Little Joe

Chapter I. A Homeless Guardian

“Say, be you a doctor?”

It was a small, oddly-dressed boy who asked this 'question of a burly, red-faced veterinary surgeon on Twenty-fifth Street near Third Avenue ; and probably the visitor would have been turned away with a very gruff answer but for the look of anxiety in the brown eyes, which seemed unnaturally large because of his thin face.

“ If you should go round the corner an’ ask some of the swells who have big doorplates, I reckon they’d tell you that a vet. didn’t know anything about doctorin’,” the man replied, as he gazed first at the boy’s 7

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face and then at a suspicious-looking lump under the curiously patched coat which hid from view every portion of the visitor save his head, hands and feet.

“S’posen a feller should get his legs broke, couldn’t you fix ’em up agin ? ” the boy asked, as he tried in vain to still that which caused the front of his coat to move in a most singular manner.

“ If a horse that was worth the trouble should get his leg broke I could set it, but what do you mean by asking these questions, and what have you got there ? Speak up quick, for I can’t spend much time fooling with a customer like you.”

“ It’s a dog what got run over by a ’xpress wagon,” the boy replied, as he unbuttoned the ancient and ill-fitting garment, exposing to view a small brown terrier, who yelped with pain when he was thus forced to change his position.

“Both legs broken, eh?” the surgeon said, after a hasty glance. “ The best thing you

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can do is to tie a stone to his neck and throw him overboard.”

“ I don’t want to do that, ’cause, you see, he acted jest like he knew I’d look out for him when the boys were going to stone him to death, an’ as I picked him up he stopped whinin’ right away.”

“ That was because he knew you; it would be a poor kind of a dog who wouldn’t recognize his master.”

“ But I never saw him before. He was lyin’ in the street with the fellers throwin’ things at him when I came along,” and the boy patted the suffering animal’s head as if to say he would continue to protect him.

“ Where do you live ? ” the surgeon asked almost sharply, as he examined more critically the condition of his dumb patient.

“I — well, you see — that is, I’m stoppin’ down near the ferry that goes over to Hunter’s Point.”

“ Oh ! you sleep around wherever you can get the chance, eh ? ”

IO

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“Yes, sir; that's about the way of it,” the boy replied meekly. “ I’ve fixed up a pretty fair stand where I sell papers mornin’s an’ nights. If business keeps on same’s it is now, an’ the other fellers what owe me have good luck, I’ll soon get money enough to buy a reg’lar place down near Grand Street.”

“ What are you going to do with this dog if I set the broken bones ? ”

“ I’ll keep him ’round there somewhere. P’rhaps they’ll give me a box over to the grocery store, an’ he couldn’t want anything better’n that. Say, how much will you charge ? ”

“ My fee would be five dollars for such a job as that from anybody else ; but seein’s how you ain’t likely to be overburdened with cash, I’ll do it for a dollar.”

By this time the surgeon was making ready the splints and bandages, and did not see the troubled look which came over the boy’s face ; but he turned quickly as his visitor said in a stammering, hesitating way:

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“Wouldn’t — I mean, can — say, if I’ll give you ten cents down, an’ bring five every day till it’s all paid, won’t you mend him ? ”

“ I thought you said business was so good you were thinking of buying a regular stand ? ”

“Yes; but Tom Brady’s sister’s sick, an’ I lent him eighty cents this morning, so I’m pretty near broke now, but I’ll pay you right up square every day.”

“ Do you think you can afford to throw away so much money on a dog that isn’t worth a cent more than his hide would bring?”

“ I don’t s’pose he is a very nice one, else his master wouldn’t a’ left him when he got run over; but he looks like a poor, lonesome little feller, same’s I am, an’ we’d feel kinder nice bein’ good to each other.”

Once more the red-faced man looked down sharply at the boy, and then he began his surgical work, as he asked in a gruff voice :

“ What’s your name ? ”

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“Joe Morgan. The fellers call me Little Joe ’cause I ain’t got much size yet, an’ I guess a good many of ’em don’t know I own any other name. I’ll bring you the money every day till the dollar’s paid.”

“ Haven’t you got any relatives ? ”

“ I ain’t had none since Jack Greely’s mother died. Say, here’s the ten cents,” and Joe laid the money where the surgeon could not fail to see it.

“ Haven’t you a mother of your own? ” the man asked without paying any attention to the coin, and the boy pushed it further across the desk as he replied :

“ Not one. Jack’s father said I must a’ had somebody what belonged to me ; but I don’t know anything about it. Are you goin’ to do the job on trust ? ”

“ Can’t you see that I’m working at it now ? I shall expect you to come here with the cash every morning.”

“ I won’t skip one if I can help it. How long will it be before he can walk ? ”

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“ In a couple of months he’ll be all right. Don’t give him any meat; keep him in a cool place, and feed him mostly on bread and milk. Where did you get that coat? ”

“ I traded two horseshoes I found, with the junk-man on Thirtieth Street. It’s pretty big, but it’ll come in handy when the weather gets colder.”

During this conversation the dog remained perfectly quiet, as if he knew exactly what was being done, and whenever Joe caressed him he would lick his hands in token of gratitude.

“ Perhaps he ain’t worth very much,” the boy said, as he stood on tiptoe to kiss the cripple’s nose, “but it’ll be nice to have somebody to love a feller in the night when it’s cold an’ lonesome.”

“ I should think you’d have plenty of company,” the surgeon said as he looked around again very quickly, and spoke even more gruffly than before. “ It seems to me sometimes as if there were more boys than paving

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stones in the street, and I can’t make out why you lack for chums.”

“ Neither can I,” Joe said mournfully as he pressed the dog’s nose to his cheek. “ They think I’m a sissy an’ a sneak, but I ain’t, an’ the most of ’em don’t like me very well.”

“ The fellow to whom you lent the money don’t call you such names, does he ? ”

“ Oh, no; there’s five or six that are friends of mine, but they mostly all have mothers, ’cept Si Hodgdon, an’ he’s got a sister, so when it comes night I don’t have anybody to go with. I’ll be all right if this dog gets well, an’ his owner don’t come for him.”

“ If that happens send the man to me, and I’ll charge so much for this job that it won’t be worth while to claim him. I reckon he’s all right now, and you had better take him away. What’s his name ? ”

“ I’ll call him Doctor, I guess,” Joe replied, as he pushed the ten-cent piece yet nearer the surgeon, “an* then both of us will be

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sure to remember how good you was to trust us for the rest of the money.”

There was no further opportunity for the boy to give words to his gratitude. At that moment the surgeon was summoned to more valuable four-footed patients, and Joe left the office after having once more hidden Doctor under his ample coat.

It was impossible to run without causing the cripple pain ; but Joe walked at the best possible speed toward the ferry, for it was nearly time for Slip Johnson, who brought him the evening papers.

Slip — no one seemed to know why such a nickname should have been given to a boy who was christened Walter — was also in the news business. He sold papers in the vicinity of the ferry, but did not confine himself to any particular locality. Three months previous he had taken as much pleasure in teasing the small, delicate-looking boy who was trying to establish a news-stand in the corner of a lumber-yard, as any of his companions ; but he lost all zest for such sport one evening when he fell from the pier and no one save Joe had the courage to make an attempt at saving him. When it was seen that Slip was partially unconscious — his head having struck the string-piece — Joe leaped in without hesitation while the remainder of the party were in a state of helpless bewilderment, and by dragging the drowning boy to the foundation piles, succeeded in keeping his head above the surface until the others could pull him out.

After that, Slip did all he could to show that his enmity had been swallowed up by friendship, and, among other kindly acts, brought regularly from down-town the stock in trade for the lumber-yard stand.

Master Johnson had not yet arrived when Joe reached his place of business, and there was evidently sufficient time in which to provide Doctor with a bed before the evening work could be commenced.

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“ I’m goin’ to let you have my coat for awhile, old fellow,” he said, as he laid the dog tenderly under a sheltering board, and proceeded to make a bed by pushing the dilapidated garment in a small recess formed by the timbers, and entirely hidden from view of those on the street, where he usually spent the night.

After placing the dog on this, and being as he thought, fully rewarded for the attention when the cripple licked his hands, he went to the grocery store for a penny’s worth of milk. The proprietor not only gave him a tomato can in which Doctor’s food might be kept, but was so generous as to let him make his choice of a kennel from among a quantity of empty boxes.

Joe was yet feeding the patient when Slip arrived with the evening’s stock of papers, and, as a matter of course, was introduced to Doctor, who looked so helpless as he lay on a bed of paper in a box, with both hindlegs swathed in bandages, that the visitor’s sympathy was immediately aroused.

“ He don’t look like sich a awful swell dog,” Slip said, after a critical examination of the patient, “ but he’ll make a good pardner fer yer when he gets well. I’ll come down an’ see him agin after business is over, an’ I’ll ask mother to give me some bread, so’s he can have plenty to eat.”

There was really no time for any further conversation. The afternoon papers were already in demand, and during the next two hours the lumber-yard newsdealer was so busy that he could pay little or no attention to his crippled partner.

It was just as the last copy had been sold, and Joe was making ready to go across the street for supper, that Si Hodgdon stalked in front of the board-pile, standing there silent and motionless, as if he had come simply for the purpose of being admired.

There could be no question but that he was dressed in his very best, and Joe looked

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at him in open-mouthed astonishment before it was possible to speak.

Si wore a remarkably short coat, which was so tight across the shoulders that he could hardly raise his arms, and a collar so tall that it seemed positive it would cut his chin if he attempted to look at his feet! The remainder of his wardrobe, however, was decidedly shabby, and that he was aware of the fact could be seen as he held his hat in such a manner as to hide the largest hole in his trousers.

“ Well, you are fine ! ” Joe exclaimed. “ What’s the matter ? Goin’ to take a trip for your health, an’ come to say good-by ? ”

“ I am goin’ away, an’ that’s a fact. I’ve struck a chance on one of them big steamers that run to Cuba, an’ I’ve got to be on board to-night, sure. Can’t you see to Alice for me, an’ get Granny Tousey to take care of her? I’ll pay a dollar a week for her board, an’ here’s fifty cents down.”

Si laid the coin on the stand in front of

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Joe, and turned away as if his business was ended, when his friend asked, as a shade of perplexity came over his face :

“ Why don’t you let her stay where she is ? ”

“ Uncle Dick an’ his wife fight so much that I don’t dare to,” Si said, moving off as if every second of time was precious just then. “ They’ve both gone away now, an’ she’s all alone in the house exceptin’ you’ll come after her. I’ve got a chance to earn twenty dollars a month, an’ I’ll lose it if I ain’t on board before seven o’clock. You see to her till I get back, an’ I’ll square things.”

Si turned, as he ceased speaking, and darted up the street at full speed, giving no heed to Joe’s cries, even if he heard them, for it was half-past six, and it would be necessary to exert himself to the utmost in order to keep the appointment upon which he believed so much depended.

Joe picked up the coin and started in | pursuit; but by the time he arrived at the

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corner Si was lost to view amid the throne: of pedestrians, and he halted, while the look of perplexity on his face deepened into one of positive distress.

“ Why couldn’t he a’ waited till I told him I didn’t have fifty more cents to pay the first week’s board ? He knows Granny Tousey won’t let her come without she gets the money right up sharp.”

Then he walked slowly back towards the lumber-pile as if convinced that he could do nothing ; but a single thought of the tiny little girl was sufficient to make him retrace his steps very rapidly.

“Si’s gone off thinkin’ I could fix things,” he said with a sigh, “ an’ it won’t do to leave her there alone even if I don’t know how to settle it. With Doctor an’ Alice both to take care of I’ll have my hands full.”

Ten minutes later he was at the house where Si and his dwarfed sister had found the poorest apology for a home, and there found Alice awaiting his coming.

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She was a tiny girl, hardly more than half as tall as Joe, although she was but two years younger ; yet the life of deprivation she had led caused her to look much older, and there was something so winning, and at the same time so sad in her face, as she sat patiently on her small bundle of clothing in the cheerless room, that Joe had not the courage to tell her how difficult it would be for him to do as Si proposed.

“ Where’s all the furniture gone,” he asked, as he looked around in surprise.

“ Uncle Dick sold it when he went on the last spree,” she said, taking up her small bundle, as if to show that she was ready to go with him.

“ Haven’t you had anything to sleep on since ? ”

“ There was a piece of carpet in here last night ; but now this room has been let to the woman who keeps the fruit stand, and somebody took it away this morning.”

“ Well,” Joe said with a sigh, “ things

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can’t be much worse wherever we find a chance for you to stay, an’ we’ll go off now, ’cause it’s pretty near dark.”

And the two children, one confiding most implicity in the other, went out into the streets where the evening shadows were lengthening into night, to search for that which is most difficult to find in this selfish world — a home.

Chapter II. An Unprovoked Attack

Alice did not appear to think that her brother was heedless regarding her welfare in going away without making other provision for her comfort than that comprised in his hurried appeal to Joe.

Si had cared for his dwarfed sister from the time they were orphaned, nearly two years previous, and it was his eagerness to take advantage of what seemed like a wonderful opportunity for earning money, that caused him to appear as if he felt but little affection for the tiny girl who had no relative save him. He knew that Joe was always ready to assist others, for never had a boy applied to him in vain for aid even though he oftentimes suffered because of his generosity, and the idea that his friend

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might not have any money just at that particular moment never once entered Si’s mind.

“Are we going down to Granny Tousey’s?” Alice asked, when Joe had walked very slowly for several moments without speaking.

“ I s’pose it might be tried,” he said, hesitatingly ; “ but I haven’t got a whole dollar, an’ I’m afraid she won’t let you come there if we don’t pay for a week’s board at the start.”

“ Didn’t Si have enough money ? ” And now Alice began to look alarmed, for she knew by sad experience of the slight value attached to promises in such a bargain as it was proposed to make with Granny Tousey.

“ He only gave me fifty cents, an’ didn’t stay for me to tell him that I hadn’t any ’cept what is to pay for the mornin’ papers. But I’ll spend that if we can’t do any better,” he added quickly, as he saw the trouble in her face.

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“ You mustn’t.” And he felt the little hand close more tightly over his slender fingers. “ The stand couldn’t be kept open to-morrow if the money was used to-night.”

“ Some of the boys might pay what they owe me,” he said, trying very hard to speak cheerfully. “ Anyway, we’ll see what Granny has to say ’bout it before we begin to feel bad.”

Then, as a means of diverting her mind from sad thoughts, he spoke of Si’s brilliant prospects, pictured his arrival fairly laden down with money, and described such a home as her brother could give her in the future. After this subject was exhausted he told of Doctor’s accident and adoption, and by the time all these particulars had been related they were at the door of Mrs. Tousey’s not very inviting-looking dwelling.

The old lady was at home ; but not in a pleasant mood as they learned immediately after stating the reason for their visit.

“ The best of children are a sight of

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trouble, an’ I’d about made up my mind not to take any more,” she said, in an illnatured tone ; “ but if you’re ready to pay me two weeks’ board in advance I might be persuaded.”

Joe began in a timid, hesitating way to explain that they could only give one quarter of the amount that evening; but, before he had time even to promise that the remainder should be paid as soon as it was earned, she interrupted him by asking angrily :

“ What did you come around here for bothering me when you haven’t got so much money as would buy one dinner ? I’ve lost enough already takin’ paupers to board, an’ I’ll have no more of it.”

“Come away,” Alice whispered; “I’d go anywhere rather than stay here.”

Perhaps even Joe was afraid that the now thoroughly angry Mrs. Tousey might inflict some punishment upon them for their temerity in disturbing her; and, after vainly

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trying to check the flow of reproachful words by an apology, he hurried away with Alice clinging tightly to his hand, stopping not in what was a veritable flight until they were at the lumber-yard news-stand.

“ What’s the matter now ? ” a voice cried from amid the shadows of the boards, and the question was accompanied by a low whistle of astonishment as Slip Johnson stepped out from Doctor’s hiding-place in front of the fugitives. “ What er ye goin’ to do with her ? ”

In the fewest possible words Joe explained how it was that his homeless family had been thus suddenly increased, and concluded by asking:

“ Do you know of any place where she can stay to-night? I’ll hunt ’round to-morrow, but it’s so late now that I can’t tell what to do with her.”

Slip thought it necessary to first explain why he had invaded the privacy of his friend’s home, by saying that he had come

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to bring the cripple some bread, and then he rubbed his nose vigorously as a first and necessary step toward solving the problem.

“ P’rhaps mother might let her stay one night,” he said, after spending some moments in deep reflection. “ S’pose we take her up there an’ see ? ”

“ Can’t I sleep here,” Alice asked, timidly. “ I’d rather than have anybody scold us because we haven’t got money enough to pay the board.”

“ Mother won’t fly out same’s Granny Tousey did,” Slip said, confidently, and Joe added in a decided tone :

“ You couldn’t sleep in a pile of boards same as if you was a feller; of course not. We’ll try it up to Slippey’s house, an’ I’m most sure his mother will let you stay.”

Alice could make no further objections to the plan, although she would have much preferred to sit on the curbstone all night rather than take the chances of another refusal, and the party set off after Joe satis-

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fied himself that Doctor was not in need of any immediate attention.

The dog had already learned to recognize the boy who was so kind to him, and the violent wagging of his tail showed plainly that he was grateful, or, at least, his new master interpreted it in that way.

On arriving at Slippey’s home it was some moments before Joe could make known the reason for his visit, owing to Mrs. Johnson’s surprise at seeing such a tiny girl, and the many questions she asked ; but when the good woman did finally understand the condition of affairs, all trouble was at an end for the time being.

“ The child shall stay with me until you can find her a home,” she said so heartily that there could be no question but that Alice would be made welcome. “ If I hadn’t so many of my own she might board here ; but we are terribly crowded now, and it will be better for her to go where she can have more comforts.”

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3 1

Joe tried to induce her to take at least half the money Si had given him ; but she positively refused to accept anything, and he left the house feeling quite happy, for he was certain he could readily find Alice a home as soon as he had money enough to pay one week’s board in advance.

Slip walked with him to the lumber-yard, and after a brief call upon the invalid, took his leave of both for the night with the promise to “ look in ” before going down-town in the morning.

Joe had had no supper, and it was now too late to get any. Going hungry to bed was not such an unusual occurrence as to cause him much inconvenience, however, and when he laid down on the hard boards with his hand on the dog’s head he consoled himself with the thought that, owing to this deprivation, he could afford to buy a fifteencent breakfast at a restaurant next morning.

“We are pretty lucky fellers, Doctor,” he whispered, “’cause we’ve got a good place to

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stay in till cold weather, an’ we won’t have to live alone. It was awful lonesome here some nights, and I used to get kinder frightened ; but we’ll be company for each — ”

The sound of voices near the lumber pile caused him to cease speaking, and cover the dog’s nose with his hand while he listened to a conversation, the first words of which alarmed him greatly.

“ He’s been ’round here long enough spoilin’ our trade, an’ I’m goin’ to serve him out so bad that he’ll be glad to leave.”

There could be no mistaking that voice. Joe knew Bill Dunham was the speaker, and that he was the one referred to, for Bill had threatened many times to drive him away from the particular streets in which he and his friends claimed to have tl^e especial rights to sell papers.

The listener also knew that among the newsboys of the city there existed at least a tacit understanding regarding certain rights which accrued to those who first started

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business in the different localities, and he had been regarded as an interloper more than a year ago when he opened the stand. Both Slip Johnson and Si Hodgdon were recognized as having a right to sell papers in the vicinity of the ferry, and after they learned to have a sincere affection for the little fellow, who was always so ready to help others, they insisted that he should be allowed to remain at the lumber-yard. Bill Dunham and a few of his particular friends, however, openly threatened to drive “ Sneaky Joe ” away, and there could be no question but they had decided on carrying their threats into execution at this time when Si was no longer where he could lend any aid.

“ Will we go right in an’ snake him out?” Joe heard one of the party ask, and Bill replied :

“ He might tumble the boards over on us. We'll get a lot of rocks, an’ I guess it won’t be long before he’ll show up, for I can put every one right into his den.”

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Joe was thoroughly ' alarmed now, for if his enemies should send a volley of stones into the lumber -pile, Doctor might be hit, in which case he would undoubtedly make his presence known by yelping, and that would seal his fate, for Bill thoroughly enjoyed torturing an animal.

“ If I stay here they’ll find out about the poor little fellow, an’ be sure to kill him,” Joe said to himself. “ They won’t come in when I’m outside, an’ if I let them pound me Doctor don’t stand so much chance of gettin’ hurt.”

It was not a pleasant thing to go among a party of boys who had come for the sole purpose of giving him a severe flogging, but Joe never hesitated after deciding that the dog was in danger, and before his enemies had gathered the materials with which to make the attack he was on the sidewalk, running rapidly toward Second Avenue.

With loud shouts of triumph Bill led his friends in the pursuit, and the chase was

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speedily ended, for Joe was not strong enough to make much of a race.

“ You can’t sneak off like that,” Bill said, as he caught him by the throat, pulling him roughly to the ground, and in another instant the entire party had gathered around the half-stunned boy.

“ Take what money he’s got before you pound him,” some one suggested, and those who were nearest the prisoner complied at once.

Joe realized that he was being robbed, and knew he could do nothing to prevent it ; but when, after searching all his pockets, the half-dollar Si had left for Alice was found, he struggled more desperately than ever.

“ That ain’t mine,” he cried, trying unsuccessfully to take it from Bill. “ It belongs to Si’s sister Alice, an’ if she don’t have it to-morrow she can’t pay for her board.”

“ If Si Hodgdon was sich a fool as to let

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you keep his money, he oughter lose it,” Bill said scornfully, as he put the coin in his pocket, and then, seizing Joe by the hands, held him firmly, despite his struggles. “ We’re going to pound you now for snoopin’ ’round where you don’t belong, an’ if you ever show your head near this ferry agin we’ll jest about kill you. Go on, fellers, I’ll hold him so’s he can’t git away.”