Part 1 (1/2)
Jimmie Moore of Bucktown.
by Melvin Earnest Trotter.
CHAPTER I
_The Invasion Begun_
”Please kin yer tell me where is der boss of dis Mishun?”
The superintendent turned sharply about and beheld a boy of singularly striking appearance. His stature was that of a child of ten or twelve years and his face that of a worn-out, heart-broken, disappointed old man. His eyes, set far back in his head under heavy eyebrows, indicated an almost abnormal development of the perceptive faculties. In other respects the contour of the head was not remarkable; but the face was one, once seen, never to be forgotten. The nose was pointed and pinched, the cheeks hollow, and the glance of his eye at once appealing and defiant.
There could be no doubt that this boy was a bread winner, and that the burdens he carried were altogether too heavy for such young shoulders.
From the ragged cap which he turned nervously in his hands to the large pair of sharp-pointed ladies' shoes on his feet, every garment was a misfit. The loss of a b.u.t.ton from the neckband of his blouse-waist permitted it to gap wide open and disclosed the fact that he wore no underclothing. The day was bitterly cold; and the boy's s.h.i.+very look showed how greatly he suffered.
As the superintendent took in all these facts he realized that, despite his unseemly attire and generally distracted appearance, the boy was by no means an ordinary character. Down deep in the dark gray eyes that never wavered under his steady gaze he saw the making of a man mighty for good or evil.
”I guess I'm the man you want,” said Morton, kindly. ”Come into my office.”
Leading the way, he was followed by the boy into a small private office at the back end of the big mission hall. Offering the lad a seat, he turned to his desk, on which stood two telephones.
In an instant that boy was again upon his feet. Looking with wide-open eyes, he inquired, ”Be yer goin' ter call der bull?
I ain't as't yer fur nuthin'. Me Pa said yer was a good guy and wouldn't squeal. I mus' go.”
Morton intercepted the boy at the door. But it was some time before he could persuade him that it was not his intention to turn him over to the police, ”the bull,” for begging.
”I want to help you,” he said. ”I'll be your friend, and I won't squeal on you either.”
”Well, be yer Mister Morton?” asked the boy.
”Yes, that's my name,” replied the superintendent. ”And now I want you to tell me all about your trouble. Who sent you to me?”
”Me Pa. He heard your talk on der gospel wagon down at der square.
He don't talk about nuthin' else and he wants yer ter come an'
see him.”
”Is he sick?”
”Sure he's sick. He's been in bed ever since Wednesday. Ma says he's outer his head. Tuesday night he didn't come home home from work, and Ma says, 'I guess he's drunk ag'in.' We waited fur him till eleven o'clock and den I couldn't stay awake no longer. 'Sides, der wood was all burnt up and we had ter go ter bed ter keep warm. At five in der mornin' Mike Hardy, der bar-keep' at f.a.gin's, saw Pa layin' in Rice's wagon box, out in front of der market. It snowed on Pa, and he was near frozed.
Mike calls Bill Cook and dey brings Pa home. Bill and Pa is chums; an' Bill gets drunk, too. Ma says dey bot' works fur f.a.gin. When dey gits paid dey take all der money straight to f.a.gin's and spends it for booze.”
”Well, what's your name and where do you live?” interrupted Morton.
”Me name's Jimmie Moore, and we live down in Bucktown near der market.”
”Go on with your story, sonny,” said Morton.
”After dey got him in der house Ma and Bill gits his clothes off and Bill goes and gets some wood and built a fire. I carried me mornin' papers, and when I gits back I stayed wit' Pa while Ma went ter Ransome's house up on der Avenue to do deir was.h.i.+n'.
Pa he slept all day till four in the afternoon, and den he raised up straight in bed and, lookin' at somethin' in der corner of der room, said, 'Can't yer see me hand? I raised it twice. Why don't yer come and git me?' I couldn't see nuthin', but he keeps on talkin' dat way fur a long time. Den he laid down again and cried and said he wanted der mishun man ter come and see him.