Felix O'Day

ios and battered furniture, "The Avenue," as its denizens always called Fourth A

ld man Heffern, his daughter Mary, and his boy Tom-had them in a paper bag, or on your plate, or into your pitcher before you could count your change. If it were a sirloin, or lamb-chops, or Philadelphia chickens, or a Cincinnati ham, fat Porterfield, watched over from her desk by fat Mrs. Porterfield, dumped them on a pair of glittering brass scales and sent t

big gas-jets, the joy of the children. A small fellow this Pestler, with a round head and up-brushed hair set on a

a week old and roses a day old, and who had the rare gift of so mixing the two vintages that hardly enough dead stock was left over fo

are store, full of nails and pocket-knives, and old Mr. Jacobs, the tailor, who sat cross-legged on a wide table in

e, and so are the row of musty, red-bricked houses at the lower end of this Little City in Itself. And so are the tenants of this musty old row, shady locksmiths with a tendency toward skeleton keys; ingenious upholsterers who indulged in paper-han

ld family life of "The Avenue," in which each home shared in the good-fellowship of the whole, all of them contributing to that s

t of date as most of his books; while overtopping all else in importance, so far as this story is concerned, was the shabby, old-fashioned two-story house known the town ov

out of the Cleary wagons. Indeed Otto Kling's confidence in Kitty-and Kitty was really the head of the concern-was so great that he always refu

iron shutters protecting Kling's side window, clean away the snow before his store, and lend a han

re the Irishman sat he found him conning the head-lines of the morning paper. That worthy man-of-all-work, never having laid eyes on him before, at once made a mental note of the intruder's well-cut English clothes, heavy walking-shoes, and short brier-wood pipe, and, concluding therefrom that he was a person of importance, stretched out his hand towa

se here last night,"

of supreme disgust at his mistake. "Oh, is it that? Somethin' ye

and Mr. Kling may have a great deal. I take it you are from the

hin reach of it. How t

rogue. How long have yo

ng on six now. How lo

pside down in search of the mark, and then, as if he had momentarily forgotten himself, answered slowly: "Oh, not long-a few month

Fellow come in here last week an

"These should be in a glass case or in the safe. They are old Spode and very rare. Ah, here is Mr. Kling! I have amused myself, sir, in looking over part of your stock. You seem to have underval

t tink dot ven

having met before. One might have supposed

up-stairs. Mike, you go up and ask my little girl Masie if she can find dot big tureen vich I bought fr

y su

o you

the

s it

ondon. If there were a full dozen they would bring a matter of

ered intently at the strang

g cups at present," he answered, with quiet

t on the table, backing away with the remark that he'd go now, Mrs. Cleary would

the old lady must have known better days and must have been terribly poo

?" The stranger had suddenly

thout a crack or blemish-yes, old Lowestoft-worth, I should say, ten or more pounds. They are

the value of curios at sight, and yet who had confessed the night before to being behind with his rent and anxious to sell his belongings to keep off the street. Then the dou

sharp, quick bark of a dog caused him to pause and raise his head. A white fox-terrier with a clothes-pin tail, two scissored ears, and two re

ied the child. "Come ba

twisting the dog's head so that he could look into his eyes. "Wanted to make a meal of me?-too bad. Your little daughter, of course, Mr. Kling? A very good breed

st of the men whom Fudge attacked either shrunk out

. Fudge was now routing his sharp nose und

glad you do-they are sometim

ke Fudge vid you and say 'Good morning' to Mrs. Cleary, and maybe dot fool dog of Bobby's be home." He stooped and kissed her, caressing her cheek wi

ttle daughter drove everything else out of my head. Let me

le. The back is a nondescript of something-I c

s it

except to

uckling laugh, his pudgy no

s; dey can do anyting. Nobody but you find dot out. I guess you know 'bout dot china-I must look into dot. Maybe some mens on Fifth Avenue buy dot china-dey never come in here because dey tink dey find only olt

h for a week, after

last night. It is all right-no breaks anyvere. And dot tventy-five only last you a

y meals, whenever my

an's robbin' you. Eight

I could do," he

s she gi

the morning, and my dinner-bo

as in here last night, after you left, looking for her man Mike. She take you for five dollars a veek, maybe, and you get good tings to eat and you get Kitty besides, and dot is vorth more as ten dollars. She lives across de street

far up on his forehead, only to readjust them again on his nose. He had begun to detect behind the fat, round face of

alk for a veek or two and let de dirt and rain get on 'em, den somebody come along and say: 'Dot is genuine. You can see right avay how olt dot is. Dot is because de bottom is out of de sofas, and de back of de behind of de sideboard is busted. So den I get fifty dollars more for repairin' my own furniture. Ain't dot funny? And ven I send it home dey say: 'Oh, ain't dot beautiful! You ought to have seen dot ven I bought it of old Kling! You vouldn't give two dollars for it.

nev

OT

er been in your

do you kn

but I have always e

f you did. Ven you get someting for nudding you know it-I do

he stranger, adjusting t

elluf. Take your pick for tventy-five cents each for de cups and saucers.' You see, I pay nudding and I get nudding. Dot give me an ide

aning me the twenty-five dollars on any other basis than t

t his hand into a side pocket, from which he drew a flat wal

ling you should keep it until I can either pay

er. She comes most every day. She only vants to look around. Such a lot of peoples only vants to lo

mper, his cap thrust so far back on his head th

t furrards or back. Them two weiss-beers ye got down-stairs can't lift noth

of the maligned-shuffled in from the rear of the stor

e of de mens come to me last week and he says: 'Mister Kling, come vid me and buy vot ve don't vant. De school is too small, and some of de children got no place to sit down in. Ve

voice had now reached the volume of a fog-horn. "What do ye take us fur out here-lobst

o a suffocating chuckle. "Dot's vot it is all day long-don't you yonder I go crazy? First it is side

cks," returned the bo

der got empty

ain't keepin' no house o' refuge nor no station parlor fer bums. Holy Moses! look at the guy

and turned to his visitor once more. "Dot boy make me deaf vid his no

y sell them? But that, of course, is not your point of view. I would send it back to the good father, if I were you, and have him put it behind the altar if he is ashamed to put it in front. Holy things belong to h

u are, you darlin' girl! You mind de store, Masie. Now you come vid