Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1883-04-12
" on Pooling a Landlord.

The recent death of, a. celebrated min
strel, whom, for convenience, I will
call Ben, reminds me of an incident con-
nected Within managerial career in the
West, III which Ben bore prominent part.
There were six of us in the party, and
we were financially stranded and ''work-
ing" our way toward home. One morn
ing after twenty-fours' fast, we entered
the little town of k, and resolved to
obtain a square meal by means of cheek.
L sought out the hotel and informed the
landlOrd-who, by the way, was crusty
old chap-that my minstrel troupe would
give an entertainment that evening, and
that we desired to remain at the hotel I'M
til the following morning. He assented,
and the entire party partook of hearty
breakfast. We then proceeded to bill
the town, engaging hall and give a re-
hearsal, and then we sat down to an ex-
cellent dinner. To our dismay the rain
commenced falling right after dinner.
After putting away hearty supper we
went over to the hall, lighted it up, and
the boys proceeded to put on the cork,
while took my station as ticket-seller
and usher. Eight o'clock, nine o'clock
came, and not a solitary individual APP
peared; so we closed up and went back
to the hotel in a disconsOlate mood. A
council of war was held in my room, and
various plans were proposed by which we
might take "French leave" of the hotel.
1t was proposed to steal down the stairs
and out of the front door; but that plan
was voted down for the reason that | had
seen the landlord lock the door and put
the key in his pocket, at the same time
looking at me in a suspicious manner.
Then Joe R, the tambourinist of the
party, proposed to get out of the window
of our secOnd-stOry room, but a savage
growl below warned US of our danger in
that direction. b0d5 aa-ft'+
''Let's buy some poison" suggested
Joe, ''and give it to the dog"
But search through the.pockets of the
entire party did not reveal red" Sud
denly Ben, who sat fitting back in his
chair, with his eyes elevated to the ceiling,
exclaimed:
can idea strikes me-" and forthwith
piled up chairs on the table until his
head reached the ceiling. Then he quiet
| ly removed a trap-dOOr, and after taking
our candle, he drew himself up through
! the aperture. The place was a large cock
loft, and unused, and Ben proposed that
we all enter it., and remain until Oppor-
tunity was afforded for Successful es-
cape, saying that he could come down at
night and forage in the pantry for food.
| We all went up but Ben, who remained
to arrange the furniture, and then by
means of a rope which he had found
| there, and which we threw him, he as
! cended and closed the door, having first
gone to the pantry and secured provision
sufficient for twenty-four hours.
The following morning we were
awakened by the voice of the gruff old
landlord, who was using very profane
language at our supposed flight, and an
! hour later we saw through chinks in the
boards, the entire village starting out in
| search of the minstrel men" That
night Ben descended again and renewed
his attack on the pantry. The third
night hereturned in great delight, hold
! ing in his hand a piece of meat and a
small white package.
''This is bully" he said; cit is arsenic.
l suppose the old covey wants to poison
rats, but we'll use it on the dog"
Ben rolled the piece of juicy beef in
thekIlselIc and then letit down with a
string, The savage old n1astif gave q
growl and snatched the meat. Then we
waited patiently for the result. In half
an hour the dog was swapping and snarl-
i ing, and ten minutes later he gave a little
! yelp, and then we heard him kicking the
ground vigorously, and then all was still.
| we descended from our retreat, and by
means OF the rope we were soon on terra
1i7'Tla, and we didn't allow the grass to
| grow under our feet. We struck the rail
road at the depot and found q hand-car
there, which we speedily placed on the
track, and soon put ten miles between us
! and the old landlord. ". f. g., ,itg The
,Jud0s. - ShA 81