Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1902-10-02

OF my friend, bus l never had !
penchant for climbing big trees for
small game.
Since the yea 1szs ! have seen
little Of my good frleol sor he weni
OF 20 help 10 make bse AZsxicans keep
the peace, after We haa done all In
our power to make theu break Il,
and I entered the matriu1 @ial field
which was far more eati 80 10 me
than the pomp and gIo. u, a.
infinitely less irksoE were sstlp ear.
Gus 70 health. chssf alizIn .liz. a.
round clever fellow, and Whilsmuch
over half q century has fed by since
we were closely associated, kindly
memory OF him has ever fingered In
my mind and heart, and / can say,
con amore, peace tohissoull Ihave
read that an open confession was
good for the soul, which think is
an accepted fact by the whole Chris
tian world, and / viii proceed, in
view of the possible benefit there
may accrue TO me, by the observ-
ance of this maxim, TO narrate what
l have always considered the mean
est act Of my whole life. i year or
two before the death OF that prince
of clever men and hotel keepers, Her
bert Moore, he. Flick Loker and N.Y.
self were enjoying some cool beer all
TO ourselves, and something was said
on the subject of meanness, when,
addressing myself to Loker, said,
click, the very meanest act of nv
life, SO far as can remember, was
performed on you. [ had strolled
down to Hanover bills al by myself,
and while loosing and listening for
squirrels n the hickory trees, a
small dog commencing barking up a
Tree aboui forty yards from me, and
on going 10 him saw he had treed
game, which ] soon brought down.
While re cad ng my gun, you walked
up, AID then il flashed across nv
mind tina the dog was yours, and
you Were out on hpnt with him.
! a.'ologized Tor shooting over your
dog, which was accepted, and we
continued our hunt together, but
while the squirrels were plentiful,
as our ears testified. we had no Char
ley Yates 10 drive them out of their
hiding places, and could see none to
shoot. We SON tired OF this and
turned our faces downward and when
we were about 10 cross the last run,
| saw black knot on q post, and
proposed TO you shoot at it, the loser
to forfeit a squirrel. You agreed;
we shot and / was victorious. You
had one squirrel left and had two,
and was mean enough to propose
another shot, which you declined,
saying you would take one home for
your supper, if the heavens fell.
The ugly part of my course was, that
my first capital was improperly ac-
qnired, as it was justly yours, and
that I wagered against half OF yours,
and then proposed to try and win
the very last of your game. When
thought over the transaction calm
ly, in all its bearings / became thor
oughly ashamed OF myself, the only
palliation conceivable being that I
was actuated more by the desire to
excel in craftsmanship than to ac-
quire your game. or as the celebrat-
ed Lord Houghton put it,
the virtue lies
In the struggle. not the prize.'~
When my confession was completed,
my friends said / had done well to
remove the weight from my con-
science, which had been weighing
it down for nigh on to a half centu-
ry, but they both absolutely refus-
ed 10 grant absolution, unless I"set
up" the beer, which was most cheer
fully assented to and done. While
we were slipping the cool beverage,
friend Loker with solemn, clerical
look, placed his glass on the little
table before us and delivered himself
in the following manner: Among
so many bad things. that are charged
against me in st. Peters book, il is
hard for me to determine the one
that he regards the most heinous,
but there is no trouble about my dis
ignating the particular transgres-
sion that has welled up in my mind
and memory the most frequently to
worry and torment. A good many
years ago now, the day had very near
ly arrived when the Jockey Club ra-
ces near this town were TO commence,
and man came intomy store, whose
name | shall not mention, to buy
twenty gallons OF whiskey to deal
out to the crowd expected. He first
sampled my dollar whiskey There
was no tax on the beverage them
which he did not fancy much. Then
he tasted OF my 20 cent whiskey.
which he did not admire, after which
/ tempted him with so cent article,