The Grange advance. [volume] (Red Wing, Minn.) 1873-1877, 1877-04-25
THK MAN FROM SOLANO.
fsY BRET HARTE.

asY BRET HARTE.
He came toward me out of an opera lob
by, between the acts-a figure as remark
able as anything in the performance
His clothes, no two articles Of which were
of the same color, had the appearance Of
being purchased and put on only an hour
or two before-a fact more clearly cstab-
lishcd by the clothes dealers ticket which
still adhered to his coat collar, giving the
number, size, and general dimensions Of
that garment somewhat obtrusively to an
uninterested public. His trousers had q
straight line down each leg as if he had
been born flat, but had since developed,
and there was another crease down his
back like those figures children cut out
of folded paper. l may add that there
was no consciousness of this in his face,
which was good-natured, and but for a
certain squareness in the angle of his
lower jaw, utterly embarrassing and COM
mon-place. & ..-p .-...
You disremember me- hesaid, briefly,
as he extended his hand, shut I'm from
Solano, in Californy I met you here in
the spring of 81. I was tendin' sheep and
you was burnin' charcoal
! 4 AAC1C vas HOL VIC 81 lllcSC lldCC VI ally
Intentional rudeness in the reminder It
f"as simply astatcment of fact, and as such
ITO be accepted. <@ 4 =
"What l hailed We for was only this"
he said, sitter had shaken hands with
him. II saw you minnit ago standing
in yon box-chirpin' with lady, young
lady-pert and pretty. Might you be
telling me her name?"
l gave him the name of a certain belle
Of a neighboring city who had lately
stirred the hearts of the metropolis, and
who was especially admired by the bril-
liant and fascinating young Dashboard
who stood by me.
The man from Solano unused for a mo-
ment, and then said: "That's so! thets
the same namel It's the same gall"
"You have met her then?" asked, in
surprise.
"Ye-es,' he responded slowly. IL met
her about four months ago. She'd bin
maxim tour of Californy with some
friends, and first saw her aboard the cars
this side Of Reno. She lost her baggage
Schecks and / found them on the floor, gave
! eem back to her, and she thanked me. I
reckon now it would be the square thing
to go in over thar and sorter recognize
her." He stopped a moment and looked
at US inquiringly.
my dear sir" struck in the brilliant
and fascinating Dashboard, eff your hest
tation proceeds from any doubt of the
propriety of your attire, beg you to dis
miss 1t from your mind at once. The
tyranny Of custom, it is true, compels your
friend and myself to dress peculiarly, but
| assure you nothing could be finer than
the way that the olive green of your cravat,
or the pearl gray of your trousers blends
with the bright blue of your waistcoat
and lends additional brilliancy to that mas
sivc oroide watch chain which you wear"
To my surprise, the man from Solano
did not strike him. He looked at the
l1onical Dashboard with grave earnestness,
and then said quietly:
Then 1 reckon you'd wouldn't mind
sheWin' me in thar" 49,. '
Dashboard was, admit, little stagger
ed at this. But he recovered himself. and.
bowling ironically, led the way to the box.
followed him and the Man from Solano.
Now, the belle in question happened to
be q OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES from gentle
woman-and after Dashboard's ironical
introduction, in which the Man from So
], lano was not spared, she comprehended
the situation instantly. To Dashboard's
surprise she drew chair to her side, made
the Man from Solano sit down, quietly
turned her back on Dashboard, and, in full
view of the brilliant audience, and the
focus Of 9 hundred lorgnettes, entered into
conversation with him. r. j
Here, for the sake of romance, I should
like to say he became animated, and ex-
hibited some trait of excellence-some
rare wit or solid sense. But the fact is he
was dull and stupid to the last degree.
He persisted in keeping the conversation
upon the entertaining subject of the lost
baggage checks, and every bright attempt
of the lady to divert him failed signally.
At last, to everybody's relief, he rose and
leaning over her chair, said: a@3
II calklate to stay here some time,
Miss, and you and me being sorter stran-
gers here, may be when there's any show
like this goin' on you'll let me- tng%
u Miss x. said something hastily that the
multiplicity Of her engagements and the
brief limit Of her stay in New York she