The leader., 1905-05-06

to himself and was shoveling 1t up by
the cart load The mystery was ex-
planned!
There was he, Elijah Cobb, fritter-
ing away his dull existence in the sor-
did atmosphere Of grocers shop,
when over his very head lay the
wealth of a Croesus, the fabulous for
tune of a Monte Cristo Heavensl The
thought was maddening He iammed
his hat on his head and slipped out
the door and strobe homaward at q
rapid pace.
At the foot Of the staircase Of his
house he met the professor. The ola
gentlemans eyes lighted up as he
caught sight of Mr.. Cobb and he put
down a bag that he had been carrying
"a stout leather hand bag that seemed
distressingly heavy for him. Would
Mr.. Cobb mind carrying the bag up
stairs? 1t contained something of all
most priceless value and the professor
did not want to have it out of his
sight.
Mr. Cobb said he would be most
'appy. Then he turned cold all over.
and then again he broke out into n
profuse perspiration. He picked up the
bag and found it heavy indeed. He
had always heard that gold was a
weighty substance and now by the
caprice of fortune he was able to prove
the statement. 1t seemed to him as
he walked upstairs in front of the pro-
tfessor that he held in his hand the
talisman that would open the door
of the great world OF London, and the
professor had picked it up for the
mere stopping.
Toward early morning Mrs. Cobb
awoke with start. She was alone.
AS in another case, her lord had IN
gently stole from her bed and she did
not know what to make of it. She
rose In hurry and dressed herself
with some incompleteness; so much SO
that the professor, who happened to
appear on the threshold of his room
at the moment at which she appeared
on that of her own, took flight pre-
cipitately and ~eemed it more prudent
to address her from the protecting
| shelter of his door.
Mrs. CoUD," he called out in an agi-
tated voice. some one has been play
ing foolish trick upon me- A bag Of
carefully-selected ceIts that | had in
my room has been removed. / would
not have lost them for anything. They
are certainly preglacial and therefore
OF the utmost value. Please ask Mr..
Cobb to come and"
But, interrupted the lady. fearful
ly, Mr.. Cobb amt ere. | don't know
what's become of i'm. Ali" she cried
as her eyes fell upon scrap of folded
paper that lay upon the chair at her
side, whats this?"
Adjusting his glasses and coming
close to the window to get the full
benefit of the morning light, the pro-
fessor read:
Deer Martha: always sed as wat
was cut out for sumthin more than
grocery an now its hear have took
the professors bag of gold he wont
miss 1t as he nows ware to find plenty
more don't bother about me as ime
running away ime going to London to
lede gay life your loving husben
Elijah COBB.
! Inc professor looked from the paper
to Mrs. Cobb and from Mrs. Cobb to
the paper. Then the absurdity of the
situation got the better of him and he
broke into roar of laughter till his
mlrth was stopped by fit of coughing.
Mrs. Cobb, brought back from her
historical grief about the same time.
started to her feet, prepared to de-
nounce in free and easy terms the be-
naVlor OF people who hold the misfor-
tunes of others up to ridicule. But as
! soon as the professor got his breath he
spoke quietly and to the point.
Your husband is making a fool of
himself, Mrs. Cobb. Don't be alarmed.
We will have him back shortly and
ask him for an explanation. Get
some one with trap to drive me to the
station. He can't have had a very
long start and he will have to walk
slowly with heavy bag like that,
Gold, indeed! My good woman. the
contents of that bag have no value at
all to the people he is likely to meet.
II he had only taken the trouble to ex-
anime his booty first he would have
found that out for himself"
Mr.. Cobb returned and spent several
1 days in the effort to convince peonle
that the whole thing was nothing
more than an elaborate joke that he
had got up on his own initiative at the
professors expense. But nobody be-
heyed it then and nobody thinks OF
believing it now. Still, as have said.
since that time Mr.. Cobb has strenu.
ously endeavored to live down the one
blot on an otherwise spotless career.
and wish him success in his effort.