El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1899-05-02

'Therel' said my uncle, passing the
book to one of the drummers DO you
see ANYTHING the matter with that ?
"sThat's no goodi' said the drum
mer.
".It isn't? said Uncle Sandman.
I'D like to know why it isn'tP
s. 1T isn't witnessed. replied the
commercial traveller.
"'Ohl' said my uncle We'll, you
two fellows just put your names down
as witnesses.
.sThey did SO with some joking. and
then my uncle called brakeman who
was sitting near and who had heard the
talk Just put your name down there,
Johnnie, he said. we might as well
do the thing in style and have three
witnesses.
'sThe brakeman signed his name. and
then Uncle Sandman, closing the book.
handed it over to me. Take care OF
that. Sandy, my boy, he said. There's
your fortune in Virgil.
"The drummers began swapping
yarns again. After awhile the smoke In
the car began to make me sick. L was
only kid then, you know, and WASH t
used to it. Well, got up to go in ore
of the forward cars. The smoking car
was the last on the train. 1t was snow
ing, raining and hailing by turns. and
the wind was blowing a gale AS
crossed the platforms from one car to
another my foot slipped on the icy
boards, and a great gust of wind carried
away my hat and nearly made me lose
my balance. threw up my arms to save
myself and the Virgil slipped from my
hand and disappeared beside the track
I was afraid of what my uncle would
say when told him of my carelessness.
So I went forward into the farthest car
from the smoker and sat down in a cor
ner g.
The boy stopped as if that were the
end of his story and idly rolled the cigar
in his fingers.
WELL said 1. Ego on. Was your
uncle SO angry that he disinherited
your
NO replied the boy slowly. Il
hadn't been in the forward car 20 min
utes when there was a terrific crash
that smashed the windows and threw
me against the seat in front.
can express train had come up be-
hind us and smashed into us. telescop-
ing the two rear cars Uncle Sandman
and the two drummers were among the
killed The brakeman who had signed
the will escaped with only slight in
juries.
well 1 said. THAT is quite a
yarn.
s'The day after the funeral" the
trainboy went on. ST went back to the
nearest town to the place where the
L l., lya1 md
down the track for miles looking for
it
"You never found it p l asked.
mo. but three months later 1 was
there again. and 1 could not help look
ing along the side of the track as l
walked. although of course I didn' t
really expect to find it. l met a small
boy. who asked me what 1 was looking
for I asked him if he had ever heard
of any one who had found book near
there He said Yes he knew a boy
who had found one there early in the
spring. gave him a quarter and made
him take me at once to the boy s house.
The boy was at school. but l saw his
mother She said yes, Tommy had
found a book beside the track, queer
book that none of them could read. l
asked her if she would let me see it.
She said she had sold it to peddler for
paper rags a day or two after it was
found. She had never seen the peddler
since and 1 was never able to trace
him. The book may have been used up
in some paper mill, or it may possibly
have found its way to some secondhand
bookstore. 1 never pass a secondhand
bookstore without going in to ask if
they have an old copy of Virgil
''Uncle Sandman had left no other
will He had never legally adopted me,
so I had no legal claim on his money.
1t was divided up among some cousins
whom he had not seen for years.
''The brakeman who had witnessed
the will got me the place to sell papers
on the cars
just then the train stopped at a sta
ton, and a number Of passengers got
on.
'rI must go through the cars again.
said the boy. He picked up his pile of
magazines and went off. "New month
ly magazinesi This weeks comic pa
persl''
looked at the commercial traveller
across the aisle. "Do you suppose it's
true3'' I asked.
"Give it up" he replied eff it's fic-
ton. that boy will be writing for the
magazines some day instead of selling
them. Then he opened his book and
buried himself in its pages-L Ken
niston in Owl
Shakespeare's Name.
It has often been a puzzle to students
of Shakespeare why his name is spelled