Child abuse -- Fiction; New York (N.Y.) -- Juvenile fiction; Orphans -- Juvenile fiction
The next afternoon, while Father Pat was reading aloud the story of the
Sangreal, here entered One-Eye again, stern purpose in the very
upturning of that depleted mustache. "Figgered mebbe I could ask y' t'
do somethin' fer me," he told the priest. "It's concernin' that scout
proposition o' Johnnie's. Seems like he'll be needin' a uniform pretty
soon, won't he? Wondered if y'd mind pur-_chasin'_ it." Then down upon
the kitchen table he tossed a number of crisp, green bills.
Stunned at sight of so much money, paralyzed with emotion, and
tongue-tied, Johnnie could only stare. Afterward he remembered, with a
bothersome, worried feeling, that he had not thanked One-Eye before the
latter took his leave along with Father Pat. That night on the roof he
walked up and down while he whispered his gratitude to a One-Eye who was
a think. "Oh, it just stuck in my throat, kind of," he explained. "Oh,
I'm sorry I acted so funny!" (Why did the words of appreciation simply
flow from between his lips now? though he had not been able to whisper
one at the proper time!)
That night, wearing the uniform he had not yet seen, he took a long
pretend-walk; but not along any street of the East Side; not even up
Fifth Avenue. He chose a garden set thick with trees. There was a lake
in the garden; and wonderful birds flew about--parrots, they were, like
the ones owned by Crusoe. For a new suit of an ordinary kind, any
thoroughfare of the city might have done well enough. But the new
uniform demanded a special setting. And this place of enchantment was
Mr. Rockefeller's private park!
It seemed as if the night would never go! Next morning, it seemed as if
Big Tom would never go, nor the Father come. But at an early hour the
latter did appear, panting, in his arms a large pasteboard box. At sight
of that box, Johnnie felt almost faint. But when the string was cut, and
the cover taken off, disclosing a crisp, clean, khaki uniform, with
little, breathless cries, and excited exclamations, yes, and with wet
lashes, he caught the gift up in his arms and held it against him,
embracing it. It was his! His! Oh, the overwhelming joy of knowing it
was his!
Though there was, of course, a chance that another strike might happen,
and Big Tom come trudging home, nevertheless Johnnie could not resist
the temptation of donning the precious outfit, seeing himself in it, and
showing himself to the Father. But first he took a thorough hand-wash,
this to guard against soiling a new garment; to insure against surprise
while he was putting the clothes on, he scurried into Cis's room with
the armful, leaving Father Pat in the morris chair, from where the
latter called out advice now and again.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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