Hopkinsville Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1889-1918, 1906-06-26

lit was NhtN lNNNlt so lUi dr
the mamie was conccrned-yoI
would never have mistaken on,
man 70 The other mad you seen
them together But that was
what made it all the more annoy
ing for Fred Wctherby-oul
Wetheroy.
/ Whenever he picked up a morn
ing paper be expected to find his
name figuring there as the hero CT
some villainous brawl, as the
leader of some desperate gang OF
bobos or as the most wanted man
at police headquarters and
them" he would say, when talking
about it, "these papers seem to
take a positive delight in rubbing
! it in, by coming out the next day
with a repetition of the story, and
adding that the Fred Wetherby
referred to is not the distin-
guished journalist of that name'"
81 really believe I've seen and
heard the last Of that fellow
Wetherby said to me one evening.
over an after-dinner cigar. 81 ran
across him this morning and he
had the impudence to strike me
I for a dime-the price of a drink
"'l'd be glad to give you 10000
dimes, confound your said, IF
you'd be good enough TO 80 away
and hang yourself. Three days III
the week | see my name in print
through some of your blackguard
ism, and the other three days the
papers make it worse 10y their apo
logies.'
." Say, mister says Wetherby,
is dat a COP
els what a gO?' | asked.
"a t'ousand dollars to hang
myself?
eyes it is l said.
Gimme hundred, boss, and
s'elp me, shiny up de pike, and
de cops Of dis burg II never clap
DER blinkers on me agin.'
"People like YOU l answered,
never stay away. They always
come back
4 tex my dyin' affy-davey niy-
er to fash me mug in de town
agin, longest day l lives, an Y
give me a hunderd, boss. Ain'l
got no special use fer this partic
ular layout of bricks and mortar. |
Say, guy, Pm a bad lot; but meb- |
be if yOuse hid had my draggin' up
you wouldn't ha' bin a helluyasite
better. / didn't pinch yer name. !
Dey tagged me wild it, fore | wuz
old enough to squeal. But if it's
wort a hundred to see de last o.
me, I'm yer man; and yer kin sir
me windpipe any time yer catches
me here agin, after two hours
an no kick comm FUN nob'dy.'
"Well, ] suppose was a fool, |
but gave the backyard the hun
dred dollars; and he actually
cried. Said he was going to make
a fresh start, and he'd remember
me to his dying day.
"'Good- by | said. I've no hard
feelings. I wish you luck. Maybe if
my folks had been like yours
should have been a bigger black
guard than you
"'You couldn't be dat, guv'nOr,'
he said-prObably with a touch OF
that pride that apes humility"
Wethcrby's disreputable name
sake kept his word, and for the
next few years Fred enjoyed him
self in the undisturbed pursuit of
his work and the possession of his
good name-no longer blazOned |
forth in the local press as the per
petratOr of atrociOus outrages
against the peace and good NOR
ais of the community.
Then came the Spanish war,
and, although he had only been
married about a year, Wetherby
enlisted in the ranks, for the pur-
pose of obtaining material for his
literary labors.
For some time we heard moth
ing about him, and then came the
shocking news that he had been
killed by a stray bullet received
while engaged in scouting duty.
The war had been over five years
and to me, as to many others who
had known him even more init