The Topeka state journal., 1900-09-22
he stopped. DO you2''
Yes" answered promptly
"a thief or a burglar?' he asked.



"a thief or a burglar?' he asked
Both, rejoined.
You misjudge me; you do indeed You
are very hard, very hard The few years
that have been in my profession have
had many clients, but never yet have
been called a thief He heaved deep
sigh, and added by way of explanation,
You are the first one I have met per-
sonally." He took out my little silver
watch. You left it on your dressing Ia
ble,'' he said suavely, in answer to my
look of recognition.
II see have half an hour to spare,
and I win point out to you where you
are mistaken, and If you would like to
embody my short history in a newspa-
per article you have my sanction" and
he bowed graciouSly.
with your permission will take one
of your essays as the text Whereon TO
hang my sermon The essay l refer TO
is entitled Our Right to Live 1t is
charming piece of work for woman
logical, clear and convincing. There IS
one passage only to which Will REFER
1t is impressed indelibly upon my MEM
ory.' He took up the poker, opened an
other bottle of champagne. replenished
the glasses, drank, and proceeded The
passage in this: All men who can work
and who will wofk have a right, a di-
vine right, to live, not exist merely, but
to live, and to share freely in the worlds
superb abundance Do you remember
that excerpt2'
/ nodded assent.
WELL" he continued "four years ago
was Is. / had just left Rugby, when
my father, who had occupied high po-
sition as a abuilding society director pass
ed unobtrusively away to another sphere
leaving liabilities of an odd million or
so. The widow and the orphan, the
ruined clergyman-in fact all the imbs-
cile idots who had lost all their savings
vented their rage upon me. was ma
gellated by the press, cartooned by the
comic papers, and verbally assaulted at
every street corner, 50 I changed my
name and disappeared. You would be
surprised at the difficulty a young man
fresh from a public srsnooi experiences
in obtaining employment. In fact, there
is none for him. It was then l came
across your little treatise"
s'It has only been written a year." ]
remarked triumphantly.
"AhI well, some one must have ant1cl-
pated you There are burglars in the
literary line, you know" and he smiled
at me in manner that made my blood
boil. well, 1 determined to embark in
this profession, which is merely a QueS-
tion of subtraction and addition. For
example, you have evidently a watch
too many. have none. subtract one
from you, and add to my belongings.
One woman, one watch. One man, one
watch Mind you, 1t is not a calling TO
suit a lazy man. I have had to work
hard, especially during one three
months. Well, graduated by annexing
coats. Then I took rooms in fashion
able locality, and was liberal with my
patronage to West End tradesmen. Then,
in the language of the dramatic profess
sion, rested awhile, although was not
at liberty. For the last three years I
have attached myself to this branch of
the business. It seems to me fair,
and involves no hardship for any one.
only visit unOccupied houses; and when
people go away to the Continent or sea-
side they take all they want. What they
leave they don't want That's when 1
CALI
You will excuse my Interruption
L. 4-11 1T n r>rl
substracted'-I was very emphatic
''all you want. Now, please go.''
Pardon me-" he said, but you mis-
take our positions. am your host, you
are my guest he Tnotioned me back to
my seat; land besides''-he stopped and
his ingenious eyes gave an admiring
glance at my diamond ring, 1--WE have
more subtraction and addition"
Take it, I exclaimed You are
paltry, low, pilferfng thief" and I flung
my lovely diamond ring on the carpet.
mo, rather call me- said he gravely,
"a picker up of unconsidered trihes,''
and my jewel went into his pocket
I had worked myself up into a furious
passion, and sat trembling with rage
and beating the devils tattoo with my
foot He put his arm on the empty
mantelpiece and looked down on me.
''Ah, there is no real philosophy in wo-
men, he said sadly.
He looked at my watch again.
''Well, 1 must go. Oh, by the way,
were you going back to Bournemouth
tomorrow"
Yes; what has that to do with you?'
'tOh, nothing, nothing; only it is most
ridiculous of me- I am really most
careless. You see, if you are going
back to Bournemouth, naturally you
would pay your fare he remarked, as
if he were following out some abstruse
train of reasoning, ''and possibly you
have money, and daresay-now tell me
if am wrong-it is in a purse
I could not speak l was dumb with
rage
little short now In fact, although
have a few things in that sack, they are
not Immediately negotiable, and you
must see the absurdity of me offering
a cabman silver candlestick for a fare.
1t would be undignifed, would it not?
1 hate to trouble you" and he held out
his hand.
I gave It him.
You make my work so difficult" he
said, with a reproachful glance.
gave him my brooch.
Shall we never understand each 9TH
er? Allow me to unclasp it,
The bracelet was gone.
And now, goodby," he said, holding
my hand reverently. ct have often
thought of abandoning this particular
line of the profession and embarking in
a more recognized branch. Colleagues of
mine tell me there are many openings
in the city of London, as director or
as an outside stock broker or a company
promoter. In that case, Miss Smythe,
IL may O1Aly DC <Au ISFO4I- Il 0aL 4
have treated you as gentleman"
You are contemplate common thief
and low class burglar
"Oh, Miss Smythe, a low class burglar
might have kissed you,' he said, re-
dectively.
/ was speechless with horror.
s'But not a gentleman" he continued,
and shouldered his sack.
Now, Miss Smythe, 1 must either tie
you in that chair and gag you, or else
you must give me your word that you
will not move or speak for an hour"
I gave it.
ST. Cd