The Roswell daily record. [volume] (Roswell, N.M.) 1903-current, 1905-07-17
The Bush Guinea
tOrigiHai.1

excellent story that would make"
whereas there may not be in it a single
element the story teller can make use
of. Per contra. there are incidents that
would pass. the general reader unno-
ticed. but would be seized upon at
once by the writer of fiction.
A long while ago, when Bristol. Eng
land. was growing rich with the profits
of the West India trade. a stranger set
tied in town, taking lodgings near
a famous old inn called the Bush. One
| day soon after his arrival in Bristol.
abou the noon hour. he entered the
coffee room of the Bush. seated him
self at a table near a cheerful 6re-for
it was late in the autumn-and called
for a glass of brandy and water.
Would you like to see the London
paper. sir?" asked the landlord. hand
Ing him the sheet.
Thank you said the stranger.
Now. the act of the host was notice
able from the fact that the stranger
bore about him no evidence of prosper
ity or that he would make a customer
for the inn worth cultivating. His
clothes We're seedy. his body was lean,
ahd he was bent over In u confirmed
stOOp. He read the paper through. paid
stxpence for his brandy and went out
The next day he came again at the
same hour. called for q s%ixpenny worth
of brandy. read the paper and depart
ed. He never gave a waiter a fee. new
er took a meal in the house-indeed, his
expenditure was but sixpence q day.
which included the monopoly for the
noon hour of the paper. He was mani
testify a gentleman In very poor circum-
stances, and it was not long before he
came to be known as the poor gentle
man"
Never for a moment did John Weeks
the landlord. intimate or permit any
one of his employees to Intimate that
the stranger was something of 3
sponge On h contrary. Weeks would
reserve the paper for him every day
and gave out that when the poor gen
tleman" had it no one else was to ex-
pect it.
Christmas came without the poor
gentleman" even having called for any
thing to eat in the house, and Weeks
made up his mind that his guest should
have one good square meal free Of
expense. The day before Christmas.
as the gentleman was departing, the
landlord stepped up to him and said;
Tomorrow being Christmas. sir. we
keep open table, and | should esteem
1t a great honor. sir, If you would par
take of u hospitality"
The poor gentleman" muttered his
thanks and went out. neither accept
Ing nor declining the invitation. The
landlord feared that. though he had
put the case as delicately as possible.
he had wounded his feelings. placing
A:-I T.: -
his guests parsimony. His feelings
were relieved. however. by the gentle
man appearing the mex day punctually
at | O'Clock in the same seedy garments
he had hitherto worn. Seating him
self at the table. he partook of a dinner
with the apparent relish of one to
whom a square meal was a novelty.
not failing to do justice to the rare ale
for which the inn was noted far and
wide. After he had eaten his hIl the
landlord handed him his paper. which
he read till he had exhausted every
word. then rose to leave. Weeks. who
had enjoyed the satisfaction his bene-
f1ciary had shown In the one meal he
had taken in the Bush stepped up to
him and helped him to put on his
coat. To cap the climax of his gener-
osity the kindly andlord slipped a
Christmas gift of a guinea into the
"pOor gentieman's' hand. The re-
cipient looked at the gold piece. then
at the landlord. sighed; something like
q smile lowered for q moment about his
lips; then. b%uttonfng up his coat. he de
parted.
That was the last time the poor gen
tleman' was seen at the Bush. Wheth-
er his absence was that after such
kindness he was unwilling to trespass
further on the generosity of the land
lord. whether he had suddenly died or
gone to some Institution. Weeks did
not know. He only knew that his
guest came no more, and he missed
him.
John zee was too generous a man
to make money. He gave n shilling's
worth for a shilling. and when the
owner of the building he occupied ad-
vertised it for sale he had no money to
buy it, and all that he possessed. which
was the good name Of his hosiery n
the business he had built up, was TO be
q dead loss.
The advertisement of the sale ap-
peared in re London papers. and one
day when Weeks spirits were at the
| lowest ebb Pt the grim prospect before
him he received a letter from a famous
London banking house stating that II
he wished to acquire the house he oc-
cupied he might draw upon them for
the purchase money.
Was the offer bona ide or a cruel
| joke on the part of some one who knew
his desires? Weeks made up his mind
that the only way to nnd out was to
go to London and present the letter
He lost no time In reaching the me-