Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1907-06-07

cap in his hand he pulled his forelock
and bowed with the grace Of an east
side dancing master.
very well, Bobbs," / said, COM
pletely puzzled. Nov what do you
WANT"
why, l want Mr.. Carney, Of course,
! sir" he replied. I'm his man, you
know, sir, and he told me to meet him
here in half an hour"
$50 you are Mr.. Carney's servant,
eh!" queried.
t He nodded respectfully and touched
his forelock again.
WELL" / continued, "Mr. Carney
has gone and you won't be able to
| overtake him, 50 there Il no use In
your trying. Moreover, want to see
you myself In the office for q few
minutes"
He followed me upstairs and sat
down gingerly on the edge Of q chair,
twirling his cap between his hands
and twiddling his thumbs nervously.
watched him for q moment In silence
/ AID then, an idea striking me, un-
locked the small cupboard in my desk,
took out bottle and glass and, plac-
ing them before him, said solicitously:
! you are completely exhausted, Bobbs;
better take little of this"
/ His face was perfectly frank and
honest as he said, politely, Thank
ye kindly, sir, but never touch II. I'll
be all right in q minute, sir"
/ returned the bottle and glass to
their places, fully satisfied with the TO
suit Of my little experiment and con-
vinced that the fellow had spoken the
truth and could be relied upon In
every way.
How long have you been in Mr..
Carney's employT" l asked, as turned
the key in the lock.
: Three years, come next autumn"
he replied promptly.
/ "And did you never drink anything
IN your life, Bobbs?" l continued, for
was working out q definite line Of
questions.
well, sir" he rejoined, rather IN.
comfortably l thought, 81 can't say as
I've always been teetotal, sir, an I
used to take drop now and then and
again, sir. But since Mr.. Carney got
this way, sir, gave 1t up entirely. II
wouldn't do for me to be drinkin now,
you know, sir"
mo, 1t wouldn't" / said emphatical.
". you are quite right, Bobbs, and
you are faithful fellow to give it up
Is you have"
Thank We, sir" said Bebbs.
How long has Mr.. Carney been In
this condition." / asked.
Bobbs looked at me in an unde-
lcided fashion for q moment and then
blurted out, why, don't know, sir,
Is | ought to be talkin' Of his affairs
30 much, sir. It don't seem to me as
IT'S quite right, sir"
! appreciated the fellows devotion
and loyalty to his masters interests
and FASTENED to reassure him.
Its all right, Bobbs," l said. You
may talk to me perfectly freely for |
understand everything You know,
I Mr.. Carney himself was here for some
time this morning" ... =
Bobbs looked relieved and proceed.
cd without further diffidence.
why, | should say, sir, it's goin' on
about two years now. Ye know, he
had some trouble or other on his mind
when he went away, sir, an it seemed
TO prey on him more an more all the
time. After while he began gettin'
In with those people, which | suppose
was a relief to him and kept his
thoughts of the other thing. At first
It was only occasionally when he got
to feelin' specially downhearted, but
It wasn't long before he was with EN-
oil the time, sir. ] begged and begged
him to keep away from EN-, for you
know as well a. / do, sir, that only
one thing could come Of 1t, but he
wouldn't listen to me and things kept
goin' from bad to worse, L
AT the beginning he kept up his In.
terest in the business pretty well, but
hnally he lost all track Of that, and
then it wasn't many months Leftre he
couldn't attend to It whether he want
ed to or not. That was the the lit
drinkin, sir. for / saw that he ,s.s,A
every minute Of my time, day .ad
Hght or at least that he might need Il.
His neglectin' the business as he
did wasn't any harm, you know, sir,
nor it's so well managed that 1t could
almost run itself. but l did wish that
he had worked OF his bad feelin's in
the office, stead Of the way he did.
Ny heart aches for him all the time,
Sir" continued the faithful fellow,
brushing away a tear with his
nuckle, but he got so obstinate that
nobody could do thing with him an,
anyway, could have managed him
myself If anyone living could"
You think there is no chance for
him now, Bobbs?" / inquired anx.
iously.
Not one In a million. sir" answered