The weekly Panola star. [volume] (Panola, Miss.) 1857-1881, 1870-07-23
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ffsi psrsnn We hsFe hsi e. deal with here
who has mistaken other peoples property
81 BIZ nvu. Take him 10 the cells" And
than | was marched on
The circumstance which BAD hfousht
me lnto this scfape we're re follows Nv
cell and my nlend sprnclngian were In
The employment n a railway contractor.
whnsr offices were situated IN the locall
" already mentioned. The duties NJ our
department, were shared BY some half
dozen other Young gentlemen If our own
are, who, like us, we're qualifying them.
selves Cor the survey OF ground and con
struoiian 81 llnes In any part OF the world
which their genius should call them 81.
Bat plans and specifications are not par.
t~lcnlsrly c~xhilarAting In Themselves, apart
from their professional interc1t 81 u IA
not to be wondered At, that among several
young fellows, full 81 animal spirits, n
little practical Joking should have been az
times INDUCED In.
Ned Sprucington and | were old Car.
thusians, When we met, therefore, after
some years separation, nj the Office in
George Street. We had only 20 renew our
friendship. The great dandy Of our room.
nay, OF the entire house, was Ned. |
honestly believe, ton, that he was one of
the most guileless, simple hearted fellows
alive. lie had, however, ore conspicuous
weakness-which was 10 be taken for a
man Of fashion. He dressed, ! admit, un.
exceptionally and to aid him In produc-
ing the impression which he desired upon
heholders, he carried about with him, In
all weathers. a beautiful silk umbrella,
scarcely bulkier than n lady's parasol,
though, OF course, considerably longer.
Judging from tho cut onyx handle,
mounted In gold, Il must have cost him n
mint OF money.
Well, this umbrella OF Ned's we tried
all we could think Of to get hold Of But
he was too wary for us; Il was always
left In some safe place. Ii we had sue.
oeeded In gaining possession OF N, II would
at once have taken q conspicuous posi-.
ton in society. such as covering tho old
apple woman NJ the corner, but II was
unapproachable. AT last We became 80
desperate that | accepted q heavy wager
IRON one OF the other fellows That I would
present myself Mt the Office tho next
morning, at all hazards, the proud pos.
SCISSOR OF Ned Sprucington's umbrella.
onthat particular day, work being slack,
every one was enabled 10 leave unusually
early so that by four o'clock In the after,
noon the house was cleared of all say,
myself my brother conspirator, and tn,
os1 s0eNdftf WHO hvvd h4s- xiii on th'
premises. My friend Ned, ms was his cus
tom M such times, had announced his In
tentlon OF %promenading the Ladies' Mile
there 10 air himself, his arlstocfacy, ant
his umbrella. l decided upon following
him thither. As there were yet twl
hours Of daylight, however, | thought
could not do better than fortlty myself 70
the enterprise by taking some substantial
refrcshment before commencing opera
lions, Ater which | would trust 20 th
chapter Of accidents,
With this object In view. | was repair
ing towards my iavorlte place of refeotlo
In the Strand, when who should | sc
looking In at the topoErapher's shop b
northumberland House but Ned Spru,
ington He ought, by rights, 10 have bee
nearly two miles away at Hyde Park Coz
nor yet here was he al Charlng Cros
calmly studying som map OF u " scat
wari' He was 80 wedgcd la anon
other gazers, that | could not get at hi
TO speak or even to have a clear view
his face. But | knew him by bis heieh
by the neatly braided coat, the dclicaiel
tinted trousers, the well.poised hat, an
last but not least, the umbrella. He W;
holding his hands behind his back, and
one OF them the precious article was flrn
ly clasped. Yes there II was, onyx handl
gold mounting, and all. AS | looked,
sudden idea took possession OF me--a foo
ish idea, | admit, as IL could hardly lea
TO a practical result Butt thought II
could only get the umbrella out of b
hand In some way, and run off with 1
that he, seeing 1t Ia possession Of frien,
would give up the chase, knowing that /
would recover his property the next da
AT the worst the result would only be
day or two's GOODNESS between Us, on a
count OF my freak
No sooner thought than done. On Il
pavement, | espled a piece of clean stra,
well adapted for the purpose | had in vie,
Picking II up, | proceeded TO tickle vii
1t Spruclngton's right err. The expe
ment answered admirably. Thiaking
4 suppose, to be a troublesome ily, |
raised his hand 10 brush Off the aslailan
But to do this he was compelled to shi
the Umbrella from his right hand to h
left The moment Of the transferen
was enough for me. Before the fingers
his left hand could close, | had seized Il
umbrella, and the next moment was das
ing madly across Trafalgar Square in /
direction Of tho Haymarket.
There was q sudden commotion behil
me,--a connection which soon swell,
into an uproar +; l needed IL no furth
than TO turn half round, In order to
sprucington see who | was, and to for
ish In the air my umbrella mean
umbrella. But the uproar did not rcla
on the contrary, II began 10 shape its
into words. Hoarse shouts of aSi
THEIR followed me as | few up the ste
at the further end OF the square. I
cries still ringing In my ears, | dash
h~elternkeltef past the College of PLY
clans and Colnaghi's print-shop, till
came 70 the corner Of Suffolk street. III
was brought up "all standing by
iron grippe upon the collar from behiI
Turning round, l found myself in
custody Of a policeman.
40 the usual brief space Of time. the
eyitahle london crowd assembled All
a. ! Was regarded with curiosity, loa1
with approaches, and favored with wi,
an extremely personal nature, ali al
same iaoment Thia ! bore with patiel