The San Francisco call., 1896-02-16

OF his sad affection. his poverty, and his
eagerness to find employment, it is no
wonder that the charitably inclined resi-
dent became the champion of the unfor-
tunate youth. and was instrumental in
obtaining employment for him.
The youngster realized the answer to
his desires for bread-winning occupation
in the bIack-art department of bristle-
chasing establishment. The barber
patrons jestingly expressed the hope that
the deaf-mute would some day WELD the
Damascus blade and camel s-hair brush OF
the tonsorlal expert and finish up a Job cf
trimming, shaving, shampooing, singeing
and curling in q reasona bic period of
time without frequently stopping to re-
peat last year almanac jokes and snicker
over them in the patrons face.
Colfax's age and youth had a world of
fun and merrlment at the expense of the
deaf-mute. They called him all sorts of
comlcal names, and scolded and criticized
him in a way that no boy with the faculty
OF hearing would endure for a moment.
The more sage OF the inhabitants would
sometimes observe that lit was lucky for
Brown and Smith that the bootblack was
stone Geaf, for he'd smash the head of one
or both OF them il be knew what shameful
things were said OF him by Smith and
Brown"
But the poor boy went on polishing
shoes, totally oblivious to the fac that be
was a target for all the variegated aDnse
and unlovely tongue-thrusts of the smart
counter umper and the braZen-faced card
sharp.
The deaf-mute, however, became popu-
lar among the townspeople. OF evenings
he frequented cardrooms and INDUCED IN
the gambling habit to an extent limited
only by his means. Smart clerks and
tricky card-players put up jobs on
dummy" They would engage him in
poker game, and their friends, stationing
themselves at the hack OF '.dummy's"
chair, would overlook the deaf-mute's
hand and call out the measure of its
strength. Dummy" somehow, played in
luck. The odds of the dishonest practices
were admittedly against him, but, never
theless, once in while his hand would,
ing eyes at his back, and dummy" would
fall IN for winning. When the deaf
mute captured pot his fellow players
applied base epithets 10 him, but he
merely continued to smile his seemingly
perpetual smile. Compliments and 'cuss
words" were all the same 10 him, because
he couldn't hear.
Six months after the deaf-mute struck
Colfax, or about a fortnight ago, he sud
denly dropped out of the comm unity. He
left "between two days" and did not leave
empty-handed. The townspeople were
naturally shocked TO learn that the lnno-
cent-lookiag youth who could neither
speak nor hear, who was always so willing
to do whatever service he was signaled 10
perform, and who appeared TO be so con-
tented with his Colfax lot, had vanished
from the scenes that had known him for
half year-had vanished simultaneously
with his employers stock of razors,
brushes, cosmetics and patent headwash.
Now the barber is a sort of Sherlock
Holmes on a small scale. When he dis
covered that dummy" and the shop sup
plies were gone he was hot, and some
of the words that passed his lips may have
singed the dropping hairs of his mustache.
He bathed his head and became cool; (;
with GOODNESS came deliberate thought,
and, as a-result of Elaboration, the master
of strop and clipper sought the Sheriff of
Whitman Countwand poured his tale OF
woe into that officials ear. The ieelng
dummy" was located by description at the
village of Garfield, ten miles distant. The
barber was deputized to arrest him. Upon
arriving at Garfield about the first person
he ran across was dummy" who, to the
barber's utter aInazement, was With glib