The Canton mail. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 18??-1882, 1875-10-16
AS AN EXPERIMENT.

liars; they have no sense oi shame; tney
are not grateful; they study to deceive.
| thought l would experiment on this
beggar- 1t would do him no harm, and
1t would help me to pass away an hour.
One can't study human nature by taking
seat in bay-window and watching the
faces of the people who pass on the side
walk.
The beggar had been rebuffed by sew
eral and could see look of disappoint-
ment in his eyes as threw myself in his
way and smiled blandly. Coming nearer,
he held out his hand and said in woful
tones:
Mister, for the love of heaven, give
me some changei My wife is sick, | have
seven small chill"
stopped him with Il gesture, and
kindly answered:
" My dear man, here is a quarter for
you. l know all about your wife. Poor
thingi / am afraid she will never re-
cover And your seven children-Lord
bless their poor souls and bodies. 1t has
been a hard trial for you as well, and
don't see how YOU keep up such good
spirits. | wish / could give you twenty
five dollars instead of twenty-five cents.
| WAS watching his eyes, and L read
him like book. | was a stranger and
he reasoned that l had mistaken him
for some one else, and he hurried away
with the money without speaking another
ord.
Keeping my eye on the man | saw him
rebuffed again and again, and presently
laid my hand on his shoulder and asked:
My good friend, didn't | hear you
ask that man for five cents with which to
buy loaf of bread?"
He hesitated for a moment, and then,
thinking that did not recognize him, he
answered:
"'You did-you did. l have a fever
sore and can't work, and haven't tasted
food for two days"
II have heard of your case before, |
said, looking him square in the eyes, land
Pm willing to help you all l can 1t
must be hard for man of your age, after
being familiar with luxury for years and
years to be suddenly deprived of wealth
and social position, crippled by disease,
and compelled to live as you are living
now. / should think you would some
times almost be driven to the point of
suicide"
h-ahem-well." he stam-
mered as he took the second shinplaster
He dropped his eyes, and / saw that he
felt somewhat ashamed, although after a
moment he rallied, recovered his assur-
ance, and said, as he walked away:
II s'pose l might as well be dead as
alive"
walked clear around the crowd before
/ found him again. He had made pretty
good days work of it, and, feeling more
Independent, he WAS selecting his victim,
choosing men whose liberality or inno-
cence of mind could be read in their faces.
i stood behind him and heard him say to
a kind-faced old man:
MY wife is dead in the house and |
have no means to bury her."
The kind-faced man hesitated even
after putting his fingers into his vest
pocket, and said:
"Well it's curious. / should think that
the overseer of the poor or some other of
fetal would have authority to bury your
wife ut the expense of the town"
They won't-Pve bin to 'em two or
three times" replied the beggar, wiping
his eyes. You don't know how hard it
is to have a dead wife in
"Oh, well, here's ten cents" said the
kind-faced man, handing over the scrip,
but speaking as if he doubted the beg
CARS word.
As the imposter turned away ] tapped
him on the shoulder and said:
My poor, dear man, how nv heart
bleeds for you l stood there and heard
you appeal to that flint-hearted miser,
and l saw him hand you paltry ten
cents. Can that man have heart
Can he feel for the sorrows of others
Can he be less than statue?
The beggar's eyes betrayed his sur
prise at seeing me again, and l plainly
saw that he was embarrassed.
81 am poor" continued, keeping my
eyes on him, but you are worse off. |
Your poor dead wife must have Christian
burial if / have to return to Detroit on |
foot. Here is twenty five cents. / am
ashamed to offer you such beggarly |
sum. but can't Spare any more"
"I-ah-ah," he stammered as he took |
the money.
eff you were professional beggar l |
could detect the fact in your face" / |
said, greatly enjoying his embarrassment |
3" You are not. One has only to glance |
at you to see that you have culture and
refinement, and that you only ask aims
from dire necessity. | feel deeply for
you, and / wish / could be of service in
some way"
He limped away without raising his
eyes, and suspected that had lost him.
He sat down on the steps of grocery for
about quarter of an hour, and then,
arguing with himself that had departed,
he limped into the crowd again. l fol-
lowed him around and heard him tell
several different stories, and, at length
tapped him on the shoulder. He turned
quickly, and, extending my hand, / in
quired:
"How do you do, Mr.. Grote%'
He held out his hand, drew it back
again, and refused to grip me, when l
got hold of it.
al heard about your house burning
down last night | continued, looking
him in the eye as earnestly as | could,
"a You have lost everything, while L,
though not wealthy, have much left.
have heen looking for you all morning. !
L want to give you small donation in !
cash. ,
He tried his best to look me in the
face, but he couldn't. He WAS confused, !
and vexed, even though he was ;
making money out of it. As / released /,
his hand to get at my wallet he skunk :
away, and after a long search / found .
eating a decayed orange and wearing a .
look. Standing on the =
bridge called to him:
"Baxteri Baxter, I've collected some =
money for you to buy another COW +
with"
He threw away the orange. muttered
5 ,mething which sounded ike "Kus-
SIM ana hurried off down the tow-patb.
As an experiment it WAS well worth Ii
tx shillings.-M Quad p
/ \