New-York tribune., 1886-04-04
Mr. BOLDON'S EXPEDlENT.

a., .m fairly d,shed-ruined-done for, bad
....sn,der my coffin while can pay for IT." i his
peu.h eu,ho sad soil oouy of Mr.. James BOldou. So
G;tor and uotaTv puoic, as he sa' alone IN his Oh
scs IN High-st.. WestborouRh, one October morn
ing Nr lanes poldon's positior was not
.annv one lie was q young man, lately Admired
solicitor and he had spent all his little capital
20 no purpose trying 10 make practice for him
sslf in the town of Westborough.
Je was almost stranger In the town. a"d, al,
thonQh he hal been there nearly we r, he had
Sardix succeeded in making an acquaintance, much
tass in gaming clients. The report that there was
an opening" i'll the place. on the strength OF VIII ch
he had come there, had proved 10 be entirely fai-
inelous The town was Just large enough 10 h'de
bim II was in vain that he went regularly to St
Augustine's Mission Chapel. in the hope OF having
hrs name put on The bulding committee OF the new
church in VA chat he frequcuted at proper hours
fhe blliard-room o the new Royal Hotel; in vain
that he sedulously attended the county court and
The police court with glazed black bag when
held nothing but newspaper and one or TWO law
hooks. Busin, SIS would not come to him Nobody
knew him. and nobody cared to know him.
There was, indeed, one man who knew hlm-one
who might. If ne had had any business whatever,
have rr,yed a useful friend-Mr Lionel Winn,
editor of The Uestborough independent. The Young
over the bill ard table. But of what use was II to
have the means of getting flatterng notice in the
newspaper, when there was absolutely nothing 10
nvtlcef =, p,,. ho1
II was nearly IL O'clock. Mr.. James Boldon had
been looking ever his ledger and even ms sangune
disposition failed him as he marked ts ane With
.hangs n',t an his hat ana telling his solitary
ofice-boy who was improving ms UNI ny o9IInp i
hoIos IN The lid of mis- desk that he woud not DE III
III alter lunch, lie sailed forth INTO the street.
Not having any particular object in view, he
thought he might as well 60 20 the raiwa sua'iol
ard get a London paper, and thlther hc dlrec'ed
AfIer buyinq his paper, Boldon observed on the
platform the steton-mastcr. whom be knew bv
fsirbt engaged III an angry alteration with an ell
Seriv man, who looked like farm labcrer. little
crowd surrounded the disputants aud Boldon
hat fhn I'm ftr
"a tell zee ave COON from Lamborne, an all pay
no more" said the man.
You must pay the fare from London all the
same returned the staton-master, angrly:
" Here's the bylaw. You can read ii for yourself
that is If you can read,
Nav, q Caant.
We'll il saws that any one travelling without a
ticket must pay the fare from the station al which
The train started How am l to know you only GOT
In at LambOneT r
The dispute went on. the station-master, who
had been "a sergeant in the Guards and had great
idea of the Importance of his office and the neces-
s,tv of enforcing the law. having evidently the best
OF IT. 1he ycuDg solicitor vcntured TO say some
thing for the man, and was roughly ADVISED 10
mind his own business. 1his rather nettlcu MN
nuJ as the poor man protested that he could NOT
nav the fare from London-seyen shilling ana ten,
ponce-and there was every prcspeci Iha' ne Woniu @
he taken before the magistrates. BcIden @oOd-lat-
rredly paid the money Tor him, and the matter was
at an end. i, se
pondering over he hard case q the poor man whom
H. had succoIed; and bis deliberations lasted foI
some time. ..,
10 shave and stayed indoors all day. After SUD
siapnal early Ginuer he proceeded To make some
changes IN his rament. ne pnl on an 9iu ,Wee9
suit considerably the worse for wear and pair OF
boots that had seen better DAYS. HIS h9t he took
from welmeriteG oblivion, ana finally he 9dorned
his neck with "a red and blue woollen comforter.
Thus equipped, he set out for walk TO LamDOTne.
Q snail town about ten miles on.
lie reached his destination about O'clock In the
evening, and his fist proceeding was to go to an
inn and order some tea. Having refreshed himself
be lett the nm, after exchanging lew words with
the aHdlady, and visited two or three shops IN
each shop he made one or two smal purchases Ill
recting that the go Gs should be sent 10 nm AT
West borough; and IN each case he was careful !"
take "A receipt for the money he paid Ihen nc
went to the railway station. at which he knew the
London train for estbOrOugh and the west would
stop III few minutes. made one or wot trlhs pnr-
clases at the bo0kstali and managed TO engage the
man who kept the stall III conversation ior some
tine. The tram came in as he was still talking to
the man at the bookstali, aud Bo'don quiety took
hls seat III it, without having gone through the for
malIty of taking ticket.
When the train arriv ed at WestbOrough the Young
solicitor explained that he had jolued the train at
Iamborne and rendered the fare from that town. AS
be expected, the money was refused, and the full
fare from London demanded. Tins Mr; BoI0on
positively refused 10 pay, and accordingly no was
Retained till the stal0u-naster was Sent 1or
That official in all the majesty0f gold-laced coat
and tall hat soon arrived, much annoyed at being
disturbed at his evening meal.
WHATS all this aboutf' he demanded Sternly,
a. he came upon the scene
+'1hey want make me pay the fare all the way
from London, and I've only come from Lamborne,"
answered Bodon in humble tone.
"Oi course you mnst pay the whole fare IDere's
q bv- law purpCse made aud provided
kir Boldon moulnfully shook his head. on, no.
ST." he said meckly. j. really cant do that.
you'll have TO so TO the lookup, then. re-
jolned the s:ation-master, roughly You'd best
pay mp" ;,,
Dr BOldon only shook his head again and sighed
As he lawyerexpected the official was cxasperated
by bis obstinacy ana encouraged IN ms
m2nner by The meekness with which lie was CON
ronied. None of the railway people recognized III
the shabbily dressed, nnshaved individual before
them the spruce gentleman who had paid poor
mans iaIe few days before:
BonnOr go for a constable" said the station
master. with tie air of an inhexble judge award
g tom o. twenty m yeaL, & penn n serV" r nas and nd
dress, Pm known In he place-that Is. I'm quite
res'ecabc, you know
oh darr say" returned the stati0n-inaster
with irue official superciiousness.
There was awful pause while the porter was
gone to fetch The constable.
Don't YOU think," suggested Boldon. almost
tiialdly-" don't y0n think 1t might be as well to
telegraph to London for instructions Z"
I he station master rowned.
They cOuidn 1 complain OF you IN tnat case, at
any rate pursued Roldon.
The station master hestated.
III wall IN no altiUg-rOom till yOn get an an
swcr' saId Boldon as he led the way TO that cheer
ful apartment.
The Official darted suspicious glance at his pris-
oueY Snll he advice WAS prudent and he acted
upon il. IN lalf an hour The answer came back.
" h. passenger without ticket must pay the fare
from London. or he charged before the macis-
tJates."
{" Just lei ne see the message you've got" sald
Iodon. whcn tie result vas announced 10 him.
al il is rs you ay II ga quietly or else pay"
They showed hi.n The message.
No. | really can't pay all that money, you
know sad Bodon sadly, as lie read the telegram;
and accordingly he was marched off 10 the police
eli, e. guarded by policeman on the right and by
= cousi. be III the imposing UNIFORM of the Great
Railway Company on The lett.
Asit WAS Saturday night. nothing could be done
that day and Mr. BolGon did not choose to disturb
tie sabbath res' of Mr. Lionel inn, hs only
seaiiablc fIiend. by asking INN to bal hun out on
Sunday.
On Tie Mcnday morning. however, an early mes
sage was sont "a MI WInn and he promptly APP
heartily tired of his Incarceration. Later III the