Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1883-12-14

II dusn't go near him, sir" said the
girl, shrinking back. BESIDES, he q
ticularly said / wasn't to take the par
Gel. He a Y he knows nothing about
it."
every well, then" said Tom, in des-
peration. eft is all a mistake, but il
he won't see me, I shan't take any more
trouble"
With this, Tom marched out of the
house in a great state of Indignation,
but with an odd sensation that fate had
decreed he should keep the money. He
would have left the parcel with the SER
want, in spite of Mr.. Burrows injunc-
tons, if he could only have felt that he
was doing right. 1t seemed hardly like
ly, however, that a person would deny
all knowledge of such a consignment, If
he were really the sender. 1t is true
that Tom was inclined to doubt Mr..
Burrows vcracity on this point, but,
after all, he might be mistaken. He
hurried back to his hotel, and questioned
the waiter who had taken in the parcel.
The man, however, adhered to his story,
and was quite certain that MI. Burrows
name had never been mentioned. After
all, the circumstances which connected
that gentleman's name with the parcel
was the accompanying card which had
been left at the house and Tom had
done his best to follow up his clue.
As there appeared to be no one in the
hotel who expected to receive a parcel,
Tom resolved to apply to MI. Straw
bridg e, of Slocum, to elucidate the mys-
terry. In his excitement he had forgot
ten all about his portmanteau; but it
now occurred to him that Mr.. Straw
bridge could explain the whole affair,
for Tom still suspected that the parcel
had been intended for the messenger
who had carried the letter, and upon
reflection he felt more and more con-
WINGED that Mr.. Burrows, for some mys-
ferrous reason, had deliberately at
tempted to deceive him.
Tom travelled to Slocum by the ear
lest train, revolving these things
in his mind, and at the end of his Jour
ney, having recollected the impending
election, he had formulated his ideas a
q little. He was hardly surprised to
learn that Mr.. Strawbridge was the
Conservative agent, and though it had
been given out that the election was to
be conducted on party principles, he
began to feel a little suspicious. He
called upon Mr.. Strawbridge at his
office, but discovered hat he was at
tending a noisy meeting of his party at
the assembly-rooms. Tom waited pa
tiently until the proceedings broke up,
and then took the earliest opportunity
to accost him.
Unfortunately, Mr.. Strawbridge was
a fussy, self-jmportant individual, and
little suspecting the delicate nature of
Toms communication, he declined to
accede to his request for a private inter-
view, but roughly requested him to
state his business on the spot. His man.
ner put Toms back up, and although
there were several persons in hearing,
Tom did not hesitate to inform him that
owing to an accidental circumstance he
had been entrusted with a box of sover-
eigns to deliver to him. Tom then pro-
ceeded to detail the facts of the case, and
his story caused a perceptible stir among
the by-standers.
"Pooh! pooh! It's all nonsense" in
terposed Mr.. Strawbridge, turning very
red, and glancing ap~prehensively around
him.
.'But what did the note mean then?'l
cried Tom, not relishiug the statement.
''The money was sent to me because I
was believed to be your messenger"
"Hullo, Strawbridge!" exclaimed q
voice from the crowd, significantly.
Gentlemen, | assure you this is an
unworthy mannuvre of our opponents"
said Mr.. Strawbridge, raising his voice.
''lt is an attempt to convictm me of bribery
and corruption. know nothing about
the parcel. This young man has been
sent here to prejudice our candidate,
and to spread damaging rumors."
"Shame! shame!!' burst from the ex-
cited b~y-standers; and Tom. who was
by no means disposed to take this re-
buff calmly, suddenly became the OBJ
iect Of popular Indignation. Before he
had time or opportunity for remon-
STRANGE, his hat was crushed over his
eyes, and he was violently elected into
the street. But he chung to the pre-
cious parcel with logged determination,
and managed to carry it away with him.
Tom was a hot-tempered fellow, but
he had a pretty shrewd eye to his own
interests. After what had passed, he
guessed that neither Mr.. Burrows nor MI.
Strawbridge would be anxious to claim
the box of sovereigns, which he consid-
cred himself entitled to retain by way of
damages for the injuries he had s
tained- He took the nexttrain to town,
and paid the money into his banking ac-
count, and then wrote to both of the
above named gentlemen, expressing his
willingness to refund the amount to
whichever was entitled to it, upon re-
ceiving a satisfactory explanation.
Strange to say, neither of these COM
munications elected any reply, and from
what he afterwards gathered from the
local press, Tom is inclined to believe
that he will remain in %undisputed pos
session of his spoil.-London Truth.
One of the queerest curiosities on
the globe is a man with a silver skull,
who was visiting in Louisville, Ky.
During a fiercely contested battle in the
late war this interesting individual was
struck in the head with a piece of shell,
which tore away the entire top Of his
SI-r11 1oov;Du tho br,;n wood b,,:L1-