William ignored the remark, and smiling, again proceeded, "Honest, +Sally, he's a pippin, is Lucien. Why, first thing we know he'll be the +boss architect of Canada, and the real thing in inventions too. He's +always trying his hand at something; and he'll come out ahead, will +Lucien." + +Sally murmured a hope that he would. + +"Oh, you needn't be afraid to speak up, Sally," said William, gaily. +"You can't phase Lucien. He'll listen to you until the cows come +home--he's a good listener, and," he laid one arm affectionately on +Lucien's shoulder, "he's a good doer, too, is my friend Lucien." + +Lucien came frequently after that, and often alone. He never had much +to say, and yet Sally felt after his visits as though he had said a +great deal. He thought much of her, and the first practical outcome of +his thinking was the invention of an ingenious little table that could +be mounted on the bed, and moved easily by the patient, so that she +could use it as a book support, or a table on which to lay the trifles +she made for the little children. William saw it the first day Sally +used it, questioned her closely, took the table back to Lucien, and +gave him no rest until there had been a consultation with Whimple and +the first steps had been taken toward patenting the invention. It is +in use by every hospital almost in the world now, but few recall that a +boy then barely seventeen years of age invented it. + +And as Sally thought of the past, she saw Lucien coming steadily up the +pathway toward her. He greeted her with a quiet, "How are you?" and +sat beside her on the verandah. It was almost dark, but warm, and a +gentle breeze tempered the atmosphere that throughout the day had been +oppressive. From the verandah the central portion of the city to the +Bay was stretched out in long regular streets, marked by the glimmering +of electric lights. Beyond the wharves the lights of the Island, +sentinel like, marked the indented shore facing the city, and beyond +that again there flickered faintly from Lake Ontario the lights of a +few steamers, some of them pleasure craft, others bearing burdens of +freight from, or toward, the sea-ports. + +In silence they watched for a long time. It was Lucien who spoke +first. "Toronto is growing fast," he said, "it will soon be all built +up around here: and it is a fine city--I--I love it--I love it. Some +day--I'm foolish, though----" + +"Some day," she echoed. + +"Some day--I--I--hope I may do something to help to make it a greater +city still. Work for one's self isn't everything. Father often talks +to me of 'the public good.' 'Every man,' he says, 'should take an +intelligent interest in the affairs of his own municipality, and any +man who can serve his city in even a humble capacity should be proud to +do it.'" + +"And you will, Lucien--I know you will." He took one of her hands and +held it in his own, and again they sat silent. + +"I must go," he said, at last. "Good-night, Sally." + +"Good-night," she said, gently. + +He rose, and, looking down at her, he said abruptly, "William's going +soon; did you know?" + +"Mr. Epstein said he thought it would be soon." + +"He told me to-day that Mr. Epstein had found a place for him in a good +company that will go on the road this fall, after a two weeks' +engagement here. He has only a small part, of course, but he regards +it as his chance, and he's quite delighted. Next summer he'll come +back to give all his time to study again. Good-night." + +"Good-night, Lucien." + +He turned after he reached the pathway, and called, "It'll be slow +without William, won't it?" + +"Yes," she answered, and to herself, "but it would be slower without +you, Lucien." + +On his way to the street car he passed Miss Whimple and Epstein and +exchanged greetings with them. When they resumed their walk toward +Miss Whimple's house, the old comedian asked her, "Did you notice what +he was whistling as he came along?" + +"Not particularly." + +"Listen: there he is again." And faint, but clear and sweet, she heard +it. + +"'Sally in our Alley,'" she said, laughingly. + +"Yes," answered Epstein with a chuckle. + +"The dear lad," said Miss Whimple, "he's a fine fellow. And the dear +girl, the dear girl, God help her to a perfect cure." + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII + +William was William, the fun lover, still; you must not think +otherwise. True, he regarded his work more seriously than in the days +when he first engaged himself as office boy to Whimple, and his +persistency, determination, and devotion to his studies under the +tuition of Epstein were beginning, as hereinbefore chronicled, to bear +fruit. But William was William still: you read that before; it is +necessary, perhaps, to emphasise it. An irrepressible love of fun, and +a cheerful temper, continued to be his great assets; he radiated +sunshine as of yore. But back of all was a tender heart; a heart that +was rich in sympathy, and was ever responsive to appeals for help or +comfort. To his mother he continued to be a sort of puzzle; she never +really understood him, in fact, and his successes always came as a +surprise to her. Pete, curly-headed and sturdy, with his fondness for +fighting, his love of schoolboy sports, and his healthy appetite, she +could understand. But William; she used to look at him sometimes when +he was "cheering up the bunch," and wonder if she would ever just know +how much of it was earnest and just what was put on. + +This attitude of his mother's troubled William more than anything else +at this period. His love for her was unalloyed by any feeling toward +any other woman or girl of his acquaintance; he often called her his +"sweetheart." He was more gentle toward her than any other member of +the household, with the exception of little deaf and dumb Dorothy, and +he continually sought her advice in matters of family interest. Yet he +knew that she brooded over him often; and because he knew the reason of +it, so keen was his intuition, he tried to reveal the real William to +her more completely than to any one else. + +Miss Whimple came nearer to "diagnosing" William than any of the women +who knew him at this time. + +"I've seen that boy," she said to Sally, "give his last cent to help +people in distress: I've known him to go to trouble that would worry a +grown man in order to assist some shiftless body to get a position, for +his trust in people is not easily shaken. But we'll never know the +real William until--until----" + +Sally waited, and in a little while Miss Whimple went on. "Just now, +and for a long time to come, I think, his mind will be so strongly set +upon success on the stage that he will not allow anything to come +between. And, if his health remains good, it seems to me that our +fondest hopes for him in that direction will fall far short of the +realisation. But one day, Sally Miller, there will come to William +that which comes to every one of us sooner or later." + +"Yes." + +"Yes," said Miss Whimple, so low that the girl hardly caught the words, +"yes--love will come to William. It will have to fight its way over +many barriers, but in the end his heart will be carried by storm. Then +we will know a new William Adolphus Turnpike, or some of you younger +folks will, for I'm too old to be expecting that the good Lord will let +me live to see that, and William in love will be worth seeing. You +know," she continued in a lighter tone, "I asked him one day just a +little while ago if he had a sweetheart, and he looked at me with that +gleam in his eyes we all know so well as he answered, 'Sure!' + +"'Who is it?' I asked. + +"'You'd know as much as I do if I told you,' he said. + +"That made me angry, of course, and I told him he was lucky enough to +be too big for me to thrash, as I tried to do the first time I saw him; +and you should have seen him grin. + +"'Miss Whimple,' said he, 'I'll never forget you and the parasol as +long as I live. Say, it was----' but I broke in with, 'Now, who is +your sweetheart, William?' and what do you think he said?" + +"'Mother.'" + +"Exactly! And I knew he was serious about it, too, though, like a +foolish old woman, I must needs go on to tell him that a boy of his age +ought to have a real sweetheart. Well, presently he became very quiet, +his mouth set firmly, as it does when he is thinking hard, and he +looked straight at me. 'Miss Whimple, you know what real love is,' he +said. 'I hope when it comes to me I'll be as worthy of it and as true +as you have been,' and then--why, he was the real William again in a +flash. 'Say,' he said, 'why don't you go out to a ball game once in a +while? Lots of ladies go, and the way the Torontos are playing this +season it looks like they'd be champions again for the second time in +four years. Honest, they've got me wild, and Tommy Watson's crazier +than I am. He can't go to the games as often as he used to, because +he's looney about his wife and little Tommy too. So, when I go and he +doesn't I have to tell the whole story of the game to him, and--say, +excuse me, I'll just have time to get to the grounds to see the last +four innings,' and away he went. + +"Once I asked Whimple if William had a girl, and he told me the boy was +too busy. That's the kind of a fool answer a man makes when he either +doesn't know, or does know and won't tell. Then he told me about a +trick that Tommy Watson and himself played on William, only it didn't +work out in the way they expected. It puzzles me to know how men find +time to go into such silliness. Between them they wrote a letter, in a +disguised hand, of course, and supposedly from a girl to William. He +had been taking part in one of the amateur performances that Epstein +arranged for the Children's Hospital, and the letter declared that the +writer had been so touched by the wonderful ability displayed by +William that she felt she might be forgiven if she did so unmaidenly a +thing as to ask for a personal interview. William got the letter--the +over-grown boys saw to that--read it through carefully, stowed it away +in one of his pockets, and--well, as Tommy Watson says, he just sat +tight. + +"A few days afterwards they wrote another, to which William was to send +a reply to a certain post-office box. But there was no sign of an +answer. A third letter was written, imploring the recipient to have +mercy, or words to that effect, and two days afterwards a detective +called on Whimple and Tommy Watson. He found them together in Tommy's +store and opened the conversation with the hope that they were not +writing any more love letters. They were dumbfounded. Before they +could even think of an explanation the detective warned them in his +most official manner that the gentleman whom they were annoying by +their devotion to the art of letter-writing had decided that on receipt +of further epistles he would institute proceedings, and start with a +full statement to the press on the matter, including the names of the +letter writers. + +"They had sense enough to take the hint, anyway, and enough sense left +over to keep from talking to William about it. I asked Whimple if +William had ever referred to the subject, and he said not directly. +But one afternoon he found one of the letters lying on his desk. He +took it to Tommy Watson, who told him he had found one on his desk too." + +"I wonder what Tommy said about it?" said Sally. + +"Oh! he had one of his made-to-order proverbs on hand, to be sure. He +said, 'Well, you know what our old friend Shakespeare said, "It's a +wise old one that gets ahead of a bright young one."'" + +"He's really clever, is William," commented Sally. + +"Yes, and like all clever people he is sometimes taken in. But I'll +say this much for him, he isn't easily gold-bricked, and he learns the +lessons of experience thoroughly. He's like his 'Pa' in that respect, +and he's as loyal to his 'Pa' as ever. In all the time I have known +him he's looked upon his 'Pa' as the smartest man he knows." + +"Yes," said Sally, smiling. "Whenever he wants to impress one as to +the cleverness of some other person he brings in 'Pa,' and he always +adds, 'It's a wise guinea who can put one over on my Pa.'" + +"It is, too," said Miss Whimple. 'Pa' Turnpike is one of the shrewdest +men I ever met, and one of the kindliest too. William and 'the +bunch'--can't you imagine you hear him saying it, Sally?--'the bunch' +are proud of 'Pa,' and they have a right to be." + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX + +What should be left out of a chronicle dealing with the actual events +and sayings of real people? This chronicler does not know, and, as a +consequence, omissions from the true and unvarnished record of the +people hereinbefore dealt with are the consequences of guesses rather +than of deliberate and judicious or injudicious selections. Readers +may argue that out for themselves. Nothing has been said, for +instance, of the triumph of Pete Turnpike over the mules owned by his +father, and the day he rode them, circus fashion, with a foot on each +mule, down one of the principal streets; the charge of "obstructing" +that followed; the hearing of the same in the police court, and Pete's +dismissal with a warning on account of his tender years, which latter, +however, did not save him from chastisement by Turnpike pater. Nor has +anything been said of Pete's conversion during a revival meeting; his +exhortations to the family to follow his course, until he almost drove +them insane, and his fall from grace when a new boy at the school +declared he could lick Pete with one hand tied behind his back. He +loudly, and willingly, changed his opinion after Pete got through with +him; nay, he admitted that if Pete had been hobbled and blind of one +eye he would not have stood a chance against him. But, somewhere, +there should be found room to tell of William's encounter and +subsequent relations with a judge of the Common Pleas Division of the +High Court of Justice, because, in after years--well, never mind that +part of it. + +In the course of his work William was frequently in the law courts, and +one sultry September afternoon, this was in the first year of his +engagement with Whimple, he got into an argument with the office boy of +another lawyer on the merits of the Toronto baseball team. William +bore himself tolerably well, until he was told that he knew as much +about baseball as a hog's foot, and was, without doubt, the sassiest +"four-flusher" in the city of Toronto. "I may be a four-flusher," said +William, calmly, "but I ain't allowing any pie-face loafer your size to +say it," and he smacked the boy's cheek. A hot encounter followed, the +contestants being so determined to rub each other's head through the +stone flooring of the corridor that they did not notice his lordship, +the judge, with the officials of the court around him, come from the +court room. They noticed nothing, in fact, until a deputy sheriff fell +over them as they rolled on the floor. The deputy sheriff rose +hastily, and angrily, and drew one foot back to plant a kick on the +first part of boyish anatomy that he could reach, when the judge, robes +and all, stooped down, grasped each boy by the neck, and placed him on +his feet. Still retaining his hold, he looked at the boys somewhat +sternly--if the mouth was an index of his thoughts, but if his +eyes--anyway, William saw his eyes first, and smiled. + +The judge was a surprisingly young man for a judge. In his day he had +been a champion boxer and football player. It was whispered, indeed, +that no boxing bout of importance since his appointment had been +without his presence as a spectator. He regarded William gravely. "He +smiles," he said solemnly, "smiles in the presence of the august court +whose serenity he has seen fit to disturb." The other boy was +blubbering, and to him the judge said, "This coming man realises the +enormity of his crime. He weeps the bitter tears of one discovered. +He repents his misdeeds. Officer," to the deputy sheriff, "take the +names of these disturbers of the peace. Upon their fitting punishment +I will ponder." He relaxed his hold and passed on. + +A day or two later he ran across William in the corridor. This time +his lordship was without the robes, and in street attire looked younger +than ever. His smile of recognition brought an answering smile from +William. The lad would have passed on, but the judge stopped him. +"Still at liberty, I see," he said. + +"Yes, sir." + +"Um--see that you remain worthy of it: it's a precious thing, liberty." +Then, "And now, in my unofficial capacity, would you mind telling me +the cause of the desperate encounter of the other day?" + +The twinkle in the judge's eyes reassured William. "Well, sir," he +said, "that fellow said the Torontos was selling games. He said they +had it all fixed about who was to win the pennant before the season +started." + +The judge, himself a baseball fan, looked up and down the corridor, and +thus addressed William. "Did--er--that is to say--did you----" he +paused. + +William, one palm outspread, the other falling on it in rhythm to the +words, his eyes sparkling, asserted--"Honest, judge, I walloped him for +fair. When we got outside he starts all over again, so I herds him +into a lane and we had it out. Gee!" reflectively, "he was tough, but +I did him up all right." + +His lordship waved a hand deprecatingly. "Enough, enough, boy," he +said, solemnly. Then, in a lighter tone, "Didn't I see you at the game +a week ago Saturday?" + +"You did, you did, sir, I sat right behind you, and--and----" + +"Go on." + +"I guess I slapped your back when you got kinder excited in the----" + +"Seventh innings, with the score three to nothing for Montreal, +Torontos with two men on bases and nobody out"--the judge was talking +rapidly now--"big Bill Hannigan at the bat, and----" + +"What did Hannigan do to the ball," William broke in, "but slam it over +the fence for a home run, bringing in the two on bases and tying the +score! Oh, joy!" A clerk of the court who came out of his office at +this moment snickered audibly at the sight of a boy doing a little war +dance in the corridor and a judge smiling approvingly. + +Throughout the years that followed, the judge and William maintained a +friendly relationship. His lordship was eventually admitted into the +secret of William's ambition, though it was not until their +acquaintanceship had lasted three years that he took it seriously, and +then he never failed to urge William to "stick to it." From Whimple, +and later from "Chuck" Epstein, he obtained further light, and, on the +comedian's invitation, attended two or three of the amateur +entertainments in which William had a part. + +Epstein was chary in consenting to William appearing in the cast of +such entertainments, and William could not be persuaded to do anything +in this regard unless Epstein favoured it. Afterwards, they would go +over the performance together, Epstein in the role of critic, and the +old man's suggestions and advice and William's own observations and +descriptions of his emotions, and his reasons for this or that slight +departure from the lines and action originally mapped out, aided in the +making of the William Adolphus Turnpike so beloved of the theatre-goers +to-day. + +The judge enjoyed those performances, and he rather surprised Epstein +and William both by making suggestions in respect to some of them that +were valuable and illuminating. "How did you come to think of that?" +asked Epstein curiously, in regard to one idea advanced by the judge. + +"I think," answered his lordship, slowly, "that a court is the best of +dramatic schools. It is so real, too; there is much of tragedy and a +great deal of comedy too--unconscious, a lot of it. I have always been +rather keenly interested in the study of the people who came before me, +particularly in criminal cases. It seems to me that there is still a +wide field for a play." + +There was a long pause. Epstein, who was looking keenly at the judge, +broke in. "There is," he said, "there is--and you could write it, your +lordship." + +The judge started. "Do you think so?" he asked, somewhat sharply. + +Epstein nodded. And now, of course, the reader of this chronicle has +guessed the identity of the author of the play in which William made +his first appearance as a "Star." Yes--a judge--hiding under a +_nom-de-plume_, a judge of the High Court, no less, wrote _Our High +Court_, that most delightful of the comedies of our own times. There +followed, a few days afterwards, a long talk between William and the +judge, in the latter's room in the court house. William had called at +the court house on business, and the judge, who had espied him in the +corridor, had called him in. For a time their conversation was of the +stage and William's prospective future thereon, and then, very quietly, +the judge began to talk about William himself. Presently William began +to lean toward the talker, intent, earnest; no one had spoken to him +before just like this. His father had tried once or twice, but his +evident embarrassment, his halting sentences, and his fear lest William +should misunderstand, had frightened, rather than impressed, the boy. +But the judge was saying the things William knew his father had tried +to say, and he was losing none of them. The sacredness of the body, +his lordship was emphasising this, and dilating upon it: the purity of +the heart and mind; respect of woman; the honour of a man; reverence to +God. William afterwards wrote the words out almost as fully as though +he had taken them all down at the time. Nothing had so moved him as +this talk. When he stood at the door to go, the judge placed one hand +on his shoulder, and said simply, "My boy, it has cost me something to +say these things. I am a husband and a father. God knows how much he +has to forgive in me--God--knows. Those I love best--my wife--my +little girl--they could never dream. But--will you try to remember, +sometimes, some of these things?" + +William put out his hand and the judge shook it warmly. The boy was +late getting back to the office, and Whimple was testy. "Where on +earth have you been, William?" he asked, sharply; "there's a good deal +of work to do, and we can hardly catch up to it to-day." + +"I'm sorry. I've been listening to a man," said William, quietly. + +"Must have been a preacher, and a mighty solemn one at that, judging +from your sober face," said Whimple, more gently. + +"Not exactly a preacher, but I never heard a better sermon," answered +William, quietly, "never;" and then he started on his work, and kept at +it to such effect that, when they closed up for the night, Whimple +declared, as he had often done before, "You're certainly a wonder, +William." + + + + +CHAPTER XXX + +William made his first professional appearance in Toronto in the autumn +of that year with Joe Mertle's Company in _Old Etobicoke_, a rural +comedy-drama that was immensely popular in its day and had a long run. +The company was two weeks in the old Academy of Music before taking the +road, and from the first night drew large audiences. William had two +parts. In the first and second acts he merely "appeared," describing +himself to his friends as "part of the scenery." In the third and +fourth acts he had a speaking part, and in the latter a chance for a +little bit of comedy that, short as it was, gave him a real +opportunity. The whole Turnpike family was there, from Dorothy up, so +was Whimple, Miss Whimple, Tommy Watson, both his assistants, Sally +Miller, Lucien Torrance, and "Chuck" Epstein of course. They all sat +together, occupying two boxes. The old comedian was too happy to say +much even between the acts. He watched William keenly, and often +nodded approval, though he frowned once or twice when the youth made +little "breaks." When the curtain fell, he waited with the others for +William, and, as they stood in the lobby, the dean of the dramatic +critics, a life-long friend of the old comedian, approached him. "Not +bad, Epstein," he said. + +"It will make a hit on the road," Epstein answered. + +"Know any of the cast outside of Mertles?" + +"A few." + +"Who is the kid with the funny name--'William Adolphus Turnpike'?" + +"Why?" + +"He's the pick of the new ones. There's a great promise in that lad. +If he doesn't get swelled head early in the game he'll soon be shining." + +The old comedian smiled happily. "He's a friend of mine: a pupil, in a +way--I'm glad you like him." + +"You're a rare one to pick out the good ones, 'Chuck,'" said the +critic, warmly. "The lad will be a credit to you if----" + +"If," echoed Epstein. + +"If he doesn't get swelled head, as I said before. That's the trouble +with a lot of the promising ones," he added, as he walked away. + +"He may get swelled head," said Epstein to himself, as William joined +the waiting group, "but it won't last long, I'm sure of that." He +greeted William affectionately. "You'll do, boy," he said kindly, +"you'll do. There are some things about your part I'd like to discuss +with you, but I'm proud of you, William." + +The little supper for William and "the bunch," arranged by Tommy +Watson, was a rather gloomy affair. Pa and Ma Turnpike were not used +to such affairs; the younger Turnpikes were timid. William was silent, +and all were under the depressing spell of the knowledge that they +would soon part with him. + +The morning papers the next day were very kindly in their criticism of +the play and of the company, but only one of them, that for which the +dean of critics wrote, had any special mention of William. "His part +was a small one: until the fourth act he had no real chance, and then +he made the most of it. There is rare promise in the youth, but there +are many pitfalls for those who go on the stage. The next few years +will be a time of testing for him: if he emerges successfully there is +no reason to doubt that he will win his way to the front rank as a +comedian." Epstein's eyes were tear-dimmed as he read the words: +William cut them out of his own copy of the paper and kept them stowed +away with other precious belongings that he carried on his travels for +years. + +The company left Toronto on a Sunday morning for a five months' tour. +Pa and Ma Turnpike and William did not go to bed after he reached home +from the theatre on the Saturday night. There was no trunk packing to +do; that had been attended to hours before. But there was much to be +said between those three, and none could say it without tears and +broken voices. And so at last they sat together, Pa Turnpike on one +side and William on the other side of Ma's easy chair. She held one of +William's hands tightly in her own, and when she could, she talked to +him the mother talk that so many have heard and heeded not, and would +give all they have to hear again. And William made promises to keep +his feet dry; to watch his throat; to be careful of the food he ate; to +take all the sleep he could, and then, fifty times at least, to leave +liquor alone, and to write home as often as he could. Pa Turnpike +backed his wife strongly on the liquor question. "Leave it alone, +boy," he said, "leave it alone: it never was, and never will be, any +good." And William nodded assuringly. "Don't be afraid of that," he +said confidently, "I've got no use for it." + +At eight o'clock in the morning there was a hurried call to the +bedrooms occupied by the younger Turnpikes, and William kissed them +gently, for all but Pete were fast asleep. Pete jumped out of bed and +dressed hurriedly. "I'm going to the station with 'Mister Actor Man,'" +he announced, and a few minutes later William, Pete, and Pa Turnpike, +in one of the latter's express wagons, with one trunk containing +William's stock of clothes, proceeded briskly down the street. +William's mother stood at the door answering with her own the waving of +William's handkerchief until the wagon turned a corner. . . . Then she +went back to weep. + +Inside the Union Station--that horror of horrors that still appals the +train-borne visitors to a great city--William and his escorts were met +by Lucien, Whimple, and Epstein. There was much affected gaiety, but +the hopes for William's future were almost overwhelmed in the deep +regret at his departure. Tommy Watson was an absentee, and William +felt this keenly, although he said nothing of it. Pa Turnpike made a +shrewd guess at the cause of his boy's furtive glances around the +station, and murmured to Epstein, "I thought Mr. Watson would have been +down." + +"So did I," answered the old comedian, a little apologetically, "but +perhaps----" and then he looked around sharply as the music of a brass +band echoed along the vaulted roof of the station. And what think you +the band was playing? "Will ye no come back again." Yes, and playing +it well, too. As the band came into view from one of the arched +crossings, the faces of the group around William lit up with smiles, +for, marching proudly in front, and carrying an enormous bunch of +roses, was Tommy Watson, his head erect, his shoulders well back, his +face aglow. To his signal the band aligned in front of the little +group, and broke into a new tune, a lilting march, written around a +then popular song, now almost forgotten, "Bill, our Bill." Perhaps +there are some who still remember the chorus:-- + + "Bill, our Bill, see him smile, + On fair days and dull days, + Oh, it's well worth while, + To watch him at work, + To see him at his play; + Bill, our Bill; see him smile." + + +After they had played the chorus several times, the bandsmen sang it, +William's friends joining in. + +"Rotten verse," said Lucien Torrance, when they were through, "but it +fits you, William Adolphus Turnpike--our Bill." + +"Where did you get the band, Tommy?" asked Epstein. + +"Minstrel show; arrived in Toronto before daylight for a week's +engagement," retorted Tommy, proudly, and in curt sentences; "know the +leader; copped him at breakfast; arranged terms in five minutes; great +send-off to the coming world-famous comedian. Sorry couldn't bring +Tommy junior down; sleeping; would have enjoyed it." + +Then to William he handed the roses. "Boy," he said gravely, and with +a touch of tenderness in his tone, "a lady, a young lady, gave me these +with this message, 'Please tell Mr. Turnpike I wish him success.'" + +Some say William blushed. William still stoutly denies it; but he +could not speak for a moment. His heart was beating wildly; his hands +trembled as he took the roses and held them a second or two to his +face. He looked up again, self-possessed and quiet. "Thank you, +Tommy," he said, simply. + +"Is there a----" began Lucien, eagerly. + +William broke in gently, "Don't, Lucien," he said, "my career is +first--yet. I dare not hope--what sometimes I have dared to hope. +I----" + +"All aboard!" The hoarse cry of the train despatcher rolled out the +words, and the clanging of the station bell followed. As the train +began to slowly draw out of the station the band again struck up "Bill, +our Bill." William stood on the rear platform of the train, the roses +in one hand, the other waving farewell until the train disappeared, the +while the band played on. + +Then his friends slowly left the station, Lucien walking with Tommy +Watson. "Roses for William," said Lucien, "and from a young lady!" + +"Yes--and a charming young lady, too, my boy." + +"Who is she, Tommy?" Lucien ventured, diffidently. + +Tommy shook his head slowly. "Not now, Lucien; not now. The dreams of +youth do not always come true, but," with a happy laugh, "William has +such a way of making his come true. Who knows?" + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WILLIAM ADOLPHUS TURNPIKE*** + + +******* This file should be named 25562.txt or 25562.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/5/5/6/25562 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. 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