Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1895-01-20
do YOU want to eatG Give the waiter

beans he began, but | cut him short
Beans? NONSENSE You are din
Ing with me. and you shall have us
good a dinner as 1 have. You can
have beans some other day. Now.
look, here. I'm going TO have'--and |
picked up the bin OF fare. began with
the raw oysters took soup, fish. game,
roast. and every side dish | could
see. It was ordering by the card with
vengeance. The walter stood like one
petrined. Shall | duplicate that or
der for you? said 1 to the tramp. He
was specehless. seemed to doubt the
truth OF his very existence. All right;
waiter make 1t for two. said l.
While waiting l tried TO appear
like man who was accustomed 10
such dinners every day OF his life,
and by the time the waiter staggered
In with his tray piled to the shoulder,
the tramp believed he was sitting OPP
positc gold mine. | have always
observed that there is great deal
In Keeping up appearances. especially
before jury, and the tramp was my
jury. a blum will win verdict where
the cold truth Of logic fails. The tramp
was under the spell OF my blum.
II nearly spoiled 1t all when the
dinner was put ON the cloth. l was
ravenous, and with difficulty kept my
iiugvrg from insanoly grabbing at the
nearest morsels OF food. We filed our
plates, the tramp and l, and began
eating. This. OF course, diverted the
tramp's attention from me-fortunate-
ly, The poor fellow was half starved,
us he had said. and he ate as though
dinners were far scarccr than sun
rises, So we sat opposite OF each 9th
er, and never said word, lust ate
and ate. Occasionally we would pause
he unable to comprehend the good
fortune that had overtaken him. to
AL
brain, and stare for moment at each
other over the fast lowering array OF
food on the dishes between us; then,
without a word, each would fall 10
again, digging away like piece laborers
at our plates until finally there was
nothing left on the dishes TO be eaten
"The tramp brcnthcd twice, deeply,
In satisfaction. Then he reached for
his hat and murmured his humble
thanks.
"'iIold on said l, putting out my
hand and actually preventing him from
leaving the table--'hold onl We are
not done yeti There II stlll the dessert
and coffee and fruit T mean you shall
have square meal this once, II never
again. You've got nothing 10 do but
eat, and ! want you to enjoy your
self. And / ordered several kinds OF
pies and puddingB. dish OF assorted
fruits, some creams, and black coffee.
The walter got helper to clear away
the debris OF the heavy dishes and
went to bring In the light repaHt The
tramp felt himself In the tolls. He
could not say word, and perhaps he
Imagined that / was determined to
feed him to death, But he fell ON
the pies and puddlngs like brave
man. For myself, l ate but sparlng-
~, and after picking at a pudding, |
said;
g Now. my friend, l have DOT TO
leave you. / have an important en-
gagemont to M, and shall have TO
abandon the rest OF my dinner But
| don't you be disturbed by for he
| was already shufflnE his feet, getting
ready TO sneak out behind me. as he
had sneaked In. You must stay aud
hnish your dinner. Eat all You ward.
! Now / Will 30 out and pay At zee cosk
and tell tho cashier | am paying for
| you also. She VIII lock back TO see who
! It is ! am paying for. 80 you must be
| on the watch, ami when you see her
looking raise your hand, 80 she may
make no mistake. Do you under
standg
Eyes, boss and tank yer. never
had SO good a feed
" There, there don't say word.
| Just eat. When u man wants u dinner
bad enough to be licked for It, no one
! should deny him. Eat, and If you get
| hard up again. try to let me know.
And don't forget to put up your hand
when | point back here AT YOU
" lie said he wouldn't. and all the
way IN the room / felt his eyes on my
back. At the cashiers desk-I found
man there; the young woman was
| taking her own dlnner-I said;
My friend back there Will pay for
both of us when he Is through. You
see which he is-the gentleman at the
far tnble--the one waving his hand at
| us nowY'
'The cashier looked and saw my
tramp wiggle q paw In the air most
frantlcally, He could not see at that
distance how disreputable the poor
fellow was. and my own appearance
was In favor OF the BLUM. All right,
sir he said, very courteously. And l
went out stepped across the street
into cigar store and waited to see
what would happen
I'm about ten minutes was rewarded
By seeing the tramp. In q sort OF ball,
emerge like proJectile from the door
ana land In the gutter. The ener-
geilc foot of some employe OF Taylor
had been the propelling force. The cm-
| ploye followed and kicked the tramp
several times before he could rise
from the gutter and get away. And
when he could no longer Kick, he swore
AT the retreatlng form In rags MS II
sped toward the purlieus of Wewatta
street. You sec l applied logic to the
case and / had no computations Of
conscience for any one. The tramp
was very willing TO be Kicked or licked
in exchange for n dinner, and he was
taken at his word OF course ] could
moi guarantee the Licking beforehand.
and 10 | refrained from making him
promises concerning It; but 1 was
quite sure he would receive some atten
tlon Of the sort. And l knew two din
ncrs would not ruin the restaurant.
which was doing big cash business.
And never knew two men whJ needed
dinners so badly as we two--.he tramp
and l."
"And you say your luck turned or
that naaslon?" said onr OF the parry
yes" said ;hc lawyer Il went
that afternoon to the geuial head ard
front OF the restaurant, tod him Of tho
fraud which had Leen practicej rpon
him. and said | lad heard tiis p!,nci-
pal In the matter relate TIE affuir as n
good Joke. and added that | was a
lawyer and could collect lha hi. lie
gave me the case. lie introduced me
10 other men VINO lad nted Of a law
yers services. Finally ! became we'll
to-do, though nevcr rich according TO
Denver standards. ana then ] succeed
ed In Making the collection for my
first patron. But never told him who