The bee., 1908-11-19
A FELLOW
F E E IL N G
WIZ Wexford WII Keep nObbs' Story Secret

back yard of his comfortable little
suburban home when Mr.. Wexford
came out OF his house next door and
leaned over the fence.
How do you do this morning, Mr..
Dobbs?"
Mr.. Dobbs ceased operations and
looked up through a cloud of white
dust. mot very we'll" he said. 1--WE
lost four pounds Now weigh only
1877"
pity about you" sniffed Mr.. Wei
ford. you ought to have tonic"
q know IT," the emaciated man re-
piled.
''You ought not to work so hard"
You're right" Mr. Dobbs assented.
Shorter hours"
yep"
And more pay"
Now you're making fun Of me. It's
no laughing matter" Mr.. Dobbs was
getting nettled and he wiped bead Of
perspiration from his brow.
"'Pon my honor, I'm not" denied
Mr.. Wexford.
ooh, put it on some sounder basis"
said Mr. Dobbs, seeing a chance to get
back at his neighbor.
"A prophet is not without honor,
save to the man who lives next door,"
Mr.. Wexford paraphrased, knowing
full we'll that Mr.. Dobbs would not be
able to perceive the liberties which he
had taken with the verse, nor the rich
sarcasm of the remark, but feeling,
nevertheless, that he had scored a
point.
Depends some on the prophet" an
swered Mr.. Dobbs, In vaguely reflec-
tive manner. IF you knew all my
feelings"
I'D write a book that would be one
of the six best sellers"
Il say, If you knew all my feelings,
maybe you'd think even less Of me
than you do" Mr.. Dobbs was be-
coming introspective.
Tell me some of them, and see
what effect 1t will have on me-" en-
couraged Mr.. Wexford.
So in the confidential manner Of one
who lays bare bis innermost heart Mr..
Dobbs began:
well, I'm rather suspicious of peo-
pie. l have always made it a boast
that I have never been swindled, had
my pocket picked, or been robbed in
any way. I've never had much sym
pathy with these people who get swim
died by green-goods men, because it's
only dishonest people that get swim
died."
"By green-goods men," Mr.. Wexford
interjected.
yes, of course, that's what l
mean. Now, look here, Wexford, all
this is confidential. 1 wouldn't have
my wife know this for anything"
81 won't tell a soul"
''Wen, this Is how 1t was. was
In the city last week, and as was
walking across a street / caught
sight Of a ten-dollar bill huttering
along just few feet in front Of me.
OF course, was not going to let that
slip by me IL could help it, so made
a dive for IT, A rather poorly dressed
cuss spied it as I was about to reach
to pick 1t up and the result was that
we stopped for 1t together There was
no doubt about the money being nains,
because ] had seen It first, but I felt
sorry for the man. He looked cold
and the wind was s%eeping across the
square pretty freely. SO said to him:
Sec here, this Is mine by rights. but
Ill let you have half Of it, He grum-
bled a bit. but fshed a fiver out OF
my pocket, gave IT to him and proceed
ed down Broad street."
He waited a moment to allow Mr..
Wexford 10 speak word, but Mr Wei
ford kept silent. so MIR. Dobbs con
tinued:
II kept on until / came 10 a cigar
store, where ] stopped to get a pack
of cigarettes. / didn't have any
change, so l gave the clerk the bill /
had picked up. He looked at it and
handed it back to me, saying 1t was a
He asked me where ]
got it, and when / told him he said
the same game had been worked on
one of his friends"
Mr.. Dobbs again paused, and this
time Mr. Wexford spoke:
"Dobbs, old man." he said, I'm not
likely to tell your wife. or anybody
else about that. had the same ex-
Derience myself"