Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1878-05-04

fur different Win You IN the EtSr, Your de-
ceased mother often remarked to the writer
Business IS dull, and ores are running light,
most o the claims on the North Fox sha:ing
the fate of your la'e fathers property Ya
see," continued Capt. Rats, with the GLOW of
successful authorship mantling his cheek that
kind of letter mOut be writ en- 50 tn 1T Dy the
time she got through with it it would seem as
If she'd knewi all before, and she couldn't
get nary soul to sympathize with her, and help
her take on" The feeling of the m ,iority was
so strongly in favor of the last composition
dissenter-JOe Fleet. But at this moment
knock on the door checked further discussion
IL was jack Foster, EXPIRE sSm in-alert,
Vlgilant, familiar, and fatefuI--holding let
"For John Meritoe," said the Sierran Mer
curry crisply. As we don't have no offs nor
| last residence" He tossed the letter on the
| table. winked, and was gone.
1t was for the dead man-the great first
| it lay there undisturbed, while the men looked
| at each other i'm silence. Then Capt. Rats,
with decision and independence ne " to him,
| took Ii up. "TherS no one boys. heZ a bet
ter right to it than we has, he said. 81 pro-
pose thai we open it here afore each other and
'As to opening it, second the motion,"
said Joe Fleets voice, "but we'll see who its
from before We read it," added that honora-
Tie letter was opened. 1t was signed Fan
ny M-ritOe."
The girl herself" said Fleet promptly {;
-"read it,
With a hesitating voice, that at last seemed
to almost simulate what might have been the
hesltating youthful accents of the writer,
But shall describe it, 1t was simple, it was
g.rlSh, it was affectiOnate. it was real. Against
its candid frank ness and simplicity, poor Rats
previous rhetoric assumed the appearance of
the, most monStrous duplicity and deceitfu
sOphistry. 1t was evident that the writer had
seen but little of her real father, and that the
rather common place, hOmely, often somewhat
dos 10 FL,
listened to her warnings was not the IDEAL
parent of her dreams. At last Capt. Rlts
finished. There was slight huskness in the
Captains voice, slight dimnesS in his eye
sight as he ended, and blur upon the fair
page that was not there when he began
-. The Colonel had dropped his head between
eyes from the paper Fleet, who hal walked
to the window and had been apparently
absorbed in staring at the staring sunlight
table, and held out both his hands. In another
moment they were locked in his companions
and the four men, holding hands, closed
round the table and the letter that lay in the
center.
We don't want no letter of coincidence,
Capt. Rats, said Joe Fleet" sturdily, for
there amt anythin to cOndOe for. l don't
1 knoT that that girls parents ANT deaf, ez
long. please God as we are liying,'
The men pressed each others hands in 81
lence, until Capt. Rats, with burst of revela-
ton, disengaged his, and suddenly brought it
against his right leg with resOunding EN-
phasiS:
elar we don't write no letters of coincidence
fOr why? We goes straight on and writes aZ
II We was the old man: He's let on enough to
me about hisSelf and his affairs to make it as
easy as fallin off a log Well just chip in wnar
he left OFF. Wen take his hand as il is, pay
out his little game, Wi or lose. and if four
and rake in the pot every time, we II leave the
board. Yes, gentlemen" continued Rats,
taking up the letter, ''I'll answer this to night
myself. Capt. Rats, late Meritoe, deceased"
PART u.-HOw THE TRUST WAS FULFILLED.
when the combined guardians OF Lagrange
hrst prac, to deceive, they did not forecast
the tang ed web whose pleasant intrcacies
and SlnuOsl les they were presently to weave.
And when Capt. Rats calmly announcad.to his
gentle cOnfederateS his intention of wrtin.
Ills hrSt letter-in loco pdrsntiS-tO the
orphaned girl with his left hand, explaining to
her the thereby changed chrOgraphy through
the ingenious fiction of an accident that had
happened to his right-it was accepted with
reclamation. You See,' said the Captain
SententlOusy, every man sings ink with his
left hand at about the same gait. The style
1t ain the old mans.
The possibility of detection thus obvlated-
and, indeed, it afterwards appeared that the
slmple-mlnded girl dWelt more anXiOuSly upon
the discOmfOrts of the accident to her father
than on his changed and almost illegible
hand-yarl0us other gentle frauds and deceits
"A
certain emulation of the Captains skill and
importance as correspondent grew up am Ing
The other guardians. They began TO m.ke
suggestions OF their own, until at last steamer
day brought them generally together, in con-
claye, in the back room of the saloon, where
the fortnightly epistle was dictated finally by
all. Capt. RatS's pride, which at first resented
this interference, was finally pacased by the
compromise that the composition or word
ing" of the letter should be his own, although
the subject matter might be various cOntri-
button.
The result of this unhallowed collaboration
was series OF the most extraordinary letters
ever inflicted On single correspondent. 1t
was moi long before their fame passed beyond
The horizon Of their fair recipient. do you
en- papa deaf" wrote the simple girl from
do you know your letters are so very, very in
teres ing, cOull not help showing them to
some Of the girls here? You account 1.-THE Col
that almost saw it. laughed till cried over
that funny story of the Chinaman mending
your clothes Ia characteristic contribution
papa, over what you Fleet said about your
feelings that Sunday you saw the sunset from
the poor little fOrlOrn cemetery ON the hill
very sad. Mary Rickets said it was lust like
Shakespeare, and she knows, oh, so much, ami
IS considered very, very smart! They all think
1 ought to be so fond of my dear papa, as if /
wanted anything to make me love him! She.
Mary, asked me if you We're very Old and [
said You couldn't be very-are you? Then that
was SoOu dDOuI LIE mllleS tnt YOU The
COLONEL wrote. Nine. Brimbrion asked per-
mission to copy that part where You 1.-THE Col
OnelI describe the manner of reducing ores
she said it was so instructive and valuable
Dear papa, how much You do know! But l
think like you better when you're little
Just little sad, and say such sweet things
about the landscape and your lOngings. I'm
sure you're real poet, papa-ain't your
1t is scarcely necessary to say that when this
letter was read Fleet cOughed slightly cOlOred
perceptibly, muttered something vaguely about
really having forgotten it all, but remem-
bered only that he had dictated to Capt Rats
some suggestions that he Thought might
please the young thing" &C., nor that a slight
feeling of Jealousy crept into the breasts of ali
but cOmplacent Captain. Indeed, the Colonel
is SAID to have afterward remarked aside to
Horton that he was Of the opinion that Fleets
Hap doodle and "purp stuff" WASH exactly
the thing to ladle out" to young girl that was
already " OverdOSed with chewing gum and
licorlce;" and Fleet is reported to have eau
toned Capt. Rats against the freedom of some
OF the COlOnel'S stories. "EZ fur as the word
in goes" explained Capt Rats 81 PLAYS nv
own cards; so don't you get skeert! On'y the
Other day, tel!in tn It story about the coon
hunt, the Kernel allowed the dogs was hell
bent on gettin the coon. Lord love We do We
think set that down for that little gals eve?
Not much! l jiSt sat down sorter keereSS and
quiet like, and sings her this: Meanwhile.
the noble hounds, justly emulating the feverish
Impotence and ambitious spirit of their m as
teri" Lord, it's easy enough to turn the Ker-
mel into decent EngliSh-ef Won We got the snbey