Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1888-09-28
BOLDONS EXPEDIENT.

while I can pay for it. =" This was the
sad soIiloquy of Mr.. James Boldon,
solicitor and notary public, as he sat
alone in his office in High street,
Marlborough, one October morning.
And truly Mr.. James BoldOn's pos
itiOn was not Il happy one. He was
a young man lately admitted as a
solicitor, and he had spent all his
little capital to no purpose in trying
to make a practice for himself in the
town OfWestborough.
He was almost a stranger in the
town, and, although he had been there
nearly a year, he had hardly sue
ceeded in making an acquaintance,
much less in gaining clients. The re
port that there was IAN opening in
the place, on the strength of which
he had come there, had proved to be
entirely faIaciOus. The town was
just large enough to hide him. 1t
was in vain that he went regularly
to st. Augustine's mission chapel, in
the hope of having his name
put on the building committee
of the new church; in vain that
he frequented Cat proper hours the
billiard room Of the new Royalhotel;
in vain that he sedulOusly attended
the county court and the police court
with a glazed black bag which held
nothing but a newspaper and one or
two law books. Business would not
come to him. Nobody knew him,
and nobody cared to know him.
There was, indeed, one man who
knew him-One who might, if he had
any business whatever, have proved
a useful friend-AIr. Lionel VIM,
editor of the Marlborough Independ-
ent. The young man made the ac-
quaintance of Mr.. Vim over the bill
lard table. But of what use was it
to have the means Of getting a fat
tering notice in the newspaper when
there was absolutely nothing to no
tice?
1t was nearly u o'clock, Mr.. James
BOldOn had been looking over his
ledger, and even his sanguine dispO-
sitiOn failed him as he marked the
state of things there disclosed He
rose from the table with a grOan, put
on his hat, and, telling his solitary
office boy (whO was improving his
time by boring holes in the lid of his
desk that he would not be in till aft
er lunch, he sailed forth into the
street
Not having any particular object
IN view, he thought he might as well
go to the railway station and get a
London paper, and thither he directed
his steps
Alter buying his paper, BOldOn OBJ
served on the platform the station
master, whom he knew by sight, en-
gagged in an angry alteration with a
elderly man who looked like q farm
labOrer. A little crowd surrounded
the disputants, and Bolden sauntered
up to see what was the matter.
"A tell zee ave COON from Lam
borne, an all pay no more, " said the
man.
You must pay the fare from Lon
don all the same, " returned the sta
ton master, angrily. Here's the
bylaw. You can read it for yourself
that's, if you can read"
Nav, n caan't."
"Well, it says that one travelling
without a ticket must pay the fare
from the station at which the train
started. How am l to know you on
" got in at LambOrne?'
The dispute went on, the station
master, who had been a sergeant in
the guards, and had a great idea OF
the Importance of his Office and the
necessity of enforcing the law, having
evidently the best of it. The young
solicitor ventured to say something
for the man, and was roughly advised
mind his own business. This rather
nettled him; and as the poor man
protested that he could not pay the
fare from London Us. 10d.-and
there was every prospect that he
would be taken before the magis-
trates, BOldOn good naturally paid
the money for him, and the matter
was at an end.
Our hero walked abstractedly back
to his office, bordering over the hard
case Of the poor man whom he had
succOred. and his deliberations lasted
for some time.
On the following Saturday morn
ing BOldOn omitted to shave, and
stayed indoors all dav. After a sub
sUantial early dinner he proceeded to
make some changes in his raiment.
He put on an old tweed suit consider
ably the worse for wear, and a pair
of boots that had seen better days.
His hat he took from a well-merited
oblivion, and finally he adorned his
neck with a red and blue wooden com
forter. Thus equipped, he set out for
a walk to LambOrne, a small town
a bO41t I q roilaS off