Grandfathers -- Juvenile fiction; New York (N.Y.) -- Juvenile fiction; Orphans -- Juvenile fiction; Poor girls -- Juvenile fiction
This mite of a house stood at the crook of Elbow Lane, down by the
approaches to the big bridge over East River, in a street so narrow that
the sun never could shine into it; yet held so strong an odor of salt
water and a near-by fish-market, that the old sailor half fancied
himself still afloat. He couldn't see the dirt and rubbish of the Lane,
nor the pinched faces of the other dwellers in it, for a few tenements
were still left standing among the crowding warehouses, and these were
filled with people. Glory, who acted as eyes for the old man, never told
him of unpleasant things, and, indeed, scarcely saw them herself. To
her, everything was beautiful and everybody kind, and in their own tiny
home, at least, everything was scrupulously clean and shipshape.
When they had hung their hammocks back upon the wall, for such were the
only beds they had room for, and had had their breakfast of porridge,
the captain would ask: "Decks scrubbed well, mate?"
"Aye, aye, sir!" came the cheery answer, and Glory's hands, fresh from
the suds, would touch the questioner's cheek.
"Brasses polished, hawsers coiled, rations dealt?"
"Aye, aye, cap'n!" again called the child.
"Eight bells! Every man to his post!" ordered the master, and from the
ceiling a bell struck out the half-hours in the only way the sailor
would permit time to be told aboard his "ship." Then Glory whisked out
her needle and thread, found grandpa his knife and bit of wood, and the
pair fell to their tasks. His was the carving of picture frames, so
delicately and deftly that one could hardly believe him sightless; hers
the mending of old garments for her neighbors, and her labor was almost
as capable as his. It had earned for her the nickname of
"Take-a-Stitch," for, in the Lane, people were better known by their
employments than their surnames. Grandpa was "Cap'n Carver" when at his
morning work, but after midday, "Captain Singer," since then, led by his
dog Bo'sn, he sang upon the streets to earn his livelihood. In the later
hours the little girl, also, wore another title--"Goober Glory"--because
she was one of the children employed by Antonio Salvatore, the peanut
man, to sell his wares on commission.
But grandpa, Glory, and Bo'sn had the long delightful mornings at home
and together; and this day, as usual, their talk turned upon the dream
of their lives--"Sailors' Snug Harbor."
"Now, grandpa, talk. Tell how 'tis. Do it fast an' picturey-like, 'less
I never can guess how to make this piece do. It's such a little patch
an' such a awful big hole! Posy Jane gets carelesser an' carelesser all
the time. This very last week that ever was she tore this jacket again.
An' I told her, I said: 'Jane, if you don't look out you'll never wear
this coat all next winter nohow.' An' she up an' laughed, just like she
didn't mind a thing like that. An' she paid me ten whole centses, she
did. But I love her. Jane's so good to everybody, to every single body.
Ain't she, grandpa?"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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