OLD SLEUTH’S OWN.
No. 137. 10 CENTS.
NIMBLE IKE,
THE
Trick Ventriloquist.
A ROUSING TALE OF FUN AND FROLIC.
By OLD SLEUTH.
New York:
J. S. OGILVIE PUBLISHING COMPANY,
57 Rose Street.
NIMBLE IKE
THE
TRICK VENTRILOQUIST.
A Rousing Tale of Fun and Frolic.
By OLD SLEUTH.
Copyright, 1894, by Parlor Car Publishing Company.
All Rights Reserved.
NEW YORK:
J. S. OGILVIE PUBLISHING COMPANY,
57 Rose Street.
NIMBLE IKE
THE TRICK VENTRILOQUIST.
CHAPTER I.
“You have bags of gold, and do you refuse to give mejust a little?”
“Not one cent.”
“I helped you to earn that money.”
“Yes.”
“And you refuse to give me any, and you are goingaway?”
“I refuse to give you any and I am going away.”
The above dialogue occurred in a room on the top floorof a great tenement house, and a strangely picturesquescene was presented. An old man with frowzy hair, anddeep-set eyes illuminating a dark and wrinkled face, sat bya table. Opposite to the old man was a bright-faced ladof thirteen or fourteen. The furnishings of the room werereasonably comfortable and on the table burned a flickeringcandle. Indeed the whole scene was weird and strange inthe extreme.
The lad was kneeling on a stool and his elbows wereresting on the table, and there was a serious and earnestlook upon his bright face; and the shadow deepened whenthe old man repeated:
“Yes, I am going away and I refuse to give you anything.”
[6]
“Are you treating me right?” asked the lad, in a wistfultone of entreaty.
“Yes.”
“No, you are not. I have worked hard. I am penniless;I am but a boy, you are rich. You do not mean toleave me penniless?”
“All that you say is true. You did help me to earn themoney; you did serve me well; but I have repaid you infull. I owe you nothing.”
“How so?”
“You have been my pupil; you excel your master; youare the most wonderful trick ventriloquist in the world;you will have no trouble in earning money; you can makea fortune greater than mine; you were an apt pupil. Youhave