Gunnison news-champion., 1905-11-17


= sheet be Seis - Gossa - hi. seaehssr
Evea hA huaees vscss~d far . ssos,
and he ealSysd kis hs.h shasssehly.
"a wse too eclock ey the naxniaseus
sime-pssss Walsh STOOD sas0as artsscssl
flowers y the er~si hall II the both.
~hea he vesssusa " ~ rsSn ssd hls
rags Mis- ssgl ssA lssay rctellsd
against shem usoec ssrUaelv thsa ever
before. They coasrsssed p~anf,.liy With
the laxury BY sksch he AsA kees swr-
rounded. He -; IN bis char ~i.h hi. heed
in bis aAssA~ ed srseasd sioad. Pant
ness hsA followed the bath. and I'd
been aggravated by the s4ghs ~ uen
enjoying rolls and coHce. while they re-
clsned upon the div.ns in the hall Ne
almost made up his mind TO order
break fa-t..aad trust to luck to &c; AWAY
alive without paving for A.
Here yoa are. sir. number forty-t~o.
said q voice: and Drane heard an at
tendaBt usher man into the next
dre>sing-room.
low say a minute later. Then he knew
that the man in the next stall had
tipped the attendant. They talked
together minute. while the visitor
inquired about the bath and the
restaurant which was connected with
it. Then he tipped the fellow again.
and got more thanks.
''ile has plenty Of money" of course.
rroaned branc, 'swhy shouldn't he give
some of ii awsvp Nhy shouldn't he lend
me some2 Why shouldn climb b over the
Partition and negotiate the loan myself
while he's out of the way?"
The rags were corrupting him. They
seemed actually to talk, To suggesf
envy. malice. and theft
'' Get thee behind me-. garments Of
Satan, he said. smiling bitterly; and
he arose and walked out again into the
hail. An obiiging attendant prepared
divan for him. and he had no sooner
stretched himself upon it than he fell
asleep.
Drane was awakened by the voice of
the man who had occupied the dressing
room next to his. lie looked up. and
saw weil-built young man-so far as
the sheet in which he was wrapped al
lowed his proportions to be seen--pre-
pairing to take the next divan. The
stranger WAS about Drane's weight and
height. aad they resembled each other
not q little, despite the fact that while
Drane WAS handsome man, the other
would never have been accused of any
thing more serious than the possession
of good figure. One face was almost a
caricature of the other Drane could
not help thinking how much he should
have rescmbled his ncighbor if his own
life throughout had been like the last
few days.
The stranger ordered some breakfast,
and the attendant drew up a little table,
SO that 1T stood between Drane and his
more fortunate fcilow-bather. In fact
1t was as near to one as the other.
''lf he eats right Under my nose, this
way" said Drane to himself, Il shall
become a raving maniac"
A luxurious repas. was ordered, and
then the stranger lay down upon the
d1van and went to sleep. lie did not
awake when the attendant laid the
cloth nor even when the lunch was
brought. Some gentle shaking brought
him partly to his senses, so that he was
able to sit up and pretend to be awake,
but WHOM the attendant went away he
fell back upon the pillow and was asleep
again in twinkling.
Then l)rans' stomach arose and read
the declaration of Independence. 1t
would hear no excuses: no rCprouches of
conscience. Life, liberty and the pur-
suit of happiness" was its text, and It
argued in manner not to be answered
by the precepts of mere honesty.
Drane stretched forth his right hand.
and secured a roll. Almost Immediately
thereafter, as nobody was looking. he
possessed himself of the log Of a
chicken. being honest by nature he
returned the bone to the Strangers
table. Other portions Of the bird fol-
lowed. together with sundry fried DO
tatoes, and such like embellishments of
the feast. Then he washed down his
scruplcs with the strangers coffee. and
went back to his room a better man.
But then came the rags again, and
not even the sustaining power of
stolen meal could keep him from temp
tation. He put on his unlerclothing,
and then stood by the half-open door,
looking in at the detestcd garments
They mockcd him; they said: You've
got 10 como down to our level; you We
stolen a breakfast on our account. and
nobody knows what you'll do before We
get through with you"
He shuddcrcd and turned away his
eyes. 1t wasn't that his conscience
troubled him. No, indeed. lie had
left his conscience in the pocket of his
other clothes. the ones the thieves
had taken. and he wond, rcd. by the
way, whether the fellow had been able
10 make any moral use OF it. But his
shudder was caused by his disinclina-
tion to put on the suit which had no
conscience in its pockets - in other
words. no dollars.
so when he turned his head away the
rarged clothes were responsible for it.
Then they must also have beer respon-
sible for his noting that tho door of No.
AZ was ajar, and for the temptation