"Well, what you doing?"
"I"m lost."
The man laughed. He clapped the boy on the back. "Don"t you be afraid," said he, sincerely hearty. "I"ll take you home. You know me, don"t you?"
"Not your name."
"Anyhow, you remember me, don"t you? You"ve seen me before?"
"Yes, sir."
"Well, my name"s Jim Millette. I"m an acrobat. And I know you. Why, sure! I remember when you was born. Me and your mother is old friends. Soon as I seen you I knew who you was. "By gad!" says I, "if that ain"t Millie Slade"s kid!" How is she, anyhow?"
"She"s very well."
"Working?"
"No," the boy answered, gravely; "my mother does not work."
The man whistled.
"I am living with Mr. Fithian, the curate," said the boy, with a sigh.
"So my mother is having--a very good--time."
"She must be lonely."
The boy shook his head. "Oh, no!" said he. "She is much happier--without me."
"She"s _what_?"
"Happier," the boy repeated, "without me. If she were not," he added, "I would not live with the curate."
The man laughed. It was in pity--not in merriment. "Well, say," he said, "when you see your mother, you tell her you met Jim Millette on the street. Will you? You tell her Jim"s been--married. She"ll understand. And I guess she"ll be glad to know it. And, say, I guess she"ll wonder who it"s to. You tell her it"s the little blonde of the Flying Tounsons. She"ll know I ain"t losing anything, anyhow, by standing in with that troupe. Tell her it"s all right. You just tell her I said that everything was all right. Will you?"
"Yes, sir."
"You ain"t never been to a show, have you?" the man continued. "I thought not. Well, say, you come along with me. It ain"t late. We"ll see the after-piece at the Burlesque. I"ll take you in."
"I think," said the boy, "I had better not."
"Aw, come on!" the acrobat urged.
"I"m awful glad to see you, d.i.c.k," he added, putting his arm around the boy, of kind impulse; "and I"d like to give you a good time--for Millie"s sake."
The boy was still doubtful. "I had better go home," he said.
"Oh, now, don"t you be afraid of me, d.i.c.k. I"ll take you home after the show. We got lots of time. Aw, come on!"
It occurred to the boy that Providence had ordered events in answer to his prayer.
"Thank you," he said.
"You"ll have a good time," the acrobat promised. "They say Flannigan"s got a good show."
They made their way to the Burlesque. Flannigan"s Forty Flirts there held the boards. "Girls! Just Girls! Gra.s.s Widows and Merry Maids!
No Nonsense About "Em! Just Girls! Girls!" The foul and tawdry aspect of the entrance oppressed the child. He felt some tragic foreboding....
Within it was dark to the boy"s eyes. The air was hot and foul--stagnant, exhausted: the stale exhalation of a mult.i.tude of lungs which vice was rotting; tasting of their very putridity. A mist of tobacco smoke filled the place--was still rising in bitter, stifling clouds. There was a nauseating smell of beer and sweat and disinfectants. The boy"s foot felt the unspeakable slime of the floor: he tingled with disgust.
An ill.u.s.trated song was in listless progress. The light, reflected from the screen, revealed a throng of repulsive faces, stretching, row upon row, into the darkness of the rear, into the shadows of the roof--sickly and pimpled and bloated flesh: vicious faces, hopeless, vacuous, diseased. And these were the faces that leered and writhed in the boy"s dreams of h.e.l.l. Here, present and tangible, were gathered all his terrors. He was in the very midst of sin.
The song was ended. The footlights flashed high. There was a burst of blatant music--a blare: unfeeling and discordant. It grated agonizingly. The boy"s sensitive ear rebelled. He shuddered....
Screen and curtain disappeared. In the brilliant light beyond, a group of brazen women began to cavort and sing. Their voices were harsh and out of tune. At once the faces in the shadow started into eager interest--the eyes flashing, with some strangely evil pa.s.sion, unknown to the child, but acutely felt.... There was a shrill shout of welcome--raised by the women, without feeling. Down the stage, her person exposed, bare-armed, throwing shameless glances, courting the sensual stare, grinning as though in joyous sympathy with the evil of the place, came a woman with blinding blonde hair.
It was the boy"s mother.
"Millie!" the acrobat e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed.
The boy had not moved. He was staring at the woman on the stage. A flush of shame, swiftly departing, had left his face white. Presently he trembled. His lips twitched--his head drooped. The man laid a comforting hand on his knee. A tear splashed upon it.
"I didn"t know she was here, d.i.c.k!" the acrobat whispered. "It"s a shame. But I didn"t know. And I--I"m--sorry!"
The boy looked up. He called a smile to his face. It was a brave pretense. But his face was still wan.
"I think I"d like to go home," he answered, weakly. "It"s--time--for tea."
"Don"t feel bad, d.i.c.k! It"s all right. _She"s_ all right."
"If you please," said the boy, still resolutely pretending ignorance, "I think I"d like to go--now."
The acrobat waited for a blast of harsh music to subside. The boy"s mother began to sing--a voice trivially engaged: raised beyond its strength. A spasm of distress contorted the boy"s face.
"Brace up, d.i.c.k!" the man whispered. "Don"t take it so hard."
"If you please," the boy protested, "I"ll be late for tea if I don"t go now."
The acrobat took his hand--guided him, stumbling, up the aisle: led him into the fresh air, the cool, clean sunlight, of the street.... There had been sudden confusion on the stage. The curtain had fallen with a rush. But it was now lifted, again, and the dismal entertainment was once more in noisy course.
It was now late in the afternoon. The pavement was thronged. Dazed by agony, blinded by the bright light of day, the boy was roughly jostled.
The acrobat drew him into an eddy of the stream. There the child offered his hand--and looked up with a dogged little smile.
"Good-bye," he said. "Thank you."
The acrobat caught the hand in a warm clasp. "You don"t know your way home, do you?" he asked.