The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1897-11-17
HOW HE GOT A MEAL.

Ilently 10 nara LUCK SLOiy llOlN q
beggar and gave him 81 with the re
mark: II believe you are hungry.
I've been there myself. Take this
and fill up
why, Drifter," said his friend,
when they were in snug corner Of
the smoking room, "that fellow
would have been just as well of
with dino as with ST. He's blow
ing your money in now in some bar
rel house for bad whisky. -
II don't care what he does with
the dollar" said Drifter. "He said
hewas hungry, and 1 could see star
vation in his eyes. l know what it
is to be hungry. I don't mean the
hunger that comes after good days
work, OF the appetite such as you
get by tumble in the surf OF by
drive in the park or brisk walk
through the fields. mean the
gnawing, sickenlng hunger that
comes when food is in sight and you
have neither money nor credit to-
exchange for meal. experienced
that kind of hunger many years ago.
"This is what happened to me in
mushroom town out west, he
said. 1.-THE bottom had dropped out
of every deal in which I was inter
ested. The town was absolutely fiat
broke. An accepted draft for 800
on the best man in town would not
buy bite Of dried buffalo meat. l
had mining stock, land certificates,
promissory notes and poker I 0
US enough to paper this room, but
couldn' raise enough on the whole
outfit to pay my hotel bill.
"You have met my friend Harry
Winslow. He's made fortune, as
you know, as contractor. At the
time ] speak of he was my closest
churn. Harry came out to that
mushroom town as a civil engineer.
He to superintend the sewerage
system. We roomed together and
had many good times until the bub-
BILE burst ard left Harry and me
stranded. Harry was fabbergasted
when he learned that the time he
had put in ON that sewer contract
was wasted and that his chances of
getting paid were about as desperate
as swim across the Atlantic. [ had
done some roughing in my time and
while did not know SO much about
civil engineering as Harry did, I
managed to survey the situation in
our hotel and to keep the landlady
in check until she quarantined US.
She used to nail Harry and me at
the dining room door with such
pleasant shots as these:
Well, I suppose you're coming
in to eat some of the food that l owe
: for. If you don't pay something on
account of your bill today, you can't
have another meal in this house.
"1hat would take the edge off a
mans appetite, wouldn't it9 Harry
staid in our room most of the time.
It wouldn't do for both of us to be
absent, for the landlady had threat
ened to grab our baggage, and Har-
ry swore if she ever seized his outfit
he'd commit suicide. never saw
such lay out in a frontier town as
that Boston civil engineer brought
with him. When he unpacked his
trunks and spread out silver backed
brushes, silver backed combs, silver
nail sets and shoehorns and silver
soapboxes and other accessories
that his sister: and his sweetheart in
Boston had provided him with, l
called him the rajah. Of clothes
why, he had no end-that is, when
he arrived.
There were two pretty girls IN
that hotel. They were nieces Of the
landlady. They simply wore them
selves out taking care of Harry S
elaborate outfit. Before he landed
in town the dust used to be an inch
thick all over that room and might
have tangled the bell until it broke
without getting any attention from
either of them. But with the rajah,
we'll, it was different. They quarrel
ed as to which one should take care
Of the rajah's clothes and brushes
and fancy fxings. You couldn't find
q speck of dust in the room with q
microscope, and they put lace cur
tains up at the window and gave Us
clean towels every day. had put
up with one Il week. They snug
gled cold lunches up to the room
for Harry, Of course. The rajah
spread himself on tips for those
girls. Nothing was too good for
them. He didn't know that the end
was in sight. l managed to pick up
$50 one day down the river, and l
sent it back to Harry posthaste
with orders to give it to the I'D
lady as part payment on our bill.
when I got back to town, the
landlady's reception of me told me