The Cheyenne daily leader. [volume] (Cheyenne, Wyo.) 1870-1884, 1878-04-26
to any man. ] felt that such O tribute would
only have been accorded to true worth.

to any man. ! felt that such q tribute would
only have been accorded to true worth.
Il Is not too much to say that on the
morning of that eyentful 18th inst ] felt as
tail without my boots as l Usually did with
them, and that l walked down TO the city at
the appointed hour Ike one who treads on
air. There was in reality bat very little to
tread upon, for the day had been the hot
test we had had that summer, and the
streets were all glare and dust. stun 1
thought l would walS; parity from humih'y
of mlnd, and partly becsuse my iniPaiiehce
had caused me TO set out too early. II was
not without difficulty that l discovered
the "Vipefs Head" which was an icdif-
ferent cotee-kolse up au alley "hich 1
should have hesitGtrG 20 enter a.one mao
it not been bread cayi ght. but recalled
to my remembrance ina some OF tho most
famous places OF reireshment in London,
such as ''DoIh's" and the Cock" are 10y
no means magnificent TO look al, and com
forted myself with the notion that the
Viper might bear some precious jewel In
its Head IN the way of wines aud cookery.
The ground-hoor apartment, into which
you entered straight from the street, was
not only an eatirg-room but q Kitchen;
one of those old-fasniOned places with Q
sanled floor where you sit and see your
thcP @oSAtA NNAN
which, however charming in winter time TO
q hungry man, is not attractive in July with
the thermometer at Sc in the shade.
HsGood heavens" Observed TO the
nearest waiter; ''oae dosen't dine here,
does one I"
"Well, sir yes, sir the upper room is
reserved to-day for tue IasDr0ok Issh-
monih Banquet"
It was with a feeling better imagined
than described that i Iuodestly observed,
~ am AIr. TasbrooK !" wnen he immediately
ushered me up q winding stair to tho
Banquet Hall
THIS apartment was similar to the one be.
low, except that there was no kitchen III it,
and that the floor was boarded instead of
sanded- From end to end of it ran along
table laid for nve-ard-twenty persons, with
q profusion of red and blue glasses,
looking quaint If not absolutely tasteful.
That is Mr.. Crammers fancy, sir" re-
marked the waiter, observing the direction
of my glance; "he is an old customer,
and so We strive to please him as much as
we can"
~ should not have thought him very diff
ffcult to please" said 1; me is not a par
ticular sort OF gentleman"
"Wel. he's not 20 much particular a.
peculiar. II you nave not seen him lately
Here he stopped; for at that moment
CrnnImer himself entered the room with
an eager air, accompanied ny q stranger.
my dear fellow, cried he, II an afraid
l an behind time"
NAY" saidI, returning his hearty greet
ing lit is ], ! think, who am too early,
since the rest Of our company, it seems,
have not yet arrived"
'Ahl just SO they haven't come, have
they Permit me to introduce you TO
ScrIvener, my friend and amnnuensis."
/ was SO overcome by the idea of Cram
mer keeping an amanuensis, that for the
moment L could only think of that, instead
Of giving my attention to the gentleman
himself; for Crammer wrote one of those
beautiful hands that you only see on the
first pages of copy-books and in the win
dows of la~w-statlopers, and had about as
much need of q copyist as his Holiness the
Pope Of q private chaplain. Moreover,
when / came TO consider him, Mr.. Scrivener
didn't look like an amanuensis tall and
strong, muscular md well fed, he gave me
rather the idea of n publican taking o holi-
day, than q person connected in ever so in
direct n way with letters. The next instant,
Crammer favored me with a wink of intense
signiicance-and all the more so since 1 had
never seen him wink before-which gave
the somehow 10 understand that the stranger
"ho q A@leAN' 80 go 49,
ing the assurance / had ia that nom such
would be present. 1t was rather hard to
Gpring upon me such a mine as that; but,
a it happened, 1 had got my speech well
oy heart, and was rather pleased than
otherwise only | wondered greatly what
paper he reported for, auG came to thee on
:lusion that it must ba the Morning i'd
u~crtiser, which is Jne licensed vietuallers'
organ.
1t was now q quarter of an hour past the
appointed time, and / began 10 feel a little
faugued at my friends delay If ever people
should be punetual, it was surely on an oc-
casion like the present, when modest worth
was about to be recognized. / had got SO
far in my Indignant reflections, when they
were cut short by a peal OF laughter from
Crammer: IL was not a pleasant laugh but,
As l had never heard him laugh before, l set
down its failure III the way of harmony to q
hrst attempt.
what is tue joke, my deer sir Z" inquired
[.
'Wen, the joke is, that here is the tabl.
laid for twenty i've persons. and only II rec
re come. one of whom. my amanuensis
Mr.. Scrivener (here he again introduced),
vas not invited"
''But l suppose they seR come ?" obser.
sed ], rather n,ttied by this !]nopportuue
p.ea>Intry.
Il dout know, I'm sure, 4" replies he.
coolly II only know that | an not going
TO wait for them. Sit down here. Tasbrook,
guest If the evening, on my left, and let
Is drink, boys DRINK, and the ,,cann!kIn
.luk,"
then perceived. of course, that the poor
tellu~ hal been Grhlking already doubt.
,ssS, the responsibility of ordering the en-
t rtninment and making all the neces-
AIRY preparations for so important
, matter, had driven him to take Q
little stimuinnt. Under the influence
II liquor he had. perhaps, made some
mistake in his communication to me as to
she hour for the dinner; for it was to the
ist degree unlikely that three and twenty
Jerks III the Wax aud Wafer Office should
'igu such n memorial as / had received, and
then omit to keep their W appointment.
Indeed" said I, u think We had better
wait for our friends u little longer"
DO you, now? That n>tonishcs me in.a
person of your bus!no,~ habits and punctual.
ity. The man in the whole office who may
be said 10 be the mode of what q Civil
Service Official should be SO diligent, SO ac-
curate, SO consclentious'-and then he burst
out into that laugh again, which l have al
ready described Us so objectionable-"Come
SIR, sit aown, and let us begin"
Here the amRuuensis bent down and whis.
pered in my astonished ear, You had best
sit down and humor him. sir '.it's al
ways"
Waiter! Bring me q carving knife -
cried Crammer, excItedly.
No, no, zone of that !" exclaimed the
a~manuensis, with sudden authority; spoons
and iish-knives only, if you please"
Then / began to grasp the situation; Cram.
mer was as mad rs a March hare, and his was
MS keeper. The poor fellow had lost his wits
which was a warning to everybody