Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-08-04

idea he puts it in his mouth while he at
tends to the dollar bill. CT T. two
seats, madam?" he asks. suffering on ac-
count of the coin in his mouth, and also be-
cause he feels his native language slipping
from him.
"Two," returns the severe one in deter
mined way.
The two tickets are passed through the
window. and the ladies start. At the door
discussion arises. The quiet one has
insisted upon squaring at once with the
| severe one. She is sure she will get mixed
If she doesn't The severe one takes the As
cents, remarking, "Of course its a small
matter. my dear, but paid so cents for the
seat"
"Wbyl the man has il, shouts the quiet
| one.
"oh. the wretch! OF course he has. I"
comes in chorus
"And he took the full amount. I'll Just
have that 8 cents back" says the severe
lady.
| it to me, because L gave it to him."
''Then I'm out 3 cents" says the severe
| one, as if she were being stuck that way all
| the time and didn't like It either.
'1'l tell you how it is, explains the
quiet one. 81 owe Hannah cents, and the
| ticket-seller owes you 8 cents"
''That leaves him cents ahead, and it's
an outrageous shameP' cries the severe one.
"He's been paid for one ticket twice. that's
what it amounts to. He thinks we don't
know, and If you want to go right on pay
ing what he owes, your ticket will cost you
IS cents the first thing you knowP'
"We)l,I I certainly gave him cents ex-
ira, says the one with glasses, "and I'm
going to have it back. I don't know which
nf ms haI 70 hnf hoa ho hov
itP'
"well, he shan't have mine, either," )" adds
the severe one.
A SEVERE RECKONING.
The two stride to the window. All this
time the ticketseller had been sucking away
at the nickel and wondering what is going
to happen to him. When Miss Glasses
blurts out; "I'll trouble you for that 5-cent
piece gave you" he gives horrifed gulp.
struggles q moment with his collar, and
then says family, IL will give you an
other one, madamP" He goes on struggling
with his collar, but manages to get nickel
out of the drawer and deliver it.
"You will please pay me back the cents
you owe me, tool" snorts the severe one.
my dear madam-I-i
"Yes. you did. I gave you cents, and
you had already had the cents. The lady
and gave you cents to make up for it,
and insist on having it back. 1t isn't the
amount care about; it's the principle of it,
and -"
The ticket-seller hasn't an idea on the
subject OF any 5-cent piece except the one
that is now turning a corner around his
larnyx. Into His fevered brain sweeps a
suspicion that he has become one OF those
"drop-a-nickel-in-the-sl machines, and
since a nickel has been dropped into the
slot he feels that of course he ought to show
up with something; probably another nickel
since the lady says so. He aropes blindly
in the drawer, makes mistake or two, and
finally delivers the right coin. Then. when
they have all gone, he sits with his head in
his hands and his finger down his throat,
wondering how his shccounts stand. Is he 8
cents out or &c cents out? He is dead sure
he's cents In, because he can feel that
nickel making impressions of the American
shield on one side of his esophagus, and Of
a Roman Y on the other all the way down.
But he doesn't know yet whether he owes
his employer 3 cents or dime
CLARA BELLE.