The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1902-07-23
Ils Millionaire's
Match Box.
E had pressed upon me one OF
his high-pric,d cigars.
Thanks" ! said. Match"
..Nn Cana On Inrrl. -

l
tenance cleared. I'VE shall be at Wa.
rerloo In twenty minutes" he said,
and then We can get light At the re-
freshment room. They never mind
your taking a match Or two"
NO good" l 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 drausht
should necessitate the use Of more
than one match.
opened The box and examined the
contents with care. He Gid not like
the examination. He WINGED under ii.
He grew nervous.
Come. come" he said, "ligL, up and
give me the box back"
How long has this been going on =
I asked.
What do you mean"
"You know perfectly well what I
mean. There are several different
kinds Of wax matches in this box"
We'll. there's nothing In that. Some.
times 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. ! am sorry to say
that you are q thief. a match thief
You are probably liar also. for I
doubt II 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 spe.
cial quality. long in the shank, thicker
than usual. made Of good white wax.
There will be only four. directly. be.
cause I am going 20 light my cigar
with one Of them. Where did you get
ehem?"
Practically. I did buy them. I pay
my club prescription every year AMI
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 1t. What about this match? II
has been carried loose in the pocket
and is dirty. 1t has a pink head. II
is evidently Of very cheap kind. !
should say 1t saved the smoker thirty.
three per cent. Where did you get IT,
Look here" he said. irritably. II
won't submit to these questions. Give
me my box back at once" He made q
grab at ii. but eluded him.
You have to submit to these ques.
tions and to answer them truly. unless
you want to be shown up. Ever heard
Of the public prosecutor? Theft is
theft. mud it's serious. Once more
where did you get this wretched little
match? 1t looks like some poor mans
eve lamb"
If you want to know. I got II from
a railway porter he said, sulkily.
| to'S ~ W sou tuc
standing that you wished to use 1t a,
once. You deceived him and sneaket
it-a poor mans solitary match. Ny
word. but you've fallen low, ver* low. '
You don't know that it was his only
match"
ITS probable. and you don't know
that IL wasn't. What about this one
the very short one, with the mud on
IT,"
Il came by 1t perfectly fairly. 4
small boy in the street dropped il
He looked for ii some time. but hs
couldn't see where il had gone. saw
it. waited about. pretending TO lool
in a shop window until the boy ha,
gone. and then picked 1t up Thcs,
small boys ought not TO smoke cigar
cites. It's perfectly scanlalous
1t"
so you cheat children rs well. dt
you? Do you know what the law /,
with regard 10 property found in TIT
street: Have you no relics Of mora
sense:"
In my enthusiasm had allowed M
cigar to 60 out ! relit il with tn,
railway porter's match, without payin;
the least attention to the millionaire
protest.
And now" I said. what Of thes,
three blue headed matchesT'
They're all right. They're refresh
men room matches. They don't mine
sou taking one Or
How 10 you know they don't mind
Do you ask them? Or do you sneal
behind the bun stand and steal then
when you think nobody is looking
And these two with the dark browI
heads"
Il had to see my solicitors abou
an investment of mine. was showl
into the senior partners room. Tn
business was mere bagatelle-a mat
ter Of f25,OOO. But you know hov
particular solicitors are. He got up 4
refer to some wretched book. and il