Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1881-10-05

it'sh all l have, s'help me Gott. Oh,
dat shmoke." Then, suffocated by the
smoke that was rushing up from below,
he was seized with fit of coughing, and
fell to the floor in a swoon.
How easily might it have been then,
for Dolittle to toss the Jews bills into q
corner and to slip into the bosom of his
tunic bagful of that gold which he
needed so sorely. But he never even
thought to do it. Catching up the
heavy bag, he shot it down the canvas
shaft of the fre-escape, bills anu all,
after which he tied a rope round Greind-
hardt's waist and lowered him gently in
the same way. So both the Jew and his
treasures were saved. AS for Dolittle
himself, he got burned pretty smartly
about the face and hands in exploring
the upper part of the house to see if
there were any other inmates. He col
lected few trinkets which had fallen out
of cupboard, and then went down and
restored them to their owner. That is
in the way of bravery-nothing but what
is done by fremen every day. The
brigade surgeon presently applied little
ointment to his wounds, and there was
an end of the matter. Bills name was
not even mentioned in the few dry lines
which chronicled the fire in the news
papers the following day.
Nathan Greinhardt, however, was told
in the inn where he took refuge, of the
name of the man who had saved him,
and he wrote it down on a piece of pa
per. For two or three days his wits
were too troubled to allow of his holding
conversations with any human being.
He kept counting the trinkets and the
money he had saved and reckoning in
figures whether the amount for which
his house had been insured would cover
the value of all that it had contained
He ended by discovering that he should
not lose much after all; but to lose even
penny was most grievous to him, and
he felt justified now III telling all whom
it might concern, and many whom it did
not, that he was clean ruined and would
have to go to the workhouse. However,
III the course of a few days, he wended
his way to the fire station, with his
scorched hands wrapped in potato poul-
tees and piteous look on his face, and
asked to see Dolittle, who happened to
be on duty.
"Ah, Colt of Moshes, you got burnt
too, Mishter Dolittle ?" exclaimed the
Jew, noticing the bandages on the fire
mans forehead. "Vell, owe you my
thanks, but I'm poor man, s'help me
Colt, quite ruined [ am; but I'll tell you
vat, I'll renew your bill for another
quarter and ask no interest, and, shee,
dish is to drink my health in p
Flesh and blood could do no more.
Old Greinhardt hobbled away, having
actually left golden sovereign in the
freman's hands, and RENTED SO shil-
lings interest to him. He heard Bills
hearty thanks behind him, and truly
felt that they were deserved, for was he
not poor man like Bill himself, and
was not 20 shillings large price to pay
even for having ones life saved? But
then there was the property which Bill
had saved too On this part of the
question Nathan Greiuehardt did not
care to dwell. He was suspicious by
profession, and he found two of his gold
watches missing. He deemed that he
was making q great concession when he
muttered to himself: 81 don't believe
that fireman shtole de watches-he looks
like an honest man-but, oh my Colt,
dey wash beautiful watches !"
For many weeks Greindhardt grum-
bled thus over his lost property and his
two watches, which he remembered, or
at least said he remembered, having
placed in his bag. But always he would
repeat to himself: "Dat [ believe was
an honesht fireman." and one evening
when he was by himself, sitting very
thoughtful beside his lonely fire, he put
William Dolittles bill for ESQ into the
flames.
There must have been some curious
twists and turns in the old Jews mind.
He went about his work in the same
grubbing style as OF old; he made money,
he lent it, he moaned over the hardness
of the times, and constantly sighed abe ut
the work-house as his inevitable DOOM
But sometimes, when there were no
customers in the shop, he would sit with
his two elbows on the counter, and his
head buried in his hands in deep
thought. One day he canght a cold,
and soon made it worse by not taking
care of himself; but whom could he
trust in his shop if he took to his bed +?
"Poor men MUSTN'T be Ill. SIR he said
to the hospital doctor, whom he went to
consult gratis; but on the next day his
illness had become serious, and he had
to remain in bed. Then he sent for
Bill DOllttle, who was not yet aware that
his EDO bill had been destroyed. The
Jew told him nothing of this, but asked
him ''just to mind the shop for an hour
or two 81 desshay [ shall be well
towards the afternoon" he said, while
his teeth chartered with fever; ssand
you shall have half a crown, Misther
Dolittle, for [ know you're an honest
man."
These were the last words the queer
old fellow ever uttered to any human
nearer, for when Bill presently went up
to see him he found him dead. There
was shabby little funeral a few days
afterward, and Bill was the sole mourner
who followed the hearse. Then present
ly, when the fremen returned home, he
found letter from a solicitor, informing
l. ILL., i. :. L. TT