The Van Buren press., 1898-04-09
wHIIs MAN AND INDIAN.
A Harmless Sidewalk Encounter Va
Front CT Cigar store.

Harmless Sidewalk Encounter IA
Front CT a Cigar store.
Standing in front of cigar store in
a busy city street was the wooden fig
ure of an Indian, holding out to the
passer-by a bunch of wooden cigars.
This figure was about three feet in
height, and stood upon pedestal ga
feet high, which was supported upon
low wheels, by means of which it was
rolled in and out of the store, to and
from a low platform resting upon the
sidewalk With all its supports the
figure rose about six feet above the
walk.
Coming along the sidewalk was
man with jag, which, however, might
not have been noticed by the casual
observer. He was of grave demeanor,
and he walked, for the most part, az
straight as die; but just as he came to
the figure of the Indian standing on the
sidewalk holding out the bunch of
wooden cigars he lurched heavily to
starboard, eollided with the Indian and
knocked it over, and then went down
himself, and there they lay, the white
man and the Indian, side by side, on ths
walk.
The Indian lay perfectly quiet; the
white man struggled to get up. Hear
ing the crash the proprietor of the cigar
store ran out upon the sidewalk. When
he saw the Indian down his face was
sober: but when he saw that the figure
was nniniured his face was smiling. He
riehted the figure up and stood it once
more upon its platform. 1t was quite
unmoved by the encounter, and it held
out the bunch of wooden cigars just as
before, while the white man still lay
upon the sidewalk struggling to rise.
He got to his feet finally, but minus
his hat. This was back on the side
walk. eight or ten feet from where he
had risen, and he came back to get it.
Half n dozen people or more had gath
cred, attracted by the crash and by the
sight OF the two figures on the side
walk, and these now stood around and
watched the man try to pick up his hat.
They all smiled as they looked on, they
couldn't help it.
He was a well-dressed, good-looling
man. and he still preserved the same un-
broken gravity of demeanor; the en-
counter with the Indian had not dis
turbed him in the least. But he had a
difficult job on hand now, to pick up his
hat without going down again himself.
Anybody might have picked it up for
him and put it on his head, but every
body wanted to see him do it, if he could.
And so the people stood and watched,
and smiled and saw him try: bending
slowly down, down, dewn-ah! all but
reaching it, all but losing his balance
and then partly Strengthening up to try
again.
Then a small and friendly newsboy
who had been standing by with bundle
of newspapers under his arm, smiling
with the rest, INTERVIEWED. When the
man went down for his hat again the
small newsboy set his shoulder under
the mans shoulder and so supported
him and steadied him down, smiling all
the time as he did so. He might have
picked up the mans hat in an instant
but he didn't want to do that; he was
like all the rest; he wanted to see the
man himself pick 1t up.
And with this help the man did picl;
/. up, and. standing upright, he placed
it on his head once more and faced
about in his original direction and
started on. This time he walked
straight past the wooden Indian and on,
to all appearances sober as Judge; the
knot of onlookers melted away, and the
incident was closed.-N. Y. Sun.