Evening star., 1901-03-22
MAKES THEM GOOD NATURED.
And the Eject of the Laugh on the
S0ur-Faced Man.

SDur-F aceu Nan
The sour-faced man nearly smiled.
The laugh was one of ringing sweetness.
1t was a laugh as infectious as smallpox.
and as rippling as the waters Of crystal
brook over opal pebbles
Don't you think you might smile, just
once. sir?' asked the head waiter. en-
couragingly.
No growled the sour-faced man.
''Just glimmer of a smile, sir?' urged
the waiter, soothingly.
''Nor' repeated the sour-faced man, saw
agely.
The laugh was ringing In their corner OF
the fashionable restaurant like the silvery
reyerberatiOns OF a softtoned silver gong
She was pretty woman. too. That made
the laugh all the sweeter.
iii tell you how 1t Is SIR said the
waiter to the sour-faced man. "You see.
wine. and the water that Is red. affects
men differently l have been observing it
Tor over twenty years, sir, and l know.
1T makes some men sour and suriy like
yourself, sir. Oh, no. 1 wasn't going to
say that. sir Well. perhaps did think 1t,
tion is your own. Anyway, 1t affects some
of US that way. 1t makes others fearful
and sentimental, while others grow poet
ical and even theatrical. Some men be-
weak and childish. Others are bold and
daring. and some develop a pugnacious-
ness which at other times Is latent and un-
thought of Some of US think of mother
and the old home down on the farm. and
these chaps become as bucolic as any
Reuben from the fields.
Others, sir, become crafty and sly and
scheming- Others develop q streak of
Stiffness which is as amusing to the look
ers-on as it would be painful to the sub
Ject were he TO see 1t in himself as others
see him. Some are good-natured and
benevolent. 1t lubricates the heart strings
of this sort. and the heart strings unite
the purse strings Some men are imbued
with martial feeling which causes them
or adrnirals In the navy, that they could go
to war and whip the vorld-in their minds
right from the dinner table.
But the gentier sex are good-natured
AL women have this component in their
makeup. and 1t Is brought out as the din
ner progresses. I've observed Ii thou
sand times. SIR. and IT does me good to
hear them laugh for laughter. SIR is the
laugh there is something wrong with her
sure There 1t goes again. sir. Now, don't
You think YOU could
ine silvery vocal bells chimed again
with redoubled sweetness The dessert
was being served, All of the chimes struck
at once, Tor there were three other pretty
women at the table, and the bells all rang
out In unison The. walter leaned oyer the
ehalr OF the sour faced man with words
OF respectful encouragement on his lips
!The Sour-faced mans leaden eyes sought
~A4S e<NOlC "hcic the supper party made
merry The combined chimes struck a re-
sponsiye chord in what was left of his
w1thered soul His eyes passed In q Quick
glance from one happy face to the other.
HIS thin lips slowly but surely. parted
into little smile, the first the waiter had
seen In FIVE years His eyes sparkled with
new light, and, as the silyery peaIs rang
9ut long and sweet. he found himself
laughing. too.
1t will do You good sir. 1t will do YOU
good, whispered the waiter as he filled
the guests glass a second time, and placed
the demi-tasse within convenient reach.
There's nothing like 1t, sir. You look ten
years younger
The sour-faced man saw in retrospect a
house up town. The shutters were drawn
and many people fingered in the parlors
ana on the steps Into the hearse before
the door two collins were placed. one q
tiny white casket- The sour-faced man SAT
alone In one Of the carriages which fol-
lowed the hearse to the cemetery When
ne returned a few hours later it seemed
as II the sunlight had been shut out of the
world forever to him, and 1t never came
hack until that night
James, he said to the walter James,
that laugh reminds me-renlinds me of her
BrlnS me another bottle of wine -