Harper's Young People, January 18, 1881: An Illustrated Monthly — John Shaqi
Harper's Young People, January 18, 1881: An Illustrated MonthlyVarious
General
Harper's Young People, January 18, 1881: An Illustrated Monthly
Various
Children's periodicals, American
"That's her," said the skeleton to Toby, as he pointed his thumb in the
direction of the fat woman, but paid no attention to the outcry she was
making--"that's my wife Lilly, an' she's the fat woman of the show.
She's always yellin' after me that way the minute I get out for a little
fresh air, an' she's always sayin' just the same thing. Bless you, I
never have the phthisic, but she does awful; an' I s'pose 'cause she's
so large she can't feel all over her, an' thinks it's me that has it."
"Is--is all that--is that your wife?" stammered Toby, in astonishment,
as he looked at the enormously fat woman who stood in the tent door, and
then at the wonderfully thin man who sat beside him.
"Yes, that's her," said the skeleton. "She weighs pretty nigh four
hundred, though of course the show cards says it's over six hundred, an'
she earns almost as much money as I do. Of course she can't get so much,
for skeletons is much scarcer than fat folks; but we make a pretty good
thing travellin' together."
"Sam-u-el," again came a cry from the fat woman, "are you never coming
in?"
"Not yet, my angel," said the skeleton, placidly, as he crossed one thin
leg over the other, and looked calmly at her. "Come here an' see Job's
new boy."
"Your imprudence is wearin' me away so that I sha'n't be worth five
dollars a week to any circus," she said, impatiently; but at the same
time she came toward the candy stand quite as rapidly as her very great
size would admit.
"This is my wife Lilly--Mrs. Treat," said the skeleton, with a proud
wave of the hand, as he rose from his seat and gazed admiringly at her.
"This is my flower, my queen, Mr.--Mr.--"
"Tyler," said Toby, supplying the name which the skeleton--or Mr. Treat,
as Toby now learned his name was--"Tyler is my name, Toby Tyler."
"Why, what a little chap you are!" said Mrs. Treat, paying no attention
to the awkward little bend of the head which Toby had intended for a
bow. "How small he is, Samuel!"
"Yes," said the skeleton, reflectively, as he looked Toby over from head
to foot, as if he were mentally trying to calculate exactly how many
inches high he was, "he is small; but he's got all the world before him
to grow in, an' if he only eats enough-- There, that reminds me. Job
isn't going to give him any supper, because he didn't work hard enough."
"He won't, won't he?" exclaimed the large lady, savagely. "Oh, he's a
precious one, he is, an' some day I shall just give him a good shakin'
up, that's what I'll do. I get all out of patience with that man's
ugliness."
"An' she'll do just what she says," said the skeleton to Toby, with an
admiring shake of the head. "That woman hain't afraid of anybody, an' I
wouldn't be a bit surprised if she did give Job a pretty rough time."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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