The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-03-08
tie woke up and wiggled his fiippers a time

tie woke up and wiggled his fiippers time
of two before he sank to the bottom.
Forthwith Littleton cast up his ac-
counts and found the expense side of his
turtle account to figure the sum of $29. 46.
He at once figured out selling price for
turtle steak and soup on a basis of some
800 per cent profit upon the outlay, with
the careless grace of a man who has &C
quired perfection in the exercise of his
That very night one turtle was drawn
up from the tank and killed. or rather,
supposed to be killed, for when a turtle
is really dead has long been very open
question. At any rate a portion of it's
anatomy was placed in the refrigerator
for steaks, another portion for soup,
on the sidewalk as an advertisement. In
addition to this in the morning various
signs within and without the establish
ment proclaimed the fact that turtle was
to be had in every manner known to the
culinary art.
Now, turtle was a strange Wand to
Monterey, but Littleton's word was
mighty as to it's tOothSOmeneSS, and, in
duced by his representations, every reg
ular 'habitue and a. goodly number of
the casuals tried it in one form or an
other. 1t is sad to record, but the at
tempt to introduce the new dainty was a
distinct and emphatic failure. Barring
one or two persons who were natives of
the coast country and accustomed to sea
products, no man who tried the steaks
or the soup wanted any more of them.
Polite diners took an experimental taste,
said nothing, but ceased to partake fur
Their Individuals of coarser nature scott
ed or raised their voices in loud protest.
1t was not the fault of the cook for
the one or two men from tidewater pro-
nounced that functionary's methods as be-
yond criticism. The fault lay in the I'M
trained and conservative palates of Mon
terey and Mr.. Littleton realized the pain
full fact that he had half a. ton of turtle
on hand for which he would never have
a call and a dead loss of $29.46 staring him
in the face. The situation seemed barren
of any chance for recoupment, but it
was just Euch emergencies as caused
Littleton's peculiar genius to rise to the
most sublime nights
He set to thinking. He thought and he
thought, all to no purpose-until late in
the afternoon, when little matter he had
on hand demanded his attention.
In a very few days there was to be
ported and highly-gifted Scotch terrier
was to act the leading part This animal
was to kill so many rats in a given num-
Der of minutes, and speculation ran high
as to whether he would or would not. So
much money was ready to be bet on either
side of the proposition as to make its
winning quite an object. LittletOn had
not ventured cent as yet because it was
a sacred rule with him never to bet on
anything unless he had good reason to
know what the outcome was going to be-
In pursuance of this policy he had felo-
niously obtained temporary possession of
the terrier and had him confined back in
the cockpit. On the very afternoon that
decided the fate of the turtle as a local
food a hired Mexican brought secretly
to the pit a NUMBER OF i've rats in a bar
rel with which to test the terriers capac-
ity and enable the astute Mr.. Littleton to
know how to place his money to best pur-
pose.
So. late in the afternoon. with his brains
fairly sizzling with ideas anent the tur-
ties Iittleton locked himself in the pit
room along with the Mexican, the dog and
the rats. The rats were dumped into the
pit and as they ran hither and thither
squeaking and vainly trying to get out
the dog was let down among them. The
dog was expert and went to work with
fierce energy. A quick grab, a shake and
dead rat flung over his shoulder, that
was all. In a marvelously short time all
the rats were dead and the terrier ran
shifting about looking for more. Littleton
noted the time of the performance, and as
he put up his watch he glanced at the rats
living all around. At that very instant a
thought struck him with such force as
to cause a distinct jar among his brain
cells. He made the Mexican pick up all
the defunct rats, put them back in the
barrel and leave them. Shortly thereafter
il was noticed that Mr. Littleton's alb
stracted manner had given way to notice.
able gayety and light-heartedness.
The next morning two regular patrons
came to Littleton's to get their breakfast.
They were Alexander Kiam and one Arna-
dyce whose front name history has failed
to preserve. They were merchants, men of
note and affairs within the city.
They passed on through the saloon, for
they were of the select order and took