Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1909-03-05
A Matter Of Judgment.
copyright. 1905. by American Press Asso-

party of men sitting in a club cafe dis
cussing the business of a certain prom
inent Spectator, "but good luck? One
may deliberate profoundly between diff
ferent curse possible in a certain
case, adopt that which common sense
would indicate and yet so wrong.
Judgment is like logic, which grinds
out conclusions according to the pre-
misses put in its hopper. Judgment
tells us the best way of action, but
doesn't guarantee 1t to be the success
full way. I once had an illustration of
this to my cost.
Before going down from the dress
ing room of Mr.. Jack Williams musical
| stepped into the bathroom to rinse
my hands. There on the marble wash
stand was a large old fashioned seal
ring.
1.-TWO courses suggested themselves
to me-one to take the ring downstairs
and give 1t to the host, telling him
where I had found 1t. But 1t occurred
to me that If the person who had lost
1t should return for 1t and catch me in
the act of picking it up he might ac-
cuse ms of stealing it. I'm a practical
chap and don't believe in doing people
unasked favors. Such kindnesses are
liable to verify HIsop's fable Of the
man who warmed a frozen serpent In
his bosom and was bitten for his pains.
The other plan was to let the ring lie
where it was, an act that l grant was
nnf oc Eindlv ad fhn nfhar h1f ofar
What do you think, gentlemen
II think" said one, that you ran no
especial risk in either case, but any
possible distressing consequences to
you would surely be averted by letting
the ring alone"
The others agreed to this.
"very well,' the first speaker pro
ceeded. II followed this course. l left
the bathroom and the ring in it and
went downstairs. There were no guests
In the dressing room at the time-in-
deed, there was no one, so far as |
knew, on the second floor. / was late,
and the guests had arrived. AT the
foot of the staircase l met a gentleman
named Stewart going up. He was evil
IDENTIFY in a hurry, and it occurred to
me that 1t was he who had left the
ring on the washstand and that he was
going up to get it. He looked at me
with an expression that indicated these
words, He has just come from the
dressing room and possibly the bath
room, where l left my ring But we
are SO prone to attribute to others what
is in our own minds that l banished
the thought.
at was two or three days after the
Incident l have related that l received
q call from Jack Williams. He hem
med and hawed and beat about the
bush for a time, then told me that at
his party a Mr.. Stewart had left in
Ahe-bathrnAn-a ring that bad been
handed down to him through sev$ral
generations and which he would mo-
have parted with for a small fortune
He had missed the ring within a few
minutes after he had left it, having
taken It off his finger to wash his
hands, and hurried back to get it. vii
liams didn't mention Stewards having
met me at the foot of the stairs, but
was sure Stewart had mentioned the
fact to him. He said something more
appalling-yiz, that Stewart hurried
back to the bathroom and the ring
was gone, and a maid in the ladies'
dressing room told him that l had just
left the bathroom and there had been
no guest on that floor at the time ex-
cept me.
Here was a pretty how de do. Jack
smoothed the matter over as softly as
possible, saying that he thought under
the circumstances he should tell me
what had happened, but of course no
one would think for a moment of sus-
pecting me, and all that, but ] knew
well enough that l stood accused of
stealing the ring. l told Jack that
had seer the ring and left it where i
lay. He didn't say anything, but ]
knew by the way he looked that he
thought that instead of having shown
good judgment in leaving the ring
where it was l had acted either like n
fool or a knave. You see. it's so much
easier to detect good and bad judgment
after than before the fact.
"Jack really believed that l was in
nocent, and 1 called IN Mr.. Stewart.
thinking that l might convince him as
well. He treated me with e%xtraordi-
nary politeness-indeed, he was so pc
lite that | knew he considered me
guilty. And there the matter rested. !
soon began to notice that my social ac-
uuaintances were looking at me as they
passed me with a peculiar stare. A
few cut me. Others treated me with q
studied reserve. All this, gentlemen, |
need not assure you, was maddening.
FINALLY when l could stand it no
longer 1 told Jack Williams that must
put a detective in his house. He con-
scented, and one day a lady who pur-
ported to be his cousin arrived for a
visit. The family and the servants
were the same as at the time of the
theft. My detective left valuable things
a 49, 1tno rkrNA ~ go