Kew Forest School - Blotter Yearbook (Forest Hills, NY)

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THE BLOTTER netting and licked five dirty fingers with a sobbing whine. Why'd you do that? whispered the little boy as the cage swung back to land so silently. Gawd, kid, we can't keep all de muts we get. After two weeks we gotta dunk 'em in de river an' dey don't give no more worry. The little boy's fingers twisted into the brown dog's fur and held it tightly. Two dollars! The week that followed was a night' mare. The little boy's eyes grew dis' tended, for he was always opening them so wide to see if he would not awake. Between his visits to his small friend, he opened car doors, carried bundles, or maybe bags, hoping for nickels and dimes. Two dollars. He must get two dollars. But people, bent against the cold wind, hurried on unheeding. Two dolf lars! He had fifteen cents. Then came a lovely day when the sun was warm and the sky was blue. This day was followed by more such days and nights. When the little boy paid his nightly visit to the pound fthe truant off ficer barred the dayj he no longer shiver' ed so much. People heeded him and smiled as he opened their car doors or carried their bags. They made cheery remarks about the ground hog and his big mistake, the unusual February weathf er, and they gave him dimes more often than nickels. As day followed sunny day and the second week rolled to a close, nickels and dimes multiplied. Thirty, fortyffive, fifty, seventyffive, a dollar five! But time was growing short. With the courage of desperation, the little boy sold papers even in his own neighborhood, regard' less of truant officers and teachers. Nightly he approached the pound with choking heart. Would he see his dog pressing against the wire, waiting, wel' coming? They hadn't taken him yet. When the two weeks were sped, he did not have enough. He knew they filled the great cage every day at noon. He knew he had 'till noon, to free his small friend of the lumpy nose, the strange whiskers, and the gentlemanly heart. When the sun was rising high, the little boy learned that Madame Moon, who had watched his nightly visits, had pitied him, and had dropped herself to the sidewalk, still gleaming and silver, as a bright metal dollar. He picked it up. A dollar. Written right on its gleaming surface were the words One Dollar . It meant that he had enough! He could get a license. He could get his dog! It was not yet noon, not yet. Clenching his list over the money, he raced through the crowds. A hand seized him. Well, if it ain't my li'l' brother, my darlin' brother! The little boy could smell Benny's vile hairtonic. What's ya hurry, Kid? Lemme go, Ben, aw, lemme go! l gotta git there afore noon. Gee, ya date must be heavy, Kid- Don't ya twist like that or I'11 sock ya one. What ya got in ya mit? ' 'LNot'in', Bennylflsemme go, Ben, lemme go. It's so lateif' Not'in', eh? The kaleidescope of Benny's striped and dotted clothing whirled before the little boy's eyes as he felt the pain in his twisted arm, felt his hand opened and heard the rain of money on the sidewalk. 'LNot'in', eh? Benny's voice rasped. 'LBeen breakin' banks, ya fool? Well, so much dough ain't good fer a kid.fI'll take de cartwheel, Kid, as taxes. The

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THE BLOTTER yond memory. The little boy whistled, and the noise of many cars swallowed the piping sound. The little boy called and called and a look of terror filled his eyes. He ran through the streets where he and the small dog walked. He searched the park where he and the small dog played. He did not look at home. It was supperftime when he mounted the steps and entered the flat. Rosie was painting her face at the mirror above the sink. Pop and Benny were sprawled on the bed, snoring, and children sat on the greasy floor. Ivlom had a puffy child on her arm, and a whiney child dragging at her skirts. She glanced at him and did not see that he was trembling, that his eyes gleamed under his tangled black hair. He's gone, said the little boy in a low voice, he's gone. ul got nothing for ya supper but soup, said Mom, shifting the baby. Mom, he's gone. What kin I do? Who's gone?l' 'LMe dog, Mom. What kin I do? MI dunno, said Mom in a dull voice. Don't wake ye Pa. 'fGood riddancef' said Rosie. The little boy looked at Mom, and he looked at Rosie. Then he slipped out and walked up and down the cold streets, calling- calling. Finally he asked the policeman if he had seen a brown dog with brown eyes. MSO ya lost ya mut, eh? Have a license, Kid? Well, then he's probably in the pound, Yeah, down by the river about ten blocks. Filled with wild hope, the little boy raced through the streets, along the dark river front, up an alley. There it was, a great wirefenclosed yard and in it were dogs and dogs. Breathless, the little boy sank down and pressed his face against the wire and called and whistled and called. There was a stir and a rush. A small brown dog dashed itself against his face and big clumsy paws patted wildly against the wire and the crying of a small brown dog sounded strangely human. Through the dimness gleamed the wistful eyes of watching dogs. The little boy sat down with his back to the February wind and drew a long breath that quivered and broke. A nose with peculiar whisk' ers was pushing itself through the wire that muzzled it too tightly for more than the very tip of a pink tongue to escape. Even though he went home very late, creeping into bed without a sound, he awoke early. There were men about the pound when the little boy arrived with half of his breakfast bundled in a news' paper. Edging his way timidly into the office, the little boy asked the pudgy man at the desk if he could have his dog. Got a license? The pudgy man had vacant eyes. A-a-No, I got noAlicense. us Can't have a dog 'thout a license. Then gimme one-please. at Two dollars, said the pudgy man. The little boy gasped. Two dollars! He walked slowly out to the yard. Two dolf lars! He laid his cheek against a cold, black button that wiggled through the wire. Two dollars! He could never get two dollars. There was a sudden creaking, a stOrm of wild, pleading cries. A great wire cage, full of tangled fur, and crying, was swinging out over the water at the end of a crane. For a moment it hung sus' pended, then dropped. The river swalf lowed the voices and in silence a small brown dog pressed trembling against the 26

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THE BLOTTER silver dollar was gone with Benny into the crowd. With trembling hands the little boy picked up the nickels and dimes. Hold' ing them, he stood very still, a dazed look on his face. The tide of people split about him. The sun rose higher, yet he stood, motionless. A tanned young man with a valise passed him, looked back at him, stopped, then walked to his side. What's edgin' ya teeth, li'l' fella? His blue eyes were very kindly. Spit it out, suh! Tell yo' Uncle Harry! Benny took my dollar,-an' if I don't get a license before noon, my dog'll be killed. The little boy's voice was tone' less. Well, sonny, if yo' ain't jes' the boy I'm looking fo'! Yo' see I gotta have mah bag carried to yondah subway in a big hurry, the glanced at his watch, an' whoevah does it gets one dollar. The little boy took one look into the keen face above him, seized the bag, and folf lowed the man. Through the crowd they raced. At the subway entrance the young man grabbed his bag, pushed the dollar into a grimy little paw and said, Now run for it, sonny! The little boy ran. His small body twisted in and out among the throng. He heard neither the flapfflap of his loggy shoes, nor the tearing of his heart, nor the beating in his ears. He did not notice that the sun had lost itself in a troop of clouds that came riding out of the west on a bitter wind. Now the river lay like a strip of lead before him. One more block, just one-one! Then he saw it, that great cage of death swinging out! Wait,-wait, he screamed. I got it, mister-wait--he's brown, with brown eyes-gee-big ones- As the cage dropped, the wave of tearing cries Hlled the little boy's memory and echoed through the stillness that followed. Wait-don't- His voice was a whisper. He can't swim! There were big dogs and little dogs in the pen, but no small dog that patted the wire with clumsy paws. Many brown eyes watched the little boy who crouch- ed close to the netting. But the real big ones shining through a fuzz of peculiar whiskers could not see how very, very still the little boy was, could not see that he did not stir when the bitter winds blew the dollar bill from his fingers and bore it away on its hollow breath. Win' ter had returned. LAUROSE Sci-1ULzEfBERGE, H. S. IV.