The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1883-12-29
THE G. B. G.
Tale ora Telegram.
NY JAMES rAYN.

| phuy-du ds6OClaLluu IUTlutu lUE tue uhuu
facturo Of that commodity out of a materia
which shall be nameless, but which was by
no means so precarioug aud open to adult
Grafton as cream, and the supply Of which
was practically inexhaustible- 1 sui.
fered the name Of Martipgale to appear, for
a consideration, on the list Of directors.
II il name well known in society, and
was, up to that time, uutainted by c0nneC-
ton with trade; unless, indeed, the swap.
ping and sale of chargers-for which l will
back myself against any cavalry officer in
Her Msissty's service-may be considered
by the psdantiC as coming under that head.
I had three hundred year for directing
the Butter Company; and it was far easier
work, / am bound 10 say, than were the
old duties in my regiment, for which was
paid q precisely ainlllar sum.
Once month the chairman called for
me In his brougham, and deposited me st
the offices in C5rnhill, where, after an ex.
cellent luncheon (ot which our butter
formed no ingredient), l attached my
autograph to certain documents; q
proceeding which is technically termed
passing the accounts" / believe tho
butter would have stuck to me, had 1t
not been for my own fault-if l can call
that fanlt which was the meet rxtraordi.
nary piece Of ill-fortune that ever betel a
fellow, and solely through another fellows
being TOO clever by half
Well, 1say-the G. B. Cas- we who be-
long 10 1t were accustomed to call il, as the
chairman ssid, "out Of affection and
euphony," but as far as was concerned,
for mere shortness-was o little talked
abouI;" it had its detractors, and even It's
enemies. People shook their heads at it
Especially when they tasted the butter),
prophesied we should not last; and 1t
was necessary to advertise considerably
10 get new customers. Our business lay
rather with new onts than old ones, per-
saps; but it was gradually getting spread
over the coGntry-lhough thinly spread,
like butter upon bread at school.
"Let only the Great Butter Company be
true to itself" eaid cur chairman, during
the peroration OF the most powerful speech
1 ever heard from any man sitting, "and l
do not hesitate to cay that the days Of dali
rymen are numbered" For thoug1 am
sill under M obligation Of secrecy as to
the material OF which our butter YVES COM
posed, may soy it had nothing in com.
mon with dairies-except little water.
Enough, however, ofcommercial details.
When playing at pool in the early au.
tumn one night at the Club, had the mis-.
fortune to lose-neithcr my money nor my
life, for am amazingly careful oil both, bnt
my self.poeRessioD, and somehow or
other got inyeigled into q promise 10 go
TO old SlowcomDe's 10 shoot upon the first
Of October. 1t was foolish thing to do,
for Slowcombe Is q bore, and l happened
to owe him little money; and when a
man is both bore and a creditor, it ia in.
tolerable to be under the same roof with
him, more especially II it be his own.
There were some excuses for me, for in the
first place there we're SO lew men in town
that We wer0 obliged to ask siowcombe to
make up the pool, and secondly, when one
owes a fellow money one Is bound to be
civil 10 him.
We got talking OF pheasants, and
the old fellow asked me II I
liked pheasant-shooting, and when
| said yes, "Then come" said he, ''and
have shy at NINE" Inomore suspected
Slowcombe of having any pheasant. shoot
irg to give away than OF keeping roulette
table at Hampton Court races. Still, when
man farms his own land, there Is always
a temptation to get something out Of It, and
| it seemed be had grown phsasants. !
ought to have been more prudent, and !
will another time, or my name Ia not Mar.
tingale,
] am, however, man OF my word, and
arn. tbnbhhk nj hrna h fnFv F,1u tSar1faa 10
Slowcombe, until heard him ask another
man, and than another, to come down and
enjoy themselves among his covers, and
bOih Of them refused pgint blank. They did
not owe him money, as II did but il struck
me that they ware more decided in their
negatives than the occasion demanded.
SWhy don't you 60 down to poor old
jSloycoinbe'Sw said to one OF them, a
man should have liked az 9 companion
| IN such an expedition che means well and
| is quite harmless"
"Harmless! By Joye! that is just what
he isn't" was the unexpected reply.
"Why, last yeST was the first, according to
his own confession, that lie eyer took gun
| in hand, and he shot Brooks OF ours In tie
| leo at fifteen yards in one OF his own
Iturnip-felds. Yov don't mean to say you
never heard Brooks tellthe ttory about his
leg, and how slowcombe made game Of it2"
I did not like TO say that 1Smysell had
promised to go down 10 slowcombs's, but
made mp my mind from that moment that
I wouldn't 60. ] am not family man,
but respect myself, | hope, as much as II
| was; and I wasn't going TO be blown to
pieces by an old rhinoceroS like that, in 3
field OF swedes. My difficulty was to find
an excuse; for the other mems retusals-
and his own knowledge perhaps OF why
| they wouldn't come-had made Slowcombe
i'iouchy;p and yhen 1 had limited that
couldn't be quito sure Of being with him
an the first, he had made an ailusi0n tc
the little matter OF business between Us
which telt to be equivalent to "play OF
payn-Come 10 Plodghsbire flor he lived
among the clodhoppers), or settls my &C.
count
| [ was connected with the Great Batter
Company, and had often sounded PIC es Z
lils1fospec,s; but l could never persuade
him to invest II II. iii It's such a rea
good thing, yon had beltpr oLicS to 1t your
ELI, Martingale, and let nobody else lu.'
/ didn't like the remark about letting PEG
ple In: but was not in position to quar-
rel with Sloycombe. He parted from nj
an the last day but one oi6eptember, tell
inc me he wanted twenty.tour hours to ge
his Guns ready, and impressing upon M
the Best train by which 10 Start for Plough
shire on the morrow The next morning
the sob, l wrote him this letter from th
lNlnht
INV dear sloEcon6e,-Iam exceedingl
sorry 10 disappoint you=.-and pill more 5
70 dissppoInt myseit-but I regret 10 81
that my proposed visit TO you has bee
knocked on tho head. The enclosed tell
gram will explain itself Nothing but th
most urgent business would have pr
vented my keeping my engagement; and
ieel confident, from the ideas you BAY