A Son of the City

ore the clamor awakened the other members of the household. Then he lay back and listened breathlessly for parental

acks a mile to the south, a train rumbled somnolently towards the park terminal, and under the eaves of the house, just above his room, two sparrows squabble

t, a faint streak of light brought the tree tops of the park into indistinct relief, and to the north a thin line of smoke fl

sdained as unnecessary impediments on a fishing trip. Then with a final glance from the window at the fast-graying sky, he reached behind the b

shifted his weight again and again from one foot to the other. On the firs

oh

ns had been spoiled. Why hadn't he walked along the end of the steps as bitter

at are yo

big south room followed, in which his f

e, you're imag

nd he was looking at the DuPree's weather vane when he wa

n, yet he dared not stir. Were his parents asleep? Or was Mrs. Fletcher waiting merely until some tell-tale noise enabled h

acks and enabled the seeker after forbidden pleasures to

gas log a package of sandwiches, surreptitiously assembled after supper the night before. Then with both hands grasping the doorknob firmly, he strained upwa

on the screen door, and fumbled in his pockets. Sinkers, spare hooks, a line with a nail at one end on which to string possible

g easily to and fro in one hand and a noiseless whistle of exultation coming from half-parted lips which became more and more audible as his rapidly echoing footsteps increased the distance from home. For he had made good his escape, the strange fragrance of the cool, ear

nd tiptoed gently over the struggling grass on the narrow sidelawn. For it was here that the Silvey family lived, and if Bill were his boon companion with tastes akin to his,

ent, and gazed expectantly upward. Nothing happened. Again a jerk, given this time with a certain vindictive delight.

ll my big toe

. "Got the wor

e folks. The can's on the back steps. Ain't many worms though. I hunted un

isparagingly as Silvey joined him

spered, "that al

m yesterday left on the pier. Or we can cut up the first

unkempt buildings of the neighborhood dairy, over the small bit of pasturage where the master thereof kept a dozen cows that his customers

idge first," said Silvey when t

iad of insects from their shelters as the pair brushed aside protruding shrubbery and brought a chorus o

the stone buttresses of the wooden planked bridg

Sil. My heel's f

oes of the park museum, once a member of an exposition whose glories are almost forgotten, which now veiled its need of repair in the kindly dawn and formed a symphony in gray with the willow-studded, low-lying lagoon banks. The air throbbed with the su

peachy?" breathed

e lesser spectacle of the robin. "Don't you w

g, dark pier came in sight. At the land end, John stooped to pick up a few sun-dried minnows wh

med in disgust, as he th

co-tin which contained at least a dozen samples of the squirming b

ched in a huddled, lonely heap at the end of the pier, in a manner which seem

ere all night again. Wonde

ude of throwlines and poles, John lean

g of perch which floated to and fro with

a sharp, hissing breath from between thick, distorted lips

Brings bad luck to everyone 'cept himself, he does. I tried it one morn

ally as they moved over to

And look at that," as a shining, squirming object rose unwillingly from the water. "I'll

tive glance at the poor, misshapen being, and

ted, as he reache

e as they waited for the first hint as to the morning's luck. Possibly a quarter of an hour elapsed before Silvey's ligh

r that honor was ever a point of spirite

ked John b

"Hard? Goll-e-e-e, yes. Didn't you see him?

to shake ever so slightly an

eried Silv

autiously without taking his

mself and yanked a luckless perch high in the air. As it cam

fish stringer, and the unfortunate minnow, firmly tied by the gills, was lowered slowly i

over and looked down from an angle which only a small boy could maintai

ondescript rods. Beside Bill, a phlegmatic Scandinavian puffed morosely at an empty pipe. Just beyond, a fat negress shifted her bulk from time to time as she baited the hooks on one of her husband's numerous fishing outfits. Farther landward, a mixed throng-nattily clad business men wh

, fast-widening, crescent sliver of the sun appeared on the horizon and painted a long golden

the water and examined the

lated. "I'm going down the pier and se

d and stretched out on the rough boards to look lazily up at the clear sky. It wasn't half bad after all, even if the fish weren't biting. There was something in this getti

graceful, white-hulled gasoline cruiser which chugged its way up from the south. Presently Silvey returned to break

em on?" he asked as

nno

y a coupl

er nails and rebaited, only to find that the sun-parched flesh so

me fresh ones!

ad gone the way of many another that had purchased peppermints at the school store. John surrendered a penny that had been

ied with the desired bait. Silvey stood up and jingled the two

would sell some. Ho

onsidering the amount sufficient for t

o cents?" he sneered. "Naw! Won'

ner, who was with the pa

. What's t

n't got money enough to buy

hich held a miscellaneous assemblage of bait, throwlines, newspa

boy," h

the two coppe

ignant glance at the imperturbable fis

nd dropped anchor. Two of her crew appeared presently in swimming suits and dove overboard for a morning plunge. From her diminutive, weathe

k at the sandwich

sional eye to the fishing poles, munched the uncouth slabs of bread and

don't you wish you had a boat like t

rdays. We'd get up when we liked and fish when we liked, and loaf around all day. If money ran out, we'd find a place where there wasn't any bridge, and ferry people across the river for a nickel or a dime, or whatever they charge down there. May

buy 'em in the first place?

d folks are down there, and how they won't allow a stranger to go hungry, not even if they have to give him their last hunk of cornbread. So if ferrying didn't pay, all we'd have to do woul

e glories of the daydream which John'

long. And when we arrived, they'd put our pictures in the newspapers, with a big lot of print after them, just the way they do when someone comes to town here who's done something. We'd win a lot o

gaze roam dreamily around until it lighted upon an excite

. Come on quick!" Such alluring pos

in the inner line of the circle. A carp of a size sufficient to excite the envy of the neighboring fishermen lay with laboring gills upon the wate

the proud captor. "Says I to myself when he

s chum with the i

sh we could catch

ade the inev

n't you,

mouth, and tied it in a secure double knot that there might be no danger of an escape. As the rebellious captive w

tch him on?" J

ter

s like that bi

ured that suc

e summoned courage for his request. "Give me a hunk, will you?

musement as he opened a deep cigar b

t far out to the very limit of the ten cents' worth of fishing line on his reel and sat, tensely hopefu

xclaimed in di

grew taut and rose more and more from the water as an unseen something made a frightened break for

tened by the weight and res

southerner who had given the minnows sprang forward with a shout of "Pl

his heart in his mouth

ward, then, alarmed by the shoaling water, sped back, close by the pier, for the open l

take in slack," sho

asted the delight of being the cynosure of the eyes of a rapidly increasing crowd. The man with the potatoes had forced his way to the pier's edge and gave advice with an almost proprietary manner. The fat negress' husband, ro

ed Silvey,

e an alligator fish," vo

?" asked the man of that bait proudly.

e a sudden frightened dash for liberty, John d

the southerner. "Land him in

handle, lacked an easy two feet of the water,

inally. "I'll shove under

wire rim of the net, first the staring, goggle eyes, then the slowly labo

uted the s

he light hook tore through the soft-fleshed mouth, and the carp, rebounding from th

ejaculat

narled, and as the throng returned to their own poles, he picked at t

been-a march down the home street with such a captive. How Sid DuPree and the Harris

ain," he suggested,

ed German rose from his seat beside the hunchback, stretched the stiffness from his arms, and unjointed h

ime, ain't i

lake shore, the sun's rays became oppressive with heat. The air had lost the cool, fresh fragrance of early morning, and hinted of soot-producing factories and unsavory slaughter hous

entrance to the park, Silvey looked down and viewe

said shamefacedly. "Thr

into the air and regarded it gl

me the back way,

heir route when a fishing trip had been unsuccessful, fo

breathed John, half to himself, as he reviewed

though!" echoed B

ent walk for the little footpath which led across the corner vac

ng to say to

ers. "Don't know. What y

to planning t