American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1879-04-05

the hungry public. and while Mrs. Ma
gruder was telling small boy that she
could hold up her hand and swear that
she never used beans in her coffee,
stranger came along and asked If he
could get bite to eat. Mrs. Magruder
has been on the market for many years,
and she thinks she knows a thing or
two. She has hattered herself that she
could tell to bite just how much a
customer could eat, and she has for
years had an undisguised contempt for
thin-bodied, spare faced men, who try
to chew their coffee and mince their
toast.
This stranger was a little better than
a six-fcot shadow. His foreground con-
big as q mince-pie, and the perspective
revealed nothing but two hollow eyes
set below thin line Of sandy eyebrows.
He remarked that he had just arrived
from Dayton, and was somewhat hum
cry, but wanted first to inquire how
much his breakfast would cost him, as
he was rather short of funds. .-
sob! suppose You may be able to
worry down six or seven cents worth
of provisions and cup of Coffee" she
replied.
"Suppose you say rs cents for all I
his eyes began to witch.
Mrs. Magruder looked him over and
mentally calculated that she would
make just Is cents by the bargain, and
she replied: -ts .rrs
81 must have my money in advance,
you know" ...''..t .'.'.
"Oh, certainly-here it is. Now,
then, I'm to eat my fill for the quarter PSI
She said that was the understanding,
and winked at the. woman in tho next
stall. The thin man from Dayton
doubled up on a stool, opened his mouth.
and fried sausage went out of sight SO
quickly that the last end seemed to
smoke. A fried cake followed, then q
second SAUSAGE. and. after . gulps OF
two the man handed out his cup with
the words... Hq3Z fiLa35 al
"That tastes like real cofee-gimme
some MORE"
While she WAS filing the cup he got
away with two hot biscuits and a slice
of beef, and the coffee came just in time
to wash down q hunk of mince-pie. He
could use both arms and his mouth at
once, and he attended strictly to bust
ness. When Mrs. Magruder had filed
the third cup her smile had quite van
ished. She saw that she wouldn't come
out even without resorting to strategy,
and she began asking questions. The
man answered none of them except by
a mouthful shake of the head. Crash
crashi went his jaws, and he reached
out from the shoulder like clock-work.
Mrs. Magruder called his attention to q
dog fight across the way. but he ate fast
er than ever. The bell struck and she
remarked that a big sconfagration was
raging at the Union depot, but the man
did not raise his eyes.
When Mrs. Magruder discovered that
she was at least six shillings behind she
said hat she was 'spoor widow with
five children to support" .-e
"How I do pity youI" replied the
man as he passed his cup with one hand
and raked in . biscuit with the other. q
Then Mrs. Magruder told q story
about man dropping dead on the mar
ket the day before on account of over
eating, but the nan got away with two
fried cakes and replied:
"Curious how some folks will make
hogs of themselves
At length Mrs. Magruder wanted to
know how much longer he could stand
it, and the thin man from Dayton gave
her a reproachful glance and answered:
"Have thus early fallen in with
swindIers and falsifersP"
She let him go on for three or four
minutes more, and then she limited that
a detective was prowling around there
evidently spotting'' some one.
eff he'll only give me twenty five
minutes to finish my breakfast, he can
take me and be hanged!" answered
the man, and his arms worked faster
than ever.
Mrs. Magruder was cornered. She
the sake of her poor orphans to move
on and leave her at least one fried-eake
as business foundation. He paused
with his cup held out for the seventh
time, and perhaps something in her
fearful look reminded him of his poor
dead mother, fof he said:
"Well, ann only human, and I ad-
NIT that my heart is tender. I don't
like to break OF In the middle of my
breakfast, but I'll take my monsy and
move on for your childrefss sake.''
He got up looking just - much like
q lath as when he sat down, and when
he was out of sight Mrs. Magruder turn
ed TO the desolAte ruins and groaned
out:
"I'n take my solemn oath if four
dollars would make me good for this,
and must tell my husband that I fitted
out schooner on trusti'-Detrott Free
REV. - IiE
The Water Torture in Japan.
The originators of this cruel device
relied upon the torments of thirst as
more powerful than mere corporal suf-
fering. The prisoner is for several days
confined to an extremely salt diet, with
out rice or water. When two or three |
days have passed the craving for water !
becomes incessant, and the sufferings of
the tortured man approach the bounds
of insanity. Efforts are then made to |
obtain confession by subjecting the suf-
ferer to the agony endured by Tantalus