The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1908-03-20

something, and you were curt as you
please"
"Why. there is no mystery about 1t.
Ut WAS a great, big healthy tramp who
asked for u dime, and l told him to
pass on"
-"Ah, | see. A homeless wanderer ap-
Z plies at your door on a night like this,
and you not only turn him down, but
do it in a way to hurt his feelings"
THE cooh fed him yesterday, and he
found fault with what she gave him.
How do you know? You know be-
cause she said so. She said so because
she was veXed at having to bother
with him. You made no investigation
to see if her statement was correct
az know that all fellows like him
ought to be in jail for the winter" re-
piled Mrs. Bowser, with a little show
{ OF temper.
%Oh, you do? Because a man mas
met with misfortune he ought to be
dragged off to Jail, had he? BY u
der, Mrs. Bowser, but If any one had
told me ten years ago that you would
,surp out to be such a hard hearted wo-
,ynsn I couldn't have possibly believed
lit. We have passed through almost a
financial panic, winter Is with us, n
cdnes are hard, N yet you send q
mar Forth into the night to sleep n
freeze in q snoWdrift. An African saw
ace wouldn't be as inhOspitable.'
~ bad no 20 cents to give him, and |
s4neyy YOU wouldn't DO, her with him.
"You knew what? Speak for your
csess. madam. Had l known who 1t was
4 sheuid have given him at least a
,ausrter. That's the difference between
s1x 1 presume he inquired for me, an
ycs1 told him | wasn't in. He probably
suvned around at the gate and looked
81 the house and said to himself: ms
Ia st,e Bowser house. and it Is inhabited
hy the most selfish and cold hearted
people in his town. / will warn all
ether unfortunate people against call
ing here to be insulted and lied to-.
~There will be at least three tramps
';trere In the course Of the day tomor-
row. said Mrs. Bowser, sand l will
ask them all to sit down In the parlo1
and wait for you. l won't tell them
how you threw one Of the profession
over the fence last spring and put his
shoulder out of joint"
Wouldn't Hear Excuses.
"Woman. don't try to bluff me! You
have done an un-Christian thing. You
have turned q man from your door who
may be dead of hunger and cold before
daylight. Don't seek to excuse your
conduct by indulging in sarcasm. ]
threw a tramp owe the fence because
he sassed me. This one simply ap
pealed to you. and you practically told
him TO go away and die in the snow
Wy Jimmy, but a woma that will dc
such a thing as that would put poison
I'm her husbands coffee!
"Mr. Bowser, aren't you making &
great fuss over a tramp who Is getting
along in his way as well as o are
He looked fat and healthy. and hi:
breath had the odor of gin"
eYou say that to bolster up your case
But 1t won't do, woman-it won't do
Ee has gone away from here feeling
chat this house is occupied by savages
M propos to disabuse his mind on tina
score. I am going out on the streets
aaad hunt for him. II 1 can find him
shall bring him back with me and seel
Tn cheer him up a bit"
. every well" was the reply, and MI
ZBowser put ON his hat and overcoa
and started out. He hadn't far to 60
.ITust as he reached the corner he saw
"A tramp kicked out Of the drug store
end. approaching him, he queried:
ibid you call at a house down tn