The Dickinson press., 1898-01-08

- ~a4rtltEFs - -
/ First he paid his fare with q soli-
tary nickel. Then he carefully un-
wrapped the spurious coin from the
folds Of . big sheet Of yellow paper,
held it a arm's length andregarded
i with one long, %famishing look of
tender regret, By this time the eyes
OF the occupants were upon him.
s"Looks good enough to pass ali
right, but she WON'T" he began. :
"Counterfeitf" asked the man
who sal. at his left, reaching for .tha
coin and; examining it critically. /
"Alittle light, I guess. Feels a
ihttle2greasy too. Still it looks like
1t would goal right in a contribu-
ton box Or IN = west aide saloon.
But it's done for now. It's race is
run. It'll not fool any more people.
You see, 1t has been marked. They
had me up in the secret service Office
today and marked it." ~
Eyes, but it's strange they didn't
'confiscate 1t. What are you doing.
Withit npwiH.g g.
Waitf That's Just what I'm
going to tell you. This dollar has
been more trouble to me than my
mother-in-law. Now, I'm not going
to lose 1t in the end, after all this
trouble. Ican'taford to lose a dol.
lar. 1know where / got It, and I'm
going to get my good dollar back.
Understand I got this queer coin
from a grocer out where I live ID
the'stockyards district I don't sup.
pose he knew he was showing the
queer, but he's got to hand back my,
good dollar. all the same. r.
"Tfouble's no name for it, and l
might have been put in jail. My
daughter innooently offered to pay
for e,4tnuaicr lesson with this coin.
It was refused and she came home
disgfaoedi sahd having Still, /
wouldn't believe it was a counter
feitand allowed myswife toftake it
10 60 6pwn.town shopping on d bar
gain day. She came back so mad
because the cashier girl had slam.
med. it down before a lot of people
to test its ring and then showed it
back withsa loud. Bogus, madaml'
that there was weeping and wailing
in therhouse for three dayA
to-day. still +beteving,the,dol
lar was good; and that these smart
peoplsswho refused it didn't know
i all, Invent down town to see what
there was in. the old piece Of money
TIL myself. I Went T saw, but /
dddn't conquer-in fact, Tn; con-
graduating myself 70 think Ifdidn't
getinto Jail. You see,I twas this
way: I had to paysaomee money due
from me at the internal revenue
1pfacAdT- Isofered this dollar among
other money, but the man in the
revenue Office got onto it right away
rubbed his fingers over it Kind oil
~carelessly, and with a smile that
would have done credit to a devil
fish remarked: You're gettin your
work down pretty fine, but not quite
good enough for Uncle Sam. If you
don't mind, you might just step over;
with me to Captain Porter's Office:
and explain where you got it,
"This Mr.. smarty politely showed!
me the way to the secret service,
Office, where I was introduced to an.
elderly man with white hair. !.
think they said his name was Por-
ter. Mr.. Porter looked at the dollar
kind Of afeotionately and said:
We've got the mates to this fellow
right here in the office, and I guess
we'll have to keep it with them. It
would be lonesome if we let it go
out again. Then, after asking me
a lot Of questions, he took some
tools and stamped the coin with tho
figures '2427' and my initials unde1I
meath. Now, can you swear where
you got it, he said. Yes, I can,'
said. and I want to take it back
there and get my good money. |
can't afford to lose a dollar Then
he said that If I could swear to thb.
man ! got it from he would permit
me to take it back for that purpose.
But do not forget he added, you
must returnit to me promptly with
out fail, under penalty, etc. II you
don't, it will get you into trouble
Trouble did he saya ASST hadn't
had trouble enough already. But
I'm not going to lose a dollar. Mi.
Porter told me he had the tools Of
the fellow that made it-got them
over at Benton Harbor, Mich, the
other day. But he added, I
haven't yet caught the fellow. -
Chicago Times-Herald. "A