Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1885-09-04
NARROWLY ESCAPED.
How He Barely Missed Telling
an Untruth.
An Incident IN q New York Mari led Mans
Life Which Proved Warning, and
Taught Him That It Did Not
Pay to Lie.


IN. Y. Sun.
81 declare (" observed Wall street man
the other evening as he pulled out of his
pocket letter, crumpled and creased be-
yond all semblance Of smoothness, ''here
is q letter MY wife asked me to mail d
week ag0, and have never thought of It
since that time"
what did you do that forf" asked an
acquaintance, as the broker tore the letter
into pieces AMI threw them on the q oor.
"Her correspondent would have dis.
covered the delay and written to nay wife
about 1t, and then she would blame me-"
"She needu't have known you delayed
It. Lay the blame on the office boy.n
mo" replied the broker, with decision.
III hate to lies Pm a man Of truth. will
write another letter"
THAT Is foolish way of getting into
trouble"
mot at all Let me relate an incident.
Several years ago. soon after we were
married, my wife once asked me to write
to her cousin Jim and ask him to come
| ana spend a few weeks with US Jim was
| my wife's favorite cousin, and liked him
as well as she did; but the truth Of the
matter was had ist started In business,
and couldn't afford to entertain any COM
pany. 1t was all I could do to make both
ends meet and keep up appearances. OF
course on ght to have confessed this to
my wife, but dreaded to do it Tn at was
where made my colossal blunder. So,
when sh' su ;gested the visit to me, pro-
fessed to be delighted with the plan.
"'You write to him. she said.
Il will,' replied.
Tomorrow said she.
Morning. 1 said.
"And Sd It was settled. But, bless your
soul, had no intention of writing that or
any other morning. When cams home
to dinner my wife asked me IL had writ
ten to Jim.
I intended to- 1 said, but have been
too busy. I have hardly had time to
breathe oil day.
"The next morning she sail: 'Of
course, yoI will write to Cousin James to-
day.
"When I came home that evening she
asked me Il had written. told her that
was just on the point Of doing so when
a man fell dead while he was reading the
tape in cur Office The next day this same
mans funeral PREVENTED me from writing.
The day after said that as was sitting
at my desk, pen in hand, a section OF the
roof fell In, and l escaped with my life
with extreme difficulty. The following
day Invented a story about my partners
mother. killel that estimable woman in
a railroad accident. or course that pre-
vented my giving any attention to pr ivate
busnes+ Tue next day to this said th at
had sent my office boy for postage
s,amps, but the careless boy all owed him.
sell to be run over by an express wagon
aud killed.
This SORT of thin went on for a fort
night. until it began to wear on my con :
stitution. Life gradually became bur-
den to me, and was fast growing q nui-
sauce to my friends. used to lie awake
at nj ht and wonder what in .Tophet /
would tell my wife the next night, and
during business hours was often so abb
sent minded that it attractel general re-
mark. One day when one of cur best
customers asked me what had besn do.
ing all day, gravely told him had been
attending his wife's funeral. AS thu man
was unmarried he accepted my reply with
something akin t, doubt, aud. although I
the wcrss. aud he left the office under the
impression that was on the verge OF in
sanity, IL 1t had not already reached that
point, land he afterwIrl said as much to
my partner.
"At the beginning of the third week my
partner came to me ons day and asked m 9
whether 1 didn't think had be ter take a
little vacation. I told him Il didn't see
how thas would m ,nd matters any, Tho
poor fellow didn't say anything, bus hs
shook his head significantly, AMI fels
that was rapidly becomin, an object to
beh I'D.
Finally, after killing two Office boy 8,
burying all my partners relations and
witnessing n end of distressing acci-
d Ants, all of which kept me from writing
to Cousin Jim, 1 made up my mini that
death waslto be preferred to any more OF
this way OF living. One evening as !
came home I found my vie in tears
"'Oh, john she sobbsd, as she threw
herself into my arms.
"'What's ths m1tterp I excl aimed I'm
alarm. didn't know but what her faith er
might have failed in busln,ss or some-
thing awful had happened.
"'You heard from Cousin Jim,' she
cried.
II made no reply. was dumb with
horr +. She had evidently invitel him
herself
"'And,' she continue l, sit won't do any
good to write to him.
"'Then he Is coming anyway
"'No.' she sobbed. He's dead.'
81 said was sorry, but know my face
must have shown ths unholy joy I felt, for
my wife Immediately left the rom, re.
marking that I was a wretch who didn't
deserve to have had mother 1t was a
great relief to me. though. 1.-The had ut
died think should have done something
Desperate"
KILLED yourself2" suggested the lis
tener. -es-'-
"No," responded the broker. "Hardly
that. But il had continued making ex-
coses much longer think I should csr
tainly have been obi iged to tell a lie."