The Roanoke daily times. (Roanoke, Va.) 1895-1897, 1896-05-02

pa1reu 10 the natterS Wnen he haQ his
hat polished, he stood upon the doorstep
for moment, and, not wishing again
to expose his hat to tho fury of the ele-
ments, he determined to step into q
friendly restaurant next door, where he
would wait until the storm was over He
went in, seated himself at table, hung
up his hat or one Of the hooks over his
head. ordered a sandwich and began to
look over the paper. But he could not
take his mind away from tho satiricai
welcome which he knew his wife would
extend 30 him when he returned with
his damaged hat However, the Rubioon
had to be crossed The rain had ceased
He rose, and. still rejecting ON his
wife's reception. took hat from the
hook and was about 10 go when two
walters came up to him and grabbed him
by the collar.
Now we've got him, said one
Yes" said the other; we've got
him now. This is the fellow who has
been stealing hats"
Picket, paralyzed with astonishment
protested "Whatl 1 steal hats?" he
said "What do you mean?'
You will have an opportunity to ex-
plain this at the police station" was
the reply, and the proprietor, who had
whistled for policeman at the door,
turned him over to the hands of a blue
coated guardian of the peace. The un-
fortunate Picket was yanled along the
street, followed by crowd Of passers-
by, who applauded his arrest and
number of street boys, who signifled
their disapproval more forcibly by hurl-
ing mud ut him. When the party
reached the police station. the proprietor
of the restaurant made his complaint TO
the sergeant there
That's the man, said he For the
last two weeks some scoundrei hes been
coming 10 my restaurant. and whenever
he goes out somebody misses hat. We
have been watching for him Now
we've got him. There he is This is the
thief. We caught him In the very oct. E"
"But I YVES simply mistaken in the
hat cried Picket. eff were stealing
a hat, 1 would have two here, but I
haven't This Is not mine, but you will
find mine hanging ON the hook"
Yes said the restaurant man, "I
know. Ordinarily you were in the
habit Of carrying q grfpeack in which
you pot Che other hat This time you
came without tt
But am an honest man, (" persisted
the unfortunate Picket. IT am well
known Let the officer go 10 my house
and he will see" he gave his name
and his address. and the sergeant, wav-
ering in the face of his protestations,
sent an officer 30 accompany him to the
address given. In about half an hour
the officer returned. bearing an enor-
nous pile of hats
Here sergeant" said the latter,
"see what found In the fellows house.
His wife had gone out and it was the
servant who let me I'M
well" said the sergeant severely,
looking at the accused person. "do you
still deny that you are hat thief"
gazing at the gigantic pile of hats
II deny it. I deny it in toto," said
the unfortunate Picket II bought these
hats don't wear them. but bought
them"
You don't wear them. What in the
world can you do with 20 hats?'
"Well, my wife has always told me to
cSi2 eifC1I1 ~ SiIl O4tk IIldll. L never
think of it, am so forgetful. Why, to-
day even forgot my umbrella 1 never
had any head
You have no head? What do you
want with eS hats, then?''
But at this moment weeping wom-
an entered the police station. 1t was
Mrs. Picket She had heard from the
servant of the plight in which her luck
less husband was placed and came and
told the police sergeant who he was and
that the hats Were really his But was
Picket grateful to her? Hardly. He
wished thousand times that she had
not heard about his misadventure and
that he had succeeded in going through
all the pains and horrors Of police
court far rather than that she should
find him there with the 2S hats-28
mute witnesses of her superior Judgment
staring him in the face He said to him
self mentally, Never shall / hear the
last of those 80 hats. " He never did. In
fact, he got it morning, noon and night.
He had 1t with breakfast, lunch and
dinner. He had it with his soup. He
had it with his nightcap. He had it
"AAA AiAo Aioih Mug SupptIo- <auu WllSu-
ever the rain began falling and poor
Picket would incautiously say, "What
dreadful weather. Eyes, Mrs Picket
would reply, exactly the same kind Of a
day as when you got rid Of your 20
hats San Francisco Argonaut.
Only . Plagiarism.
lyon stole this man 8 overcoat?'' said
the justice inQuiringly.