0
BROWN'S THANKSGIVING
It Made. This Speculator Think Life
Worth the Living,
AN D TO A GAY TYPEWRITER GIRL
f .Brought Swest Peace from Out Life's
Dizzy Whirl.
GORGE CALDWEM
in of Gotham
town the moru be
fore TbiinkiKlvlng
From Hlep awoke, mo
nciiriy broke life
h n P n ! V ar.in ui
A; fori ""'. uvinn.
V- jits' tuis iuuu Iirown
llflil llCOII ll,n,.n
VJ down b jr Wall
itrwi'i fluctuations;
fcrwaRr 10 "su again seemed
rz jrt?- 10 nun men ucvona
mi calculations.
"Sly race Is run, I'm
unite undone "
liiotvn mused as lie win dressing;
"I never knew minus nitlte so blue uor cred
itor ho pressing.
And then lie took his poeketbook and count
ed up his money.
The dollars four, there no more, bo few
were they seemed funny.
It outdo IjIiii smile that little pile find then
ii.tf bines departed,
Tor Iirown had pluck, believed in luck for
othose not chicken-hearted.
And to Ills breakfast gully down went spec
ulator (ieorge Caldwell ltrown.
while he drank his entree hot to his hand a
note was brought,
And the writing on Its cover made him turn
It o'er uml o'er.
When at lust he broke Its seal Its contents
fairly made liliu reel;
Made the blood rush to his heod, for this
was what the letter said:
Hieorge Caldwell Iirown, Ksq.:
"Dear Hoy It gives me several kinds of Joy
To send a check inude out to you to pay the
hundred, long since due.
You kindly loaned when I was broke.
"Most sincerely. It. T. UHOAK."
A be picked his way down town, thus
muted Speculator Iirown:
"On the day before. Thanksgiving, life Is
always worth the living.
Every cloud lias Its silver lining; somewhere,
always, sun Is shining.
Now It really seems to me I should very
thankful be;
Yesterday the sky was murky; now I'm sure
to have my turkey.
THR DOLLAR POUR.
But holy Rinok"! As I'm n sinner, no one'
lisked me out to dinner.
Last Thanksgiving I'd u lot of bids to feed,
but luis year uol a soul, no fur, re
members inc.
Jlmluy ctlckeis! Well, we'll see."
Thinking lhn. Ilruwn stood before his six
teenth sto'v o'ilce door.
"Wouh' ur would It not affright her If I
nuked my young typewriter
How to work tills plan." thought Iirown, as
he went lied t 111 111 down.
And ns he rend his tellers o'er, ho thought
alwt;t bis plans the mure,
And as he tunui;lil he grt-w perplexed, until '
at last ale' thought Uln vexed.
"To-nu.i row's Thanksgiving," ventured she. I
"A day when all, 11 actus to me,
Should eat lots of turkey and pumpkin pie,
anil all sorts of Uxln's tliul money can
buy."
Thus unlekly to the girl's ' nmnze, rtrown
made reply In following phrase:
"And," lie went on, "1 have a plan, nud you
must help me If you can."
Then he told her how ilie borrowed money
cniuo. !
And how he sorrowed much before It came.
He said: "The landscape blue. It turned to '
riil ; i
It tilled my heart with thankfulness. It drove
away uiv wretchedness. I
lint," he continued, "then I thought of other
men dead broke.
I ought to see some other luckless sinners
furnished wllh Thanksgiving dluuers.
The mald"ii listened to his words. "You
want my help to buy the birds.
The ceery ami the pumpkin pies and other
thliiKS," she said, her eyes
Itent on the Moor. Then lie replied: "That's
It exactly: If you tried
You could not closer spenk my mlud.
And further. If you'll Im so kind
And help me nt the dinner, too,
I'll always grateful bo to you."
The uialdcu's cheek was Ilka a peach, and
as she listened to bis speech,
Into It crept a rosy pluk, so comely, that It
made him think: .
mm
TIIK niNNKIt.
"Well, 1 vow; In sll the city there Is no other
girl so pretty."
Bo to the market forth they went, on benev
olence lnte;lt.
Oil the way the girl observed: "Whero
will you have the dinner served?
If you hiv not g't nnuther place, I'm cer
ttilu Hun uiy mother
Would he huppy If you were to have It cook
ed uml seived by her."
"A fery good Idea, my child," said Spec
ulator Brown, and smiled.
"How mauy gnosis, then, will there bel
Have you unset! them yet?" said she,
"No, by gracious! 1 forgot. When we hats
tht dinner bought,
I'll Qui fellow out of work, ant bid them
li i ii ((Eh.
Ril5d IRkQ i i rJ U - r - . Sb ajm .4.
vmm lu v 1 "-n y&a uu vi.uu re fB&mmmiA
come and feed on turk."
So they planned and so they talked as to the
' market place they wulked.
At the market place their eyes filled with
wonder and surprise.
Food was there from all creation; food
enough for half a nation.
"Where does It come from?" Brown pro
pounded. Thus a market mun ex
pounded: "Should you usk me whence those turkeys,
Whence those birds of rounded plumpneas,
Stripped each one of ruby wattle,
Ktrlpped of all Its glorious feathers.
Drawn and ready for the oven.
There to bake and brown and sizzle
Till the cook, with wise decision, take It
front the torrid recess,
Ready for Thanksgiving dinners,
I should tell you, answer I Bhould:
From the plains of Illinois, from the hills
of rennsylvanla,
From the vales of Massachusetts, from New
York and fro.n New Jersey,
Where the farmers feed and feed moro.
All the summer, nil the autumn,
Till Thnuksglvlng Is nut fnr otf;
Then they send them to the city,
That New York may not bereft bo
Of the pleasures of the table."
"Thut's enough if rliymcless rhythm: send
two turkeys, and send with them "
Brown began, stopped, perplexed. Turning
to the girl: "What next?"
Then the maiden skillfully Oiled the order
out, and he paid the bill admiringly.
How Brown went out guests to Invite would
be too long n story quite.
But he scraped up half a dozen, and him
self, the maiden's cousin.
And her mother, all sat down ucxt day to
feast on turkeys brown.
Who was there? Isnlah Stout, who for six
weeks hud been out.
Next to him, contented, sat Candy Maker
Israel I'ratt.
With his wife, John Henry Stiles, employed
In good times making tlics.
Just across the groaning table sat tno boot
black, Hilly Cable.
At his right his face a-grlu, was the news
boy. Tommy yulnu.
Ne'er was dinner better cooked, never maid
en sweeter looked.
While the guests devoured and gorged, Cu
pid shackles ligl.ily forged.
Brown's heart was the heart they bound, as
he very quickly found.
And before the meal uus over. Brown was a
devoted lover.
When the guests had gone nway Brown ask
ed If he might longer stay,
And to the maiden, wltii tt Hush, he told a
tnle that made her blush.
"Won't you help me. If yon can, with this
better, sweeter plan?
Don't you see. a wife I need? Mast I with
you hopeless plead?"
Said the maiden: "Of the other plan 1 coun
selled with my mother.
If to this one she'll consent, to marry you
I'll be content."
Nothing more this scribbler tells; listen now
to wedding bells.
.-sra&ft?"
f I IIE night before Thanksgiving the
I city was ablaze with lights. The
-A. flrst snow bad fnileu and the air
Itself seemed light hearted. The massive
mansions Hint surround Gruinercy l'aik
were brightly lighted.
In nut tiled silence a ynung man cloak
lesi nnd glovcless hurried by the iron
bars 'hat fer.ee in the little acre of the
rich toward his lodging place.
Kor five years Jack Fleming had lived
nlone. No one knew very much about
hlni, except that he wns n thriftless, in
dolent genius. Wheu his father died the
fortune that might have rone to him had
endowed certain wealth" chnrilnble in
stitutions. His mother had died in his
Infancy, and Jack Fleming had grown up
with the servants and hit bocks for com
panions. He had never Keen enough cf
his father to love him. In his childhood
Jnct had hud one frieu', Dora Goldth
wait. She was a beTiitifu! girl, several
yenrs his junior, who 1:"J in the house
adjoining his father's, and every day one
or the other would climb the feme that
separated them and drop over into the
litile yard for a romp. Pora was proud
of her protector nnd pl.iyimito, for even
men jbck was run oi toog knowledge,
and Porn soon learned to love S'aakipcare
and Milton as read aloud by her hero.
Another great traiuplnit place for Ihe
little people was 'irnmeivv I 'nils, for both
houses (need the h.unWome playground
and Mr. tloldthwnlt and Jack's father
were among the favored rich who pos
sessed keys to the groat irou (ate that
-J!
shut out the children of the poor, who
often 'ined the iron fence nnd peered
wistfully between the burs at the smiling
lawn within.
The children were insepuruble until
Jack was 13 and Dora 12. Then Jack
went to college, but every holiday found
him nt home again, and often bonks went
by the board and Jnck came home on the
sly to see his little sweetheart. Of course,
on these occasions he was smuggled into
Dora's home, aud good cut it rod, easy-going
Mr. Goldthwait would have thoucht
it the basest treachery for any member
of his family to Inform his uext door
neighbor, Jack s father, that his son was
playing truant.
After three years at college Jack was
hopelessly behind in his studies, and his
father, still ignorant of the reason, called
him a blockhead. One day Jnck received
a tender, loving letter from Dora asking
u.m to come nonie nt once, as her father
had just received word from Englnnd
that he had fallen heir to a large property,
Including a theater in one of the large
cities, and the business of the latter was
MX!.-
sac
"IX THE I.ITTLB 11AOK YARD."
in urgent need of his immediate attention.
nil. . ,i , i , . . .
i no '.uiuny wouui san lor fjnginnd imme
diately, but Dora wanted Jack to go with
iiiem, ii ue couia. c tew Hours ntter
receiving the letter Jack stood in front
of the Goldthwait residence on Gramercy
Park. It was closed. No servant an
swered the bell, and Jack's heart fell like
loan. Again ue looked it the letter. It
was dated two days before nnd had been
delayed in the mniis. Ah home lie found
his father, but in a mood in which he had
uever soon him before.
"You young rascal!" he shouted, as
Tack entered. "So von have hent, nn;....
your time next door, instead of studying."
iw picu'iiag on tne pnrt or Jack could
induce the turbulent old man to tell
where the Goldthwait had gone.
"Never mind," thought Jack, "I will
hear from ber soon, nud then "
Hut no letter came. Weeks lengthened
into mouth nnd Jack grew tall nnd thin.
One day he went up to his college town!
and an Inquiry at the postonice elicited
the fact that several letters had come, up
to a mouth ago, but they had been for
warded to Gramercy I'ark.
That night father nnd aon faced each
other for the last time.
"Where are the letters Dora wrote to
me!" demanded Jack, as be leaned over
toward the old man. who stood smiling
sarcastically in hi face.
"I told you that If you refused to return
to college you would regret it," was the
reply.
Jack turned on hi hetl nnd passed ont
of the house.
lie found It a harder struggle than he
expected. Ilia iueouie Undiluted I-oin
ucxt to nothing to nothing itself. u0 be
came Urst , wanderer among apartments:
then jmotii- boa'ding houses, and it lust
an inhabitant of "fdrnuned rooms," who
ato nt cheap restaurant v, hen he could
cat nt all.
He had l;ved a week in a rear hall bed
room on Twenty-second trcct before he
discovered Ihnt Its windows were only
fepnritcl from those of his old home and
that of Dora, on Gramercy Park, bv the
brief New York back yards In which thev
nsed lo play together. The Goldthwai't
house was dark. It had been ever since
the day Dora left. Next to it, where his
father's mansion loomed up against the
tree beyond, light w?re often seen. 3ut
strangers occupied the familiar room.
On Thanksgiving Eve just five year
since he had left his old life behind him
jack went to his dingy little window to
gaze nt the two mansions. He shivered
with cold; but the blood rushed quickly to
his face when he saw the home of the girl
he still loved, brightly lighted up. For
an instnnt he stood still, n inn zed. Then
bo HOt llfllfn nil Ilia Ka.l (n l,ll- CV....1I..
ilownhearted nnd discouraged, he turned
to a great pile of manuscript and rubbish
on the floor, nnd picking a book from the
iiuiiucscripi mass ne turned over the
leave.
"Twelve plays out," he muttered to
himself; "tiveof them probably lost." Only
that :luv he bad gnnt hiu l,aat nn lnfuf
comedy to the new F.nglish actor who
iiuu uiioeu me tiny oeiore. as soon as it
was rehearsed (as he doubted not it would
be) he would send the others in rotation.
For months he hud expected success to
come with the dawn of every new day,
and to-night as he threw himself on his
bed, hungry and broken-hearted, he real
ized the mistake he had made in living in
a dream. He made linn resolutions to re
form, but ns his lingers clinched in tiew
boru resolve his eyes strayed ncross the
way uguin. For the second time that
evening his heart stood si ill. Behind the
soft lnce curtains of the Goldthwait man
sion shadows of people flitted to nnd fro.
The house was inhabited again but by
strangers, of course, be tnought.
Thanksgiving Day found Jack poorer
and hungrier than ho had ever been be,
fore in his life. For forty-eight hours he
bad not tasted food, but he determined to
breakfast in spite of the almost total
emptiness of his poeketbook. He turned
his fuce toward the low.-r portion of the
city, determined to accept whatever work
offered itself, but it was a holiday, and
nfler several hours spent in tramping the
quiet street Jack turned his face home
ward. As he trucged up Brondwny a
clatter on the stones behind attracted his
attention nnd a driverlejs cnb dashed in
to sight. An elderly mnn was gesticulat
ing wildly from the window. With a
bound Jack responded. In nnother mo
ment the ruuawuy horse stood panting in
the roadway, and Jack's sinewy hand
was ou the bit
"One dollnr to drive me up to Del
mnnico's," shouted the man.
"But your driver?" naltof! Toi,
"Drunk in a saloon," was the response.
Without nnother word Jack leaped up to
the cabby' seat nnd whipped up the
horse. It was the first time he had ever
earned a dollar hv mnn,i
he clinched his teeth firmly a flush raount-
iru m ins cueeKS.
When the once fnmillnr restaurant
came into sight Jnck thsught, with niois
lure in his eyes, of the many time he nnd
Dora had lunched in the grent diuing
room. As he reined up before it, hag
gard and mud bespattered, totally 'differ
ent from hi old self, ho started with
amazement. There, Btmidinj on the aide
walk was the nubject of his dream-not
tho Dora of old, with nhort frock and
curling hair strenming lu the wind, but
the beautiful woman into which the yeirs
had changed her.
For a moment Jack conld hardly re
strain himself from rushing forward and
declaring his identity. But a thought of
hi clothes and his work made him stop.
He became ns nuxion to hido his face as
he had been a moment before to tell his
name.
Dura and her father passed Into the
restaurant nnd Jack earned a second dol
lur by getting a new driver for his pas
senger's coupe. Ho passed nnd repassed
ILs restaurant In an uiisneceasful attempt
to get another glimpse of tho woman he
loved before ho even satisfied his hunger
It wn dark before he went bnck to his
little room nnd stationed himelf once
more at his window to gaze nt the lights
iu the Goldthwait mnusion. He wns filled
wlln n conflict of love aud pride. Hc had
no reason to belitvc that Dora hod no'
forgotten him, but his love for her was as
strong as ever. He longed lo go to her
hut the knowledge 0f his poverty nud
shabbiiiess kept bin he. U.
The window of Ihe rtcm old dining
room were bright with light and their
raiiwd enrtnin gave him clear Tiew of
lie place where bo and iv i .
Ml? rM
nanr happy Thankggi,in, " 1"? W
tether. He ,aw her BitHn.T''
Ule as of old. nuttin . i'L'.'S
letim"
,1 I"1
,,1,
ui on -he arrangement of 7,T. ,D"4
irs. He could see ho 'u
td evea younger aud nior. h::...?.11
ihe had that afternoon in w """N
ll It' 8
rrnna
Half an hour Dassn.i n-j ..
About
nme into the rootu-a tall
nan. Dorn seemed i ,... .""M
line
fb. n
.old dutie. for she hg 'eM
irm and seemed to pica witB !e M
ast he sat down. audZa t 'lj
jerson came u: it m. .
tow"'
niil'.s.
I of Hi
jftlili
plai
They at by the m4
he,,, si,: ....... utt
ie handsome Ht"'(!8,lI. '
;enmg intently. Occasionally jl "1
tee that Mr. !.,ld,i r Vack i
hit,
ige i
Dora wnnM I " . . .. . ' .8I,011e- Ts
Suddenly she iuiime.l !. cll "
, i--- "i iimu dot M,a
a tM
uu a uutterof
lscniit. 8
Lt the
ui'k on
"It'll
idgPt" '
iiiie. ii
lul bands, It iiniilili.i,,.,! i..i. ,
:hat he must be near her once morJm-1
A tviati.rifl vino n.... j
leflre
hD 1
ow. Clasping the strong. dry ,alk .'j
lear to his memory. Sofii. 1,0 .
1'hi
ho reached me little veranda llPl
that
...... ... uuiuiuniin mansion, d
aecring through the wiiwi, k. M
n't g
"Tim
; cm
ais eye on the face of Hie girl helolJ
oucu nun overcome as he saw again!
Ihe little details of the room which on
to.
aaa beeu so familiar to him. He bwl
his head. He pushed against the g! j
af tho swinpinir wimlmu 71
idolW
Ihe
. , ,. W1K.
jpenea a trine. Jack st.i-icii im..i, i.t.i.
ill tre
'Do
encd, but the air was stili outside, and thi
Inmates of the room had not notta
How he could hear Dora's voice. Itai!
'Now, Mr. Langdon, let nie read tied
max to you beforo diunor is antwnnad
Lnnxrdon was the mime nt tha pn.
latn
nib
ii
in
ftctor to whom Tnnlr tinit hmi! liio nl. ...
Inns
.- . ,...u ivu.uioiiuU
as Dora's sweet voice read on, Jack n
itab
I izea tnat it was his own comedy the
reading.
id
"Capital! Capital!" cr'ed Lancdoa.
ue.
I Jack was tilled with intense eidi
; ment. His hnnds were clinched,
j "Do you accept It?' asked Dora,
' nmphantly, of the actor.
icki
MS
"i ao, was tne reply, "it is the t
fdy that I have been waiting for."
"I will write him to.nieht. tWnNHtf
Inst c
ied
Dora. The beautiful girl sank back a
an
"DB SAT OS U1S BED AND TnOUOUT
her chnir and went oa: "And nol
will tell you a stoey that will explao I
why I was so anxious so have you oa
the play."
Jnck listened breathlessly.
"You sec," fhiil Darn," I usedtohwl
I friend here named Johu Fleming.
we went abroad I wrote to hiui, bat hi I
did not answer my letters. I lost siilt I
of him, but I di.i not lose my vrcii, w 1
rpfrfwd fnr ltini " I
"A splendid fellow," interrupted Mr-1
finlillhiv,!- I
"There never was one like liim," a!i I
Dorn. Then she went on: "Well, Wl
we reached New York last week fall"
and I began to look him u; nnd wefoj
iu tho first place that the reason beta'
nnt nnipur,,,! iv luftoPQ CT.1S heCntiSeDil
father, who was nngry at both of us, hi
intercepted them; in the second piw
that father and son were never reconoM
nnd thfil the nlil irenlleMinn disinhm
Jack when ho died, nnd in the third pM I
that Tack had been ever since taw I
,.,': n i;,.tnn n nf r.temrv workt"!
trying to get somo one to produc to I
play. I
"Wo finnllv eat track of him this
lng, and this morning also I saw the a
uscrlpt of this play lying ou the tJ
where you bad left It when you broofj
if n i,. Tim words "
John Fleming' caught my n"6"1'?1 ! I
once, and I picked It tip nnd read it. I
- i 4 ni I made 11
bccuicu ui iiiu au oii.i.ih" j I, IwiA
my ruind thnt you shouldn't send it
without reading It, o I read It lo J"
myself. And now I shall seud for JJ
tu-uiuiTuiv, uuu woeii i-? 1.."-- -
linn n.n, tn him And and I
.1 ...I. .A nnmiil
1 I
news for Jack Is is good news fjf
for me, you see. So I am very baPPJ-
Thero was n noise of an opening
ilow. itid .Inelr wild eved aud uukemU
but Tjry joyful, stepped In. For
, 1 .11,1 .. .. , MAMn,nt40 hilS. OH1
till 11 k LUC UIU UUI 1 1. 1', " 1
when iIiav J1 J
"Well." said Mr. Langdon, "this cllra
U.... - A I. I I.. 1nW'
"Yes." added Mr. Goldthwait, M
t. ,it,i r.nA k..n.Mr. ii will he folio"
by a real Thanksgiving dinner."-!
York Pro?.
"Glvo Mo the Wishbone.'
in
'En
ui i