Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1878-02-22

He disappeared, ard m few minutes
has bag brother came otit and wanted tc
see The man that asked for bed.
''I'm the man" said !, 'ssnd if yot
have small -poxsia tie house, lel ms
kzow Il fight oE. end l'll leave =
ave have no smallaPox,' said he
'sbna cur beds are ali full. Let me see.
There's number one. About this time
81 abe night there's always . "a in that
and lhe same IN nnmher fwos IheE
ecra egseAs ~ tlendeN dog alNe
number three. Sots4 sige baG Ne cam
accommodate you.'' tss
/ saw By ahis mnnss sys Be vas hid
ding me, but as I didn't understand his
game | iust went osHt, and didn't give
myself away
Thea 4 went on down The road.
never szw 90 many hotels. Every thisd
house, so 20 speak, vas . hotel And
they must all be making money, for ev.
cry one was fhlL l must have tried
twenty in the Bu%eFy, bat nci enc c0uid
take me in. / walked on, and BY and
by came to an open square. On one
corner was 3 sign, Inn"
That's the place for me" Ithought.
"a hotels too high-toned, anyhow. .--a
An inns good enough for . man that
can't win with four kings" So / went
in. m vaa
81 want 9 room, said I.
''W hat for "ssaid the man,
"To sleep In, said !.
"This ain't hotel" said he.
''But it's an inn. said 1.
!. $50 IL is. Blast my eyes, forgot &, -
said he. s'But we're full. Seventeen
hundred rooms full, and beds in the
corridors besides. Sorry we cant ae-
commodate you. Step in some other
time. Safest way is to engage bed
about FIVE weeks in advance. /. No ex-
ira charge for reserved BEDS"
II. strllck me at the time that this man
was out of his head. He may have
been drinking some Of his own rum. /
went across the square and found my
relf in Chatham street. The 6rst light
struck was another 'shotel." This
one was in basement. and beautiful
little fountain played at the foot of the
stairs. There was music inside. /
thought the basement must be damp,
particularly with fountain in It, but
the music reminded me Of the GsAea
Ainr SsssgfS' Was no no bar here, but TWO or
..S,..e -, rows OF tables. At the end OF
49,. - rroC, half dozen gentlemen and
- s.'S s:....-~ere - IAuneing on q platform. 1
look 4 al IN minute; but was too OLD
a bird for that, you know. We have
that sort of thing out where live. So
I tumbIed out, so to speak, and went on
down the road.
After this stopped at two or three
more places, but they were all full.
was beginning to think I'd have to strike
doorstep and wrap up In my blanket,
when came across another. This was
one in the basement, too, and there was
a sign over the door, "hotel," like the
rest. was pretty sure it was full; but
IL seemed to be the last chance, so / went
in. The first thing saw was a sign
''hotel Office down stairs" That seemed
strange. The place was in was The
sement, and II the Office was dowE
stairs it must be in the cellar, and tht
hotel itself would be In the third story
counting down. But the stairs were
near. and went down. Sure enougl
there was the Office, and just back OF .
were three handsome beds. 1t al
looked very nice, but there was no clerl
in the Office, SO / went up stairs into
the basement to see about getting
room. went to The man behind Ia
bar.
al suppose you're fulIl'' said !.
you're mistaken, Pard," said be
81 don't drink" e
II mean the hOuse." said I; 81 wan
a bed"
"a beds' said he; "humphl YOu'l
have 10 wait tall the boss comes in"
There was a pleasant odor Of nc
whlskey, and ! didn't mind waiting
while. In few minutes the boss cam
ia.
al want bed" said /. / had said
so often that il slipped through my teet
before opened my mouth.
Without saying word, he beekone
me 20 follow. We went slowly dow
the stairs and into the bedroom.
"You can have any bed you like,
said he, as he lit the gas. None
them are taken. There are only three
but not one Of them hes been slept !
since that man was killed"
"What man ? said /, rather aston
ished, so 10 speak.
That Frenchman. He was the mr.
man that ever slept in any Of these beds
We found part Of him in the morning
but there was very little left. We ider
tilted him BY his boot-heels. They Wer
too tough for them"
"Too tough for who -
"For the ratsl They eould't e;
them. But they got away with Preit
much everything else. One osd iello'
we aught in trap about a week aftei
ward was nearly ehoked 70 death wit
his watch-case. II stuck ia his throa
He had swallowed the works. His falls
teeth were all right: = BOwery dentI
recognized them next day as . secons
hand set he'd sold short time D
fore"
mWas the man desdf"
dead The coroner nearly had n
indicted because there wasn't .enoiIe
left to hold an inquest over. But /
bring you dowa : club before We Loo
I had paid for the bed, but didn't b
erndge the money. The moon vi
sh;n;c, as,tsfde and 1 made a night