The Shasta courier., 1869-06-05
down thirty rolls" y
Thirty rolls" echoed Archibald !;

+" Thirty rollsw echoed Archibald !;
preserve mel but you amaze me, Mr..
Cameron. What should bring thirty rolls
OF tobacco in my loft Me- who am bound
to protect the revenues of my country
You must have been drinking, Mr. Cam
eron, and wetting your eyes, Mr.. Cameron,
and binding your eyes, Mr.. Cameron
Preserve me! but you see more than double,
Mr.. Cameron. IFS lucky that you did
not set my loft on fire with that candle
Thirty rolls Why you must be very
drunk indeed, Mr. Cameron and not at
all the proper company that decent man
like | am ought to keep"
Mr. Cameron was so beside himself with
rage and amazement, and with Archibald $
coolness, that he was blurting out his words
very much as if he indeed were tipsy.
II thought you had come on FOOLS
errand Mr.. Cameron" Archibald went on
to say; "but l never thought you were
overtaken in liquor, Mr. Cameron. And
to fancy that this little packet was thirty
rolls of tobacco l wouldn't have believed
it of you, Mr.. Cameron. And to try to
take away my honest name, and make me
out to be no better than smuggler Me |!
who am bound to protect the revenues of
my country. Preserve me But l could
take the law of you, Mr.. Cameron"
It's | that will take the law of you,
Mr.. Macnab, as you will soon see to your
cost" said Mr. Cameron, as he pounced
out of the house.
Very soon Archibald received summons
to appear before the Sheriff, and he obeyed
the summons. Mr.. Cameron made out
strong case against him; but, as he had
no witnesses, Archibald got the liberty to
plead for himself, Let me hear, Mr.
Macnab," said the Sheriff, "what expla.
nation you can give to this remarkable
charge that has been brought against you.
Archibald put on his most smiling face
and jocular manner:
" 1t was the gowk- day (the first
of ApriD, and my good friend, Mr.. Cam
eron here, was to be made fool Of And
this was our plan He was TO be told that
I had some smuggled tobacco in my loft,
and then he was to come to me on FOOLS
errand, in search Of it. In my house
preserve me-but the idea was amusing
Well, my good friend, Mr. Cameron, never
suspected that he was being fooled so he
came to my house, made his demand, and
went up the ladder to the loft There he
found the roll of tobacco that is placed be-
fore you it is, as you plainly see, rotten
and worthless, and had probably beer lying
there since the building of Babel. Well,
my good friend, Mr.. Cameron, threw down
the roll and | received it; and he said
That's one Without showing him what
| was doing. | threw it up again into the
loft, while he was turning about in the
dark with his candle. Presently he found
it, and threw it down, saying, That's two
So did the same over again and / was
throwing it up, and he was throwing it
down and counting, until thought that |
had drawn enough fun out of him for one
day; so then | stopped. And OF course
he was obliged to stop; and he said, There
was no more; that last made thirty and
came down from the loft. Then | showed
him what l had done, and that it was
gowk-hunting day, and that had played
him a trick with that worthless roll of to-
bacco But my good friend, Mr.. Cameron,
took it amiss that be had been put upon
FOOLS errand, and so he took the summons
against me. And that, Mr. Sheriff, is the
whole of the case"
Upon this, all the persons in Court burst
out laughing; and, although Mr.. Cameron
protested that false tale had been told,
yet there was no witness to support what
he said. So the Sheriff dismissed the case,
and Mr. Cameron was ordered to pay the
expenses; and Archibald Macnab went
home quite pleased at having won the day.