The rustler. (Cerrillos, N.M.) 1891-1???, 1891-10-30

- - ~ &A8 =
rich IA Lee. being an only child.
was la = fair way some day Of coming
into = fortune, and her father was ~
solved hat n should not 20 20 any
poor man. lie had often expressed his
opinion on this subjects Il was well
known b the lovers but this did not
prevent Prof Morgan. who was Just
beginning and had only q fair salary
with no surplus from asking the old
man for his daughter.
The interview was not a long one.
but there was = good deal Of low
barometer and high temperature 20 II.
meteorologically speaking Prof
Macadam fumed and said something
about fortune hunters and fatty de-
elined 10 consider the subject Of such
an alliance. at IL absurdr' he said
'What would you live on"
Prof Morgan intimated that two
people might sustain themselves In n
modest way on the salary he was get
ting.
Nonsense. sir. Nonsense" was the
retort My daughter has been accus-
toned 10 a better style Of living than
you could afford her and ! decline 20
consider the proposition for n moment
You're In no condition 20 support a
wife, sir! Figures do not lie, sir! Fig.
urrs do not lie!"
Prof Morgan suggested that figures
sometimes did give n wrong inn pres
sion.
Then IL Is because they are used by
an incompetent person. | I'm surprised
that You, sir, assistant professor Of as
tronomy In n great institution of learn
ing, should assert that any mathemati-
cal fact is not an actual one. Prove TO
me that figures lie and you can have
my daughter! But this IL only non
sense. You are presumptuous and
something Of an ass, sir! Coco day,
sirl"
When Prof, Morgan impaired to his
sweetheart the result OF this interest
ing interview they were both some
what cast down. IL was she who first
recovered
And so papa said | could have you,
did he, II You could prove TO him that
figures ever lied?"
Eyes. he said that, though l don't
suppose he meant IL. II was simply u
sort OF defiance he blurted out in his
anger. But what difference does IL
make? How could l prove an impossi-
bility in any event, wen II such a gro
tesque challenge were accepted in
earnest? When l said TO him that fig
ures might give wrong impressions, it
was only TO convey the idea that peo-
pie who cared very much for each
other might get along with very little
money and that the ordinary estimates
for necessary income did not apply"
You don't know papa! He'll keep
his word, ever one uttered in excite
ment He has almost a superstition
regarding the literal observance Of any
promise made, though 1t might be ac-
oidental and really meaning nothing.
You are very clever-as great n math-
ematician as papa is. You must prove
to him hat figures sometimes really
lie, ever where computations are all
correct. Surely there must be some
way of doing that?"
A III dAIhiA hobs htuIs Int HlpOu
isn't made Of green cheese"
But there must be some way and
you must find it. You shall be like u
knight of old who is TO gam a maiden's
hand by the accomplishment Of some
great deed of derring-do. Am / not
worth it, sire" and she stood before
him %jauntily, with her pretty elbows
out.
He looked down into a face SO fair and
so fun of all fealty and promise of sweet
wifehood that he resolved in an in
stant that, IL II lay in human power to
meet the terms of the old mans gro
tesque challenge, the thing should be
accomplished. lie said as much and
what he said was punctuated labially.
Being n professor, II would never have
done for him to neglect his punctua-
ton.
1t was not three months after the
stormy Macadam-M Morgan interview
that Prof. Morgan's great book on
''Eclipses, Past and TO Come" made its
appearance. And it was not three
weeks after that great works appear
ance when all the scientific world was
in a turmoil.
Prof. Macadam had, for a season
after the interview between him and
Prof. Morgan, maintained n cold and
formal air in all his intercourse with
the latter gentleman, but after n time
this wore away and the old relations,
never very familiar, were resumed.
Indeed, it seemed at length that Prof.
Macadam Ind forgotten all about the
affair or. If he remembered it at all,
did so only as an exhibition of fool
ishness which his own force and wis
dom had checked forever. When, there
fore, Prof. Morgan's book appeared it
was read at once with interest rs the
word of a scientist who, though not a
veteran, was of undeniable ability and
good repute. But when the book had
been considered, there was a literary
earthquake! Prof. Macadam reviewed
1t and sought to tear it, figuratively.
limb from limb! He was ably sup
ported by other pundits everywhere.
The point upon which the debate