The Farmington times. [volume] (Farmington, Mo.) 1874-1902, 1900-09-13
A GOLD MATCH BOX.
He HAD pressed upon me one Of bic owA
Il L h,vh.ngtre rignvs

| he SAID, and then We can get light at the
rtfreahmsniroom They never mind your
taking match or two"
No good. said. Il want 10 smoke new.
Hand over Jour box"
! With great reluctance he handed me hiA
sold matchbox, with his monogram on II in
Cmeraids--s pretty, transformations little
toy. lie shut both the carriage windows 40
I that no dranRht should neeessitaie she use
Of mora than ono match.
! opened the box aud examined the con.
tcnis With care. He did not Ike the exami.
nation. lie WINGED uHier IT, lie Erew nery
/ Gus.
Come, come, he @id. light up and give
| me the box back"
Has this been going on Iong!" l aske5
"Nha, do you meant
you know perfectly well what ] mean.
There are several dIfersu, kinds Of wax
matches IN this box"
Well, there's nothing in hat Sometimes
\ ! buy one kind and sometimes another"
But you don't buy siE different kinds al
once, and then put anne oi each IA your box
! am sJuy o. say that you are a thief. a
matchthief You probably are liar alsc,
for doubt II you have ever bought matches
at any rate, IN recent years, repeat my
| qurston has ihs been going on long,
Ihgy don'l mind yod taking one or iWo,"
1 h. said leshly
but how about 1--WE or six? There are
i've maichrs here II special quality, ioua IN
%, shank. thicker than usual, made Of good
white wax There will be only iour directly,
because ! am going TO light my cigar with
one OF then Where did you get thr,ng''
Practically, l did buy them. pay my
club subscription every year, and surely ]
have right "a"
! on have no more right 10 take away tha
club matches than you have TO pocket the
club spoons, and you know IL, What about
this match! i, has been carried loose IN A
pocket and IL dirty. II has pink head. IL
u evidently Of a very cheap kind should
say Il saved the smoker 80 per cent. Where
did yoa get it!'
Look here he said, irritahly, Il won't
submit 10 IhcSe questions. Give me my box
back al once lie made grab at u, but
eluded him.
"Nonl have TO submit Ia these questions
and 10 answer them truly. unlsss you want
10 be shown Up Ever heard Of the public
prosecutor. Theft is theft. and It's serious.
Once more, whore did YOU get this wrctched
little match! II looks like some poor man e
eve lamb
III you want to know. got il from rail.
way porter" be said. sulki,y
"He gave il to you on the understanding
that you wished 20 use it AZ once You de.
oriyrd him aud snrakcd it. a poor man s sol.
itAry match. My word, but you've fallen
low, very low"
You don't know that II was his only
match"
IT'S probable. and sou don't know tina.
Il wasn't. What abou, this one-ihc ven
short one with the mud on ~"
Il came by It perfectly fairly. A small
boy IN the strcct dropped u, n, looked
for IT for some time. bur he couldn't ace
where 1t had gone. ! .sw IT, waited
about, pretending to look N z shop window
until the hoy had gone, and then picked
It up. Those small boys ought not to smoke
cigarettes. It's perfectly scandaluus 1t"
so you cheat children A. well. do you!
DO you know what the law he with resnra
10 property found IN the street, Have on
~ relies II a moral sense
~ my enthusiasm had allowed ms sirsr
10 81 out ! rsiit u with the railway porier's
match, without paying the ,,as, attention
10 the mIilioHaire's protests
And now" said. what Of lhese three
blue hmdcG matchrsT"
"Ihcy'r re- al right They're refrrshmept
room matches. They don't mind youi TAX.
ing one or"
How do you know they don mind! Dc
ycR ask themf Or do you sneak behind
the hun stand and steal them when Won
think nobody D. lookng' And these two
with the dark brown heads"
y had 10 see my solicitors about an in.
yestment NJ m,ne ! was shown into the
senior partners room. The business was
mere hAgatcile=-s matter Of C25O0O but
you know hos particular SOLICITOR sire. lie
got NJ Ia refer 10 some wrptched book, and
IN 90 doing turned HI. back IN me The
matches were on the table IN a ribbed glass
thing. Well, that was my chance. Any
other man would have done the same"
Any other demoralIEsd barkumrd
might have done"
I'm not going TO sit here and listen 70
this abuse. What business have you got
with my private Affairs? What docs Il mat
ter to you how I get my mAtehes' gave
you q cigar"
81 am not ungraleful, and for that reason
| have decided not TO give yotS name and
address when ] show YOU mp Bu, none the
lees, am a believer IN truth and honesty
even en- 10 siha'' ma,'e,s' and
matchbox"
wait. When sse crime have got 70
punish t. | am spaTing you public disgrace
ahg perhaps ionR soIonrn IN ieloh cell.
arc tha' suhieirnt reward Tor cigar,
Wh'ch " certainty TOO good to be allowed
constantly TO go cut Ike THIS"
l te't u WITH the match that the little
hoy haa cropped ne millionaire nearly
screamed With anguish, Tor Il was the third
match ! had taken. lie sald that II be.
haVed IN other matters AZ did With regard
70 matches ! should soon he ruined man.
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