Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-04-23
A GENTLEMAN OF HIS WORD.
Twelve Years Not Too Long for One Man to
Remember Promise.

Twelve Years Not Too Long for One Man to
Remember a Promise.
''What makes some men the soul of honor?"
asked the story teller. Every one of us has
had some experience in life to prove to us that
there are men of unimpeachabIe honor.
think the most honorable gentleman whom
ever met was man of absolutely infernal luck
l first saw him in frontier town. He had
been cowboy, but he had got caught in ter
rible winter back on the plains, and at the
time first saw him he was only wreck of
man, with legs misshappen and weak and
eyes that were nearly blind He seemed to be
Just clinging to life in that little Colorado
town. doing what little he could in bar rooms
or going slow errands until fate should be
kind enough to take him away from his
misery.
lie stopped me in the street one night.
"'Will you lend me $40, he said roughly. Il
am in bad way and need it,
Now $40 was good deal of money to me
at that minute. for IN my western experience 1
had my ups and downs, and at that time was
having my downs
Wouldn't dollar do your asked, for the
fellow looked so bad that wanted to do some
thing for him, but knew that should never
see my money again.
d" No. he said doggedly, it won't 1 want
to go to Denver. l am about crazy with pain
and ! want to get there and see if can't find
some relief l haven't a cent in the world
CIhere were good many men in that little
town who were in the same predcament)
But l can't spare &c. l answered. Il
need it,
"'You don't need it so much as do he said
hercely. i tell you, man, that the hell that
am suffering would kill you. Lend it to me.
I'll pay 1t back to you. Give me your name
and address. II! find you'll live
well gave him the $40. I told him that
he need not worry about paving it back. ex-
pected to get out of my troubles some day and
then l should not feel the need of it
NO he said. Il won't touch it on any other
condition. ! want to pay it back with interest,
II per cent year. Money was worth some
thing out there.)
so l wrote out my name for him. giving him
as my permanent address the home of my fam
lily In the east. The next day he went to Den
yer. Shortly afterward climbed into saddle
and rode away to punch cows punched
them with varying success all over the Colo
RADIO grazing fields for nine years. Having
had enough of cattle raising by that time and
MY ideas Of great fortunes having been con-
siderably modified. l sold cut my cattle and
came back to Gods own country.
'Of course, after the first few months follow
ing my loan of ; 10 to the cripple he never
came into my thoughts, though there were
times when that $40 would have been good
friend, but completely for got about it, Ihad
been east for three years. had married, and
was the proud father of the two handsomest
children in New York, when a letter was for
warded to me from my fathers home in Mas
sachusetts. 1t was from the cripple. In it was
post Office order for my $40 and interest Oh it
for twelve years at per cent u month. There
was no word in the letter except thanks for my
kindness and the assurance that he was now
doing pretty well for him. call that man a
gentleman and told him SO when wrote him.
and also told him something in the letter
which hoped would please him--thGt on that
day had made the first bank deposit for my
baby son and that the amount was S24. 40. his
loan and the interest," and that though the in
terest for the boy would not be anything like
II per cent, the deposit ought to bring him
good luck. That's all there is to this story.