Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1895-01-20
WANTED THEIR DINNERS BADLY
How n Prosperous Lawyer Treated
n Tramp and Himself to n Meal.

How n Prosperous Lawyer Treated
n Tramp and Himself TO a. Meal.
There is lawyer in Temple Court,
prosperous, clean-bodIed, clean-mlnded
man, with several years yet to run TO
middle age. who looks as though he
had never been outside OF New York
and as though his clients had always
been railway magnates, To see him
one would never suspect him OF this.
story, which he told on himself ut
luncheon the other day.
After | finished my law studies l
entertained large Idea of my capn-
bllitics and q corresponding one OF the
needs of the new West. II Is by no
means unusual for young men OF an
active habit OF mind to pass from the
law school to the supreme bench in
twenty minutes, so l claim no original
lily for the eEotlsm which / hope
have outgrown by this time. But l
heard the West calling me, and. having
heard It, | could listen to nothing clsc
followed that voice, SO seductive. so,
alluring, from state to territory, from
hotel apartments to furnished--pity
the mark!--rooms, from champagne to
beer, from beer to alkali water,
81 thought | had struck the inferior
limit In Santa Fe, when I found just
enough III lily lbtkfA ~ lNN u AltktA AOI
Denver, but II was hardly Il putCh, gem
tlemon, hardly patch. / arrived In
Denver, then as pushing progressive,
domlneoring a town as any could wiHh
his wort enemy to De stranded In. and
1 was penniless. fricndlesa, foodlcss.
l walked the streets two days and a
niFht before / struck my luck so hard
that IL turned, II IN OF that incident
that / am about to tell you,
eff KDu have oyer lppn denied n
needed meal, you may have some faint
appreciation OF the frame of mind In
which / was after that pedestrian cNcr-
else with neither food nor sleep, and
no prospect OF more alluring character
than that of a dripping slab In the
| Denver morgue. That might easily
have happened had | been naturally
| OF Il Respondent turn Of thought, but.
| fortunately, dependency In me turns
to desperation, and that saved me. |
assure You / had no regard for my
| profession at that time, ana would faf
more readily have broken the law than
applied II to any case. | was half
minded TO break pane of glass In
some bakery window and steal loaf
| for the sake OF being pul where / would
| be able to get food ana sleep for n time,
| and had Il not been for the accident of
my being outwardly well Dressed
though l wore no clothing not actually
| Indispensable, the rest being hung up
i might have yielded to my inclinu-
ton.
Feeling thus desperate. / pushed my
feet along down Sixteenth Atreet. past
Lawrence. and then, despite my de-
| sire they refused 20 carry me past the
window of Gen. Taylor's restaurant,
there by the brunswick. / stood ms
one encanhted ana my eyes fed my
fcycrlsh brain upon the sight of pastry
.snl la, ha window
II was about the middle OF the day,
| and people were thronging the long,
| narrow room, eating at the counter
! and the tables, paying the young wo-
| man cashier at her stand near the
| DOOR and coming out with internally
/ aggravatlng toOthpicks between their
| lps-I would have liked to stab them
! with the little sharp weapons. And
| stood helplessiy there, ana suddenly
| someone gave gave me bunch In ribs
| that staggered me, and winning
| voice said:
| 'Sa-a-ay, bossN
And there stood the frowsiost, un-
| cleanest, tatterdest. unshavenist dog
Of a tramp ! ever saw. ! didn't have
| strength to move away or TO utter Il
word; he had taken the wind out OF
me effectually He went right along
with his beggarly whine;
Boss, amt yer got the price OF
somethln' ter eat In yer clos fer me,
| sa-a-ay. boss, don't get away from
me like dat-help n poor Teller wots
down. God knows | hate ter ask, but
it's truth. | amt had bite for three
days. / can't work, and I'm sick and
tes played out I'm Kicked round
all the time, and I'm so low down |
| don't much keer ii | could only get
somethin' to eat I'd be willin' to
take licking II could get dinner
by IT,
"When the fellow said that / thought
he must be worse on than | was, and
] looked him over with q sort of inter-
est for / had believed myself In the
lowest depths. but / was not looking
for licking. And while l hesitated
he appealed to me again,
"I know you can't know how II
feels to have your belly wrop round
| yer backbone fer support II yer could
yer'd help me. Yer wear nice clos,
and don't reckon yer ever was hun
gry--not raail starvin.' | be-starvin'
| right now. Youae gentleman and
don't know nothin' about II. Yer
won't miss anythin' yer does fer me-
'Well. you perceive, do you not, that
II was necessary for me to sustain the
character of gentleman, with which
he had invested me. on account OF my
clothes. could not betray TO him the
truth-that my stomach was In as sad
n state OF collapse as his own--and the
fellow feeling that Is born of misfor-
tune would not allow me TO turn him
away with a gruff word, The neoes-
stiles OF the exigency stimulated my
brain, and. like an inspiration, the way
out appeared TO me. / said to HIM
"Tf you want meal badly enough
TO take a beating for IL. my man, you
must want II badly Indeed.
"'Dere amt no doubt OF II in my
mind said he
"'Well.' said I. come In. I was Just
going In 10 have dinner. and you shall
eat with me, shall soon know
whether or not you are the impostor
/ half believe you to be-. And / gave
him q severe look-eS though he WINS
witness for the opposition, and ]
knew he was lying.
""Fore God, It's my stomach talkIn'
not me- he said. And he followed me
in.
IT went In with my bravest aIr--the
mir that belongs 10 the young man
Who has not tried the world, and who,
consequently knows II ail-and march
ed down the length OF the room, the
tramp. like a dog, at my heels At