Sunbury American. [volume] (Sunbury, Pa.) 1848-1879, 1856-12-20

4
liar with the mysterious epistle; and adde
somewhat contemptuouslyr II did not thin
Mr. James JaSmith such spoonay As l.
give, the The J, ~ the benefit ef reeG,i.. !. ~
letters over bis shoulders in the street u
the street III short, sir, as said, don't in
tend to trouble you just now, nor to be gam
moned hereafter. | shall wait, sir, until tn,
happy hour is over and then sir humbl,
claim to renew the note, sirI till when, you
obedient servant 20 command, sir y
With that my gentleman bowed and atalk
ed OF, stroking his whiskers with an air o
unuttera5le magnfcence which have not
seen equallej by any blackleg.
This little incident, besides moving some.
what my cholcr, quite changed my resolution
OF restoring the letter to the post-office and
thereby TO my namesske. 1t seemed no.
apparent that my "altereyo" was some ras-
celly adventurer, the fellow, rs well as prey
OF him who bore the note in hand and il sp.
peared, therefore. impossible that surh Eel
low could pretend, in any honest way, 10 the
hand OF the rich young lady," referred 20 by
the note-holder, and doubtless the fair F.,
OF the letter. j felt that should punish II
not defeat. the schemes Of rogue, aud per
maps protect deserving girl and deceived
parent, by keeping Mr. T.. BIS letter IN
my pocket, and into my pocket accordingly
thrust it. At all cvcnts, the inception y!
the letter would produce delay ard delay
might effect the desired purpose.
! spent the remainder of the afternoon
rambling about the city, viewing it, and, ms
thought to the last moment, without farther
adventure. But just as was hunting py
way back to my boarding house TO tea, was
stopped by sharp but rather timd-lc3t sg
young fellow, who begged my pardon, helnv-
ed was Mr.. James Smith, reminded ~,
that owed very long bill to his employers,
Messrs. Snip & Shears, hinted that they mad
written to NE two or three times on the sub
ject, observed tha. times were hard, aud cou-
cluded by insinuating the pleasure would
confer upon those gentlemen il would be So
good Us TO walk with his forthwith, down TO
their shop-which was only seven or eight
squares Of.
replied to all this that he had mistaken
his man that owed Messrs Snip l. Shears
nothing; and upon which he became so slarn.
ed AID retrested. But Observed him follow
ing ne at distance. and doggng me Nil the
way to my boarding house.
After tea, hnving 10 acquaintance in tie
city, went into one Of the theatres 20 pass
the evening, and passed it, in the main, very
pleasantly. l was, indeed one time annoyed
by the conduct Of two or three well dressed,
but noisy fellows, in the next box, who. from
their discourse, | soon set down rs gamblers
and determined rogues. One Of them, who
had red hair, observed WAS very genteei in
his appearance, but be was m sbsndone des-
perado in bis conversation and from come
fehsfks Tint he nnd his oOmPorioas let fall, 4
was struck with the sudden suspicion thst he
was 10 less pers0nsce than my sos-hy
namesake. Mr. James Smith himself 1hus
a bp of . hoir 4
| overheard -~.i.e SSP-eEsiDus, "Gsla f.,s-,t !"
the girl, rich and confoundedly handsome"
"hard. headed old hunks" &c and Mr.. Bed
hesd himself sHore with an oath. ''if the blood
suckers would give him but two days, he
would hold up his head sgsn with the best Of
them ! tried in vain to catch the fellows
same; and soon after he had altered the words
related another young man came into the box
and told him there were hawks on the wing"
upon which he looked alarmed, his cOmpan-
ions laughed, and they all immediately tstt
the theatre.
could then attend the performance xith-
ont interruption and had been for some
time observed in the interests Of the scene,
when was Suddenly aroused by voice whis-
perng in my earl Say, Mr.. James ] Smith
this is 10 place for a gentleman Of ysar in
ches. There are bnzEards abroad, who'll
stop all marrying and giving in msraaee.-
And II you mean to give up that hance,
hang me- my fine fellow, if ! shau't se the
.rst TO arrest you"
l looked around and was enraged t. per-
ceiye the note e-holder, who gave me ,iguh-
cant nod, and Immediately walked away
How provoking" thought !, "to have all
these vagsbonds take me for that rasal my
namesske. Yet there is something aftr ali,
] in ia n1 nns ia II L.
be arrested, even by mistake, since ther. is no
one in this city to whom | can appeal for
character and identity Tomorrow Srorn
| will be here, and then l shall be safe e,tugh
These thoughts determined NE 10 eas the
theatre and go home. But had sc,rccly
got the distance OF d sqnare when has the
| misfortune 20 be tapped On the shoulder 10y
su officer, who told me he had q writ f.. me
on the suit Of Messrs. Snip Il Shears and
! requested me 10 favor him with my company
| to the magistrates. At the same time per
Ceived the tailor's clerk, who had eviGntly
! kept me in view and pointed me out q the
| officer 1t was in vain for me 10 prOtss hat
WAS not the man Intended Mr.. Clcrksaid,
"the gentleman was very good on that stlry"
What, asked myself. if it should not suit
Messrs Snip 4 Shears TO attend the n,gls-
trates felt very we'll assured that wuld
| be liberated as soon aa they saw me but
they might have delegated the whole business
TO the clerk, who would not hesitate to s,ear
| was James J. Smith because had adnt-
ted WAS; and then bail would be dema.led
and for want of it, must immediatel be
packed of TO prison.
The thought Of this degradation file, me
with sudden fury, and without taking tine TO
reflect upon the consequences, knockejthe
officer down, though be was burb flow
twice as big as myself, kicked the little eerk
| into the gutter, and immediately ran of, 90
| ing to make my way to the boarding hose.
thore TO lie concealed unti! Brown shoa!say-
rive in the city.
This proved . more difficult sndettskh,
than I expected; FOR there wis Immediately
a great hue and cry raised and the streets
being pretty full Of people, flor it was aot IL
o'clock,) ] was followed and headed, and
asssiled on both sides so that il Was only by
taxing my activity 10 the utmost, aud diving
into every alley and bywsy that offered, that
| managed TO avoid my pursuers, My great
est fear Was Of losing my way, for knew bat
little of this city, and the uniformity of its
streets, and the great family resemblance be-