Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1899-04-06

Onlg LOO ntlpy 10 nslp tDeSe deserving
ladies. He went on to say that the
women had been shipwrecked. and had
lost all their money, but that he had
assured them that / would furnish
them with everything they might want.
When | read the letter ! knew that
there was big trouble ahead for me,
and | didn't need to read the post
script which said, Whose ahead on
the tramp game now?n He was u
coarse sort of chap, but he had q fair
idea Of joke.
Well, after had read the letter, l
asked, in my coolest and most digni-
fed way, Ladies', what can | have
the pleasure of doing for youY''
What we want said the spokes-
woman, is lod ling for the night and
second-class railroad tickets to Paris.
The consul at Avilas said that it would
be your pleasure as well as your duty
to do this for us. When we get to
Paris we can get money from home,
and so we sha'n't want but couple
of dollars or so for each of us, Just for
our necessary expenses on the road. -
But, my dear madam ~ said |,
tickets to Paris for all Of you would
cost about $500, and my salary is only
$3.50 a year. You must sec that can t
possibly incur any such expense, no
matter how anxious am to help you. I"
I'VE know very well,' said the
woman, that you are millionaire,
and are just stopping here to amuse
yourself. The consul at Avilas told us
all about you, and said that you fur
nished railroad tickets to Americans
nearly every day in the year
The consul was joking" replied.
" have no income except my salary,
and could no more send you to Paris
than | could buy the Spanish mon.
archy. i am ready to take any amount
OF trouble to assist you, but as for
supplying you with railroad tickets
and money, the thing is clean i'm
possible. "
Very we'll, sir!'' said the spokes-
woman. 1--WE have been sent to you
by the American consul, who may be
supposed to know his duty, and who is
a gentleman even il some others that
| could name are not. He assured us
that it was your bounden duty to help
us, and | can tell you that we don't
intend to allow you to shirk that duty
on any pretence whatever. What else
are you here for except to help Ameri-
cans who need help? Do you mean to
say that the government pays you to
stay here and enjoy YOURSELF We shall
go to the best hotel in this town and
take rooms, telling the landlord to send
the bill to you. We shall stay there
till you give us our railroad tickets,
no matter how long it may be. More
than that, ii we don't get the tickets
very soon, We shall report you to the
President when we get back to
America, and you will be properly
punished for refusing to help Ameri-
can ladies'.
Then she turned to the other women
and asked if they approved of what she
had said. They all did approve of it
with such enthusiasm that they kissed
her then and there, and scowled at me
as if | had been the worst criminal in
Spain.
II they had been men l should have
ordered them out OF the Office, and
should have sent for the police if they
refused to 60. But being women, what
could | do? | told them over and over
again that | could not pay either hotel
bills or railroad fares, but il made no
sort of impression on them. They
talked to me until they were tired, and
then they filed out of the room, and I
watched them from my window on
their way to the hotel, which as in the
same street as my Office. | saw them
go in, and as they did not come out
again, | knew that they must have
found rooms. OF course, | did not
believe that they could compel me by
law to pay their bills, but, all the
same, the hotel keeper would be sure
to look to me for payment, and could
make an intolerable lot of trouble
when he found that would not pay.
When my office hours were over [
went to the hotel, and found the land
lord in the happiest possible frame of
mind. Before could say a word he
overwhelmed me with thanks for send
ing him SO many guests, and when /
assured him that | was in no possible
way responsible for the women, and
that i did not believe that he would be
able to collect any money from them,
he smiled, and said that he was per-
fectly willing to trust to my honor.
lie had been told by the ladies that |
would pay their bill, and he should
not think of annoying them about sc
small an affair He knew that the
senior consul was one of the noblest and
most generous of men, and he refused
for one single instant to tolerate the
thought that such man would bring
an honest innkeeper and his family to
the brink of ruin by refusing to nav n
perfectly Just bill. He kept on talking
in this exasperating fashion until /
wanted to knock his stupid head off,
and for that matter would have done
so had | been able to pay the con-
sequent damages. Nothing could saw
had the slightest effect upon the miser-
able man, so | finally went back to nv
office and tried to relieve my mind by
writing an unofficial letter to nv col
league at Avilas, which ought to have
driven him wild with rage. But it
didn't seem to trouble him in the
least. He wrote back to me begging
me not to excite myself lest | should
bring on an attack of fever, and asking
me if, he should send me three shin
wrecked sailors who claimed to be
Americans, and whom | might like to
add to my collection of female tramps.
He added that it would hardly be-
worth while for me to write him any
more letters, as he had lust forwarded
his resignation to Washington, and had
turned over his Office to his yice.consu
For the next week those 80 women
came to my Office every morning and
wanted to know when they would re.
ceive their railway tickets. / couldn't
prevent them from entering the office,
for they were American citizens, and /
could not turn them out, for they were
women. / tried smoking the worst
tobacco l could buy, but they didn' t
seem to mind it particularly, though
it made me half sick. l made o show
of writing letters while they were in
the room, but they would keep on
talking about my hnartlass and hrntaI