Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-12-13
HE HAD THE MONEY

sgd
The almost preternaturai foxiness of some
men who occasionally find themselves con-
siderably more than half seas over is a
phenomenon of which there are innumera-
bic instances. A certain Washington citizen
of more than fair average sopriety afforded
one of the instances only couple of weeks
ago.
This man took an afternoon off from his
business and went cut to the Benning races
on the first day of the final week OF the
meeting. 1t was his first visit to the track
since the beginning Of the meeting. Miracu-
lousy enough, he won some money-con-
siderabliy more than $10O. 1t was SO mrac-
ulous that he felt that he would never ex-
perience another days luck on earth if he
failed to celebrate the extraordinary event
So he celebrated He celebrated so effee-
tIaily that when he got home. along toward
midnight Ito Withstand as best he could, Of
course, his wifes reproaehes) he had only
500 of his winnings left.
After she had relieved herself of the due
and proper quota of reproaches necessary
in the circumstances, the mans wife went
down stairs to close up the house for the
night. Then the man, who was In just the
shape that man always gets into who
wisely celebrates, developed his foxiness.
Unto himself he reasoned:
In my right hand trousers pocket I've
got $50 pure velvet. All right. I want to
on that sixty. But can't maintain any
kind of clutch at all on it IL permit it to
remain in my right hand trousers pocket.
I'll no sooner fall into the deep, restful
slunber as of a little che-ild than my true
and faithful wife will proceed to go through
my clothing. In accordance with her invari-
able and instructive custom under circum-
stances like those of the present She will
grab out the sixty and never say a word
about 1t, and III have forgotten about what
| did with 1t myself when / wake up to-
morrow morning, and shell be in undisput-
| ed possession Of my sixty to blow in on hats
truck like that. VARY, VARY we'll. I'll just
fool her up few. I'll just take this little
sixty wad and place the same behind this
| cute little picture on the wall. So. There's
the sixty behind the picture And to pro-
vide against my forgetting what has be-
come of that little sixty, shall proceed to
! make little memorandum in nay notebook.
An, here's my pencil. I'll just write down
here, Dough is behind the picture and
When l see that entry In my little note
| pook N be just sixty velvet to the good,
| ana shell be fooled up quite heap"
He barely had time to get the money b.
| hind the picture hanging on the wall over
| lne bed and to make the little entry in his
note book before his wife. having closed up
| the house, entered the room and resumed
the reproaches, mentioning a few that she
mad overlooked and remembered while
down stairs. Presently he fell into sound
siumber He never knew whether his wife
| fell asleep, but he considers it highly prob
/ able that she did.
When the man woke up. sheepish and
hang-dog, the next morning, he remem-
| Defed the money he had Won on the day
| before at the track, but there was a good
deal of blank after he returned to the
city from the track He remembered not
a thing Of the sixty he had when he re-
| turned home. The memory Of having placed
| 1t behind the picture did not abide with
| him at all When he asked his wife to go
| down stairs and get him a cup of coffee he
| jumped up and went through his clothes in
a great hurry. He found 40 cents in
| change, and nothing else. He asked his
| wife when she returned upstairs how much
money he had when he returned home, and
| she regarded him with an aggrieyed stare
| when she told him that the sum total of
| his cash had been 40 cents in silver.
Well the man unused as he rode down
town to business In the car, ''if my true
and loving spouse didn't get what money
| had left of that winning then I must
have spent heap down town last night,
or else ! was touched. It's one or the
other However. Wen forget it. ought
to have thirty days In jail. anyhow, for not
keeping the dough got from those book
| makers: 1t hasn't been often I've hit them
| In recent years, heaven knows"
1t was only two days ago that, In running
| over his note book. he came upon that
queer scrawl, Dough is behind the pic
| ture." 1t perplexed him for a few minutes.
and he scratched his head and gazed at it
diiu over H. 1ue UdnQWTllln
| was pretty rocky, and when he took that fact
| into account the whole thing came back to
| him. He remembered having put the $50
behind the picture.
| When he went home that evening the first
| thing he did-when his wife wasn't look
| ing-was to lift up that picture. The $50
! wad fell with a pleasant little thud to the
| floor. The man walked down stairs and
! tossed 1t to his wife.
There, my dear" he said lis a little
| extra money that I picked up in deal.
| Better run down town tomorrow and buy
a little junk in the way of hats and stuff
| for yourself"
Nor Is this nara tive the mere product
of a more or less fecund imagination,
| either.