Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1905-12-15

novels on Ills taOlei ne
owed his landiady IL weeks rent for
his bed-sitting room, To say nothing of
other charges Tor incidental meals,
etc.; and al the so-called Chop
House at which ne generally break.
tasted, lunched, dined and supped, he
had an account which had already
gone as far as it could. Such. we re-
peat, was his position at $3.50 p. m. on
nat eYentful night At 1851 p. m. a
sharp rat-tat a. the hall door far be-
low betokened the passing of the last
post; and two minutes later Jack
stood in the center of his room with
his hair on end and wild look in his
eye, holding in one hand letter from
a well-knOwn firm Of solicitors and
in the other a draft for $1,000. His
Uncle AliCk had al last fulfilled an
oft-repeated threat, and lett this world
for better and his nephew with a
check.
He executed a few short steps of
danse eccentriQue; Tutoring the
oblong piece OF pink paper wildly over
his head; and then. when he had
mOpped his brow and Gained his soul
he placed the CHECK in his pocket
book buttOned up MS JACKET, took a
seat on the corner o. the bed, and pro
ceeded to soiiloqui2e.
Five thousand dollars Very use
full indeed Now waar shall do:
Tomorrow is Christmas day. Where
shall dine-Carltoa or the Princes?
0r-better still-shail | take the mid.
night train to Brighton aad spend the
holiday there? Hang ii. can't do
that, My dress suit Is rag know
what | Il do. I'll just toddle down
stairs and tell Mrs. Steinhauser my
luck. Bless her, won't she be delight.
ed! Then I'll just borrow flyer
from her aud spend tomorrow in
town; and the day after I'll tr0t
around to the bank and open an &C.
count Whirrool" And ne sent forth
a yell that Shook the frozen window
panes Then he Scampered downstairs
Mrs. Steinhauser, you have always
been the best of landladies, and can.
not tell you how much | have felt it
am afraid have been bit of a
care; but everything is now all right
No more troubled No more honorable
intentions All that sort of thing is
at an end. am a rich mana billion.
ist-a putOcrat-a blOated Croesus!'
And his eyes danced with delight.
Il am very gratifed to hear it, Mr.
DraytOn, said the large lady. taking
a neatly-fOlded paper from a rack al
the side of the mantelpiece and hand
ing it tc him with a smile. 1t was hi:
bill-tOtal amount s4225.
"A bagatelle!" said Jack, airily. "A
foolish tride. You shall have il OF
Friday morning. The banks arr
closed tomorrow and Thursday, bu
on Friday, dear Mrs Steinhauser, YOU
shall have the amount in solid golC
and silver of the brightest. Mean
while, | am going to ask you a small
favor, If may"
Mrs. Steinhauser looked uneasy.
Il want you to be good enough t,
lend me SIS, just to see me through
tomorrow and the next day"
"Sir!" exclaimed Mrs. Steinhauser
her spacious bosom heaving beneatl
its professional black satin and passe
menterie. Sir! Are you pleased t
be humorous?"
Humorous? OF course not. | hay
5000 in my pocket"
Indeed! Perhaps you wouldn'
mind showing me hundred or so7
: observed Mrs. Steinhauser, with pom
derous sarcasm.
"I'll show you the lot" said Jach
!: and he produced the check and he'll
It proudly forth.
Thank YOU" said Mrs. Steinhausel
you'll excuse me, but I've seen thos
] things before" And her black eye
e brows lowered ominously When SD
\ had recovered herself, she continued
81 sincerely hope, Mr. Drayton, tina
you will settle that account of mine o.
: Friday; for my expenses at this tim
of the year are very heavy. | al
sorry | cannot let you have the SIS.
And she turned to her ledger, an
Jack turned to the door.
'I'll trot around to the chop house,
o he bald to himself. "0ld Jorkins is
rough diamond, but he'll do it." An
he hurried on a rather dingy ha
D helped himself into a frayed overcoa
I and sailed forth.
Mr.. Jorkins was turning out th
lights for the night The premise
+ smelt unpleasingly Of vinegar an
e stale coffee.
Good evening, sir. It's too late
serve you with anything now. we'r
a shuttin' up" said Mr.. Jorkins. nc
q over amiably.
III That's all right" sad Jack.
. merely dropped in as | was passinl
to say that | shall be settling that II
Y tie bin of yours on Friday. I'd do
for you tomorrow, only the banl
will be closed"
= Mr. Jorkins beamed Thank yo
+ sir l won't go for. to say as 'ow
K won't be welcome If you was to S,
the bills | ave to pay at this time {