A Soldier under Garibaldi [pp. 179-190]

A Soldier Under Gari ~ldsI
A4 Soldier Under Garibaldi.
He made his appearance the first day
they moved into that highly desirable
four-roomed flat out on Laguna Street;
highly desirable because it combined
the three important considerations of
proximity to her school, cheapness, and
a sunny room for the old father. It is
scarcely necessary to mention that her
own room was small and dark and meager enough. They moved on a Saturday, so as to avoid any interference with
her school duties, and by ten o'clock
their small possessions, laden on one
capacious wagon, were being transferred
to the new abode.
"Man wants to see you in the back
yard!" shouted a roguish boy, as Agatha paid the expressman and made ready
to establish some order out of the chaos
attendant upon a change of a domicile.
The unsuspecting little housekeeper
opened the back door, and was dismayed
at the sight presented there. Lolling
against the high fence, hanging over it,
crowded in the rear gateway, scattered
about the narrow planked space, were
one - two - three - a dozen swarthy
fellows, of every degree of griminess and
disreputability, scowling fiercely at each
other, and breaking into a vicious chorus as they saw her, quite after the fashion in which hotel runners welcome
travelers at the Ferry.
"Me taky ashy fi' yea' lady what live
he'!"
"He lie! Me ashy man dis place sik
yea'!"
"Me come all time Sat'day, you pay
one dolla' mont!"
"No! You taka me. I cha'ge you
on'y half a dolla'!"
"He no good. He getta drunk! Taky
you ashy down pleece 6ote!"
These and many similar cries, interspersed with fearful sounding but meaningless foreign oaths and loud laughter,
greeted Miss Agatha as she opened her
door. In the midst of the turmoil she
discerned Guiseppe, tall, dignified, and
silent, leaning against the fence, watch
ing the scene with quiet amusement.
Miss Agatha saw that it was necessary
to arrive at some immediate decision to
get rid of the brigands about her, and
metaphorically speaking, fled to him as
to an ark of safety.
"0 dear me! You -you come and
get my ashes?-I don't care what you
ask- won't you? and do please send
these other men away."
Guiieppe gave one emphatic sweep of
his right arm, and the yard was cleared
as if by magic. He did not avail himself of the advantages of his position,
however, and Miss Agatha fared better
than she deserved after such an unbusiness-like proposition; for when Guiseppe learned that she cooked with a gas
stove, and had only the ashes from the
grate in the little parlor and the waste
from the table to be cleared away, he
volunteered to serve her at the lowest
rates offered by any of his compeers.
He did his work so thoroughly and neatly, -never by any chance leaving so
much as a crumb or cinder in the bottom
of the ash-can, and always taking pains
to gather up any papers or rags that had
been blown into the back yard or flung
down from the tenements above,- that
Miss Agatha had reason to bless the
day when she engaged him.
His sad face and dignified bearing
impressed her from the first, but it was
many weeks before she took occasion to
question him.
"Guiseppe, what were you before you
came to this country- at home - in
Italia?" she asked one day.
He put down the great empty can he
had brought into the yard, and touched
his tattered felt hat, putting his feet
together and giving his body a little
jerk, after the fashion of a stiff, old-time
military salute. Then he stood erect
before her, and his eyes blazed as some
old memory lit them like a spark.
"Madam, I will not deceive you. I
was soldier under Garibaldi," he said.
That was all his reply, but the recol
1889.]
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