Evening star., 1902-08-02
READY FOR THE NEXT

A sharp-eyed young man was walking
listlessly past the hack stand close to one
of the squares in the northwest section the
other afternoon when, as he got alongside
an old rattletybang closed carriage to
which a sleepy looking, bony horse was at
tached, he gave a slight start.
He saw something in his casual glance
directed at the inside of the old hack. 1t
was a big, comfortable, rusty-looking wal
let lying in full view on the rear seat of the
hack. From the wallet the shrewd-looking
young man glanced quickly at the pro-
prietor Of the vehicle. The proprietor, a
drowsy-leoking colored man. was doing
away on the seat of the hack, apparently
oblivious of his surroundings.
Hey" said the young fellow who had
caught sight of the wallet, standing with
his hand on the door handle of the hack
''how much'n you charge to drive me as
fas. as you can to the Pennsylvania sta
tion?'
The black driver of the hack shook him.
self awake-although there really didn't
appear to be much slumber in his eyes
and replied:
"Seventy-f cents, sub, fo' uh fas' ride"
"All right" said the shrewd-eyed young
fellow, as he pulled open the hack door and
stepped in, take me down there as quick
as you can
"An right, suh." said the driver, and he
whipped up his poor old plug Of a horse
until the animal was getting over the
asphaltum at the rate Of at least three
miles an hour.
There was grin on the face of the black
driver as he urged the old skate on through
the hot Streets-an inexplcable sort of
grin, considering the caloric state Of the
weather, the difficulty which the old horse
was having in navigating, and the decid-
edly unprosperous appearance of the rig.
"Glang dere, yo' boss" the black driver
| would occasionally calculate, as he flicked
| imaginary flies off the horses f1anks with
| his broken whip, and then that mysterious
| 6nth he looked as If ABOUT to break out
into audible laughter.
When the black driver at length pulled
| his horse up alongside the 9th street sta
| ton the shrewdeyed young man, wearing
very disguised expression, stepped out
| onto the pavement, after opening the hack
door himself. He thrust his hand into his
| trousers pocket, produced three quarters
and handed them to the driver, at the same
| time directing a glance of great suspicion
at the face of the black man. The latter,
| however, appeared to be completely un-
| conscious of this suspicious glance, and he
| took the three quarters with cheerful
| grin, at the anne time touching his battered
| top hat and saying. Thank yo all, suh."
! When the shrewd-looking young man was
well around the corner the black driver
ahghted from his seat and looked into his
| vehicle He saw the big, comfortable,
| seat. The darky broke into chuckle as he
| picked the wallet up and tucked 1t into his
! inside pocket Then he murmured half
| aloud as he climbed back to his seat:
| 'Dey's uh suckuh bon evuhy minnit an
| dey nevuh die: Gitapp, yo hoss!
| About half an hour later the black driver
! was again doing on his seat. HIS mack
was again on it's stand near the square, and
| the big, notwithstanding, rusty wallet
| the black mans ingenious bait for crafty,
| self-seeking fares was again in full view on
| the rear hack seat.