ONLY A STREET WAIF
In the morning Dunston Porter left the hotel early, stating that he
would not return until lunch time. The boys and girls took their time
over their breakfast, and then started out for a tour of the big stores
located on State Street.
Two hours were spent in a way that pleased Laura and Jessie greatly. The
girls purchased several things, to be mailed to the folks left behind.
Then all walked around to the post-office, both to see the building and
to send the things away.
It was while the others were addressing their packages and also some
picture postcards, that Dave saw a sight that interested him greatly.
Near one of the doorways was a small and ragged newsboy with half a
dozen papers under his arm. An older youth had him by the shoulder and
was shaking him viciously.
"I say it was a five-dollar gold piece I gave you yesterday by mistake!"
the older boy was saying. "I want it back."
"No, it wasn't, mister," the boy answered. "It was a cent, nothing but a
cent."
"I know better, you little thief! Give me that gold piece, or I'll call
a policeman." And again the big youth shook the ragged newsboy, causing
the papers to fall to the sidewalk.
"Why, it's Link Merwell!" murmured Dave to himself, and he stepped in
the direction of the pair who were disputing. Merwell had his back to
Dave and did not see him.
"Are you going to give me my gold piece or not?" demanded Link Merwell,
and now he gave the newsboy such a twist of the shoulder that the ragged
lad cried out with pain.
"I don't know anything about your gold piece!" cried the boy for at
least the tenth time. "Let me go, please, mister! I ain't no thief!"
"I'll twist your little neck off for you!" muttered Merwell, and was on
the point of hitting the boy in the face when Dave stepped up behind him
and caught his arm.
"Don't you know better than to hit a little chap like this, Merwell?" he
demanded.
"Porter!" muttered the western youth, and his face took on a sour look.
"Say, this ain't none of your affair!" he burst out. "You keep your
hands off."
"Please don't let him hurt me!" pleaded the ragged newsboy. "I didn't do
wrong, mister. I ain't seen no gold piece. He gave me a cent yesterday
for a newspaper, that's all." And the boy looked imploringly at Dave.
"He's got a five-dollar gold piece of mine," cried Link Merwell. "I want
it. And what's more, Dave Porter, I want you to keep your nose out of my
business!" he added, fiercely.
"Merwell," answered Dave, as calmly as he could, "I have no desire to
interfere in your business. But I am not going to stand by and see you
abuse this boy, or anybody else. I know just the sort you are--a bully."
"Bah! Just because you had me expelled from Oak Hall you think you can
do anything, don't you? Well, just wait till you get out West, that's
all! I'll show you a thing or two you won't forget as long as you live!"
"Take care that you don't get the worst of it, Merwell. Now let that boy
go." And Dave came a step closer and clenched his fists.
"Going to help the rascal steal five dollars from me?"
"He says he knows nothing of your gold piece and he looks honest to me.
Why aren't you more careful of your money?"
"He's got my gold piece and I know it!" declared Link Merwell, loudly.
"If he don't pass it over, I'm going to have him arrested."
Quite a war of words followed, the loud talking attracting a crowd,
including Phil and Roger and the girls. The ragged newsboy broke down
completely and commenced to cry bitterly.
"This is a shame, Merwell," said the senator's son. "I think as Dave
does, that the newsboy is honest. If you are so hard up, I'll give you
five dollars out of my own pocket," and he produced a roll of bills.
"I don't want your money, Morr!" answered Merwell, in a rage. "I am
going to make this boy give me back my gold piece."
"Say, you," said a man who had listened to the talk for several minutes.
"When did you lose that five-dollar gold piece?"
"Yesterday morning," answered Link Merwell. "I bought a newspaper from
this boy and after a while I found out I had given him a five-dollar
piece in place of a cent."
"Did you buy any postage stamps about the same time?" went on the man.
"Why--er--yes, I did." Link Merwell gave a start. "Say, did----"
"You did," answered the man, with a sarcastic grin. "I'm the clerk at
that window and I'm just going to lunch," he explained to the crowd.
"You bought five two-cent stamps and threw down a nickel and what I
supposed were five pennies. When I looked at them I saw one was a
five-dollar gold piece. I tried to call you back, but you got out in
such a hurry I couldn't locate you. If you'll come back with me I'll
give you the gold piece in exchange for one cent."
"There you are, Merwell!" cried Dave. "Now you can see how you were
mistaken in this boy."
Link Merwell's face was a study. He felt his humiliation keenly, and it
is safe to say he would rather have lost his five dollars than have been
shown up in the wrong.
"All right, I'll go back and get my gold piece," he muttered.
"I think you owe the newsboy an apology," said Phil.
"Oh, you go to thunder!" snapped Merwell, and pushed out of the crowd as
fast as he could. Several followed him and saw him get his gold piece,
and they passed all sorts of uncomplimentary remarks on his actions.
The girls had become interested in the ragged newsboy, and after he had
picked up his newspapers, they took him to an out-of-the-way corner and
questioned him. He said his name was Charley Gamp and that he was alone
in the world.
"My mother died some years ago," he said. "I don't know where my father
is. He left us when I was a baby."
"And do you make your living selling newspapers?" asked Laura.
"Mostly, but sometimes I carry bundles and run on other errands,"
answered Charley Gamp.
"And where do you live?" questioned Jessie.
"Oh, I live with an old woman named Posey--that is, when I can pay for
my bed. When I haven't the price I go down to the docks and find a bed
among the boxes and things."
"You poor boy!" murmured Jessie, and something like tears came into her
eyes. She turned to Laura. "Can't we do something for him?"
"Perhaps," answered Laura. "At any rate, we can give him some money."
The boys came over, and all had a talk with Charley Gamp, who told much
about his former life, when his mother had been alive. Of his father he
knew little or nothing; excepting that he had not treated his mother
fairly according to the story told by some former neighbors.
"I wish we could get him some sort of regular employment and give him a
chance to go to school," said Dave. "Let us ask Uncle Dunston about it.
He knows quite a number of people in Chicago."
"If you want to do something for me, I'll tell you what," said Charley,
eagerly. "I need a new pair of shoes." And he looked down at his foot
coverings, which were full of holes.
"And I should say that you needed a new suit of clothes, too," said
Laura.
"And a new cap," added Jessie. "I'll get you the cap," she went on. "A
real nice one, too."
In spite of his rags and his dirty face and hands Charley Gamp had a
winning way about him, and the boys and girls easily induced him to
follow them to the hotel. Here they waited for the return of Dunston
Porter, and then asked what might be done with the waif.
"You'll have your hands full if you want to help every waif that comes
along," said Dave's uncle, with a smile. "Every big city has hundreds of
them."
"Well, we can't aid every one, but we do want to aid Charley," answered
Laura. And then she and the others told of what had occurred at the
post-office.
"I don't know exactly how much we can do," said Dunston Porter, slowly.
"I know a number of people here, it is true, but whether any of them
will want to bother with this lad is a question. However, after lunch
I'll look into the matter."
As the urchin was too dirty and ragged to eat in the hotel, he was given
a quarter of a dollar for his dinner and told to come back in half an
hour. This he did willingly, and a little later Mr. Porter, Dave, and
the two girls sallied forth to see what could be done for the homeless
boy.
The quest was more successful than they had anticipated. Mr. Porter knew
a certain Mr. Latham, who was in the wholesale fruit business, and this
gentleman agreed to give Charley Gamp a job, at two dollars a week and
his board. He was to live with a man who had charge of a warehouse where
fruit was unloaded, and was to be sent to night school.
This settled, the waif was fitted out with new clothing and other
things, and the boys and girls and Mr. Porter made up a purse for him of
twenty dollars.
"You had better put the money in a bank," said Dave. "Then you can use
it as you need it,--or put more to it."
"Twenty dollars!" gasped Charley Gamp, when he saw the money. "Wow! Say,
I'll be a millionaire before you know it, won't I?" And this remark
caused a laugh. He promised to put the money in a savings bank, where it
would draw interest, and said he would try his best to add to it from
his weekly wages.
"And will you go to school regularly?" asked Mr. Porter.
"Yes, sir, I'll give you my word," replied the street boy, promptly.
"And as soon as you learn to write, you must send us letters," put in
Jessie. "I shall wish to hear from you very much."
"I'll write, miss. I can write a little already--printing letters,"
answered Charley Gamp.
"Then here is my address," and Jessie handed over her card, and Laura
did the same. Mr. Latham promised to let Mr. Porter know how the boy got
along, and also promised to make some inquiries in the hope of locating
the lad's father. Charley Gamp was extremely grateful for all that had
been done for him, and when he parted from his new friends there were
tears in his eyes.
"My mother used to tell me there was angels," he said to Jessie and
Laura. "I didn't believe it much. But I do now, 'cause you're angels!"
And he nodded his head earnestly, to show that he meant what he said.
"And now, ho, for the boundless West!" cried Dave, when the party was on
its way to the depot. "Now for the plains and the mountains, the canyons
and the rivers, the cattle and the broncos, the campfires and the
cowboys, and the lasso and the rifle, the----"
"Hello, Dave is wound up!" interrupted the senator's son.
"Must have some of that ranch air in his lungs already," added Phil. "I
suppose the first thing you'll want to do will be to break in a bronco,
ride a couple of hundred miles, and lasso a couple of dozen buffaloes."
"Sure thing," answered Dave. "Then we'll build a roaring campfire, cook
a ten-pound bear steak and eat it, shoot half a dozen Apache Indians,
find a few fifteen-pound nuggets of gold, and--wake up and find the
mince pie you had for supper didn't agree with you." And this unexpected
ending brought forth a roar of laughter, in which even Mr. Porter
joined.
"You won't find it so exciting as all that at Star Ranch," said Laura,
after the others had quieted down. "But I think you'll be able to put in
the time doing one thing or another."
"I reckon we'll hunt up some excitement," said the senator's son. And
they did, as we shall speedily see.