Evening star., 1909-05-23

door neighbor, and asked in a mysterious
sort of way:
"Manderson, do you know Chace pretty
well?'
YES. I know Chace pretty wen.' was
| the reply.
Did it every occur to you that he was
a little queer?'
mo, 1 can't say that it did. Have you
noticed any popularity about him?"
Yes" responded the senator from Ore
gon. ''the queerest thing happened yes
terday. l can't quite make it out. Chace
came over to my seat during the session
and whispered to me that his cook was
going to be married and that he was col
lecting a purse to buy her present. He
said everybody was chipping In; that
some were giving ten, others twenty.
others twenty-five, and two or three had
given fifty dollars. and he wanted me to
subscribe something. l told him that !
had no objection to his cook getting mar
ried. but 1 did not exactly see why !
should contribute to wedding present
for her. He seemed little surprised,
and remarked that was the only senator
on either side thus far who had refused
to contribute anything, and he hoped
would think better of it. Now. I have
always liked Chace, and he seems to be
SO much in earnest about this matter
that 1 am sorry I refused to contribute,
but l can't for the life Of me understand
how any man in his right mind can have
the nerve to go around the Senate and
ask his colleagues to subscribe twenty
and twenty-five dollars to buy a wedding
present for his cook. / should think IL
he gave her twenty-five dollars himself it
would be sufficient"
Senator Manderson, who was a good
deal of a joker, understood the situation
instantly, but did not explain Senator
Dolph's mistake. He looked as serious
as he could and said: "Well, subscribed
$25. Chace is such big-hearted. gen
erous fellow that I would go that much
on anything he wanted, and I think he
would appreciate It If you would come
in with the rest of u.s."
Senator Dolph reflected a moment and
then said: well, I'll hunt him up and
tell him l have changed my mind and
I'll give him ten-dollar BILL"
IF 1 were in your place." said Mr..
Manderson, I'D ask Chace to let me see
the subscription paper and sign my name
to it, as the rest of US have DONE
"All right: I'll adopt your suggestion"
said Senator Dolph, "but this is the first
time 1 ever was asked to contribute
money to buy wedding present for an
other mans cook
About half an hour later Mr.. Dolph
came back with a sheet of legal cap
paper in his hand and dropped into his
seat. Turning to Gen. Manderson, he re-
marked:
There is Chace's subscription list. I
asked for it as you suggested and he gave
it to me, but he seemed little huffy
about 1t. l told him l had changed my
mind and had concluded to go in with
the rest of the senator's but he didn't
seem to take it very kindly. He said he
didn't care a damn whether did or not.
was good deal surprised to hear him
swear. / didn't suppose that Quakers
ever swore''
And the senator from Oregon proceeded
to examine the subscription list Pretty
soon he turned to Senator Manderson
and said:
Il am afraid l put my foot into 1t with
Chace; there is a mistake somewhere.
This is a subscription to buy a wedding
present for Gen. Arson G. McCOok. sec
retary of the Senate, and I'll contribute
to that as much as anybody. McCooks S
a particular friend of mine and I'm very
fond of him. but Chace didn't say any
thing about buying him present He
said it was for his cook. l presume he
took offense at what I said the other
day."