United States -- Social life and customs -- 20th century -- Fiction
But just then the policeman got up and went in the station, and Stubby
was afraid to go in the police-station.
That policeman complicated things for Stubby. Before that it had been
quite simple. The policeman would come to enforce the law of the land;
but he did not believe in the law of the land, so he would just kill the
policeman. But it seemed a policeman wasn't just a person who enforced
the laws of the land. He was also a person who played with a dog.
After a whole day of walking around thinking about it--his eyes burning,
his heart pounding--he decided that the thing to do was to warn the
policeman by writing a letter. He did not know whether real anarchists
warned them or not, but Stubby couldn't get reconciled to the idea of
killing a person without telling him you were going to do it. It seemed
that even a policeman should be told--especially a policeman who played
with a dog.
The following letter was pencilled by a shaking hand, late that
afternoon. It was written upon a barrel in the Lynch wood-shed, on a
piece of wrapping paper, a bristly little head bending over it:
To the Policeman who comes to take my dog 'cause I ain't got the two
fifty--'cause I tried but could only get one eighty--'cause a man was
off his nut and didn't pay me what I earned--
This is to tell you I am an anarchist and do not believe in the
government or the law and the order and will shoot you when you come. I
wouldn't a been an anarchist if I could a got the money and I tried to
get it but I couldn't get it--not enough. I don't think the government
had ought to take things you like like I like Hero so I am against the
government.
Thought I would tell you first.
Yours truly,
F. LYNCH.
I don't see how I can shoot you 'cause where would I get the revolver.
So I will have to do it with the butcher knife. Folks are sometimes
killed that way 'cause my father read it in the paper.
If you wanted to take the one eighty and leave Hero till I can get the
seventy I will not do anything to you and would be very much obliged.
1113 Willow street.
The letter was properly addressed and sealed--not for nothing had
Stubby's teacher given those instructions in the art of letter writing.
The stamp he paid for out of the dime the man gave him to get a soda
with--and forget his troubles.
Now Bill O'Brien was on the desk at the police-station and Miss Murphy
of the Herald stood in with Bill. That was how it came about that the
next morning a fat policeman, an eager-looking girl and a young fellow
with a kodak descended into the hollow to 1113 Willow street.
A little boy peeped around the corner of the house--such a wild-looking
little boy--hair all standing up and eyes glittering. A yellow dog ran
out and barked. The boy darted out and grabbed the dog in his arms and
in that moment the girl called to the man with the black box: “Right
now! Quick! Get him!”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account