by Al Lacy
Tharyn turned to Russell. “Thank you.”
“Glad to do it, Tharyn,” said Russell, warming her with a wide smile.
Dane could tell that Russell was quite taken with Tharyn—he could hardly keep his eyes off her.
He understood why. Tharyn was very pretty and had a captivating personality.
Tharyn looked back at her new cardboard bed, then set her gaze on Bessie and Melinda. “The only times I have ever slept outside was on the fire escape outside the window at the back of our apartment. This was in the summer, when the nights were hot. My mother would make soft pallets for each of us, and she, Daddy, and I would sleep there. At least there was usually a breeze and it was a little cooler than it was inside the apartment. I remember lying out there, looking up at the stars, and watching the moon sail across the dark sky. I wasn’t a bit afraid, since Mommy and Daddy were right there with me.”
Tharyn paused, looking around at the cardboard boxes. “But I have to admit, being right here in the alley like this is a little scary. I guess in time, I’ll get used to it. Right now, it’s all so new to me.”
“We understand completely, Tharyn,” said Melinda. “It was hard at first for every one of us, but after a while, we got used to it.”
Dane moved up beside Tharyn and put a comforting arm around her shoulders. “It’s only natural to be scared, little sis. I was pretty frightened myself when I left our apartment and went to the streets to find a place to live.”
Tharyn nodded. “I can imagine so. At least I already have you and these new friends to make me feel welcome.” She glanced at her box. “I think I’ll use a couple of my blankets from home. And if any of you can use the rest of the bedding I brought with me, you’re welcome to it.”
Ears perked up in the group. Tharyn took out all the blankets, and reserving two for herself, passed them around to eager hands.
At that point, Russell said, “Well, everybody, it’s time to get back to our street corner and do some more begging. Are you going to go with us, Tharyn?”
She smiled thinly. “I’m a little scared about that too, but Dane has told me all about it. I might as well get started right now.”
The sun was lowering in the western sky when the colony returned to their alley, sat in a circle, and counted the money they had garnered from begging that afternoon. Tharyn had taken in eighty cents, and everyone congratulated her. Dane explained that she did quite well for a half-day’s begging, which pleased her.
At that point, Billy Johnson turned to Dane. “Doc, we’d better have our Bible reading real quick, before it gets dark.”
Tharyn thought it was neat that all of the children in the group called Dane “Doc.” She watched as Dane hurried to his cardboard box, reached in, and took out his Bible. As he sat down beside her, he said, “I will explain all of this thoroughly later, little sis, but I came to know the Lord Jesus Christ as my Saviour a short time ago, and ever since then, I’ve been reading Scripture to my friends before dark every day. They have become interested in what the Bible has to say, and we always enjoy it.”
Tharyn nodded. “Sounds interesting to me too, Dane. I don’t know much about the Bible, but what I’ve heard about it has always made me want to learn more.”
Dane’s eyes lit up. “Swell!” As he opened the Bible, he said, “Tharyn, most of what I’ve been reading to them has come from the four Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, which tell us about the earthly life of Jesus and His purpose for coming from heaven to earth.”
“I’d like to learn all about that. I know that Christmas is about His being born into the world, and I remember hearing about the angels telling shepherds in the fields that God’s Son had been born.”
“That’s about all I knew from the Bible, myself, until Dr. and Mrs. Harris helped me. Well, I’m going to read from the Gospel of John right now.”
Tharyn listened intently as Dane read John 6 and learned things about Jesus she had never heard before.
After Dane finished reading the chapter—during which he had made comments—it was discussion time. Because Dane was so young in the Lord, questions were asked by the group that he could not answer. He told them he would ask Dr. Harris the same questions as soon as he could.
Dane put his Bible away and went with Russell to pick up food for supper that had already been promised by the people at the Blue Jay Café. Tharyn was pleased with the food, but dreaded the times she would have to eat from the garbage cans.
Soon it was bedtime, and as Melinda and Bessie were showing Tharyn how to position herself in the cardboard box for sleeping, Dane drew up. “I want to tell my little sister good night.”
Bessie frowned. “How come you call her your little sister?”
Dane made a quick explanation to the girls of how he and Tharyn adopted each other as brother and sister. He then kissed Tharyn on the forehead. “Good night, little sis.”
The fear that had been held at bay all evening now crept back into Tharyn’s heart and showed in her eyes. Dane was quick to notice it. “Tharyn, you don’t need to be afraid. These kids are all your friends now, and we protect and take care of each other. I’ll only be a few feet away in my box. If you need me, just call out.”
“I will,” she said in a tremulous voice. “Thank you, Dane. I can’t even imagine what would happen to me without you.”
“I’m glad the Lord made it so we could be together.” He kissed her forehead again. “Good night.”
Tharyn looked at him with admiring eyes. “Good night, big brother.”
Dane headed for his own cardboard box, which was situated next to that of Russell Mims.
Russell was sitting up inside his box. “Dane, I heard you tell Melinda and Bessie about you and Tharyn adopting each other, and I saw those kisses you put on her forehead.”
Dane grinned. “Yeah?”
“Uh-huh. Tell you what—”
“What?”
“Personally, I’d rather be Tharyn’s boyfriend than her brother.”
“Well, neither you nor Tharyn are old enough for that yet.”
Russell disagreed in his mind, but kept it to himself.
Later, when it was quiet in the alley, and Dane lay in his cardboard box, he pondered Officer James Thornton’s comment earlier: “If you could get Mr. Brace to put you on an orphan train and you could find some wealthy cattle rancher out West to adopt you, it no doubt would work out beautifully.”
He prayed and asked the Lord to bring it about if it was His will, adding that he knew that one way or another, the Lord was going to make it possible for him to one day become a doctor.
The next morning, after a meager breakfast of water and day-old rolls purchased from the grocery store, Dane went to Tharyn and asked if she was going to be all right while he was at work. She assured him she would be fine especially since she had Melinda and Bessie. Russell overheard the conversation and assured Dane he would look out for Tharyn.
Dane went to work at the pharmacy.
At midmorning, while he was washing windows outside the front of the building, he heard people passing by who were talking about two teenage gangs who had gotten into a knife fight last night at Longacre Square, which was located at Forty-second and Broadway in downtown Manhattan. He learned that seven of the gang members were dead and thirteen of them were in hospitals. Most of them were in critical condition. Worse yet, two of Manhattan’s adult citizens were dead, and three were hospitalized in serious condition. These people were caught helplessly between the two gangs when the fight broke out.
At one point, two police officers who were walking their beat came down the sidewalk. They stopped in front of the pharmacy, spoke to Dane, then let their eyes take in the street from one end of the block to the other.
Dane listened as the officers also discussed the bloodshed at Longacre Square the night before. The officers agreed that Manhattan’s streets were becoming more dangerous all the time. One of them said the mayor was going to have to crack down even harder
on crime in the city.
When Dane went back inside the pharmacy, he found Bryce Clarkson and some customers talking about last night’s incident.
When the customers had gone, Dane told his boss what he heard the police officers say about the gang fight. Bryce and Dane discussed the incident and talked about the increase of crime in all five boroughs. People were murdered almost every night in Manhattan alone.
After work, Dane went to the tenement where he and his family used to live and spent a few minutes with Mitchell and Sylvia Bendrick. The Bendricks were glad to see him and to learn of his job at the pharmacy.
Dane told them he would come and get his winter clothes sometime in the fall, and when he actually had a place to live, he would come for his medical books.
Before heading back to the alley, Dane also went to the Baxter apartment. Mona was the only one home. She welcomed him warmly, and since it was lunchtime, she prepared him some hot potato soup, which he devoured eagerly. Mona told him she was glad that his job was going well for him, and that he enjoyed it so much.
As he was preparing to leave, Dane asked Mona to greet the rest of the family for him—especially his best friend.
When Dane arrived back at the alley, Tharyn saw him first and ran to him. The others looked on.
As Dane and Tharyn moved toward the others, she said, “Dr. Harris came by this morning on his way to a house call. We were all out there on the corner, begging. He told me he had just stopped at police headquarters. They informed him that my parents and my aunt will be buried at the 116th Street Cemetery on Wednesday morning at ten o’clock. The city is going to cover the cost of the burial and the coffins.”
“I’m glad the cost is taken care of, Tharyn,” he said, taking hold of her hand.
“Me too.”
They drew up to the group, who had heard Tharyn’s words about the burial.
Russell said, “Dane, I told Dr. Harris I was sure Mr. Clarkson would give you time off from work so you could attend the burial service.”
“Oh, sure. Of course he will.”
“Dr. Harris will be here at nine-thirty, so he can go with us.”
“Us?”
“Yes. All of us are planning to go to the service.”
“We sure are,” put in Melinda Scott. “We want to be with Tharyn in that difficult time.”
Dane said, “Bless all of you for this.”
“It means so much to me,” said Tharyn. “It’s wonderful to have such good friends.”
It was a bright, sunny morning on Wednesday when the group of children, along with Dr. Lee Harris, stood in a half-circle beside the three yawning graves.
While a minister appointed by the city conducted the brief service, Dane kept an arm around Tharyn, who was trembling with grief and had tears streaming down her face.
Dane fought the tears that were welling up in his own eyes. With his free hand, he wiped at them as they began spilling down his cheeks. His heart went out to Tharyn as he recalled his own family’s funeral only a few weeks ago in this very cemetery.
Dane leaned down and whispered in her ear. “It gets easier as time passes, little sis. Every day is a little less painful. We’re all here for you. You can lean on us.”
“I know,” she whispered back. “Thank you.”
When the short service was over, Dr. Harris embraced Tharyn and left the cemetery in his buggy, heading back to his office.
Dane told Tharyn he wanted to go to the graves of his parents and brother and sister before they headed back to the alley. The others followed the short distance to the four graves, and stood close by as Dane stood in silence looking down at them while Tharyn held his hand.
After a few minutes, Dane wiped away his tears. “All right. Let’s head back.”
Soon the group began to talk about death and the graveside service, and the conversation went to the things Dane had read to them from the Bible. They were concerned about their own eternal destiny and began asking more questions.
Dane said, “I know how I got saved, and I can show it to you in the Bible. But it would be best if I could get Dr. Harris to come help you. He is well experienced at this. I’ll go to his office and ask him to come to the alley as soon as possible, so he can help you.”
“Even if it had to be after dark this evening, Dane,” said Russell, “we can borrow a lantern from Mr. Powell. He and his wife live in an apartment above the grocery store. I want to get this settled in my heart.”
“Me too,” said Billy Johnson.
Some of the others spoke up, saying they wanted to be saved. Though Tharyn did not voice it, Dane could see from the way she looked at him that she wanted to know more about salvation.
Dane smiled at the group. “All right. I’ll tell Dr. Harris we need him, even if he can’t come till after dark.”
Chapter Twelve
It was just after three o’clock in the afternoon when Dane Weston and Dr. Lee Harris drew up to the end of the alley in the doctor’s buggy.
All ten of Dane’s friends were on the street corner a half-block from the alley’s entrance, begging.
One of the girls noticed the buggy and pointed that direction. Russell Mims was just thanking a woman for the silver dollar she had placed in his hand when he heard the girl say that Dr. Harris and Dane were there.
The group waved and ran toward them. Dr. Harris and Dane waved back, then Harris proceeded to guide the horse into the alley and pulled rein at the spot that the children had established as their dwelling place. Both of them got out of the buggy, turned to see the children round the corner of the building at the end of the alley, and waited for them. When they drew up, they all noticed that Dr. Harris had his Bible in hand.
Dane said, “Dr. Harris cancelled a couple of his patients’ appointments and rescheduled them for tomorrow so he could come and talk to you about salvation.”
“Thank you for coming, Dr. Harris,” said Russell.
Harris cracked a smile. “My pleasure. How about all of you sitting down over here on these wooden crates?”
When the colony was comfortably seated before him, Dr. Harris opened his Bible and went over the gospel message very carefully. He read the crucifixion story in the book of Matthew—including Jesus’ blood-shedding death, burial, and glorious resurrection. From there, he took them to many other Scriptures on the subject of salvation, making God’s salvation plan very clear for their young minds.
He than asked if they had questions, and some did. He answered each question with Scripture. Dane was glad he had brought Dr. Harris to them. Many of the questions he would have been unable to answer.
When there were no more questions, Dr. Harris dealt with them individually. Every one of them—except Nettie Olson—opened their hearts to Jesus Christ and received Him as their personal Saviour. It was evident to Dr. Harris that Nettie was still a bit young to understand. He then showed the new converts from the Scriptures that their next step of obedience was to be baptized as a public testimony of their salvation. Every one of them agreed, demonstrating that they were eager to obey their Lord.
By this time, Dane was standing beside Dr. Harris, his face beaming with joy.
“Boys and girls, I will go talk to my pastor on my way back to the office and see if the church can provide a special carriage to transport all of you to church for Sunday morning services. I feel confident that he will see that this is done. I’ll come by tomorrow and let you know.”
They thanked Dr. Harris for showing them how to be saved, and the doctor shook his head. “Don’t thank me. If you want to thank someone, praise Jesus for answering your need.”
The next afternoon, Dr. Harris went to the alley and gathered the small colony around him. He looked into their eager eyes. “Good news! Pastor Alan Wheeler has arranged a special carriage for you, not only for this coming Sunday so you can be baptized, but every Sunday from now on so you can attend Sunday school and church services regularly.”
Bessie and Melinda applauded. The
rest of them joined in, their happy faces shining.
When the cheering subsided, Harris said, “The carriage will be here to pick you up at nine-thirty on Sunday morning.” He then looked at the boy who was standing beside Tharyn. “Dane, I want to commend you for reading your Bible to these children every day since you were saved. You are responsible for them coming to the Lord.”
There was applause for Dane.
That night at bedtime, Dane headed for Tharyn as usual. She was sitting up in her cardboard box, and talking to Melinda and Bessie. Melinda saw Dane coming. “Here comes your big brother, Tharyn. It’s time for that good-night kiss.”
No one noticed that Russell was observing from his box with a watchful eye.
Bessie giggled. “Yeah. Melinda and I are jealous.”
Tharyn matched the giggle. “Sorry, girls, only one big brother per girl in this colony.”
Bessie and Melinda laughed.
Drawing up, Dane frowned. “What’s so funny?”
Bessie giggled again. “We’ll never tell!”
Dane shook his head, smiling, then leaned down to Tharyn and kissed her forehead. “Good night, little sis.”
The redhead reached up and gave him a sisterly hug. “I want to thank you for being the one responsible for bringing me to Jesus. It’s wonderful to know that I’m going to heaven.”
Dane grinned at her in the dim light. “I’m glad the Lord allowed me to be the one. See you in the morning.”
As time passed, life went on as usual in the alley occupied by the little colony. Dane gladly used the larger part of his wages to help feed the group. What little he kept for himself was put aside in his pockets to help provide for his education when needed. The others begged on the customary street corner in the mornings six days a week, and Dane joined them in the afternoons. Their begging schedule was interrupted, however, when it rained. When people hurried along the sidewalks in the falling rain—some carrying umbrellas—they made no effort to stop for beggars.