Out of Mulberry Street: Stories of Tenement life in New York City — John Shaqi
Out of Mulberry Street: Stories of Tenement life in New York CityRiis, Jacob A. (Jacob August)
General
Out of Mulberry Street: Stories of Tenement life in New York City
Riis, Jacob A. (Jacob August)
New York (N.Y.) -- Fiction; Poor -- New York (State) -- New York -- Fiction; Tenement houses -- Fiction
And the landlord of the Forsyth-street tenement, who in his heart liked
the gray-haired inventor, but who had rooms to let, grumbled something
about a to-morrow that never came.
"Oh, but it will come," said Krueger, turning on the stairs and shading
the lamp with his hand, the better to see his landlord's good-natured
face; "you know the application has been advanced. It is bound to be
granted, and to-night I shall finish my ship."
Now, as he sat alone in his room at his work, fitting, shaping, and
whittling with restless hands, he had to admit to himself that it was
time it came. Two whole days he had lived on a crust, and he was starving.
He had worked and waited thirteen hard years for the success that had more
than once been almost within his grasp, only to elude it again. It had
never seemed nearer and surer than now, and there was need of it. He had
come to the jumping-off place. All his money was gone, to the last cent,
and his application for a pension hung fire in Washington unaccountably.
It had been advanced to the last stage, and word that it had been granted
might be received any day. But the days slipped by and no word came. For
two days he had lived on faith and a crust, but they were giving out
together. If only--
Well, when it did come, what with his back pay for all those years, he
would have the means to build his ship, and hunger and want would be
forgotten. He should have enough. And the world would know that Godfrey
Krueger was not an idle crank.
"In six months I shall cross the ocean to Europe in twenty hours in my
air-ship," he had said in showing the landlord his models, "with as many
as want to go. Then I shall become a millionaire and shall make you one,
too." And the landlord had heaved a sigh at the thought of his
twenty-seven dollars, and doubtingly wished it might be so.
Weak and famished, Krueger bent to his all but finished task. Before
morning he should know that it would work as he had planned. There
remained only to fit the last parts together. The idea of building an
air-ship had come to him while he lay dying with scurvy, as they thought,
in a Confederate prison, and he had never abandoned it. He had been a
teacher and a student, and was a trained mathematician. There could be no
flaw in his calculations. He had worked them out again and again. The
energy developed by his plan was great enough to float a ship capable of
carrying almost any burden, and of directing it against the strongest head
winds. Now, upon the threshold of success, he was awaiting merely the
long-delayed pension to carry his dream into life. To-morrow would bring
it, and with it an end to all his waiting and suffering.
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.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account