PIPPIN ENCOUNTERS THE GIDEONS
Pippin spent the evening sitting on the edge of his bed, whistling on
his file, as was his custom when perturbed in spirit, and taking counsel
with himself. He had had a shock. Two hours ago, after leaving the white
house, he felt the need of a pipe; a smoke of tribute, call it, to
whatever gods might be interested in youth and beauty, in dimples and
waving hair. Nearly opposite the house, across the lane, was a huge elm
whose branches drooped low over the roadside. Its roots formed a
comfortable seat neatly cushioned with moss. Pippin had already observed
this natural retreat; now he sought it, and lighting his pipe, was at
peace with the world.
Silently he communed with himself about the "young lady." He did not
venture to think of her by any other title, though it must be confessed
that he said "Mary" to himself now and then, just to be sure that it
sounded like the prettiest name in the world, though of course he always
knew it was. And he always knew--now, how did he know it was her
name?--that she could have no other. If Pippin had put his thoughts into
words--but he could not! His heart beat quick and hard in his ears, and
there was something the matter with his breathing; and anyway, who was
he to set up thinking of her at all? But if he had found words, they
might have shaped themselves thus.
Honest, now! Had he ever, in all his life, seen a young lady that was a
patch on her? Believe him, nix! It wasn't only her looks, though they
was out of sight, clear; it was the way she moved, and spoke--notice how
the corners of her mouth curled up round the words as if she loved
'em--And the sound of her voice, and the goodness that shined right out
of her--my! my! _that_ lamp is burnin' all right, all right! He paused,
for beside the bright face that shone so clear before him, he seemed to
see another, a face no less fair, more perfect indeed in line and tint
and carving, but, as he had once said, like a lamp unlighted. "Poor
Flora May!" he murmured. "Poor gal! Now wouldn't that young lady be a
sister to her if she had the chance? You bet she would!"
Thus musing, he chanced to look up, and was aware of a man coming slowly
along the road; very slowly, with a singular gait, half limp, half
lurch. He was dressed like a day laborer, and carried a dinner pail; a
pickaxe was slung over his shoulder. It was the gait that caught
Pippin's eye; he stopped building air-castles, and looked narrowly at
the advancing figure.
The man shambled slowly along, and paused near the gate of the white
house. Drawing out a clay pipe, he proceeded to light it; a clumsy
business he made of it, fumbling long for his matches, then making
several vain attempts to strike a light, his eyes meantime roaming over
house and grounds with sharp, searching glances. Pippin, always so ready
to help, might easily have given him a light--but a moment before Pippin
had extinguished his own pipe with a swift, silent motion. He sat
perfectly still under his tree, not to be distinguished from it in the
dusk, under the drooping branches, his eyes riveted to the slouching
figure. So absorbed was he that he saw nothing of the quiet approach of
another figure, until it stood close beside the first; a lighter,
slimmer figure, that of a young man. Pippin could see no more till the
newcomer, turning his profile to the rising moon, displayed a crooked
nose.
If the two exchanged words, it was in a whisper so low that Pippin could
not catch it. The younger man also pulled out a pipe, and seemed to ask
for a light; there was more fumbling and scratching, then the elder
nodded slightly and went limping and lurching along the road.
Why did the younger man linger? Why did he, too, slip under a drooping
tree--not fifty feet away from Pippin's own, I declare--and stand there,
silent and hidden as Pippin himself?
Why, Pippin, a man may have feelings, even if his nose is crooked. If a
pretty girl comes out to sit on her steps and look at the rising moon
and think sweet, girl-moonlight thoughts, why--be reasonable, Pippin!
Why should not Nosey Bashford like to watch her as well as you? Nosey's
nose is shockingly crooked, and his eyes are crooked, too, little and
red and too near together; he is crooked inside and out, but he has his
feelings, and it is well for you, Pippin, seeing that you are entirely
unarmed, whereas Nosey is never without a sandbag or a brass knuckle or
some such pretty trifle, that he does not know of your being only fifty
feet away from him.
"That's right!" said Pippin, sitting on his bed, as above mentioned,
whistling on his file; "that may be all so, and likely 'tis: but that
don't explain Dod happenin' along just that minute, nor yet them two
with their heads together. Dod has aged some--well, he would! Must be
sixty year old, or nigh it--but he don't look no handsomer nor no--well,
say piouser--than he did. What I say is, I believe them two has a game
on. I hate to keep the Old Man waitin', but I rather guess I'll have to
hang round here a spell, and see what they're up to. What say?"
When in need of sympathy, Pippin was apt to call up his dream family and
demand it of them, never failing of a response. He did so now, and Ma,
blue-eyed and pink-cheeked, and Pa, brown and stalwart, appeared
promptly. Pippin, absurd fellow that he was, saw them sitting beside
him, and appealed to Pa to confirm his last remark. Pa said he was
right, things did appear to squint that way a mite. He expected Pippin
had better keep his eye on them two.
"But I stuck him out!" Pippin slapped his thigh joyously. "I stuck him
out, folks! And I would have if he'd have set there all night. Another
thing!" His voice was grave again. "Notice what happened just before he
left? Why, the Boss--Mr. Aymer, that is--come home. Didn't you hear some
one step kind of quick along the sidewalk front of the house, whistlin'
a little, but not so as to disturb folks, and then the latchkey rattle a
mite as he put in? I tell you, 'twasn't all feelin's in Nosey's. He
wanted to know what time the Boss was liable to come home, and he found
out. Oh, they're smart, Bashfords; you got to keep your eye peeled when
you watch them!"
Pippin stopped suddenly. Some one seemed to be talking; Ma this time,
her blue eyes bright and serious. Had he looked for grace in them two?
"Green grass!" Pippin laughed aloud. "Grace, in Bashford's gang! If
there's as much grace in e'er a one of 'em as would raise a biscuit, one
solitary, little weeny biscuit, I'll--I'll--"
He stopped again, for again the voice seemed to speak.
"I didn't know as the Elder made any exception. Fellow creatures, he
said--"
Pippin dropped his head. If he had been differently brought up, he might
have beaten his breast and cried, "_Mea culpa!_" As it was, he said,
"Green grass!" again, several times. The last exclamation was in a
different tone. He raised his head, and his eyes shone.
"I'll try!" he said. "Honest, I will! Now behooves me get a mite o'
sleep. But first--"
The room was a small and plain one, in a meek by-street which had to
work hard to prove that it was not a slum, but did prove it. There were
curtains in most of the windows, faded, patched, darned, but whole and
clean (Mrs. Morrissey's were Nottingham lace, the street would have you
know, but then Mr. Morrissey was on the Force), and not a house but had
a geranium or a straggle of nasturtiums in window-box or tin can or
broken pitcher.
Besides all this, not a lodging room in the street but had a Bible; the
Gideons had seen to that. Pippin took the fat black book from the little
light-stand beside the bed. He had his own little Testament that Elder
Hadley had given him, but this was handy by, and besides, he admired to
read about them Old Testament guys. Elijah was "some," he thought; as
for Elisha, he had no opinion of him. Gettin' them kids all stove up
just because they was a mite cheeky! Likely he _was_ bald-headed!
The volume opening at the title page revealed a printed slip pasted
inside the cover, on which Pippin read as follows:
This Holy Book, whose leaves display
the Life, the Light, the Truth, the Way,
is placed in this room by
The Gideons,
The Christian Commercial Travelers' Association of America,
Aided by
The Christian Forces of this City
with the hope also that by means of this Book
many may be brought to know the love of
Christ which passeth knowledge.
The Ancient Gideon's Test and Triumph--Judges 6 and 7.
The Modern Gideon's Motto--Judges 7:21.
The Greatest Sermon ever preached--Matthew 5, 6, and 7.
BLESSED TRUTH--ACCEPT IT--Luke 19:10; John 3:16.
The Supreme Sacrifice for all--Isaiah 53.
The Universal Invitation to all--Isaiah 55.
If lonesome or blue and friends untrue, read Psalms 23 and
27, Luke 15.
If trade is poor, read Psalm 37, John 15.
If discouraged or in trouble, read Psalm 126; John 14.
If you are all out of sorts, read Hebrews 12.
If you are losing confidence in men, read I Cor. 13.
If skeptical, read John 6:40, 7:17; Phil. 2:9-11.
If you can't have your own way, read James 3.
If tired of sin, read Luke 18:9-14, 35-43, John 9.
If very prosperous, read I Cor. 10:12, 15.
The WONDERFUL RESULT--Isaiah 35--Psalm 121--Romans 12.
We earnestly solicit free-will offerings for the aid of our
Bible work.
Christian Traveling Men, Join Us, Help Us.
For particulars, inquire of any man wearing the button, or
THE GIDEONS,
22 West Quincy Street, Chicago, Ill.
"Green grass!" said Pippin. "Now wouldn't that--" He read it again,
slowly and carefully. "Now wouldn't that--well, the reverse of give you
a pain! Lemme see! What fits me special in this outfit?" His finger
following the table of contents, Pippin knit his brows and set his
teeth, murmuring as he went, "'If trade is poor,'--that ain't me! I made
three dollars to-day, and two yesterday. Fifteen a week wouldn't be far
from it, and five of that in the bank reg'lar every week. I tell you!
"'If discouraged or in trouble;' nope!
"'If you are all out of sorts;' not a mite!
"'If you are losing confidence in man'--There! Isn't that a leadin'? Bet
your life!" said Pippin. He turned to the appointed passage and read:
"'Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not
charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.
"'And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries,
and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove
mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.
"'And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give
my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.'
"I expect that is so," said Pippin gravely. "I certainly expect that
that is so, and I will act as near that as is give me, 'cordin' to. Say
I learn it off, so I'll have it handy by and not forget it, what say?
'Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not
charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling--'"
At this point there was a rap on the wall, and an angry voice asked
whether there was a prayer meeting going on, or what? Couldn't a man get
a wink of sleep without condemned galoots hollering their prayers
through a megaphone?
"I'm real sorry, brother!" said Pippin pacifically. "I didn't know I'd
riz my voice."
"Riz your voice! You go hire yourself out as foghorn to a Sound boat,
and you'll make your fortune!"
"You've got a powerful organ of your own," replied Pippin. "If you'd
like to have a prayer meetin', I'd be pleased to have you join in. Are
you a Gideon?"
"Are you a goat that wants its hide took off?" roared the other. "If you
don't shut your head--"
"I've shut and padlocked it! I'm just whisperin' through a knothole. Go
to by-by, bo! Pleasant dreams!"
* * * * *
Pippin's chance came the very next day. As he was carrying Nipper past
the white house--he was not going in, but somehow his way seemed to lie
mostly through the lane--the grocery wagon stood at the gate, and even
as he looked, the door opened and shut, rather hastily, and the
crooked-nosed man--his given name was William, by the way--came out with
his empty basket. He greeted Pippin with a scowl that blackened his
never too attractive face. Pippin gave him a friendly nod.
"Mornin', Nosey!" he said.
Nosey's only reply was a snarl that might have meant anything--except
friendliness.
"Say, Nosey, quit the grouch, what? I'm sorry I sp'iled your beak, bo.
There! I'd mend it if I knew how, honest I would!"
Nosey's reply was intelligible this time, but unprintable. It was to the
general effect that if Pippin didn't light out pretty condemned quick,
he would "get his," whatever that might mean.
"That so?" said Pippin. "All right, bo! I just wanted to say that I
hadn't no grouch against you. I'm on the straight now, Bill, see? Mebbe
you are, too?"
"Yes, you are!" with an ugly sneer. "You and your wheel! You look out,
that's all I say to you! Gidap!" The last remark was addressed to the
horse, and was accompanied by a savage blow of the whip; the startled
animal sprang forward and the wagon rattled out of sight.
"Well, I tried!" said Pippin. "Honest, I did!"
* * * * *
A day or two after, Mrs. Appleby received a letter that puzzled her
somewhat. It was signed, "Yours in the Lord, Pippin," and was to the
effect that she was please not to be sore because the writer had to hold
up that job a mite. He would pull it off quick as he could, but they was
some guys trying to make a deal out of some folks he knew that was dandy
folks, he could tell her, and he felt a call to hang round a spell so as
he would be ready in case an extra hand was needed, for them guys was
mean as they grow, and if that young lady or her boss come to any harm,
he'd never get over it, sure thing. But quick as he got this off his
chest, he'd make tracks for Shoreham and get that letter, if it took a
leg.
Mrs. Appleby smiled over this effusion, which was carefully written on
heavily ruled paper. The handwriting was stiff and official--had not
Pippin learned to write in the office of the Warden, under the eye of
that kindly potentate?--the spelling occasionally quaint, but she seemed
well pleased as she laid it away methodically.
"I am sure that boy is genuine!" she said with a little nod. "I would
trust him--what is it, Jane?"
A pupil-teacher was standing before her, red-cheeked, round-eyed, and
out of breath.
"Jimmy 'as run away again, Mam!"
"Jimmy! dear! dear! Played hookey from school, you mean?"
"Yes, Mam! I 'ad 'im be the 'and"--Jane was but one remove from
London--"and we was steppin' along quite-like, wen 'e 'eard a horgan,
and 'e was horf!"
"Dear! dear!" said Mrs. Appleby again. "That is the third time; I will
notify the police at once." Stepping to the telephone, she gave notice
of the truant, "Ten years old, small and wiry, red hair and freckles;
khaki pants, gray flannel shirt; will probably answer to any name except
his own, which is James Mather. Do have him found, Mr. Inspector! He
isn't a bad boy, and he is sure to have the nightmare to-night."
Turning back, she spoke to Mrs. Faulkner who was just entering the room.
"Jimmy Mather has run away _again_, Mrs. Faulkner! I really don't know
what to do with the boy."
"I should send him to the Farm School!" said Mrs. Faulkner promptly. "He
is a very bad influence here. Last evening, when the cook was going to
church, he pinned a dishcloth to her cloak, and she never found it out
till she got back. She has given notice. I was just coming to tell you.
I think she will stay if the boy is sent away."
"Little Jim!" cried Mrs. Appleby. "Oh, Mrs. Faulkner! He is too young
for the Farm School, even if--"
"Mary is a very valuable woman!" said Mrs. Faulkner severely. "It is
matter of knowledge to me that she has been offered fifteen dollars a
week, and we get her for ten because of her little niece being here.
James Mather is worth nothing at all that I can see, and is a nuisance
besides."
"Oh, Mrs. Faulkner!" said Mrs. Appleby again.
As she stood perplexed, what was this vision that flashed suddenly
before her eyes? Two brown, bright eyes in a face that seemed to smile
all over, brow to chin; a musical voice saying,
"There's a kid I like! I could do something with that kid if I had him!"
"Dear! dear!" said Mrs. Appleby aloud. "I do wish he would!" and
happening to glance out of the window, she saw Pippin entering the
courtyard with Jimmy Mather beside him. Yes, things happen that way
sometimes. Mrs. Appleby did not try to analyze her feeling of relief
when Mrs. Faulkner was called out of the room just as Pippin entered it.
"Run straight into me!" said Pippin, when the culprit had been welcomed,
rebuked, provisionally pardoned and sent to bed. "Follerin' a Dago with
an organ and a monkey. Gee! Run just the way I used to run after a
monkey. I knew the pup in a minute, and I had him by his slack and
scruff before he knew what had got him. Green grass! he was surprised,
that kid was! Then he bawled, and wanted to go with me, but nix on that,
so I said I'd fetch him home, and he come along like pie. But say, lady,
you rec'lect what I told you that day?"
"I was just thinking of it when you came in! Your coming seemed
providential."
"Can you show me anything that ain't, in a manner of speakin'? Well, I
say it again. This is a dandy place for some kids, but it's no place for
that one. You want to let me take him--"
"Where? Where would you take him, Pippin?"
"To Cyrus Poor Farm!"
"A poorhouse?" The matron's face fell.
"It's that, but it's more than that, and it's goin' to be more than what
it is now. Leave me have that boy and a dozen more like him, and gee! I
tell you we'll make things hum there to Cyrus! That's the kind I want;
smart little kids, the kind that makes the smartest crook. Catch 'em
little, and make 'em grow straight instead of crooked--what do you know
about that? Wouldn't that be mince pie atop of roast turkey and
cranberry sauce? I tell you!"
Thus Pippin, glowing with ardor, sure that everyone must see his project
as he saw it; but now the gay fire died out of his face. "I forgot!" he
said. "I can't take him just yet, lady. I--you got a letter from me?
Did? Well, there's where it is, you see! I ain't free to go just yet.
This job to Mr. Aymer's--"
"Mr. _Who_?" Mrs. Appleby started.
"Mr. Aymer: John E. Lives corner of Smith and Brown Street. Maybe you
might know him, Mis' Appleby? They sure are dandy folks!"
"I know Mr. Aymer," drily. "How came you to know him, Pippin?"
"There's a young lady works for him!" Pippin was blushing hotly, but he
met the inquiring look bravely. "Miss Flower, her name is. I happened
along by--in the way of business, you understand--and she had a carver
needed sharpenin', and so we made acquaintance. She's--well, there!
Mebbe you might know her, too? Do?" as Mrs. Appleby nodded. "Now isn't
that great! Well, honest now, isn't she--did you ever see a dandier
young lady than that?"
"She is a nice girl!" Mrs. Appleby's mouth was under strict control, but
her eyes twinkled. "Have you been at the house more than once? You say
you have met Mr. Aymer--and Mrs. Aymer?"
"I have, ma'am! They were more than kind to me, I must say. Yes, I've
been there four or five times. I--I didn't do all the knives the first
day I was there, nor yet the second. Their knives was in poor shape--"
He paused and looked helplessly into the kind, shrewd gray eyes. "I--I
don't know as I was in any too great hurry about them knives!" he
faltered. "I--fact is, I give consid'able time to 'em; took a couple one
day and another couple another. Pleasant place, and nice folks, you
understand--and--I told you about them two mean guys--"
Mrs. Appleby said she did understand. And what did Pippin propose to do
next? she asked. Why, that was just what he was studyin' over; he was
just puttin' that up to himself when he ran across the kiddo just now.
Whether to wait round a bit and watch till he was a mite surer than what
he was--and yet he _was_ sure, knowin' them two and their ways--or up
and tell the Boss thus and so, and let him do as he der--as he thought
fit.
"I've got a hunch," said Pippin, "that I'd better tell him right away.
What say?"
"I say you are right!" Mrs. Appleby spoke with decision.
"I'll do it! I'll do it before I sleep to-night. Maybe he'll think of
some way to hasten matters up a mite. If they're goin' to do him up, I
wish't they'd get at it, so's we can round 'em up and me get off on my
business. Not but it _is_ my business to stop such doin's every time I
see a chance. I wish you good mornin' lady, and I'm a thousand times
obliged to you."
He departed, and Mrs. Appleby sat down and wrote a note to Miss Mary
Flower, care of John E. Aymer, Esq., Cor. Smith and Brown Streets,
City.