The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1893-04-28

nentS or m2nk.iIr.
At last I.reae:led the foot of the cliff
with my neck still unorol1en. was
tired out and hungry. 1 thought my
troubles had ceased, but in fact they
were just beginning.
At the bottom of the cliff She rocks
had been blaEed so as to increase the
size Of the garden Of the villa at the
back of which l haa.arrived. An iron
fence ten or twelve feet high bounded
the back of TIE gareen. The upright
bars of iron formed Jagged spikes at
the top 1t was fence utterly i'm pos
sible to climb. but there was u little
gate which / noticed was padlocked
When l stood on theedge OF the little
cliff formed blythe blasting of the rocks
l was just slightly higher than the top
of this tall fence end five or SIX feet
away from it. The fence formed one
wall and the rocks the other of the
twelvc-foot deep ditch at the edge of
which / stood.
An oldish man was on the other side
OF the iron fence poGtering in some
newly made earthen beds that ran
along the villa side of the fence and with
him was gardener. They were the only
two in sight and were but ten feet or
SO away. l could see them and they
could see me through the bars of the
fence.
Il beg your pardon. "'I said to the old
gentleman, but would you allow me
to pass through your grounds to the
main road?"
lie looked at re for a moment and
answered CURLY:
My grounds are not public
thoroughfare.
''All right" replied I resolved to
Chamber over to the back OF some
other villa whose propr ictor would be
more obiiging. Ten minutes from
that time, after much hard climbing,
it dawned on me that l was in trap
and completely atAthe,mercy of the dis
obliging old gentleman. The way was
blocked in every direction by insur-
mountable rocks and l realized that it
was one thing to slide down the face Of
a cliff and quite another to climb up
again. ! regretted l had said ''all
right in the tone I did. reopened
negotiations with him in a subdued and
chaStened manner.
81 am very sorryto trouble you, SIR
l ventured, but it seems to be inpos-
sible for me to get out Of this except
through your property. 1t would be a
great obligcment if you would ask
your gardener to unlock the gate for
me-"
II have no doubt it would be. l
shall do nothing of the kind. 60 back
the way you came. If you have some
trouble in doing SO, it viii teach you
to keep to the publicrpaths hereafter"
81 came down the cliff entirely
against my own will. My being here
is the result Of an accident at the top
Even if it we're possible for a maa to
climb back, am tired out. l doubt If
l could go up the hill if there were
path
''All that IS nothing to me-"
q can'G stay here forever. you'isnow
If you let me through that gate YOU
may arrest me for trespass, and / will
pay my fine. That will serve as the
lesson you are so anxious to Impress
on me-"
THE penalty for trespass in this
country is imprisonment.
VERY well. / would rather go to
Jail than remain longer in your COM
pany.'
This was silly thing to say to
man | wanted favor from, and l
realized that the moment it was said.
Patience has never been one of my viz
tues.
81 refuse to hold any further discus
sion with, yoC," said the old man, with
some dignity.
''Oh, but you'll have to. If I stay
here I'm going to hare the worth of it
in talk, and don't you forget it. | don't
want yonr company, but If you insist
on having mine you will have to stand
the consequences. How much will you
take for your bit of property, anyhow?
I'm thinking of buying a place in
Cannes. l have-some property in Flor
ida that I win trade with you for this
bit Florida has ever so much better a
climate than the Riviera"
The old gentleman kept Industrious
ly pottering about the flower bed with |
a kind Of rake he had, and now and |
then gave quiet instructions to the gar
dener, who never looked up at me- l |
felt hope that if could only get the |
old man into the house, / could come
to financial understanding with the |
gardener
Before making 4 payment down L |,
would like to look at the villa from the |
from. road. Ifyou open the gate will |
so through and tell you how much Iii |
give"
The old gentleman moved along. and !
l had TO scramb bic over the rocks to |
keep within talking distance
How much does this place bring YOU |
in every year? l suppose you have a |
good market for your flowers and vege- !
tables a. the Cannes market. By the /
way, talking Of things to eat. wish /
you would send ne up couple of sand /
wiehes and half bottle of wine from |
the house. I'm starving Jailers all !
the world over At least feed their pris-
OnerS'
1t is hard to keep up conversation
all by ones self
Look here, I'm tired OF this Be
reasonable and let me out. You know
you'll hare to do SO sooner or later"
No answer.
tried TO appeal TO his better feel
ings. but he hadn't any At least if
nc had they were in the house. or
loaned to somebody. l tried personal
abuse. and finally l said would bring
scandal upon him by acting like Z
and yelling at the carriages
hat passed, so that people would think
le was keeping a private lunatic asy-