Rensselaer Journal, Volume 11, Number 40, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 13 March 1902 — CONDENSED STORIES. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

CONDENSED STORIES.

Lady Stanley and the Bootblack Who Wanted to Know. Lady Stanley—so much better known to her countless friends as Dolly Tennant— her marriage to Sir Henry Stanley devoted a. great deal of her time to art, and especially to an inimitable depicting of the small street arab, the lads and lassies of the ragamuffin order. For the purposes of these pictures ehe used to seek models in all grades of London and among her sitters was a little bootblack, who, ia addition to being her model, was also her humble but devoted admirer. , One afternoon she invited him and some half a dozen of her little friends to a grand tea party in Richmond terrace. The children gathered round the table, awe stricken at the lavish display of cakes and tarts and the subtle sweet creations of the pastry cook which the kindly hostess had provided, but it was noted that the bootblack was not absorbed in the ■contemplation of the good things, but kept his bright eyes fixed on the man servant, who, dressed in the *Tennant livery, ornamented with brass buttons, was attending to the wants of the small guests. The bootblack never took his eyes •off him, but watched him without a -wink till, in the course of his duties, the man withdrew from the room lor a moment. Then, edging up to lady Stanley, the bootblack in a confidently aside said: “Miss, what’s yer bruvver wear them buttons for?” The Judge Was Compassionate. A certain judge who once presided over a criminal court was famous «s one of the most compassionate men who ever sat upon the bench.

His softness of heart, however, did not prevent him from doing his <luty as a judge. A man who had been convicted of stealing a small amount was brought into court for sentence. He looked very sad and hopeless and the cqurt was much moved by his contrite appearance. “Have you ever been sentenced to imprisonment?” the judge asked. *‘Never, never!” exclaimed the prisoner, bursting into tears. “Don’t ory, don’t cry,” said the judge consolingly, “you’re going to be now!” —Chicago Chronicle.

"DON'T CRY," SAID THE JUDGE.