TIMOTHY'S QUEST

CONTENTS.

SCENE I.
PAGE

FLOSSY MORRISON LEARNS THE SECRET OF DEATH
WITHOUT EVER HAVING LEARNED THE SECRET
OF LIFE 7

SCENE II.

LITTLE TIMOTHY JESSUP ASSUMES PARENTAL RESPONSIBILITIES 17

SCENE III.

TIMOTHY PLANS A CAMPAIGN, AND PROVIDENCE
MATERIALLY ASSISTS IN CARRYING IT OUT, OR
VICE VERSA 26

SCENE IV.

JABE SLOCUM ASSUMES THE RÔLE OF GUARDIAN
ANGEL 39

SCENE V.

TIMOTHY FINDS A HOUSE IN WHICH HE THINKS A
BABY IS NEEDED, BUT THE INMATES DO NOT
ENTIRELY AGREE WITH HIM 51

SCENE VI.

TIMOTHY, LADY GAY, AND RAGS PROVE FAITHFUL
TO EACH OTHER 63

SCENE VII.

MISTRESS AND MAID FIND TO THEIR AMAZEMENT
THAT A CHILD, MORE THAN ALL OTHER GIFTS,
BRINGS HOPE WITH IT, AND FORWARD LOOKING
THOUGHTS 74

SCENE VIII.

JABE AND SAMANTHA EXCHANGE HOSTILITIES, AND
THE FORMER SAYS A GOOD WORD FOR THE
LITTLE WANDERERS 87

SCENE IX.

"NOW THE END OF THE COMMANDMENT IS CHARITY,
OUT OF A PURE HEART" 100

SCENE X.

AUNT HITTY COMES TO "MAKE OVER," AND SUPPLIES
BACK NUMBERS TO ALL THE VILLAGE
HISTORIES 112

SCENE XI.

MISS VILDA DECIDES THAT TWO IS ONE TOO MANY,
AND TIMOTHY BREAKS A HUMMING-BIRD'S EGG 126

SCENE XII.

LYDDY PETTIGROVE'S FUNERAL 143

SCENE XIII.

PLEASANT RIVER IS BAPTIZED WITH THE SPIRIT OF
ADOPTION 152

SCENE XIV.

TIMOTHY JESSUP RUNS AWAY A SECOND TIME,
AND, LIKE OTHER BLESSINGS, BRIGHTENS AS
HE TAKES HIS FLIGHT 166

SCENE XV.

LIKE ALL DOGS IN FICTION, THE FAITHFUL RAGS
GUIDES MISS VILDA TO HIS LITTLE MASTER 179

SCENE XVI.

TIMOTHY'S QUEST IS ENDED, AND SAMANTHA SAYS,
"COME ALONG, DAVE" 189

TIMOTHY'S QUEST.

SCENE I.

_Number Three, Minerva Court. First floor front._

FLOSSY MORRISON LEARNS THE SECRET OF DEATH WITHOUT EVER HAVING LEARNED
THE SECRET OF LIFE.

Minerva Court! Veil thy face, O Goddess of Wisdom, for never, surely,
was thy fair name so ill bestowed as when it was applied to this most
dreary place!

It was a little less than street, a little more than alley, and its only
possible claim to decency came from comparison with the busier
thoroughfare out of which it opened. This was so much fouler, with its
dirt and noise, its stands of refuse fruit and vegetables, its dingy
shops and all the miserable traffic that the place engendered, its
rickety doorways blocked with lounging men, its Blowsabellas leaning on
the window-sills, that the Court seemed by contrast a most desirable and
retired place of residence.

But it was a dismal spot, nevertheless, with not even an air of faded
gentility to recommend it. It seemed to have no better days behind it,
nor to hold within itself the possibility of any future improvement. It
was narrow, and extended only the length of a city block, yet it was by
no means wanting in many of those luxuries which mark this era of modern
civilization. There were groceries, with commodious sample-rooms
attached, at each corner, and a small saloon, called "The Dearest Spot"
(which it undoubtedly was in more senses than one), in the basement of a
house at the farther end. It was necessary, however, for the bibulous
native who dwelt in the middle of the block to waste some valuable
minutes in dragging himself to one of these fountains of bliss at either
end; but at the time my story opens a wide-awake philanthropist was
fitting up a neat and attractive little bar-room, called "The Oasis," at
a point equally distant between the other two springs of human joy.

TIMOTHY'S QUEST