The Delawarean., 1900-09-08


day or at the place found mine, but
they were just as hopeful for all that,
and they actually made me feel re-
sponsible for their losses.
First there was man who had
dropped a small, fiat, black book, with
a pawn ticket, laundry bill and two
81 bills in it. And distressed over it!
You'd think he'd lost gold mine. And
he was SO sure twas his money I'd
found-poor fellow! Then a woman
poured out whole sheetful of her
heart, and drew picture of the purse
she'd lost, and told me how the money
in it belonged to her sister, who was in
the hospital and who needed it dread
fully, and how I'd be blessed forever
if / only restored it. Next there was
an old man who had dropped two $50
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 told about an alligat-
or skin pocketbook containing a latch
key and a time pass over the Cincinna-
l showed that to Uncle Mac afterward
he said that road was a 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 Sept. 80, 1897. But it
wasn't funny to me. thought the girl
must be in a sad way to be hanging on
TO an expired pass over road like that
for three whole years. Besides she
mentioned in a postscript that there
was a So bill in her purse.
81 got awfully worked up over these
letters. Then, suddenly, l had bril-
liant idea. l Just made up my mind to
wait week and then, if no one claim
ed that $50, to send for all those forlorn
people and pay them what they had
lost out of what / had found. l didn't
dare tell Uncle Mac the scheme until
the week had passed and | had really
written notifying them all to be at his
office at 10 o'clock this morning. Then
l 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.
"Oh, he thought ! was crazy, of
course, and wished he'd answered my
'ad himself ana 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 lad passed off
and all that sort Of talk. But the end
of it was that lie took a chair over by
the window in his Office and let me
i have things all my own way with the
4 people l had sent for. They all came,
4 mind you, and of all the surprised look
I ing beings. Each one was expecting
TO find the identical purse he had lost,
and at first every one looked suspicious
Of every one else. They couldn't seem
| to grasp the situation.
Il had the money all changed into
the right amounts and lying in tempt
ing little heaps on Uncle Macs desk
First ! made 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 ii you'd been there.
Such larks | never felt so much like a
beneficent fairy in my life. Oh, dear,
fun! vaudevillcs are nowhere. And
say, the man who lost the pawn ticket
will never get over his grudge against
me because l couldn't give that back.
He thinks I've lost him fortune! But
the rest We're more than sweet Girls,
I've been blessed and hugged, and the
old man with the two 500 goldpieoes
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 be
wasn't wiping his own eyes either. But
when they were gone he squared
around at me- stern as stern, and said
in a disgusted way:
"'Well. of all the girly girly per
formancesv
II looked straight back at him and
just said: How would you have girl,
Uncle Mac, if not girly? Do you want
me mannyY And, honest fact, he
didn't know single thing what to
say."-Ghicago Record.