Child abuse -- Fiction; New York (N.Y.) -- Juvenile fiction; Orphans -- Juvenile fiction
He saw a figure, tall and dark, majestically seated upon a great, bay
horse. A cap shaded proud, piercing eyes. A uniform set the rider wholly
apart from all the ordinary men hurrying by in both directions. Who in
the city of New York was so like a knight as one of those brave, superb,
unapproachable, almost royal, creatures, a mounted policeman? ("Fine
Irishers," as Mrs. Kukor called them.)
Then Johnnie was reminded of something. "Cis, will y' be married with a
red carpet?" he whispered.
She looked up, turning on him a smile so sweet and glowing that it was
like a light. "I don't know," she whispered back. "Maybe--if I want
one--I think so." Down went her head again.
Now another picture. The carpet was laid. It stretched across the smooth
pavement under a long, high, gray canopy. A red carpet and a gray canopy
meant just one thing: great wealth. And Johnnie saw Cis following where
that carpet led, beside her one of the four richest men in the world.
This man was Mr. Astor (or Mr. Vanderbilt, or Mr. Rockefeller, or Mr.
Carnegie--any one of the quartette would do). The mounted policeman was
still a part of the happy scene, but only in an official capacity, since
from the back of his prancing bay he was keeping off the vast crowd that
was swarming to see the bridal couple.
And, naturally, the policeman, in spite of his fine uniform, was not to
be compared for a moment to the bridegroom. New York had many policemen;
it had only one Mr. Astor (or Mr. Vanderbilt, or Mr. Rockefeller, or Mr.
Carnegie). Also, the future surroundings of a Mrs. Policeman--what were
they when put alongside what Cis would have when she was Mrs.
Any-one-of-the-Four? A house as big as the Grand Central Station--that
was a certainty. With it would go silk dresses and furs with dozens of
little tails to trim them; jewels of the sort Aladdin had sent the
Sultan for the Princess Buddir al Buddoor; books in as great a number
as Cis cared to buy, all from that store in Fifth Avenue; automobiles
like those owned by the Fifty-fifth Street rich man; dishes of massy
gold.
"And I betcher I'll ride in one of her cars," he thought; "and I'll read
her books!" And at once the future looked rosy and promising.
She began to whisper again, her chin on a knee: "He's got a place for me
all picked out! I won't have to go to the factory any more! I'll have
pretty clothes, and good things to eat every meal, and see plays and
moving-pictures every week, and just have nothing to do but keep house,
and sew, and----"
The startled expression on Johnnie's face stopped her. "Keep house?" he
repeated, disgusted. "_Sew?_" These were not matters which should
trouble the bride of a millionaire! "What're y' goin' t' do things like
_that_ for?"
She blinked at him, rebuffed and puzzled. "Why not? I like to sew."
"Aw,"--the palace of his vision was down now, had vanished like
Aladdin's own--"what's your new name goin' t' be?" He felt unaccountably
cross.
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