The Red Cloud chief., 1881-12-08
THE TWENTY-FIVE HATS.

Eugene J. Hdn, In Chicago Inter Oce1n.
- -
THE TWENTY-FIVE HATS.
A French Passengers Story.
He was a Frenchman-no doubt
about that. He was a very pleasant
Jellow-no doubt about that, either.
But what his occupation might be was
q puzzler to us all. A sailor he could
never have been, as any m could see
by his unsteady walk on deck, and his
very poor performance at dinner the
first day put from Lisbon.
He was too polite for a Government
official. too quiet and thoughtful for a
commercial traveller, too well informed
for q newspaper correspondent. too
grammatical and refined in his language
Tor a popular author.
From a certain jauntiness in his air
and manner, and the semi military cut
of his short. gray moustache. some of
our party were inclined to set him down
as a retired army officer; but the sud-
den start with which he clapped his
hands to his ears when the signatgun
was fired close to him, was quite sufli-
SICut w hnoCh 6fht thCoty VII VIC hC0us
Ii was in a rather curious fashion
that the truth came out at last. On the
third afternoon (when we were already
well down the African Coast toward
the Cape Verd Islands) Monsieur
Cartier suddenly stopped short in a
series Of very entertaining anecdotes
about various European celebrities
whom he seemed to have known quite
we'll, and stared fixedly straight before
him, as if he had seen q ghost.
j looked somewhat anxiously in the
same direction. expecting TO see. at the
very least, the ship on fire or somebody
falling overheard; but nothing was to
be seen more remarkable than a very
sickly-lOOking saloon passenger crawl
ing up the cabin hatchway for the first
time since we started. He was certain
ly quite pale enough to have passed for
a ghost. but l could see nothing else
about him to justify my genial compan-
ions excitement.
In another moment, however, / no.
ticed that Carriers eyes were fixed not
upon the sick mans face, but upon his
hat. which was certainly a very extra
ordinary head-gear for the open sea.
1t was a genuine 'tstOve-pipe" rs ever
blew of in q high wind, but all of a
light mouse-color. and curving down.
ward both in front and behind. as res
Olutely as if some one had sat down
upon it
Cartier eyed it with the startled air of
suddenly meeting an old acquaint-
ance in a very unlikely place, and l
could hear him muttcr:
That's the first of the sort that I've
seen since l made twenty-five of them
myself, the year of the Paris Exhibit
ton"
49," thought /. "the murders out
Mt last; this mysterious old gentleman is
neither more nor less than a halter.
M. Cartier" l added. aloud. I'm sure
there's some good story connected with
that hat, and nobody can tell one better
than yourself. If it's not asking too
much, would you oblige me by doing
SOP"
WELL" said the old gentleman.
laughing, 81 should have thought I
had bored you enough for n day al
ready with my "reminiscences. It's not
every young fellow who would listen
SO patiently to an old mans ramblings."
IF all old men 'ramble' like you. my
dear sir, 1 shall certainly make the ac-
Quaintance OF as many as possible. Now.
will you oblige mer"
"Well, it really is a curious story; so,
If you're SO good as to be interested in
1t, it's at your service
lin the spring of 1867, a little be-
fore the opening of the Paris Exhibi-
HsAr 4 hoA rr,cf r.nva1 into a a, oha,~
in the Rue Saint Honore. and was do
ing q pretty fair business, though per-
haps not quite so good as l had ex-
pected.
But one day business had been un-
usually slack, and / was beginning to
be rather put out about it, when, to-
ward afternoon, in came q fine-looking
gentleman, dressed in the height of the
fashion, saying that he wanted some
hats made after q pattern of his own,
TO be ready by a certain day. There
were to be twenty-five of them in all,
and the pattern that he gave me was
exactly the same as the hat of that gen.
tleman yonder.
ut struck me at the time as rather
an odd idea, for although the shape
happened to be in fashion Just then, the
color certainly wasn't.
But, after all. it was no business of
mine, so long as he chose to pay for his
fancy; and. as he began BY paving me
in advance a good part of the price, l
went to work with a will, thinking that
most likely it was only some new club
that wanted a distinguishing badge.
when the hats were finished. l hap
pened 10 try one of them on. and it
suited me so well. in spite of the queer
color, that l decided to make one for
myself as well. And so l did; and a
day or two after the others were paid
for and sent home-which was Just
about the time when Paris was begin
ming to fill with the first rush of visit
ors to the opening of the exhibition
put OF my new hat and went out for a
walk.
The streets were very crowded that
day, and I hadn't gone far when 1
caught sight of a man with q hat like
my own. He came toward me, and
said, in an undertone, IS he passed,
without looking at me:
"a fine day for business, comrade,
and 10 police Gb0san
81 don't think I ever got such q start
in NV life. II the man wasn't crazy,
there was only one possible explanation
for his words, and haf q very unpleas-
ant one, indeed. But I wasn't left long
IN doubt, for as i turned into the TUT
leries Gardens / saw several more of
my hats among the crowd. One of
them sided mp behind me and slipped
something into my hand. whispering:
".Pocket that, quick"
"Now that was . gold watch. a
purse and several jewels, so it was not
very difficult to guess for what kind of
customers my twenty five hats had been
made. In another moment I was rum
ming. Is If my life depended on il. to the
nearest police station. and there / told
my story.
ITO work went the Inspector at
once. and within twenty-four hours all
Tie twenty-five hats were snug in