Warren sheaf. [volume] (Warren, Marshall County, Minn.) 1880-current, 1909-07-08


It was the ~" He left the house
i've minutes earlier than usual and
stopped in at the corner grocery on
his way to the train. When he
| emerged it was with decidedly
guilty air. Under his arm was
small square package wrapped In
brown paper. -.
parcel surreptitiously and drew forth
| a carton of Predigested Oats. He slit
the top with penknife and CROPPED in
| the interior until his fingers encoun-
| tered a small square of pasteboard.
With far greater agitation than moves
the professional stock-gambler who
notes on the ticker the gain or loss
Of thousands, he examined the little
card. 1t bore the imprint Of an M"
Somehow the Man could not fix hts
mind on his business A little leaveu
had leavened his whole lump.
Queer things transpdred at the Of
fee within the next week or so. Each
morning the Man appeared with two
| or three packages under his arm, and
yet he never took any bundles away
with him. The boy was sent so often
! to various downtown groceries for
Predigested Oats that he confided to
| the janitor hts fear that the boss was
turning into q horse. The jauitress
ENORMOUSLY complained that a poor
woman's life wasn't worth living, the
way No. 242 Uttered up his carpet day
| after day with that b7ownish powdery
| stun that WIS 50 hard to sweep out.
The Man himself began to get
cramped for room. His desk was full
Of oats His coat and overcoat had to
be laid over the back Of a chair dur
ing the da@the clothes-lockers
were crowded with square boxes The
stationery closet was bulg1ng with
predigestion.
There comes a point when the addi-
ton of one little straw to the camers
burden brings that faithful animal to
an untimely end. In desperation the
Man one day bought dozen packages
| Of the detested oats at one fell swoop,
and found within them dozen dupli-
| Gates of letters he already had, but
no "Y."
This game is an Internal swindle,"
he cried, hurting a shower of oats and
cartons through the open window
| into the light-shaft. by the Great
Horn Spoon, don't believe there ever
was a " in any of their boxes! It's
robbery, but they tried their game on
the wrong man when they tackled
me. I'll see whether there's any law
In this land!"
Determined to strike while the iron
was hot, the Man telephoned to his
attorney, who roasted several stories
higher in the same skyscraper, ask
ing him to stop in ON his way to
lunch. Within an hour the lawyer
appeared, and listened atteut1vely to
the Mans recital Of how his wife had
invested vast sums ON the represen-
tations Of the cereal manufacturers,
aud of how much evidence she had
acquired by purchase of the absence
of an essential letter from The pack
ages. In thus setting forth the case
the Man deemed it irrelevant and I'M
necessary to mention his own pa1r-
chases. For the sake Of convenience
he simply added his expenditure to
hers and represented the sum total as
her outlay.
"Now, tell me, Galloway" he con-
cluded. "is there no way of getting
back at these people1 Couldn't we
get at them through the postal laws,
if by no other procedure? Are they
to go on robbtng the public indef1-
nitely?"
Well" said the lawyer, pressing
his fnger-tips together refectively, Il
could tell better if were acquainted
with the exact terms Of the company's
offer. I suppose they are printed on
the package. Couldn't you bring down
carton tomorrow"
"Certainly Come to think of it,
believe I have one of their old boxes
down here somewhere. Let me see
where did put it? You're taller than
l am-just look on top of that book
case, won't you?"
AS Galloway turned his back to
grope for the carton on the book
case. his client hastily slid open a
drawer of his desk, grabbed the top
most package. and pushed the drawer
home.
"Oh, here it is; had it in my DESK"
he said, passing It to the attorney.
The latter read the printed PROPOSE
ton carefully and glanced over the
top of his spectacles at the would be
litigant.
What did you say was the missing
letter." he asked.
1T is ~"
"'Y?' Where does ~ come in?"
In Prettyman's, Of course. Prot
t-Y-m-a-n-s"
The lawyer looked at him SUSPECT
ously. you're not trying to Josh
me- are your he asked. -.
Plainly the Man was puzzled.
"See here" said the lawyer; with
out prejudice to your general intelli-
gence, it seems to me that in this par