The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-09-13

there his nose encountered an odor or subtle, delightful perfume which Snubby immediately and rlghtfully attributed to the letter which his employer was bending over with pain-llned features and drawn lips.
 Intuition told him that in that locality he was not welcome. So, sternly stilling his desire to stay and smell he withdrew across the room and fell to studying the haggard face of the man at the letter.
 up against it hard" he commented to himself. Poor guy! Must be some'n pretty bad. He looks all in.'
 His employer was writing noW' and Snubby watched the deep, heavy lines that had come into the usually handsome and cheerful face; watched the dull droop Of the shoulders usually squared so strongly; watched the forward sag of the head usually so firmly set; watched Tn vain for the lightness that in the eyes had now been replaced by dullness and pain.
 As snubby gazed he began to feel sorry and yet more sorry; and then something went wrong in his inside and bis throat felt funny and his eyes leaked.
 Now wha dyer tink O dat?" he asked of himself; and again, Now wha' dyer tink O dat?" But he could give hlmseiI no answer.
 At length he heard his employer calling but in a voice so dlIIerenI ITo1ll tle uSuii light, ringing tones that he hardly rec oglzed 1t.
 "Snubby," he said, deliver this note for me, please The address is on the envelope. The bookkeeper will give you car fare,' and he fell to studying the blankness of the wall opposite.
 Snubby studied it for a moment, too, But he could see nothing. So he fell to studying his employer And then his in- G1N ,f,- went out to the bookkeeper, whom he didn't like, and after getting from him the money necessary for transportation, called him a "big, four-eyed stin' and hastily made his way to the elevator
 On his way down to the ground floor he managed to decipher the address on the envelope.
 Eff Avnoo," he said, and he succeeded in making out the number. But the name was hopelessly beyond him. On his way up town, he achieved much qualification by beating the company out of a nickel and getting a transfer that didn't belong to him. And In the interim he found time to think of his employer.
 With Snubby the consideration of the sorrows of any one for whom he cared naturally led to a desire to obviate those , sorrows. If he but knew what was so troubling his employer But stay. There was the letter-evidently an answer to the one that smelt so good-that had caused all the woe.
 He took it from his pocket, examining ,, it. It was unsealed. Instantly, with no consideration of the ethics of the matter, with no thought other than desire to help where assistance seemed so much to be needed, Snubby removed the folded sheet from it's imprisoning envelope and, opening it, bent small gray eyes upon the handwriting before him.
 It took him 20 blocks to learn the gist of what the letter held; and even then many words had to be ignored and many others remained mysteries unsolvable.
 At length he folded the letter and re- placed it in the envelope. unconsciously sealing it as he did so.
 Now wha dyer tink O dat?' he asked of the brake handle before him. "She trun him down-trun him down cold. An him de best guy in de world. Dere ain't no bet ter guy n him. Dere couldn't be no bet ter guy n him." he amplifed, conclus- ively.
 Dat dame don't know nut'n," he com plained to the brake handle in tones of in- finite and blinding disgust. "She don't know nutn. He's good guy an she oughter to be glad ter get him. Women don't know nut'n' nohow," he added; and then, as a large woman with many bum dies alighted from the car backward and proceeded to perform a few evolutions that greatly delighted the other passen- gers, greatly incensed herself and caused the conductor much trouble in securing the names of witnesses. Seer" he added, "I told yer so. Dey don't know nutn'. Not one of 'em.
 'I don't see what he wants her for mo- how" he soliloquized as they rounded Dead Mans Curve. Shell jest spend all coin fer clo'es an chocolate carry mills an make him wear his shoes in de parlor an never let him set around in his shoit sleeves T smoke his pipe i'll de house. He oughter be glad he's sin gle an stay dat way. Butt he added, philosophically, 'I spose he knows best an 1t ain't nobody elses business After getting off the car to watch the fire engines pass and using his transfer to continue his passage without financial loss, he at length reached the house which he sought, massive brownstone residence that stood patrlarchal, contemp- tuously ignoring it's more modern and garish neghbors.
 "She must be a swell dame, comment ed Snubby. as he rang the bell.
 A venerable butler, puffed with impor- tance, answered his summons.
 Back entrance he grunted in austere