The San Francisco call., 1906-09-09
THE EIGHTH CUSTOMER
AND THE PAIR OF BOOTS


II scarcely 10 tho top Of the coun-
ter. bat he had sharp. keen
face. intelligent beyond his
wears with the p-ecocity taught by
poverty. EaSar. locking AZ his shock
OF red hair and the shreUd biae eyes
which peered up at her face. guessed
that he was Irish. ard when he spoke
his broEue proved her guess 70 be a
correct one. She stared At the ragged,
barefooted urchin with some amuse-
meat Cor this was the smallest GUS
toTer she had yet had. But Micfy-
so he gave his name-was quite as
sharp as customers of more mature
years-in fact, sharper. He b2rgained
astutely with Hagar. ana evidently had
made up his snail mind not to leave
the shop until he obtained his own
price for the article he was pawaing.
This was pair of strong labore~'s
boots. hob-nailed and stout in the
soles. The red headed hoy heaved them
on TO the counter with mighty clat-
ter and demanded : shnlinss thereon.
''Tl give you s. said Hagar. after
examination.
"Ah. now. woald ye?" piped the brat.
with shriu i-npa6ence. is it taking
the bread oat az RE meath ye w'ul be
afther? sure. me mother sid sivin bob,
ar tbs sivin ] want
Where is your mother, boy7 Why
did she not come he-self?"
Mothers com forting hersels wid the
drink round tho ca~ne~. and. sure. I'm
aqual TO gittin' tn dirthy money me-
self Swim bob. alannsh. an may the
hivins he yer bedr'
Where did you get these boots?~
said Hsga-. asking another question,
and Ignoring the persuasive tone OF
the lad. Il sec there are letters marked
in nails On the TWO soles"
"Ah. there might be-" aszented
lEic.Sy. eomplaoeatly; there's a C on
one foot. an a * on the other, but
me fawther's name is Patrick Dooiey.
an he's in Amerikey. worse luck.
Mother got thin boots foive days gone
in the country They wos a prisint,
ne darlint: an as they wos too big fur
me an me mother. we pop them. dear.
fur sivin bob"
Take six" said Hagar, persuasively;
they aren't worth more"
"Howly saints. listen to the lies av
her." shrieked Micky. six. is it? An
how can 7 go 10 me mother wild a
shillin' wrong? sure. it's breakin' me
hid she'd be afther. wild a quart pot,
An what's money 10 the loikes av you.
me dear2n
'IIere-here, Take the seven shil-
lings-" said Izagar. anxious to rid her
out the ticket in the name of Mrs.
Dooley-
Mrs. Bridget Dooley av Park lane"
said Mieky. grandly. Sure that will
90 as well as any other place. It's on
the tramp we are-bad luck to it, If
'twasn't for thin boots we got in
NARROW, it's without copper we'd be-
Here. take the ticket and money /
daresay you stole the boots"
rs it takin' away me character y'd
be afther? Stain? Wasn't thin boots
a prisint to me. FOR pure charity an
love av the saints? An. well, I'm goin'
Pm goin', Swim bob; it's little
enough onyhow; but phwats the use OF
lookin for justice to Oireland in the
country az the Saxon toyrant?" and
Mieky went out singing The Wearing
OF the Green" in a very shriI and un-
pleasant voice.
Hagar put the boots away. never ex-
pectins that a story could be attached
10 so ordinary pawned article. But
two days afterward she was reading
an account OF murder. and. to her
surprise, the very boots. now reposing
on high shelf in her shop, were men,
toned as a link in the chain Of evi-
1ence likely TO hang the assassin. Co
incidenccs occur in real life oftener
than the world cares to admit: and
this was case in point. \ pair OF
boots with initials on the soles had
been pawned in her shop; and now
scarcely forty-eight hours afterward-
she was reading about them in news
AtAltAs a. tfe@" oNAeNA el4iilDSN AnNi CT
bile: but to quote a trite and well-worn
saying, Truth is stranger than hc-
ton" Briefly. the history OF the crime
was as follows
Sir Leslie Crane OF Welby Park. Mar
low. had been shot by his gamekeeper.
George Kerris. Il seemed that the man
was engaged 10 marry a farmers
daughter. Laura Brenton by name. and
Sir Leslie had been paying the girl
more attention than was consistent
with their respective positions. Kerris
had demonstrated with the baronet,
VINO mad forthwith discharged him. A
week later Crane. having gone out
amer dinner for a stroll in the park,
had been found dead BY a pond known
As the Queens pool. which was some
little distance from the gates. Foot
marks had been discovered in the soft
-iud near the water. which showed
that the assassin had worn boots
marked on .the soies with the letters
60 and Ky These had been traced.
through NARROW bootmalser. TO