Part 76

"Come on, Alexia," said Jasper. "I shall have to walk with you to keep you in order," and the gay procession hurrying after old Mr. King and Polly, caught up with them turning out of the big stone gateway.

And then, what a merry walk they had to the car! and that being nearly full, they had to wait for the next one, which luckily had only three passengers; and Mr. King and his party clambered on, to ride down through the poor quarters of the town, to the Corcoran house.

"Oh, misery me!" exclaimed Alexia, looking out at the tumble-down tenements, and garbage heaps up to the very doors. "Where are we going?"

"Did you suppose Jim Corcoran lived in a palace?" asked Pickering lazily.

"Well, I didn't suppose anybody lived like that," said Alexia, wrinkling up her nose in scorn. "Dear me, look at all those children!"

"Interesting, aren't they?" said Pickering, with a pang for the swarm of ragged, dirty little creatures, but not showing it in the least on his impassive face.

"Oh, I don't want to see it," exclaimed Alexia, "and I'm not going to either," turning her back on it all.

"It goes on just the same," said Pickering.

"Then I am going to look." Alexia whirled around again, and gazed up and down the ugly thoroughfare, taking it all in.

"Ugh, how can you!" exclaimed Silvia Horne, in disgust. "I think it's very disagreeable to even know that such people live."

"Perhaps 'twould be better to kill 'em off," said Tom Beresford bluntly.

"Ugh, you dreadful boy!" cried Clem Forsythe.

"Who's fighting now with the new boy?" asked Alexia sweetly, tearing off her gaze from the street.

"Well, who wouldn't?" retorted Clem, "he's saying such perfectly terrible things."

Pickering Dodge gave a short laugh. "Beresford, you're in for it now," he said.

Tom shrugged his shoulders, and turned his back on them.

"What did you bring him home for, Joe?" asked Alexia, leaning over to twitch Joel's arm.

"To plague you, Alexia," said Joel, with a twinkle in his black eyes.

"Oh, he doesn't bother me," said Alexia serenely. "Clem is having all the trouble now. Well, we must put up with him, I suppose," she said with resignation.

"You don't need to," said Joel coolly, "you can let us alone, Alexia."

"But I don't want to let you alone," said Alexia; "that's all boys are good for, if they're in a party, to keep 'em stirred up. Goodness me, Mr. King and Polly are getting out!" as the car stopped, and Grandpapa led the way down the aisle.

When they arrived at the Corcoran house, which was achieved by dodging around groups of untidy women gossiping with their neighbors, and children playing on the dirty pavements, with the occasional detour caused by a heap of old tin cans, and other débris, Mr. King drew a long breath. "I don't know that I ought to have brought you young people down here. It didn't strike me so badly before."

"But it's no worse for us to see it than for the people to live here, father," said Jasper quickly.

"That's very true--but faugh!" and the old gentleman had great difficulty to contain himself. "Well, thank fortune, the Corcoran family are to move this week."

"Oh, Grandpapa," cried Polly, hopping up and down on the broken pavement, and "Oh, father!" from Jasper.

"Polly Pepper," exclaimed Alexia, twitching her away, "you came near stepping into that old mess of bones and things."

Polly didn't even glance at the garbage heap by the edge of the sidewalk, nor give it a thought. "Oh, how lovely, Alexia," she cried, "that they won't have but a day or two more here!"

"Well, we are going in," said Alexia, holding her tightly, "and I'm glad of it, Polly. Oh, misery me!" as they followed Mr. King into the poor little house that Jim the brakeman had called home.