The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-10-14
HAD A FIJI TY=D DOLLAR BILL
CREDIT AND GOOD THINGS. SHOW
Erred ON A MAN.

down in an easy chair, wal; til YOU hear
my new comedy"
Are you gong to read it.: asked some |
one tentatively.
No; I'll tell it to you. 1t won't take |
five minutes All the acts are shot"
Something like si-h of relief was
..'rhc curtain rises on the first act, dis
closing lady giving me a fifty doiias
hill"
or disbelief or perhaps, both, celisain IL
IS that an exclamation akin to "Phew'
came frcm the crowd
with a generous angel behind. her, gave
me a commission to write sketch, ana
TO my delight accepted my terms, which
were $50 on acceptance sind $59 on pfOuuc-
1ior I read the sketch to her last Sat
urday She was pleased, and planked |
down the first insteIment on the spot,
iiight, with The 81 | had in change, | en-
iGH ed a GLORIOUS dinner and a good seat
al the theater. Then ] went home ana
slept the sleep of the satisfied mat ACT
! have headed anticipation, for You
can't conceive what / didn't expect 10
do with that $50
Yes; that act must have been especial
" plea sing to YOU, said some one
suppose You lost the bill, after all?
Nothing 50 common as that, contlh-
ned the playwright. for act IL discovers
me at breakfast on Sunday morning. Al
Ter working an hour or two | determines
10 treat myself to q princely repast dilU
with that purpose took d car to one Hun
dred and Twcnty-tifth street; L I'VE 5ii,, 40
the Eighties, you know. After reS@l.HS
myself with all sorts OF dencdcleS, v IliCI
] washed down with bottle oil VINE
lit a cigar and called Tor the pLl; NJ. ~
amounted to $l.1Q. l threw the iiIty doi.aI
Iil down caIeleSSlY O nthe table, Us IL
was used to such trtftes, ana lhe Wtal.e15
went for change. Presently ne Ieturl l'st
,y;tb the manager The latter was most
psiite and apologize. He was extremely
sorry, but they were quite unaple 70
change bin of that large amount az Iils15
moment Had l not something silldi ei
7 foit IN my rockets as a bluff, but l
knew perfectly well that / hadn q cent cen
besides, and thinking to allaS my -
real said: You needn't worrN, s1r. ANY
time will do. viii you please e ,! nv nv
voyr name and addIessT HANDED ~, nm ny
card, and he bowed me out OF 'ie
u confess was half amused and halt
frightened, and didn't know Whetner -
look on that $50 bill as a bugapoo oI ~. ~.
However, l determined TO nave tliotht -
FRY and if necessary, fifty more IleS "
change it. l then walked into clsaF
store, called for two cigars, plt thG me, emu 'l
off one, lit it, and threw the phi on
the counter The face of the man behlhu
the counter when he came to examine lh5
bin was a study. lie looked at me ana
then at the bill again ana ssld ap,up
was all had. He sighed as he saw me
puffii1g the cigar l had Just taken ana
said, ''Well, let II go, suppose you
will be passing here again soon as
sured him l would and then walked out
| felt now as if a cordial would not
be out of place. so with the laudaple IN
1entiGn OF drinking a creme de menthe
and making another attempt TO get my
bill changed, l stepped into a hotel on
Seventh avenue. / met the same rate
here for though had the drinh
craVed for l still possessed the Dill IN
tact and was under further Obligation.
LAS this creme de menthe tasted dis
tinctIy morsh | tried another at a sa-
loon in Eighth avenue, which L swat
lowed before rendering payment Again
did I find my credit good, though you
perceive l never asked once to be treat
AS the two cordiaIs seemed TO satisfy
NE / was struck with a sudden fit OF
generosity, or, shall ! say unseiflshness
\ candy store was handy, ana as my
people were by the seashore thought
10 send my sister a large box OF choco-
lates. 1 entered the store, chose the
candies and ordered the box to be sent
TO a hotel al Atlantic City. l waited till
the package was done up, and after writ
ing the address / once more threw down
the bill. The man didn't know whether
to smile or cry but it ended up in the
same sweet way. ! was to pay when L
passed that way again.
BY this time |. was beginning to be
the least bit sick of this bill business,
especially as d horrid IDEA struck me
that the bill might be bad one, in which
case l realized. my summary finish. 7
tneness must have been tested, for it had
passed through a good any hands. De-
termining, therefore, to dismiss the eX-
iStence Of the bill from my thoughts,
walked down Eighth avenue thinking ~
new. plot which ! had in mind So
Cngrossed was ] in the details that l IN
adVertently hailed a car, got on It, and
never considered for a moment my po-
Sition until the conductor came around
for the fares. ! stared at him blankly,
and then said meekly. I'll have to get
off I've only n $40 hill The
stopped the ear, and as I stepped down
he ViciOusly rang the bell twice and said
in loud voice, What tell are you glv-
ing me-?
~ suppose any sane person would have
now given up the game as useless.
didn't. for 1 was pretty nearly insane,
and / was more than ever determined
to change that bill. Another hotel doomed
in the distance. | would put bold face
On. explain the matter and ask them tC
do their best for me. did. | went
straight to the manager, explained the
circumstances, showed him the bill, and
offered to buy a dollars worth of any>
thing in the house if he would change II.
lie smiled and said he was quite unable
to do so, but expressed his willingness to
help me on my way if I needed it. l sank
my pride and asked for the loan of five
cents for car fare. He handed me a quar-
ter. Impusivelv I offered to treat him
10 4 drink. He declined with thanks. tell
ing me he would accept when l returned
Red in the face and out of temper ]
boarded the first car came across, and
stood outside smoking savagely The
conductor must have noticed my demean-
or, for he Ventured 10 ask me what the
matter was. 1 told him. and added thai
il seemed absolutely impossible to get
$50 bill changed in this COMPOUNDED city
on Sunday. I had no sooner made this
remark than a curious looking, under
sized colored man, whom / had net no
tced before, but who was also standins
outside, interrupted hanlly with I think
can accommodate you. And ] am bles
if he didn't pull out a roll of bills bis
enough to choke a goat, and count ou
four tens one five, one two and three
one dollar bills, apologiZing at the same
lime that he had no smaller change. De
spite his color | could have embraced
him. but as the car had now reached my
street, / simply thanked him effuSiVely
and almost ran home. That act / dull
HeaiiZation. You can count on your fin.
gers how many things / realized tina
Sunday on the credit of my face
Suppose You found the darkeys bill!
were forgeries?' hazarded one of his lis
teners.
Not on your life They, one and all
were as good as gold. Act. No. III. won
be so interesting to you, perhaps, bu
you'll find it instructive, and may hel,
you further to digest that good old prov
erb. Honesty is the best policy | go
up carly the next morning, and went I'll
to One Hundred and Twenty-fffth stree
again. / saw the manager of the restau
rant and pa d my bill He was delighted
and insisted on treating me- The ciga
man nearly had q fit and was generosit,
Itself with a present of a good cigar
The Seventh avenue hotel man thanket
me, the saloonHeeper added another drinl
TO what ! had already mad, the cand-
man asked me to take sample of som
extra line comtitS, and the manager O
the Eighth Avenue hotel declined to &C
cept the % cents. but contrarywise adde
TO the generositieS I had received in tn
restaurant and saloon.
The denouement came when 7 chance
TO meet the little colored oddly o.