The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1908-08-18

The reason was, just then he saw
A man whom he owed ten.
$3.50
1t had been late when Jenkins had
finally turned his back resolutely on
the attractions of the green baize ia
bles at the club, and m1de his way up
the deserted street to the hotel he
called home"
There had been plenty OF good ma
tured chaff, the "oId crowd" had been
out in full force that night, and Jen-
kinS, according to his own private di-
: agnOSiS of the matter, had become
fairly well "wOozed-"
The street lights danced promiscu-
Ously. and fiickered in the way street
lights have when the wee sma' hours
have arrived, and the moon aud every
thing else for that matter, happening
to be out, is fairly full.
jenkins. however. had been there
before. They might jump at him, curt
sey him out o: cOuntenancS fairly; ihg,
pulsating PalafOX pavement, even,
might start up and Smite him in the
face He was adequate. and being
adequate, he did not care.
He had reached the hotel. Was he
going to let that doddering idiot who
posed as a night clerk know the pre-
else hour which he happened to pre-
fer getting in on this particular morn
ing? Not II he knew himself. he
thought blandly, and with the aban-
don which he felt in the whole affair.
he stood on the steps of the side en-
trance and winked knowingly, once,
twice, three times, at the particular
post which he held In a rapt and fer
vid embrace
Then he turned suddenly, and made
his way upstairs.
He would, meantime, he assured
himself, meet a convenient bell boy in
the halls, dispatch him quickly and
without further ado to the office be-
low, and secure the key 10 his room.
Then he would tip the chocolate
colored imp into lasting silence. 1t
was easy
However, he had reached his room,
shuffled about the hall, to the evident
Il soomffture of an elderly female
who thrust out a head. bristIing and
CHASTITY with curling papers, in time
to take in the situation. but still no
bell boy He had intended asking the
intere-ted lady, who still viewed him
with wrath in her eve, to ring her
bell for this limit of blank dashed
colored humanity, but a sharp click
of the door and the disappearance of
the warlike head pTecIUdcd this over
ture on his part
Then a thought struck him. The
transom-the very thing, Fortunate
ly Jenkins knew the garden house in
the yard below always remained IN
locked.
Down the long flight Of steDs he
shufled, and with infinite pains and
a world of patience he finally sue
ceeded in making his way in the
darkness to where the short pruning
ladder stood. and dragging it step by
step to the hall he had recently quit
ted. Putting and tanning, he continued
in the heat of threatened success, and
when the curl papers once more ap-
peared from the gloom across the nell.
they saw an interesting state of af-
fairs.
Jenkins had placed the ladder be-
fore his door, had climbed to the
transom in safety, and indeed had
dragged part of his portly figure
through the opening, only to remain,
held fast in the particularly undigni-
fed attitude of middle aged bache-
lOr with Ills legs waving wildly about
from a tTanSom in a well ordered
family hotel
The curl papers across the way con-
Sidered a moment Then quick as a
fash, there was a swish of many
hued siIken kimona. a feminine form
mounted the ladder also. and gave a
decisive push to the belsb gen.
tleman.
There was a crash. followed by an
other, caused by the ladder becoming
entangled with fleeing skirts. When
the bell boy arrived in response to a
dozen tousIed heads who had appeared
from the long line of doors. he found
silence and peace so thoroughly evil
dent in every quarter that the affair
had finally reIegated itself back into
the lists of the perennial false alarm
when suddenly his eyes fell upon
the PROSTATE ladder in front of Jen-
klnS' room.
Being a well trained bell boy. he
said nothing, but when the last inter
ested head had finally disappeared for
the night he quietly picked UP the re-
mains of the rickety implement re-
turned il to the garden house. and
then, in the stiffness which reigned,
made his way back to Jenkins. armed
with pass key
There is an old suit of clothes that
| really don't need at all in the ward
robe, James, Jenkins murmured feel
ingly as he was being gathered up
and placed in his bed by the willy at
tendEnt. And say James" he added
affectiOnately. as he pressed a dollar
into the waiting palm tomorrow
morning ] want you to see about hav-
ing my transom enlarged. I tell YOU
its unhandy, deUcedly unhandy-''
and he trailed of into dreamy oblivion.
The boy grinned in the darkness IN
til his teeth fairly ShOuP in their a n