The Lexington intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1901-1949, 1905-02-18
sIISCALCULATION
OF WELLS.
III @. M-rRR1EL1Es

NN4A -
without thinking of anything
eOin' to happen which he didn't
expect 1t would.
But the mex mOrnin' the niger
porter come up - Jim had give
him a dollar the night before, an
be says: "Want to see the papah,
Sah9" an he give it to him an he
give him a quarter, which was
mighty good interest FIR that mig
gee.
An Jim he turned over the pa
per an he see an ad. in it bout a
fellow was killed in the stOckyards
Che night before without no name
On him. The paper it give a de
vcriptiOn of him, an it says: "The
unfortunate individual had the ap-
pearance of a New Highlander"
That made jim kind Of hot
Tim's from Maine himself-an' he
says; "Tbem newspaper men
thinks they're smart" an ies' then
Il struck him, an he says: 81 won
Ger if il could "a ben Fred~
So he goes back an goes over it
all again, an it did fit awful well
blue eyes an medium tall an
sandy hair an looked like he come
from Maine. An Jim he felt pref
" bad, an he thought about it a
lot ON the way Out-but O. course
he wasn't sure it was him.
Well, when he gets home, pretty
bear the first person he meets was
Mrs. McSwain, an she says to him.
mighty sweet: can didn't you
see anything of Fred while you
was away, Mr.. Thompson" She
wasa right nice little woman, too.
an everybody said Fred hadn't
60 sort of reasOn for hOldin' her
Gown on the dough the way he sure
done.
An Jim tells her bout seein' him
In the s~tockyards an him sendin'
iove an a lot like that; but hc
never says a word about the pa
per, an l think he was jes' right.
All the same he couldn't help
worryin', thinkin' about bein' the
las person to see poor Fred alive,
an he talked about it to most
everybody he met, an the boys all
toP their wives, but Mrs. Mae she
npyer got a hint.
They was a fellow named Wells
there that time, an it worried him
awful. He always vas wantin' to
gethis pawsOn other peoples bust
ness, an see how theytoOk things.
Ee took on like Fred had ben own
brother to him to think Mrs. Mac
didn't know, an he was always
Groppin' in on her an follOwin'
her round to be on ham when some
b0dv told. But they wasn't none
Of Us gOia' to tell, an We thought
ios' 10 let her 60 on she'd come to
t kind Of gradual an maybe drop
on Of herself. But Wells couldn't
see it that way.
So be was right on ham when
The come to the post Office one day
and steps up to the window fr
mail When she got her mail she
looks kind of solemn, an she says:
q wonder what's the matter with
Fred" she says. "YOu right sure
you amt dropped a letter% she
says to Miss Blnns.
Miss Binns KEEP the Office FIR a
spell there, an she turned all kinds
Of cOlOrs, an the rest of us we be-
gin to slide FIR the door; but Wells
see he'd got to tell her then if he
ever done it, an he says to her;
MADAM, when did you last hear
from your husband|
"INhy, let me see," says she, 81
got q letter the day before Mr..
Thompson got home. Why, it's
ben a week" an she looks kind o
scared.
ooh, well, a week amt long,
Miss Bipns says. "LOts O. mel
don't write home onct a month"
"0h," says she, "but Fred writes
every other day" Which maybe
he did, an maybe he didn't; blu
Wells he sees his chanct, an he Vi
to her an tells her about the pa
per.
don't think he meant to tell he
all about it, only onct he got start
ed he couldn't stop; an she neve