Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1866-08-02

II bit my lips and clenched my
! hands with rage. Had it been q
! common thief / should not SC
much have minded it; but a po
liceman! it was more than I could
stand. So | crouched myself in a
doorway and waited. The watch
were relieved at 10 o'clock -
knew that, and knew also that
| this would be the time when my
policeman would come to take the
ham from its hiding place. And
sure enough, when the time came
Iheard him challengethe man who
was to take his place, and come
marching down towards the cor
ner. I-let him get the ham we'll
under his arm before / stirred, but
then | pounced upon him like a tt
ger. @ s.i' ''i,'sa
"Pve got your I cried. "a
pretty policeman yon are indeed,
but you shall suffer for it; you
shall suffer for it | can tell you"
"He struggled with me for a
moment like a wild thing, and
then all of a sudden dropped the
ham and fell down in a helpless
sort of a heap upon the ground.
s.Im a ruined mani" he groaned,
ga ruined man! there's no hope
for me now. Oh, my God! my
wife, my poor little wife!'' and
he burst out crying like a woman.
"The sight softened me, but /
was angry still. l-Hac H
"You should have thought of
that before you became a athief,"
I said. eff the guardian of
mans property is not to be trusted,
what is to become Of him? And
you look like a gentleman-you
do not seem like a scoundrel; how
have you ever stopped to do such
a disgraceful thing as this 2"
"He was standing beside me
now, and the lamp light fell upon
his face. 1t was white as any
corpse's, and his eyes gHttered ter
ribly." '''.''
''I'il tell you what made me do
it," he said; cit was the only thing
which could have driven me to an
act like that; my wife and child
are starving, tell you, and | had
nothing for them!'' - az
"Policemen's families do not Of
ten starve," / said with sneer.
"My God! can't you believe me
won't you believe me?" painted
the man. 81 have not been APP
pointed three days; | have not re-
ceived a cent of salary, yet, 1
have been i'll a long while, and had
neither money nor credit. Last
night we went to bed supperless;
to-day there has not been a crust
in the house, and those hams
tempted me so. You can never
know how awfully they tempted
me, and / meant to pay you after
wards" .efetifa25,
''Hei covered his face with his
hands, and could see great tears
dripping through his fingers, and
before l knew it my own cheeks
were moist, and SO we stood silent,
with the ham lying between us on
the ground" Yl f2es
cat last he turned toward me
and said: "Do what you like
with me. The last hope is gone"
"But 1 put my hand on his arm
and said: "God forbid that /
should take that last hope from |
you; that I, Of all men, should be |
the one to ruin you. If your sto-
ry is true-and | believe it isl |
pity you more than I blame you."
''He looked at me in a sort of
bewildered way, as though he
scarcely understood me, and | took
him by the arm and led him back
to the shop. There / filled a
basket with bread and butter and
coffee, and put the ham on top of |
all. "Take it home to your wife"
I said; "you1l pay me when you
get your salary, and if you are In
need before that time come to me. |
I'm a poor man myself, and | can |
feel for other poor men,
ri shall never forget that mans
face in all my life, SO wondering,
80 thankful and so awe-stricken, |
All he said was, "God bless you,"
but there was a whole sermon in
those three words, and / slept bet
ter for them. aJa' ez5o9 ~
sOn Christmas 1light he paid
me every cent, and from that day