Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1906-12-01

a hurry, so | had another look at it an
spelled it all out loud
Sacred to the Memory
EPHRAIM MORGAN, ESQ.
Il. /. p
Poor Mr. Morgan's friends came down
And looked at him and sighed:
His hair had turned from grey to brown,
And so they guessed he'd dyed.
AS | said before, SIR says /, there's
that mistake in the spellin', an l never
knowed the deceased gent meseif-'
"There amt no deceased gent he
shouts, veXed. That's meant for me-
Pm Mr.. Morgan, an someone's done this
on purpose to annoy me, an I'll make
him smart for i'll don't care if it corsts
me hundred pound. Did you cut them
words on, or didn't your
81 told him fair and straight that |
didn't.
eff Ed cut it / should have spelt
died" proper | begun; but he shut me
up sharp
HE said he got up an come down
few mornin's arter | called on him afore,
an he seen a lot of people starin' through
his front railin's, pointin' an larfn'
Regular big crowd it was. an CROWN big
GER all the time 'Orrible annoyin', he
says it was, an presently he sends out to
see what's wrong, an there's that tomb
stone O. mine with his name an the
poetry ON it stickin' in the middle of his
flower bed as if he'd bin buried there.
HE thought I'd been paid by some
body to carve his name an the rest of it
on the stone, and wouldn't hardly believe
me when l told him l didn't have nothin'
| to do with it.
st sold it. tells him. AN what hap
pened to it afterwards is no fault of
mine,' says !.
"'Who did you sell it tor he said
"'Well, SIR l says to him, Pm a poor
man am I'm bound to 60 in buster for
self help when l gets the chance. I'm
willin' to tell the truth, but l can't afford
to tell it for nothin'.'
"He tries to hustle me. but I sat tight,
an bymeby he says let him have the
| plain facts am he'll gimme five bob for a
start, an more later ON if he wanted me
as a witness, which most likely he
would.
Consequently / collected the oof an
give him the facts.
You're certain it was that MANI" he
says. i reckernise your description of
him, an he's the very man l suspected.
| suppose you don't know his name?"
Yes, | do, mister says /. While |
| was talkin' to him on his doorstep the
| postman come with letter, an | noticed
the name on the envelope.
An when / mentioned the name he
says, quite right, it was the identical
man, an my KNOWN the name as well as
bein' able to describe the Teller made me
a most valuable witness. Then he arst
me for me own name an address. Well,
| | give him the first | could think of, an
he wrote them down as solemn as if they
/ were real.
Il shall 90 round an consult my law
| yer now at once he says, am git him to
call ON this scoundrel with me this even
! in an if he won't write an publish a
ample apology in the local papers at his
/ own expense, III prosecute him, an you'll
have to give evidence
Il said | would
Then had what l call a.'appy idea
Il turned back an went as fast as
could to the house of the gent who'd
bought my tombstone. He was at home
but sent out word 90 away, he'd got all
the tOmbstones he wanted, he didn't ex-
| pect he should die more than once. SO |
sent the CELL in agen to say it was about
a serious matter, an | must see him
private an p't;ckler, an he had me all
alone into his parler.
Il pulled long mug an said he'd got
me into a terrible mess, an went on to
explain about the large old gent with the
rich brown hair an beard.
"'You didn't tell him you sold it to
me 2 he chips in, nervous.
'I'm not that sort of man, SIR I says,
| reproachful. I'm poor, sir, but I'm no
skunk He offered me ten shillin's, an
then a pound, to tell him who bought
that tombstone, but / pretended |
couldn't remember. | wasn't goin' to be
a bloomin' sneak, an besides, / guessed
you'd make 1t up to me and pay me bet
| ter than that to keep me mouth shut. l
knows gentleman when | sees one, an
| reckoned it'd be worth lot to you to
be saved from bein' prosecuted; so l
wouldn't tell him word, an he lorst his
| temper an said either | was liar or else
I'd bin paid to say nothin,' an if | didn't
make a clean breast of it he'd prosecute
me an git me six months hard for it
an he will, too, he was that savage. Six
months hard won't matter so much to
me, SIR | says, as it would to you; but,
all the same it's no pleasure excursion
an won't do me health no good and
that's why looked into warn you that
the old gents on the warpath an sus-
pets you. from what he said, an that
Pm keepin' me mouth shut tight an feel
the need of havin' a little encourage
ment.'
1t was just lark he says. He's
the manager of the Office where I'm en-
gagged, an there's several of us bin send
| in him anonermous letters about the
color of his hair bein' changed just for
joke; but it's made him mad, know,
an if he finds out for certain who did the
tombstone he'll never forgive me- l
shall have no end of a warm time.
There's three of us in wallin' distance of
him, an he suspects us all; but he'll
never be able to find out, unless you
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