The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1899-12-10

man % relieved - you wers when you
found that the poor fellow didn't require 70
be shot. An. the poor ohharsn-the poor,
starving childrsnl Yet you forgot the 'ehy'
'pon't be an idiotr' I shouted. Don't
you know that the old theory about jelly
has been exploded years ago In favor OF
beef tea? And a. FOR port wtne--WAs u not
you yourself who complained about the
murkiness Of the last eins
"You remember the poor fellows address,
erin take care that the police have II
the FIRST thing In the morning. Go BACK 70
bed at once" mapped.
She laughed. then sighed. and went up
the stairs. fe
I went into the dinins-room and closed
the window. Then sat down In the dark
ness wondering II I should really put on
telling the police authorities until the morn
ing. 30 far a. was concerned personally
did not fear return visit from the man;
but knew that should be indirectly re.
sponsible for any further depredations that
he might commit upon my neighbors. YES
I felt that It was Incumbent on me a. q
good citizen to put the police without the
delay Of an hour upon the track OF 80
daring and audaeious q fellow.
I thought. however. that might Just az
well satisfy that peculiar within on the part
of my Wife In respect Of the port wine. I
rejected that might as well kill two birds
with one stone, to make use OF singuiariy
inappropriate metaphor. The wine was
really little murky, 80 that was secret
ly anxious to get rid OF It somehow. put
. few bottles OF the stun into basket ana
added all the Jars Of Liebig that could
fInd in the iarder, together with couple
of timed tongues. which I knew we could
make no use of. ] then went upstairs TO
dress. g.
never opened her eyes-so far - / could see
while was in the room. She certainly
mt no questions to me. admit that her
perversenew disappointed me IN some
measure. I thought that should have q
considerable amount Of difDculty making
her see that II was duty owed soci-
ETY. to have arrested at the earliest possi-
be moment so dangerous a man as the one
from whom I had Just received mid
1 drove to where the man had told me
he lived There was light In one or the
rooms on the ground floor. looked IN
through the window. TWO half-nakeo
children were sitting on the floor. tearing
like wild cats at the food which they held
in their hands. I pitied them with all my
heart. knew that those turkey legs were
as tough as whipcord. chuckied over
my deiiverance from them: for knew that
lunch some day during the week. The
children gnawed at the flesh, and paid no
attention to their father and mother, who
sat patiently watching them.
The man came to the door when !
knocked His knees were shaking.
1t was only when I got home about four
in the morning that recoliected had
not discharged the duty which had set
out to do: had actually forgotten to call
at the police station.
Hugh Cairns come to me the next day In
order to screw the lock on the dining
room door. I insisted on his promising
to do so before left his house. We had .
long talk together. and. Of course, ne was
knowing enough to keep harpins on his
(recently) starving children to my wife, so
that / was weak enough to yield to her
persuasian to start the man anew In Aus
tralia. She said she thought 1t woud be
safer for me to invest spare two hum
dred pounds that had by me In that way
than to put it In some bogus company.
Curiously enough. what she said turned
out to be perfectly true. Cairns, after a
year on a sheep station. invented a sheep
clipping machine. by which he made for
tune. Then he invented an improvement
in quartz-crushing machinery, by which he
made another fortune; and when, after the
lapse of twelve years. my eldest son went
out to engineer one of the mines, and mar
ried the youngest Mss Cairns. no one but
my wife and myself knew how terrible q
mesalliance the poor boy made. People In
Sydney actually alluded to him as the luck
lest fellow In the colony.