River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1900-09-13

\
money in it belonged TO her sister.
who was in the hospital ard who need
ed il dreadfully. and how I'D be blessed
forever if ! only restored 1T. Next
there was an old man who had dropped
two $40 bills. and he went on in
shaky, feeble hand to explain that the
reason he was carrying it was because
he couldn't trust the banks: and then
another girl, who tod about an ALI
gator-skin pocketbook containing
latchkey and time pass over the Gin
cinnati, jackson g. Macknac road.
When showed that to Uncle Mac after
ward he said that road was regular
joke. because it didn't run to any of the
| places mentioned in its name, and he
| just shouted over the pass, because
it had expired September 80, 1897. But
it wasn't funny to me. / thought the
girl must be in a sad way to be hang
ing on 10 an expired pass over road
| like that for three whole years. Be
sides, she mentioned in a postscript
that there was fiye-dollar bill in her
purse.
81 got awfully worked up over those
letters. Then, suddenly, had a bril-
liant idea. / just made up my mind to
wait a week and then, if no one claimed
that $50, to send for all those forlorn
people and pay them what they had lost
out of what / had found. / didn't dare
! tell Uncle Mac the scheme until the
week had passed and I had really writ
| ten notifying them all to be at his Of
fee at ten o'clock this morning. Then
| I Just gave him the news all in one
piece. / don't believe in breaking
things, especially when you've set your
heart on doing them. On, he thought
l was crazy, of course, and wished he'd
answered my 'ad.' himself and claimed
| the money. Said he could have done
it through some one else so / would
never have suspected, and then could
have kept the money for me until this
fit of sentimental foolishness had
passed off-and all that sort of talk.
But the end of it was that he took
chair over by the window in his Of
flee and let me have things all my own
way with the people ! had sent for.
They all came, mind you, and of all
the surprised-looking beings! Each
one was expecting to find the identical
purse he had lost, and at first every
one looked suspicious of everyone else.
They couldn't seem to grasp the situa-
ton.
Il had the money, all changed into
the right amounts and lying in tempt
ing little heaps on Uncle Macs desk.
First / made a little speech and then
/ served gold and silver refreshments.
1t took every cent of the money, and
had to put in a dollar besides, so
there goes our gum, Georgia; but you
wouldn't grudge it if you'd been there.
Such larks! l never felt so much like
a henefcent fairy in my life. Oh, dear
-funi Vaudevilles are nowhere-and,
say, the man who lost the pawn ticket
will never get over his grudge against
me because / couldn't give that back.
He thinks I've lost him fortune! But
the rest were more than sweet. Girls,
I've been blessed and Rugged, and the
old man with the two $50 gold pieces
actually kissed my hand. Think of that
will you? And the woman with the
sister in the hospital was so happy!
And l cried. Me crying-can you see
it? And Uncle Mac needn't pretend
he wasn't wiping his own eyes, either!
But when they were gone he squared
around at me, stern as stern, and said,
in disgusted way:
"'Well. of all the girly-girly per-
formances!'
Il looked straight back at him and
just said: How would you have girl,
Uncle Mac, if not girly? Do you want
me manny?' And honest fact, he
didn't know a single thing what to
say."-Chicago Daily Record.