Western liberal. (Lordsburg, N.M.) 1887-1919, 1899-05-26
ROUND A HAT.

49, w. - bANAN $3.50
popular success, and this particular
night the theater was crowded Every
seat in every part Of the house was oc-
cupied-every seat, that is. but one.
and that one in the pit. This was all
the more remarkable as this seat looked
. good seat-well up forward, nearly in
the center. quite as advantageous, as
pit people arc wont to hypocrize. as ten
and sixpence wasted on n stall. And
yet the seat was, all the same, undenia-
bly, vacant.
It was not being kept either. The
young man on the other side OF 1t al
ready had his young lady with him. l,
on this side, did not have a young lady
at all, and did not expect one. either.
That seat was neither reserved nor TAX
en-. There was a mystery about it-a
mystery / was acquainted with. q mys-
terry you will get to know. too, II you
have the courage to go on.
You may be curious why ! did not
move up into this exccllently good seat.
There is another mystery in the matter.
and. just as in the case where two mega
tives, we are enormously assured, con-
stitute n positive affirmative, SO these
two mysteries, being explained. annul
one another. AS a matter of fact. l had
moved into that seat on entering and
then had hastily moved back again,
while l had the chance, for Immediate
ly in front was a stylish young lady
what is generally catalogued a smart
girl-young, good looking. very nice,
in the height of fashion, and-need !
soy it-with q hat.
There you have it-not the hat, which
Is probably in the same possession I'M
less, Of course, the fashions have again
changed, az is to be expected, consider
ing the incident took place nearly a
week ago5not the hat. but the elucida-
ton; for the luckless individual who
paid to come in and took up his station,
sitting down, behind that hat would
have absolutely no return for his money
but q gratuitous and highly exasperat-
ing view Of ribbons and lead birds that
Regent street glorifes into q ''crea-
ton"
We knew, you know. We had tried
II, l the first and the quickest and then
the other men, who, wandering in late
and thanking their lucky stars for their
great, good fortune, bounced into that
seat with a wide smile on their faces,
remained perplexed and hdgety for sew
eral minutes, frowned and coughed and
shuf1ed their feet where the floor
sounded loudest and then finally depart
cd somewhere into the back with mar
t~iculate mutterings and much painfully
suppressed emotion.
An old Oapflamorr Of tho harlY Of mo
who evidently made a habit Of nissan
thropy and allowed none Of his fellow
creatures sadness to pass without
proper merriment, was spending a
most enjoyable evening in consequence.
The world to him was a good deal more
than a stage. and he would certainly
have been content to wait all night for
the rising Of the curtain. provided the
fun in front went on 80 uninterrupted
ly. When somebody from the rear made
a move for this seat, his face beamed
with the gratitude Of Thanksgiving. AS
the somebody sat down there he seemed
to let off a profound chuckle. When the
somebody faced the hat and idgeted,
his sides shook and his double chin
trembled / did not approve of thi;
gloating, and as often as possible with
out creating conversational friction
leaned back suddenly and let one Of my
shoulders fall on to his nose. That gave
him pause and breathing time. but h'
used IL only to get ready to enjoy tbs
next victim.
Just as the lights went down and the
curtain went up q young man, the
youngest Of them all up to now, pushed
his way in from the side and tumblet
into that open trap. piously took off hi
silk title" and put it under the seat
punched himself up into that prepon'
derant attitude that is necessary fol
proper receptiveness, peered eagerb
forward and saw beautifully-al thu
blackness Of the lady's hat Then en-
sued the usual pantomimic demonstra
ton Of foiled expectation-coughs anC
discomforting, because very sincere
Rrowh The old gentleman at the real
seemed TO be in danger o. bursting
blood vessel. and the breaths Of his en-
joyment came into the nape Of my necl
warm and frequent and vigorous.
What was most remarkable, however
was that this young man did not aban
don the position. like his predecessors
but held on and stuck there In forlorI
hope. rousing himself at intervals Il
pivot round on his vertebral column
and describe most alarming contortion
In rash attempts to get his head. anC
more particularly his eyes. into somI
nook or crevice where the stage was no
completely effaced. then sinking dowI
in failure and despair and collapsinl
into unwilling resignation, tempereI
by ebullitions Of muffied groans, anG
the old gentleman behind was culver
Ing with commissions Of JOY, 30 that
fell back on him again and did hin
more personal injury without. how
ever. much damping his ecstatic rap
tire
~ nrI On tie richt Of M har