F. Colburn (Francis Colburn) Adams
Chapter 80
slaughter-house in Staunton street. The dogs were known in the
neighborhood as Mullholland's dogs, and with them I used to sleep on
the rags of carpet spread for us in the room with Mullholland and
his wife, who I got to calling mother. This is how I took the name
of Mullholland. I was glad to leave the Points, and felt as if I had
a home. But there was a 'Bottomless Pit' in Sheriff street, and
though not so bad as the one at the house of the "Nine Nations," it
gave out a deal of gin that the Mullhollands had a liking for. I was
continually going for it, and the Mullhollands were continually
drinking it; and the whole neighborhood liked it, and in
'Nightmare's Alley' the undertaker found a profitable business.
"In the morning I went with the dogs to the slaughter-house, and
there fed them, and took care of the fighting cocks, and brought gin
for the men who worked there. In the afternoon I joined the
newsboys, as ragged and neglected as myself, gambled for cents, and
watched the policemen, whom we called the Charleys. I lived with
Mullholland two years, and saw and felt enough to make hardened any
one of my age. One morning there came a loud knocking at the door,
which was followed by the entrance of two officers. The dogs had got
out and bitten a child, and the officers, knowing who owned them,
had come to arrest Mullholland. We were all surprised, for the
officers recognized in Mullholland and the woman two old offenders.
And while they were dragged off to the Tombs, I was left to prey
upon the world as best I could. Again homeless, I wandered about
with urchins as ragged and destitute as myself. It seemed to me that
everybody viewed me as an object of suspicion, for I sought in vain
for employment that would give me bread and clothing. I wanted to be
honest, and would have lived honest; but I could not make people
believe me honest. And when I told who I was, and where I sheltered
myself, I was ordered away. Everybody judged me by the filthy shreds
on my back; nobody had anything for me to do.
"I applied at a grocer's, to sweep his store and go errands. When I