"give me a flounder, johnny?" said a little girl of eleven, dressed in coarse and ragged garments, as she stooped down and looked into the basket of the dirty young fisherman, who sat with his legs hanging over the edge of the pier.
"i'll bet i won't," replied johnny, gruffly, as he drew the basket out of the reach of the supplicant. "you needn't come round here tryin' to hook my fish."
"you hooked 'em," said another juvenile angler who sat on the capsill of the pier by johnny's side.
"who says i hooked 'em?" blustered johnny, whose little dirty paws involuntarily assumed the form of a pair of fists, scientifically disposed and ready to be the instruments of the owner's vengeance upon the traducer of his character.
"i say so," added tommy howard, who did not seem to be at all alarmed at the warlike attitude of his fellow-angler.
"say it again, and i'll smash your head," continued johnny, jumping up from his seat.
"didn't you hear me? once is enough."
tommy coolly hauled up a large flounder at that moment, and threw the fish into his basket. it was rather refreshing to see how regardless he was of that pair of menacing fists.
"jest you say that once more, and see what i'll do," persisted johnny.
"i won't do it."
"you dasn't say it again."
"perhaps i dasn't; at any rate, i shan't."
"do you mean to say i hooked them fish?" exclaimed johnny, desperately, for it seemed as though he must do something to vindicate his injured honor.
"that's just what i did say."
but tommy was so confoundedly cool that his fellow-angler had some doubts about the expediency of "pitching into him." probably a vision of defeat flashed through his excited brain and discretion seemed the better part of valor. yet he was not disposed to abandon his position, and advanced a pace or two toward his provoking companion; a movement which, to an unpracticed eye, would indicate a purpose to do something.
"don't fight, tommy," said the little ragged girl.
"i don't mean to fight, katy,"—johnny, at these words, assumed an artistic attitude, ready to strike the first blow,—"only if johnny hits me, i shall knock him into the middle of next week."
johnny did not strike. he was a prudent young man.
"don't fight, johnny," repeated the girl, turning to the excited aspirant for the honors of the ring.
"do you suppose i'll let him tell me i hooked them fish?" blustered johnny.
"he didn't mean anything."
"yes, i did," interposed tommy. "he caught 'em on a hook; so of course he hooked em. i hooked mine too."
"is that what you meant?" asked johnny, a broad grin overspreading his dirty face, and his fists suddenly expanding into dirty paws again.
"that's just what i meant; and your skull is as thick as a two-inch plank, or you would have seen what i meant."
"i see now."
johnny was not disposed to resent this last insinuation about the solidity of his cranium. he was evidently too glad to get out of the scrape without a broken head or a bloody nose. johnny was a bully, and he had a bully's reputation to maintain; but he never fought when the odds were against him; and he had a congressman's skill in backing out before the water got too hot. on the whole, he rather enjoyed the pun; and he had the condescension to laugh heartily, though somewhat unnaturally, at the jest.
"will you give me a flounder, tommy?" said the little ragged girl, as she glanced into his well-filled basket.
"what do you want of him, katy?" asked tommy turning round and gazing up into her sad, pale face.
katy hesitated; her bosom heaved, and her lips compressed, as though she feared to answer the question.
"to eat," she replied, at last, in a husky tone.
"what's the matter, katy?"
the face of the child seemed to wear a load of care and anxiety, and as the young fisherman gazed a tear started from her eye, and slid down her cheek. tommy's heart melted as he saw this exhibition of sorrow. he wondered what could ail her.
"my mother is sick," replied katy, dashing away the tell-tale tear.
"i know that; but what do you want of flounders?"
"we have nothing to eat now," said katy, bursting into tears. "mother has not been able to do any work for more than three months: and we haven't got any money now. it's all gone. i haven't had any breakfast to-day."
"take 'em all, katy!" exclaimed tommy, jumping up from his seat on the capsill of the pier. "how will you carry them? here, i will string 'em for you."
tommy was all energy now, and thrust his hands down into the depths of his pockets in search of a piece of twine. those repositories of small stores did not contain a string, however; but mixed up with a piece of cord, a slate pencil, an iron hinge, two marbles, a brass ring, and six inches of stovepipe chain, were two cents, which the owner thereof carefully picked out of the heap of miscellaneous articles and thrust them into the hand of katy.
"here, take them; and as you go by the grocery at the corner of the court, buy a two-cent roll," whispered he. "got a bit o' string, johnny?" he added aloud, as katy began to protest against taking the money.
"hain't got none; but i'll give you a piece of my fish line, if you want," replied the bully, who was now unusually obliging.
"there's a piece of spunyarn, that's just the thing i want;" and tommy ran half way up the pier to the bridge, picked up the line, and commenced stringing the flounders on it.
"i don't want them all, tommy; only give me two or three. i never shall forget you, tommy," said katy, her eyes suffused with tears of gratitude.
"i'm sorry things go so bad with you, katy, and i wish i could do something more for you."
"i don't want anything more. don't put any more on the string. there's six. we can't eat any more."
"well, then, i'll bring you some more to-morrow," replied tommy, as he handed her the string of fish. "stop a minute; here's a first-rate tom-cod; let me put him on;" and he took the string and added the fish to his gift.
"i never shall forget you, tommy; i shall only borrow the two cents; i will pay you again some time," said she, in a low tone, so that johnny could not hear her.
"never mind 'em, katy. don't go hungry again for a minute. come to me, and i'll help you to something or other."
"thank you, tommy;" and with a lighter heart than she had brought with her, she hastened up the pier, no doubt anticipating a rich feast from the string of fish.
the pier of the new south boston bridge was then, as now, a favorite resort for juvenile fishermen. flounders, tom-cod, and eels, to say nothing of an occasional sculpin, which boys still persist in calling "crahpies," or "crahooners," used to furnish abundant sport to a motley group of youngsters wherein the sons of merchants mingled democratically with the dirty, ragged children of the "ten-footers" in the vicinity. the pier was neutral ground, and frederic augustus made a friend of michael or dennis, and probably neither was much damaged by this free companionship; for michael or dennis often proves to be more of a gentleman in his rags and dirty face than frederic augustus in his broadcloth and white linen.
katy walked as fast as her little feet would carry her, till she came to a court leading out of essex street. the bells were ringing for one o'clock as she entered the grocery at the corner and purchased the two-cent roll which tommy howard's bounty enabled her to add to her feast. elated with the success of her mission, she quickened her pace up the court to a run, rushed into the house and up-stairs to her mother's room with as much enthusiasm as though she had found a bag of gold, instead of having obtained a very simple dinner.
"o, mother, i've got a lot of flounders and some bread for you!" exclaimed she, as she bolted into the room.
"then you have money," said a cold voice in the chamber; and katy perceived, standing near the bed on which her mother lay, a man who was no stranger to her.
it was dr. flynch; but let not my young reader make a mistake. he was no good samaritan, who had come to pour oil and wine into the wounds of the poor sick woman; not even a physician, who had come to give medicine for a fee, to restore her to health and strength. it is true he was called a doctor, and he had been a doctor, but he did not practice the healing art now. if he had failed to make a physician, it was not because his heart was so tender that he could not bear to look upon pain and suffering. he was the agent of mrs. gordon, a widow lady, who owned the house in which katy's mother lived. he collected her rents, and transacted all her business; and as far as dollars and cents were concerned, he had certainly been a faithful servant. dr. flynch was a prudent and discreet man, and did not hurt the feelings of the good lady who employed him by telling her about the difficulties he encountered in the discharge of his duty, or by describing the harsh and even cruel means to which he was sometimes obliged to resort, in order to obtain the rent of poor tenants.
"mrs. redburn," said dr. flynch, when he had heard the exclamation of katy, "you have told me a falsehood. you said you had no money, not a cent. where did you get that roll, child?"
"at the store at the corner of the court," replied katy, abashed by the cold dignity of the agent.
"precisely so, mrs. redburn; but you do not buy bread without money. you have attempted to deceive me. i have pitied you up to the present time, and indulged you in the non-payment of your rent for over a week i can do so no longer, for you have told me a falsehood."
"no, sir, i have not," pleaded the sick woman.
"your child buys bread."
"i did not give her the money."
"where did you get the money to buy that roll with?" demanded dr. flynch, turning sharply to katy.
"tommy howard gave it to me."
"who is tommy howard?"
"he lives on the other side of the court."
"very probable that a dirty, ragged boy gave her the money! this is another false-hood, mrs. redburn. i lament that a person in your situation should have no higher views of christian morality than to lie yourself, and teach your child to lie, which is much worse."
the poor woman burst into tears, and protested that she had told the truth, and nothing but the truth; declaring that katy was a good girl, that she had eaten nothing that day, and would not tell a lie. dr. flynch was a man of method, and when a tenant did not pay the rent, it was his purpose to get rid of that tenant in the quietest way possible. in the present case there was a difficulty, and public opinion would not justify him in turning a sick woman out of the house; but if she lied, had money concealed, and would not pay her rent, it would alter the matter. as he wished to believe this was the case, he had no difficulty in convincing himself, and thus quieting his poor apology for a conscience.
besides being a man of method, dr. flynch was a man of upright walk and conversation; at least, he passed for such with those who did not know anything about him. if mrs. gordon should happen to hear that he had turned out the sick woman, he could then inform her how feelingly he had pointed out to her the wickedness of her conduct, which he thought would sound exceedingly well.
"mrs. redburn," he continued, "i will give you till this time to-morrow to get out of the house; if you are not gone then, i shall be under the painful necessity of removing your goods into the street. good morning;" and dr. flynch turned upon his heel, and walked out of the room.
"my poor child! what will become of us?" sobbed the sick woman, as she grasped katy's hand, and pressed it to her bosom with convulsive energy.
"don't cry, mother; something can be done. i will go and see mrs. gordon, and beg her to let you stay here."
"you must not do that; dr. flynch told me, if i troubled her about the house, i should not stay in it another minute, even if i paid the rent."
"he is a bad man, mother; and i don't believe mrs. gordon knows what he does here."
"there is one thing more we can do, katy," continued mrs. redburn, wiping away her tears, and taking from under her pillow a heavy silver watch. "this was your father's; but we must sell it now. it is all we have left."
"i should hate to have that sold, mother."
"we must sell it, or pawn it."
"we will pawn it then."
"how shall we do it? i have not strength to rise, and they will cheat you if you offer it."
"i will tell you what i can do, mother; i will get simon sneed to go with me to the pawnbroker's shop. he is very kind to me, and i know he will. he comes home to dinner at two o-clock."
this plan was agreed to, and katy then went to work to clean and cook the flounders.
