Torchy As A Pa

she sees another chance of extendin' the helpin' hand. I'll admit I wasn't quite so thrilled. You see, I'd been through all that with the Gummidg

West that the prospects of their ever gettin' back to New York was mighty slim. Maybe that was one reason I'd been so enthusiast

adds Vee, "so you can gue

has a perfectly punk janitor again and we'r

in as soon as I can pack a basket. They're sure to be hungry, so I'm going to put in a whole roasted chicken, and some jars of that strawberry jam Rowena likes so much, and heaps of bread a

I ain't got enough to fit out the whole Gummidge family, you

ill call for you about 5 o'clock an

"I'll try to hold mys

found a way. Hen. Gummidge never would, all by himself. About as helpless an old Stick-in-the-Mud, he was, as I'd, ev

ant whine. It was his motto, as you m

almost as long and sad as a cow's. Much too long for his body and legs as he was only medium height up as far as the chin. Kind of a stoop shouldered, holl

om the basement like some sad, flour-sprinkled ghost. And then before he'd roll off the ash cans he'd lean his elbows on the safety bar and stare mournful up and do

undred a month with time and a half overtime. That's what I set out to be when I started as wiper. Got to be fireman once, but on the second run we hit a weak rail and went into the ditch. Three busted ribs and my hospital expenses was all I pulled out of that wit

a bright yellow dog walkin' on his hind legs proud and wearin' a shiny collar. And then the dog would change into a bow-legged policeman swingin' a night-stick threatenin'. All of which a barber friend of Henry's told him meant trouble in

he crystal into the works. And six weeks later he'd carelessly rested a red hot clinker rake on his right foot and had seared off a couple of toes. But the climax came when he managed to bug the safety catch on the foolproof ash elevator and to

asn't. There was a Mrs. Gummidge, and Rowena, and Horatio, just as he'd described. And they was livin' in a back flat on a punk block over near the North river. Their four dar

way and was wadin' into 'em cheerful. Also she was singin' "When the Clouds Are Darkest," rubbin' out an accompaniment on the wash b

r. And when she wipes her hands and arms and camps down in a chair she seems to fill all one side of the room. E

at. And we're gettin' along, after a fashion. Course, we're behind on the rent, and we miss a meal now and then; but most folks eat too much anyway, and things are bound to come out all right in the end. There's Row

's only 15 and ought to be in school, but it seems he spends most of his time loafin' at home. They're a folksy fam'ly, I judge; the kind that can sit around and chat about nothing at all for hours at a time. Why, even the short while I was there, discoverin' how near they was to bein' put out on the street, they seemed to be havin' a whale

t day he finds a club friend who owns a row of apartment houses, among them the Patricia, where there's a janitor needed. And within a

, remembers all their birthdays, keeps 'em chirked up in various ways, shows Rowena how to do her hair so it won't look so sloppy, fits Horatio out so he can go back to school, and smooths over a row Pa Gummidge has managed to get into with

n is really quite remarkable. She can be cheerful an

," says I. "I expect s

school and was starting in at the state normal, intending to be a teacher, when she met Henry Gummidge and ran off and married him. He was nearly ten years older and was engineer in a large factory. But he lost that position soon after, and they began drifting around. Her father die

guess is that he'll never shake the jinx. He ain't the kind that does. He's headed down the chute, Henry is,

morning until about 8:30. He didn't keep the marble vestibule scrubbed the way he should, and so on. He had a lot of alibis, but mostly he complained that he was gettin' rheumatism from livin' in such damp quarters. If it hadn't been for Vee talkin' smooth

e track of each other for a good many years, but now brother Jim has a sudden rush of fraternal affection. He wants Henry and his family to come out and join him. He's lones

. "Where could I scrape up enough mon

like to go, d

like to see old Jim again. But Gosh! It would take more 'n a hundred dollars to

nced. I'll see what can be done." Meaning

. "And wouldn't that be

," says Mr. Robert. "If he'll

n the tickets was all bought and the time came to say good-bye to the Gummidges. As I remember,

s he, "perhaps the old mountain

," says I, "don't refuse. It might be just tin-horn a

Jim only keeps sheep," says he, "and I never did like mutton much, nohow. Ma

ayin' that it was lucky they got there just as they did for they found Brother Jim pretty sick. She was sure s

e or two other things to think of meanwhile. You know how easy it is to forget people like that, specially when you make up your mind that they're sort o

any wild, uncontrolled joy? I could see us goin' through the same old program with 'em; listenin' to Pa Gummidge whine about how

has a big suit case and a basket full of contributions. "What puzzle

Let's go on up and have it over wit

nto janitor's quarters as usual. But we're halted by a putty-faced Swede

nitor here long

"What about

new tenant on second floor, yes? Sublet, f

stares at Vee an

ean, nice?

Swede, soundin' the "v"

says Vee, "but I suppose we

suitcase in one hand and the basket in the ot

says the neat elevato

e same Mrs. Gummidge we'd known. She's about the same build, and she has the same number of chins. Also there's the old familiar chuckly laugh. But that's as far as it goes. This Mrs. Gummidge is attired-that's the proper word, I expect-in a black satin' evenin' dres

Gummidge!

" says she. "But wait 'till you've see

e? For instead of the big sloppy young female who used to slouch, gigglin' around the basement who should breeze in but a zippy young lady, a bit heavy about the shoulders mayb

sweater and a pair of baggy pants now sportin' a suit of young hick raiment that any shimmy hound on Times Square would have been glad to own. Slit pocket

in a frock coat and a fancy vest, with gold eyeglasses hung on him by a black ribbon. He's puffin' away at a Cassadora cigar that must hav

"what on earth has happene

ays Pa G

"I-I don't unde

You mean you struck a gu

d to did, though. Six hundred barrels per, and still spou

"Then you an

es! Just my luck to lose him. Only brother I ever had. But he's missin' a lot of trouble, at that. Having to eat wi

eople send him checks so often and he has to mail 'em to his bank. But his rheumatism's

. There wasn't an ounce of jo

e in a comfortable apartment, inste

dea Whitley's business was petering out. Well, it was, and he was glad enough to sub-let to Henry. Neve

for a while, until we find something decent up on Riverside Drive; one

glancin' doubtful a

beef big enough for a hotel, mushrooms raised under glass, an alligator pear salad, and hothouse strawber

r-French maids who tried to keep the Gummidges in

l the hand luggage. "Oh!" says she, eyeing the sui

a few things for a fam'ly th

id off a suppressed snicker. "Only think!"

says I. "I get