The suburban citizen., 1902-07-26

mo. Come on. Hurry"
My friend the millionaire looked per-
turbed for a moment Then his coun-
tenance cleared. I'VE shall be at Wa
terloo i'll twenty minutes" he said
"and then we can get light at the re-
freshment room. They never mind
your taking a match o. two"
NO good" said. Il want TO smoke
now. Hand over your box"
With great reluctance he handed me
his gold matchbox, with his monogram
on it in emeralds-a pretty. unosten-
tatious little toy. He shut both the
carriage windows, so that no draught
should necessitate the use of more
than one match.
l opened The box and examined the
contents with care. He did not like
the examination. He WINGED under it.
He grew nervous
Come, come, he said. light up and
give me the box back"
How long has this been going ony"
/ asked.
WHAT 40 you meant'
"YOu know perfectly well what
mean. There are several different
kinds of wax matches in this box"
well, there's nothing in that. Some.
times l buy one kind and sometimes
another"
But you don't buy six different
kinds at once. and then put some of
each in your box. l am sorry to say
that you are a thief, a match thief.
You are probably a liar also. for /
doubt if you have ever bought matches
at any rate, in recent years. / re-
peat my question-has this been going
on lOng?"
"They don't mind you taking one or
two he said feebly
But how about five or six? There
are five or six matches here of sDe-
cial quality, long in the shank. thicker
than usual, made of good white wax.
There will be only four dlrsctly. be.
cause am going to light my cigar
with one Of them. Where did you get
themg'
Practically, ! did buy them. I pay
my club prescription every year and
surely have a right"
You have no more right to take
away the club matches than you have
TO pocket the club spoons. and YOU
know it, What about this match? II
has been carried loose in the pocket
and is dirty. 1t has a pink head. 1t
is evidently of a very cheap kind. /
should say it saved the smoker thirty
three per cent. Where did you get itY'
Look here" he said, irritably. II
won't submit to these questions. Give
me my box back at once" He made a
grab at it, but l eluded him.
you have to submit TO these dues.
mons and to answer them truly. unless
you want to be shown up. Ever heard
OF the public prosecutor? Theft is
theft, and it's serious. Once more.
where did you get this wretched little
match? 1t looks like some poor mans
eve lamb
II you want TO know, / got it from
railway porter he said, sulkily.
He gave it to you ON the under.
standing that you wished to use il at
once. You deceived him and sneaked
it-a poor mans solitary match. My
word but you've fallen low, very low.n
You don't know that it was his only
match"
Its probable, and you don't know
that it wasn't. What about this one
the very short one, with the mud ON
itY"
Il came by it perfectly fairly. A
small boy in the street dropped it.
de looked for it some time, but he
couldn't see where it had gone. | saw
IT, waited about, pretending to Iook
IN a shop window until the boy had
gone and then picked it up. These
sihaii boys ought not to smoke cigar.
ettes It's perfectly scandalous.
| 1t"
so you cheat children as well. do
your DO you know what the law Is
win regard to property found in the
street, Have you no relics of moral
sense?
In my enthusiasm ] had allowed my
cigar 10 go out. / relit it with the
railway porter's match, without paying
the least attention TO the millionare's
| protest.
And now" I said "what Of these
three blue headed matchesT
'sbey're all right They're refresh.