Johnny was listlessly walking along in front of Dearborn Station, on
Polk street, when he saw some fine looking apples on one of the fruit
stands. Instantly the old orchard at home came into his mind, and with
it a hunger for apples that could not be downed. Fishing up a dime from
his pocket, it was not long till two apples were his, one of them
undergoing a carving that only a country boy hungry for apples could
perform. As he turned the corner he passed a number of bootblacks
tossing pennies to the edge of the curbing, the one lodging his penny
nearest the edge winning all the other pennies. Johnny watched them long
enough to understand their gambling game and then moved on.
"Hi ther, kids," said one, "watch me git a free lunch."
He came quickly up behind the unsuspecting boy and struck one of the
apples out of his hand. But before he could pick it up, Johnny gave him
a shove that sent him sprawling in the mud. Johnny stooped to regain his
apple, but half a dozen of the other boys ran up and began striking him
from all sides. His knife was open in his hand, and some one struck him
a blow on the hand that knocked the knife into the gutter. Warding off
the uncomfortable blows as fast as he could, he ran to get his knife. In
an instant he was tripped down upon his face with half a dozen boys
cuffing him about the head and shoulders.
"What you skates a-doin' there. Come off now; let a feller have a
show!"
The boys were thrust back, and Johnny scrambled to his feet.
"Hello! If it ain't de kid wot's got de purty sister an' helped me to
pepper de fake on Stony Island avenoo. Bin a-crapin', have ye, an' them
fellers wuz a-doing ye up." It was the train-boy who had been of such
service to Johnny's grandfather as they came into the city.
[Illustration: "BEEN A CRAPIN', HAVE YE!"]
Johnny explained how it all happened, and they went away from the crowd.
Johnny's clothes were soiled and his knife and apples were gone, but he
was glad to get out of such a rough crowd.
"Where wuz ye goin'?"
"I've got an hour yet, when I am to meet Fanny at the north entrance to
the store she's tradin' at. I couldn't stand taggin' after her, so she
let me go."
Johnny had wandered from the store into the neighborhood of one of the
most disreputable places in the city. He and his friend were coming up
the street when the train-boy exclaimed: "Hi, thar, wot's yer sis doin'
on dis devilish street wid dat thief yonder?"
Johnny looked where the boy was pointing, and, sure enough, Johnny saw
his sister being escorted along the street by Mr. Blair, who had spoken
to them of Mr. Moses on the train, and who had been with Fanny one day
at the Fair.
"Why, ain't he all right," said John.
"Nary all right. Wusn't he helping to rob your grandad as he was a
coming out of the train, and did'nt I nab his pal with the wad of stuff
in his hand? He works with the feller what give yer old dad the short
change."
Johnny would have started on a run after his sister but Louis said,
"Hold on pard, I'm a running this. Ef your sis is all right, that feller
is liable to git to travel over the road fer it. I've got it in fer that
feller and you see if I don't git him pulled. I tell you if he gits your
sis into one of them houses, she'll never come out alive fer she'll kill
herself."
Johnny was white with fright but Louis laid his hand on Johnny's
shoulder and said: "Now you watch the show."
A policeman was at the next corner and Louis walked up to him with the
air of one who had a most important communication to make.
"Me name is Louis Burjois, and dis is de brudder of dat gal wot you see
walkin' over dere. She is an innercent gal, which dat feller is
a-tollin' of her off. He's a pickpocket, and I'm one wot kin swear to
it. We want him arrested an' jugged. We'll see to all de
responsibility."
"Ah, you Arabs don't take me in that way. Git out. The gal knows her
biz."
By this time Louis saw that the confidence man had stopped at one of the
most prepossessing houses on the street. It was also one of the vilest
and most dangerous places in the city. The door-bell had been rung, and
there was not a moment to lose.
[Illustration: "SHE'S AN INNERCENT GIRL WHAT'S A GITTIN' TOLLED OFF."]
"For God's sake run and yell!" and he gave Johnny a push in their
direction, which was all he needed to send him flying up the street
yelling and waving his hat and calling "Fanny! Fanny! Fanny!" like a boy
gone mad.
The door had opened and Fanny was about to step inside, when she heard
her name called. She turned around, but the young man crowded up behind
her.
"Who is calling me?" she said. "It must be Johnny. Yes, it's his voice."
"No, it's only a bootblack," her companion said, harshly and excitedly.
"I know its Johnny," and she dodged by him out of the door. He tried to
catch her by the arm, but, missing that, seized her dress, nearly
tearing it off of her waist. At this moment Johnny dashed up, and,
throwing his arms around her, cried: "O Fanny! Fanny! come quick! come
away! don't wait a minute!" and he fairly dragged her to the sidewalk.
The young man disappeared through the door but not before he saw Louis
come running up and shaking his fist at him yelling at the top of his
voice, "O you horrible old cheese, I'll get your mug behind the bars
some of these days in spite of yourself."
The policeman was placidly watching the scene, but concluding at last
that something unusual was happening he came up and went into the house.
A few minutes after he came out alone and walked measuredly on toward
the end of his beat.
Fanny in the meantime had pinned her dress and was walking away with the
two boys. She was not less excited than they were.
"What is the matter? I can't think. What has happened; there must be
something awfully wrong."
"Well, you see, miss, that feller is the pall of the man what tried to
rob your grandad and he was a taking of you to one of the worstestes
places in Chicago."
"Why he showed me his detective star and also papers and business cards
the other day at the Fair. I met him this time in the store. While we
were talking there he showed me a blue book which he said was a list of
the best society of Chicago, and he showed me his name and his
sisters'. I didn't know anything how to trade at the big stores and he
said it would please him so much to take me and introduce me to his
mother and sisters, who lived only three or four blocks away, and one of
his sisters would come back with me and I could do my trading in half
the time and to so much better advantage. He talked so nicely that I
didn't see how I could refuse to go."
"That's the chap exactly. He's a bad man, and I'm a going to run him in
yet."
Louis gave a self satisfied toss of the head, clinched his fists and
said, "Its lucky, awful lucky that I seed ye." Fanny shuddered and she
whispered a fervent prayer of thankfulness.
They had now arrived at the store and Louis acted as ready escort to the
various booths where Fanny desired to trade.
"Don't you forgit that you have to meet me at the Sixtieth street gate
at nine o'clock next Monday morning for to be my body guard the whole
week and I think I can get our grandpa to throw in about two dollars a
day for ye for general services. Anyhow, I don't see how any of us can
feel safe any more without you being around. I expect if you come out to
our farm, I'd save your life about a dozen times a day for the first
week, you'd need me around pretty bad for the first month."
"It's very glad I am that I struck you," said Louis, "for my dad got
killed cause he stuck by his engine and I have to help the folks so much
that I couldn't get into the Fair only by scheming somehow, and I might
not hit the combination."
Fanny and Johnny, still bewildered over their adventures, now took a
cable car and in a little while were telling their astonished
grandparents about their day's experiences and Fanny's wonderful escape
from the confidence man. Uncle could not remember Mr. Blair, but it was
a good occasion for one of his impressive lectures on the providence of
God.
It was an evening for the electric display at the grounds and at eight
o'clock they were seated near the statue of the Republic on the south
side of the basin waiting to see the crowning achievement of modern
intellect.
No wonder that the papers of the next morning spoke of the "White City
in a blaze of glory," and that "thousands viewed the sight, entranced
with the marvelous exhibition." It was a sight to inspire the writers of
the day, and of all the descriptions that Fanny culled none were more
appropriate for recalling the memories of what she saw, and to record
what she had experienced, than the reportorial sketches of this night.
The hour approached for the most wonderful illumination since God said:
"Let there be light."
Slowly night came on, and slowly night was turned back into day. A few
stars came out and shone for a little while, and then disappeared from
man because of the blaze of light he was in.
To the north and west a heavy pall of smoke brooded over the city. Above
it a broad band of gorgeous crimson, shot with purple and yellow, marked
the dying glories of the day. Overhead scattered clouds floated against
a gray sky, and through them yellow stars were shining. Looking down
into the grand basin the white walls of the palaces which bound it
loomed gray and ghostly. On the southern horizon the chimneys of a blast
furnace belched their red flames high into the darkness.
One by one white globes of light glittered about the graceful sweep of
the basin. They cast deep black shadows on the walls behind them, and
threw burnished, rippling ribbons over the dark water below. The broad
avenue leading to the north between the Mines and Mining and the
Electricity buildings grew brilliant on either side. At its far northern
end a clump of tangled shrubbery lay in heavy shadow, and still beyond,
stretching away for miles, a hundred thousand scattered yellow sparks
told that the great city was awake. Far off on the dark lagoon, men
were singing, and the echo of their voices rose faintly through the
silence.
Suddenly a single beam of yellow light, like a falling star, flickered
and grew bright on the high dome of the Administration building. Then
lines of fire ran down its splendid sweep, and outlined in flame it
stood out in splendor against the night. About its base circled a wheel
of light, while above a hundred torches flared into the darkness. Within
the great buildings about the basin electric coronas were ablaze and the
giant pillars of the colonnades loomed white against the shadows. From
their caps huge figures of the arts of peace leaned out over the black
abyss beneath. Along the top of the peristyle flickered a yellow ribbon
of flame, and above, dim and gray against the sky, senators and heathen
gods look down upon the glory.
Between these lay the dark waters of the basin, seamed with faint,
waving bars of light. Over them, like long black shadows, graceful
gondolas slipped in silence, and electric launches with their fiery eyes
crept across the vista.
From the roof of Music hall a wide pyramid of fierce white light was
thrown upon the Administration dome. Its blazonry of yellow died away,
and under the new glare the delicate, lace-like tracery of gold and
white was brought into strong relief. From the roofs of the buildings of
Manufactures and Agriculture twin search-lights beat down upon the
MacMonnies fountain. Behind it the plaza was black with men, and its
pure white figures shone as if carved from Parian marble.
Then the light was changed, and in a glory of crimson the ship Columbia,
with its white-armed rowers, sailed on before the people. From his high
pillar on either side, Neptune, leaning on his trident, looked down
serenely. The search-lights swept the horizon, and for a moment graceful
Diana loomed against the sky like a figure suspended in midair. At the
east end of the basin the Golden Republic glittered against the night,
lifting her golden eagle high above the crowd. Smoke from a passing
engine rose about the dome of the Administration building, and its fiery
outlines flickered and grew faint. The triumphant goddess seated high on
the galley in the central fountain was bathed in a glory of green fire,
and then yellow, changing again to its spotless white.
Under the great central entrance to Electricity building stood all the
while the figure of an old-time Quaker. His eyes looked upward, and he
held in his hand the feeble instrument which made possible the glories
of this night. Franklin, with his kite, looked out upon the consummation
of what he dreamt of when he drew lightning from the summer cloud. For
two hours the "White City" blossomed in new beauty. The great basin was
bathed in a flood of fairy moonlight. Outside the peristyle the lake
beat its monotone against the walls. On the plaza the great orchestra of
more than 100 men played patriotic music, and the people were filled and
lifted with the spirit of the night.
The search light was a great surprise. It went dancing along the fronts
of opposite buildings, climbed up the towers and brought out golden
Diana. It flashed against the statue of the Republic, and kept it for a
full minute resplendent as though carved from a block of flame and then
flickered away, leaving the great figure in twilight uncertainty. After
a time three irregular splashes of light were playing hide-and-seek
along the basin and up the fronts of the big building. The lights
changed their colors. Sometimes they were green and again they were blue
or red.
While several thousand people were admiring this picture, a rocket of
light shone out from one of the high corners of the agriculture building
and flooded the MacMonnies fountain in a whiteness which made all the
other light seem dim and lifeless. Under its focus the golden caravels
and the draped figures showed strange contrasts of chalky pallor and
deep shade. Only a moment later a second bar of light leaped out from
a sky-high nook of the Manufactures building and swept the surface of
the basin. It struck a moving gondola, and in a flash showed the gay
Venetians bending to their long oars, the bright colors of the boat
and the muffled forms of the passengers.
Johnny had left the others absorbed in their trance of delight. He
sought other sights. Directly he came to the Electricity building, with
its marvels of light. It burst on his childish mind, seeking for
novelties, as greater than the scenes outside. It was something that
Fanny and Uncle and Aunt must see. He ran in the greatest haste to bring
them. When they came in, Johnny showed them where to sit to see the
great illumination in the center of the building. It was then quite dark
about them, but Johnny knew the marvelous sight he had said was there
would soon appear.
Four rows of colored bulbs containing incandescent lights and placed on
zig-zag frame works forty feet long in different directions are about a
pillar around which are twined strings of two thousand electric bulbs of
red, white and blue. The pillar is covered with bits of reflecting
colored glass, thus making a magic intermingling of lights that almost
rival the lightning in startling brilliancy and produce a pillar of fire
scarcely surpassed even by that one which led the Israelites across the
sea.
When the illumination came the weird ingenuity of the electric magicians
struck Aunt Sarah with a sublimity almost more than she could endure. As
the flashes of light struck out about the pillar and the ball of fire
fell as if dropped from some creating hand she screamed, "O my God, what
blasphemy is this that men have achieved. Can they snatch the fire from
heaven and make the lightening a plaything?"
She sank upon a chair and gazed stupefied for some minutes at the awful
scene. Then as they passed on she said, "I have seen the wonderful
machinery great and small. I have seen the old relics which they say are
the remains of men's hopes long gone by, but when man can take the light
that comes out from the storms and put it up for show, it seems to me
that I am seeing forbidden things and that the skill of men has gone too
far."
[Illustration: "The light shot across the sky."]
At the next flash from the tower there was a shriek and a crowd began to
gather about a man just across the hall. The cry came from a man who
could receive the terrible grandeur but he did not have the strength of
mind to sustain it.
He was gazing upon the incandescent globe-studded column, as in a
trance, and again one of the electricians turned on the current and the
shaft changed to living fire. The man seemed horrified by the unearthly
beauty of the spectacle. It continued but a minute, when the current was
turned off and the blinding light disappeared almost as suddenly as it
had come.
A bystander whose attention happened to be directed toward him says that
he stood gazing at the column for fully three minutes after the light
had been turned off and that his countenance betrayed overwhelming
bewilderment. Once or twice he raised a hand and drew it across his
forehead. Then he was seen to press his temples with both palms, all the
while gazing in an awe-stricken way at the great pillar. The attention
of several visitors was attracted to the farmer, and one of them stepped
to his side to inquire if anything was wrong with him. As the gentleman
reached his side the latter threw his arms upward and, with a shriek
that started the echoes, fell forward upon his face. Two or three guards
rushed to the prostrate man's assistance, but before they reached his
side he leaped to his feet and, screaming at the top of his voice, ran
through the aisle toward the entrance facing the lagoon.
In a moment all was excitement, and the great crowd of visitors,
becoming panic-stricken, ran in a dozen different directions or hid
behind exhibits. The madman, pursued by a half-dozen guards, dashed down
a side aisle and, leaping over boxes and machines, made a complete
circuit of the General Electric company's exhibit and then paused again
before the central column. Two guards seized him, but he threw them off
as though they had been infants and again he started on a wild hurdle
race through the building. He had not gone far when he tripped and fell,
and in a moment three bluecoats were upon him.
Struggling and shrieking, the poor man was half led, half carried, to
the north entrance of the building, where was waiting a patrol wagon. It
required the combined strength of five guards to get the unfortunate man
into the patrol wagon. Throughout the short drive to the patrol barn the
prisoner fought like a wild animal and the officers had their hands full
in keeping him aboard. When brought before the sergeant the prisoner
became exceedingly quiet and spoke rationally while giving his name and
address.
One of the guards then began to detail the offense of the prisoner. The
recital had but just begun when the man became greatly excited and began
screaming once more. The sergeant placed his hand in a kindly way upon
his shoulder and gently forced him into a chair. The man grew quiet
again and listened to the guard relate the story of the arrest without
interruption. When the officer had finished the man arose and, walking
up to the sergeant, said:
"Don't harm me, I didn't put all those bottles there. I'll tell you how
it was. Somebody has stuck those bottles on that post and covered them
up with a white cloth. When they raised the cloth the bottles turned to
fire. I am not to blame. I don't know how those bottles came there.
There are millions of them. They were all right at first, but the devils
poured red fire into them. Don't hurt me. I had nothing to do with it."
The sergeant talked kindly to the man, and when he was quieted led him
to the hospital, where a doctor attended to him. Here he entered into a
long description of the pillar of "bottles," by which he evidently meant
the incandescent globes. The doctor gave his patient a quieting potion,
and in a short time he fell into a sleep. When he awoke from his sleep
he was quiet, but his mind still dwelt on the pillar of "bottles," and
he insisted on repeating his version of the affair to all the doctors.
In the evening a carriage took the patient away, supposedly to the
detention hospital.
_CHAPTER VII_