Gunnison news-champion., 1905-10-06
@ APFn Z
oAssa AHH TAEzuD

were egrsn. and have not cass tt - u
vsrsoss shapes 1t hAsRts the sha4uDo
II this world. Ar. Krsae. sS~ssss,
ASoke. but before sendsRg ksa 60 -
ORGANIZATIONS let ~ ose = hns - -
waiting for him
The FIRST thing he sac o. opeDia1 -
ewes wAs . ragged coat which lay 1Q.o
hi- arm II was a garment emtoooe1y
qualified to b. offensive ~ . aensAs-
nan. shiny. soil.d and rsveied = -
edges. Mr brane blinked at At - ~
slant aud eonc laaed that n must - .
part Of his recent troublesome fsscies.
''osf out. ~ he u,uttered- sleepily, shak-
ing the garment ~ the ioor. you ~ .
fake. ] dreamed yea. and I'm going ~
wake ap in a minute
No wonder he was deceived. for the
coat fitted eae dream with disbolical e.
curscy. u had not been . visiea of
financial embarrassment alone. he haA
seen himself walking ON the uppers of
Disgrace over the rock y road 81 despair.
His first waking impression had hssen
great than L falaess thai he wss hiR-
self again, a man of wealth and coasia-
eration; a gentleman by birth end
breeding. Then he had seen the ragged
coat and denied its reality.
He let his head fall upon the pillow
again and sank for moment into
sleep. Then he awoke with a start
Queer notion about that coat" he
said. and glanced over the edge Of The
bed. The coat was there. None 0f its
fine points had got away. The summer
sunbesms round the edges of the cur
tains gliuted upon its greasy wrist-
bands and CLASSY sleeves. Mr. DrHae
sat upon the bed and stared stupidity st
the strange garment. The sight con-
fused him.
He tried to recall the events which
had preceded his sleep. He remembered
his journey eastward from his home in
Kansas City; the business interests
which he had in charge; the hot, dasty,
tiresome ride which had brought him ~
New York on his way to Boston. Ne
recalled how he had found himself %
tired that he had resolved to wait in
New York hong enough to have . good
nap in hotel how he had entered the
first one he found, and had stumbled
sleepily along in the wake of the hall
boy to the room wherein he lay. Then
/ he had cast himself upon the bed alter
removing only his outer clothing.
/ by the way thought he. with a sud-
den start, where are my clothes
| should like to know?'
How easy it is to ask questions, and
how eternally hard it is to answer them.
Mr.. Drane's hasty but thorough search
of the apartment revealed no reply to
his very natural query. He did not find
his clothes because they were not there,
but he did succeed in discovering .
waistcoat and q pair Of psntaloons
which owned disgraceful kinship with
the coat.
III were a drinking man." he NUT
tered, in dire perplexity. Il think that
should find the motive for . great refoR-
nation somewhere in this affair"
At this moment he found himself con-
fronted by a mirror, and rs his own re-
4 Election met his eyes he couldn't help
being assailed by the idea that u change
had come over his counteDance which,
If IL were not equal in extent to that
which had overtaken his clothes, was
| yet in the same unfortunate direction.
on course it was one Of those crooked
hotel mirrors which so shockingly wreck
the features Of their victims. Accord
ing to this veracious glass, Mr.. Drane
had swelling on his right cheek, and
was afflicted with strabismus, erysipelas
and disordered liver. complicated with
three-days' beard. None OF these per-
sonal charms had any real existence ex-
cept the beard, and that wasn't so bad
as it looked. In spite Of it, Mr.. Drane
was q very good-looking young man; but
he couldn't see it in that glsss.
''Jingor' he exclaimed, as he gazeA
upon this optical monstrosity. They We
stolen me along with my clothes.
must have assistance"
He turned to the annunciator and con-
suited the directions for its use. First,
he rang once for the hall-boy, but there
was no response. Then he gave three
| labs for ice-water. hut it did not come.
Six for hack and seven for the police
were equally unproductive: and when
4 he had tried eleven for the fire depart
/ nent and twelve for an ambulance he
/ gave it up.
J ''If they had given me permission 10
1 ring thirteen times for the coroner I
! should feel that i had done my full
duty" groaned Lawrence; and then he
/ laughed, it was all 80 absurd. He felt
in the pockets of the deplorable
clothes which had been left for him. but
he did not find their late wearer's name
and address. nor anv other article Of
value. The loss - money and watch
did not trouble him much. for he had
never felt the pressing need OF dollar,
and did not know what its absence NAV
imply As for his watch the police would
recover that. Mr.. Drane ad exaggerated
notions about the metropolitan police
He did not know that before they would
hnd that watch in the ordinary cours.
OF their business he would be all don
with time and large part Of eternity.
SO he didn't worry about those thinea
but bestowed his regret very sensibay
upon the absence Of certain papers. n
knew nobody in New York. and hal noe
no means of establishing his identity