Reformations are slow--except when they're sudden. Some
reformations--of individuals as well as nations--have followed upon
years of effort, toil, and suffering: others have been materially
accelerated by the use of the axe. William's acquaintance with the axe
was limited to its use as an instrument for occasional spells of
firewood-chopping: but at heart he was a reformer, and, unlike most
reformers--judging them, of course, by the doubtful value of
histories--he started upon himself. Tenacity was William's greatest
asset; when he adopted a line of action he "stayed with it," to use his
own expressive phraseology. Having found the place spoken of in the
letter to Sally, where he could take night lessons in history, reading,
and writing, William became an attentive and consistent attendant.
Tommy Watson and Whimple were fearful lest he should undertake too
much, finally tire of everything, and lapse into a drifter. Epstein
ridiculed their fears and scorned their arguments. "Leave the boy
alone," he said, "he knows what he wants, and he'll get it."
There were glorious nights when William longed for a trip on the Bay to
the Island, or an hour's loafing in the parks, but when the longing
took possession of him on lesson nights he fought it down with
firmness, and he usually won. He confided in Epstein occasionally, and
the wise old comedian let him talk as long as he wished about it,
offering no suggestions or advice. He never went beyond, "Well done,
boy," or "Stick to it," but to himself he often said, "He'll do; he'll
do."
William neglected his lessons occasionally, as, for instance, once, in
the first week of September, but it was in a good cause. He thus
explained it to Lucien. "You shoulder seen the Turnpike bunch at the
exhibition yesterday."
"So that's where you were. Mr. Whimple said he understood you were
engaged on important private business matters."
"Well, he ain't far wrong the way I look at it."
"And were you----?"
"Yes," broke in William, "I was around when the lion broke outer the
wild beast show--I'm coming to that soon. Pa took the whole bunch of
us: he's been taking the whole family since I can remember, and we
always have a good time.
"Well, of course it takes Ma about two hours to get the bunch
ready--say, ain't kids the worst! I suppose she must have washed off
Joey's and Bessie's face four times before we got started. After the
second or third time, Pa takes 'em upstairs and makes 'em lie on the
bed until the army is ready to advance. 'I've heard about machines for
washin' dishes,' he says, 'but it takes a pair of hands and a lot of
soap for washin' kiddies' faces, and hands is liable to get tired, so
there you stays until Ma's had a chance to get cleaned up,' and they
stayed.
"Well, we gets to the grounds about eleven o'clock, and all us kids had
a lunch in a box, or a bag, or something, and Ma and Pa had two big
baskets fuller grub besides. You'd thought there was enough to last a
week. As soon as we gets inside, Pete says he's hungry, he's afraid he
can't walk none unless he has something to eat right away. Pete always
lays for the grub, you bet. So Pa he lets on he's considering
something, but we all know what it is, because he's played it on us
before, and he winds up by taking us down to a swell lunch place near
the lake. Honest, it's as clean nearly as our house, and there's
mighty few houses that's cleaner. So when Bill Thomson--the man what
runs it--sees us coming, he looks mighty solemn, and we all knew what
he's going to say, and he says it. 'Ah,' he says, 'there's the
Turnpikes what's going to drink up me last drop of tea and all me
gingerbeer. Well'--and then he heaves a great sigh--'let 'em come--let
'em all come: it'll ruin me, I know, but somebody always has-ter go
under.'
"And Pa says to him to 'cheer up, and how's business?'
"So Bill says it's rotten! the worst in years. So far as he can see he
ain't even going to pay expenses, and he wishes he'd let the thing
alone. And Pa don't say anything then, but when we've eaten till we
can't eat any more, specially Pete, Pa says to Ma, 'Bill Thomson's been
runnin' that lunch counter for twenty years, to my knowledge, and he's
never made anything on it, to hear him talk. But I notice he's got
three nice houses all his own, and a fine trotting horse, and him an
express man, too, and I'll bet he ain't got all the money for them
houses outer the express business,' he says.
"'It's a good business, though,' says Ma.
"And Pa says, 'You bet it is, Ma, it's been good to us anyway.'
"Say, maybe my Pa don't know where to take folks at the exhibition.
There's mighty little we didn't see, I'm tellin' you; and chirpin' all
the while Pa was too. He's better than a minstrel show to go anywhere
with, my Pa is; he'd make even you laugh, Lucien. Well, anyway, along
about four o'clock Pa thinks we'd better see oner two of the shows in
the midway, so's we can get another meal in good time to see the night
doings in fronter the grand stand. So, us to the midway, and we ain't
more than half in when we runs across the wild beast show. There's a
cage on the platform in front of the show, with a pretty fierce lookin'
lion in it, and the spieler he's telling the folks how this lion has
eaten four or five people, and he ain't never been sub-dued. 'But,' he
says, 'Seenor'r Dan-rell-o will go into his cage at every performance,'
he says, 'at the peril of his life.'
"So, a young fellow what's listenin', he says kinder flip, 'Is the
peril much?'
"So the showman says he ain't answerin' no fool questions, but if
anybody what looks like they had brains is asking in-tell-i-gent
questions, he's ready to answer 'em.
"So the young fellow--he's a husky lookin' chap--he says the show's a
fake, and the man on the platform gives him a wipe over the head with a
whip he had. Then you'd oughter have seen things happen. That young
fellow's pal grabs the showman by the legs and pulls him down to the
ground and proceeds to hammer him some. The crowd's kinder excited and
shovin' around and saying things to each other without knowing what
they're doing, when the young fellow what really starts the row lets
out a yell you could hear a mile away, and the crowd hushes up kinder
sudden; I guess everybody got cold chills down their backs all at once.
While they're wondering what's coming next, the fellow puts out his
hand and grabs the bars in front of the lion's cage, pulls two or three
of them out, and gives that lion the awfullest punch right on the
stomach; honest, Lucien, you could hear it like somebody pounding
beefsteak to make it tender. Well, everybody comes to their senses, or
else loses 'em again, whichever you like, all of a sudden, and the
women that don't faint gets screechin', and the men are hollerin' for
the police, and all except them as are laying in faints begins to run.
We were pretty well up to the front, and when Pa sees the young fellow
pull out the bars he turns kinder white. Then he grabs Dolly and Joey,
and says to the rest of us, 'Vamoose ahead quick,' he says, 'though I
don't think there's much danger,' and Ma don't say much, but she ain't
trying to get far ahead of Pa and we keep turnin' around. At last Pa
says, 'No more runnin',' he says, and he puts Dolly and Joey down,
takes their hands, and begins to walk back towards the show just as a
lot of cops came running up, and so we all go back, and there's that
young fellow has the lion by the tail and he's whipping it to beat the
band, and making it walk slow up the steps. So, by and by, when things
get calmed down again, Pa finds out that them cage bars is wooden ones,
and the lion's about forty years old, and honest, Lucien, all its teeth
are false, and so's most of its claws, and just about all it can do is
to roar and roll around enough to make it look fierce with red lights
and all that around it when Seenor Dan-rell-o goes into the cage.
Don't you believe the yarns the newspapers had about that fellow taking
his life in his hands and all that. If the police hadn't stopped him
he'd likely have taken the lion home and kept it for his kiddies to
play with, if he's married.
"Well, Pa says they're ain't much sense paying to see the wild beast
show after that, 'cause the best of it is on the outside. The next
thing we run across was a show of trained horses. They had a trick
mule outside to attract the crowds, and the spieler says the man,
woman, or child what can stay on the mule's back one minute gets a
dollar and a free ticket to the show. So we watched a few minutes and
saw quite a few fellows try, and the mule threw every one before the
minute was up. Pa he was kinder fidgetin' and snorting like he thought
the triers was a poor bunch, and Ma she says kinder scared like, 'Let's
go, Pa;' but Pa he steps forward, and he says low to the man will he
let our bunch in if he stays on the mule's back a minute. The man he
lets out a blast of a laugh, and he says, 'Ladies and gents,' he says,
'here's a man wants to take a children's home into the show free if he
can stay on the mule a minute,' he says. 'Oh, gather round and see the
fun--oh, gather round.' Pete, he's for rushing at the man, but I holds
him back, for I see Pa's eyes, and I know that mule's going to be
pretty miserable in a few seconds, and the man's going to be worse if
he gets off any more of his chin about the family. Of course the mule
stands as meek as a sheep while Pa gets on--them trick mules is trained
to do that--and the crowd's waitin' for him to throw Pa up in the air,
or roll him off, but the second Pa's on that mule's back his hands has
a grip on his neck near the jaw, and, b'lieve me, Lucien, that mule
began to turn white in the face. It seemed no time before the beast
was kinder staggerin' around like a drunk man, and the spieler
hollerin' for Pa to let go. 'You win,' he says, 'you win--get off--you
can have everything you want. Dang it, man, you're killing that mule.'
"So Pa's pretty busy keeping his grip, but he says, 'I'm trying a new
hold,' he says, 'and I'll try it on you next, unless you apol-o-gises.'
"So the man begs Pa's pardon, and ours, and Pa got off, and we all went
into the show. It wasn't so bad at that either: any old day any wise
guinea thinks he can put one over my Pa's he's stacking up some trouble
for himself.
"Well, we had another meal then, and we ate so much that even Pete was
nearly satisfied. He got through the rest of the night on three bags
of peanuts, some pop-corn, and some grapes; but that's easy for Pete,
he can eat until he begins to shed buttons off his clothes so fast
you'd think it was raining. Then he'll go to school, or out to play,
for an hour or so, and back he comes ready for more.
"We saw the grand stand show and the fireworks. Well, it's a pretty
good grand stand show this year; but you've seen it, so what's the use
spielin' about it? I'm glad I got off to go with the bunch, for I
cert'nly had one swell time."