Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1889-09-19
a QUEER PATRON.

of the London short-sentence prisons,
Prisoner No. 119 was wondering what the
world outside was saying about him. His
fingers were busy with the piece Of old
rope he was making into oakum, but his
mind was full of an imaginary report of
his own case at the police court. He even
hoped some of the papers might have de-
voted a short leader to him, for his offense
was strange one.
Arrayed in tattered gown of the cut
peculiar to Camford Bachelors of Arts.
with a battered cap upon his head, he had
In broad daylight walked down Regent
street breaking the lamps with long stick.
Proceeding calmly and without hurry, and
followed by a rapidly increasing crowd, he
had smashed some half dozen before a
policeman appeared and took him into
custody. At the police court he told the
magistrate that he had once been an assist
ant master In a school, but had lately got
his living on the turf, on tramp, and in
other more or less disreputable ways He
was willing enough to go to work but he
could not get employment, so had broken
the lamps by way of advertisement He
had one little complaint against the police.
He gave his name, Charles Micklereed, to
the inspector, and that officer refused to
further embellish the charge sheet with his
proper description of Arts, St.
Boniface college, Camford. Sentence.
twenty-one days imprisonment with hard
labor
No. 119 was quite right in his surmises.
His case was making a good deal of sensa-
ton outside the prison walls. 1t was a
slack time and editors were rather short of
subjects. They deemed Charles MCKEE
reed s exploit good source of cheap copy,
and they were not wrong, for letters about
it poured In freely. Some of his college
friends even proposed to do something for
him when he came out, and as three
weeks is not long, there was just chance
that they might not have forgotten him by
the time he was released.
AS the prisoner was musing, his cell
door was thrown open and Warder
Smith IN official tones announced
mo. 119, the chaplain to see you.
The warder was not however, cutie
accurate III his assertion, for the clergyman
who entered the cell was not the regular
chaplain of the Jail, but the curate of
neighboring church. who was visiting the
prisoners while their usual pastor recruited
himself at the seaside.
The prisoner stood up and faced his visi-
tor, who shut the cell door behind him.
AS soon as the sheep got fair look at the
shepherd he exclaimed
why, Josh, old fellow how are you?"
at the same time holding out his hand with
an evident expectation of a friendly grasp.
The Rev. Joshua Bamlett recoiled a little.
know, prisoner" began he.
whether you mean this as a joke. Let
me tell you it is hardly the way to
"Oh! stow it Josh, > interrupted the una
Dashed reprobate 'Do you mean to say
you don't know ME? It's my beard. I
suppose Pity I didt get spell long
enough t, have it shaved off I'm Charley
MicklereeC -
What! Micklereed, my old Camford
friend? Yes, now | see it is. But, oh
Charley, Charley, what has brought you to
this %
''Proximately the government omnibus
known as Black Maria, ul imately that
common complaint of employment
Don you know why | was sent up? You
don't mean to say it ism t in the papers :?
said Mr.. Micklereed, seriously alarmed for
the success of his scheme
Il have been too busy to look at a paper
these three days, replied the clergyman
They ought to tell me what each prisoner
had done and the length of his sentence.
but my visits are so hurried they forget
sometimes. "
''Ah! that accounts for it, said the
prisoner, apparently immensely relieved.
''Well, took leaf from the Irishman' s
book and committed an outrage to call at
tention to my distress. Smashed some
lamps In Regent street. Shouldn t wonder
if they made a music-hall song out of it.
Charley Micklereed smashed the lamps to
find himself provender. with an accent on
the ZEN has a good lit about it as that
thing on the other Charley and the milk at
Chelsea, anyhow. Just look in the papers
when you go home and tell me what they
say when you call again
MY dear Micklereed, it's against all
rules to tell q prisoner what is In the
papers. But don't, pray don't, look at
this serious thing in that light way. You
shock me terribly. You seem as hard as
An old horseshoe nail interrupted
the prisoner; and let me tell you, it's
good nail that gets harder by much
hammering. Only the bad ones Will
break.
L can stay no longer now" said the
clergyman as the warder was heard COM
ing along the corridor, Il will come
again tomorrow. But do try, my old
friend. to look at this matter In its true
light. =
'.Wen, don't you forget about the
papers then, was the prisoners parting
shot.
The Rev. Joshua Bamlett went straight
to his lodgings and tried to compose his
mind. He sat down in his easy chair. lit
pipe. and fell into a reverie. Howell he
remembered the old Camford days when
he and Charley Micklereed had lodged in
the same house and belonged to the same
set. 1t was not in any way distinguished
set, and Micklereed had been a kind of
honorary member of Il. That eccentric
young man always seemed to regard the
university as monk did the world-he
was in it, but not of it. Hewas an orphan,
and had gone to Camford against his own
will, but In accordance with that of his
father. His father had had a belief
founded, it is needless to say. on ignorance
in the value of Camford degree, which
had induced him to make his son inheri-
lance of his little property depend upon
the attainment of that academical distinc-
ton. Charley fulfilled this condition as
easily as he could, and spent the money
as quickly as possible. Then he took a
situation. but, as he could not bring him
self to look upon the unwillingness of John
Bull, Junior, to acquire useless knowledge