The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-04-23
THE TELEGRAM FOR
 MIR. BIRDSALL.
BY WILLIAM HAMILTON OSBORNE.

| B1 WILLIAM Copyright. 1905. by Daily Story Pub. Mir. Birdsall was wont to smile be- highly upon his friends. Yes, sir" he would remark, taking out his time piece, "yes, sir that watch cost me just two hundred and fifty at Geneva, and I wouldn't take a thousand for the | thing today
 MT. Birdsalrs estimate of the value of his watch was quite correct. Jew elers had offered him five hundred for | it, and curio collectors and dealers in | jewelry of the out of the way kind had offered him much more. But he still chung to it.
 Some day." insinuated Birdsalfs friends. some day some fellow will stretch forth his hand, and get that watch for nothing"
 Not much" replied Birdsall; look here" And he thereupon exhibited un- | to them the various safety devices with which he had adorned his person and l his watch. some of them, even. invented | by himself.
 "There's not one thief in ten thous- and" continued Birdsall, who can get | that watch away"
 Birdsall was right. But he had not calculated upon the fact that there might be one in a hundred thousand who could be successful. It so hap | pened that young man of the name Of Mir. Mickey Walters was one man in a | hundred thousand.
 '"rhere ain't super on the cart :" said Mickey's friends, that Mickey cant freeze Onto."
 But MT. Birdsall had owned his watch for some twenty years. and no | man had yet attempted to molest him. | The fact was that the watch had des- tiny. It was travelling along a given | line. That line at given point out | in the future was bound to cross anoth- CT line This other line constituted | the straight and narrow path upon which MT Mickey Walters sauntered | through the world.
 One morning Birdsall the portly' stood in a trolley car reading his pa per. The crowd jostled him about bit. Finally by some mtshap. a man
 missed his footing going round curve. | and lurChed and fell.
 Blrdsall leaned over him. "Pll help
 you up" said Birdsall. And he did. Then he felt involuntarily for his watch and chain.
 Good Lord" said Birdsall. some
 one has pinched my watch" The roads
 upon which the watch and Mickey Wal
 ters had been travelling had crossed at last. But Mickey Walters was not | prepared for the unforeseen. For years
 Birdsall had been waiting for just such | a mischance, and he was ready He l bounced upon the man who had fallen | at his feet, and he had made but small
 mistake. That man was Mickey Wal | ters, and Mickey Walters was the man
 who had relieved him of his watch. Mickey writhed and squirmed at first,
 and finding that of no avail, swore and l clustered and said he would make an example of the man who dared to | charge him with a theft. But BirdsaH l held on like grim death.
 A police officer was called and came
 He smiled gently. for he. had some slight acquaintance with MT. Mickey | Walters,
 Wen search him first" announced the seargeant at the station to MT. l Birdsall. They searched the alleged
 thief, and found nothing. Mickey neV- CT carried anything upon his person except money. and he was just little l shy of that just now.
 Hes passed it to some crook, l guess" remarked the seargeant, re- | ferring to the watch; they always do Anyways take him in and arraign him ' They took him Into court. On the way someone pressed his arm and whispered. Mickey" said the whis- | per, hire Rosenstein-hire Rosen- | stein"
 Mickey hired Rosenstein, for he knew that while he, Mickey, was one thief in a hundred thousand, Rosenstein was one lawyer in a hundred thousand. Well" said the magistrate. when | Mickey's turn came, whats this all about?" They told him. l Plead" remarked the clerk. 'Not