The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1909-01-10


lar.
But he sure has the butIin game down
n al art. He moves around without
maxim any more noise than a trained
nErse, never seefnin to be in any rush,
hut always on sched. He's got his
mind on the work, too. Just as you re
about 10 think you need the pepper
you look up and find him handin You
the silver shaker Along with it he
has the mildest voice and gentlest ways.
and cue OF these nice old Joe Jeffer-
sen faces.
couldn t help gettin int rested in
Tidson right away, and after we got
over bein skittish I tries TO work up.
little friendly dialogue. He wa n It
much Of converser, Tidson wa n t.
Sadie says It 5 because he knows his
place too well.
81 expect III never get to know
mine, says I, - for l IN goin to teach
Tidson to be sociaible if l go hoarse
tryin y
It's a week or ten days, though be-
fore / makes any Roadway. And then
one night after dinner, just as | starts
to go into the next room, where Sadie
was chinnin Mrs. Purdy Pell, [ ac-
cident lily brushes fork off on the
floor. Course, | don t know any bet
ter n to make a dive for it. Tidson
dives too, my shoulder takes him in the
breastbone, and then somethin rattles
out of his pocket.
Missin the fork, I picks up the 9th
er thing. It's a curious kind of a
trinket for a butler to be carryin =
q 1Ho
foot long, like the handle of something.
| was just heftin it, when my thumb
hits some sort Of button, and out
comes long, slim, wicked lookin
blade, as sharp and shiny as a new
razor
"Hello!" says I. "FWhat kind of a
patent can opener is this, Tidsons"
sickIy Attempt at a Grin.
Say, of all the sickly attempts at a
grin, the one he tries was the worst
failure I ever watched. He gets real
ashy around the gills, the hand he
sticks out trembles like he was havin )
a chill, and them sharp little eyes of
his was glued to what / was holdin
up.
cit SITS only a keepsake, sir, F." says
he.
"So?' says I. "Strikes me it IS one
of the kind that calls for explanations.
Now, what are you wall1in around
loaded up this way for, eha''
Tidson, he mumibles something about
bein sorry.
Now. see here, Tidsonl" says I.
81 amt one to pry into anybody s
private fads; but so long as you have
the run of these rooms | can't stand
for any assassination hardware like
this. Why, | IN surprised-you such
mild. tame, houselbroke Englisbman,
tool"
"Pardon," says he, 'sbut I am not
English. -
''But you re an aitch dropper,' says T.
Tidson g shoulders go up and his
palms go out. "That I have learn"
says he.
conf saws I. "Goes with the bust
ness, does it2 Well, I thought you was
odd colored for Cockney. Just where
do Won hail from, then?'
corsica, says he.
"You don t sayl' says I. "We1l,
that explains the cutlery. But who was
it you was plannin to use this keep,
sake ona Me?"
Non. non, non,' says he, wavin ;
his hands and shakin' his head
"WeH, who thena" says T. GA
knife like that means business Come,
give up!'
It was like pullin cork out with
your fingers; but / backs him into
corner. throws a scare into him about
ringin up the house detective, and
fin lily he unloosens. And say, It's al
most as good as readin' it out of
ten-eent magazine.
The tale begins way back when It'd.
son-Jules something, he says his real
name is-was a gay young Corsicite,
wearin red sash and herdin goats,
and tendin out on all the chowder par.
ties from his ward Also there s Felice.
She s the only daughter Of a district
boss. or some big gun, but she's more
or less of a mixer. Anyway, Jules
gets to know her real well, takin' her
to matinees and so on, but all on the
quiet. for he wa n 7 hardly in her class
Aecordin to his description, Felice was
one of the cherry ripe kind, all curves
and red tints, reg Tar brunette Maizv
May. jules must have been a likely
lookin lad then himself, for Felice
turns down a lot of swell dressers,
wears the brass breastpin he gives her,
and let's him hold her hand while they
re partin at the gate.
It was all goin' lovely, when the old
folks gets wise, and then there s rue
tions. Felice is shut up in the back
chamber while her old gent gets ont
the carvin knife and chases the mer-
ry goatherd into the next county
on the jump. Takin' that as
a hint. jules keeps right on
till he gets to Paris. Then, with the
old homestead crossed off the map and
nothin comm in, he looks around for
some easy job with good pay.
BY rights that was where he should
have found himself sore eyed and sor-
~. But before he has time to starve
he gets himself knocked down by a
cab horse on the Rue de Bombom, and
the gent that yanks him out from I'M
der the wheels IN time to save his
ribs is so worked up with gratitude
over the chance that he sets up pint
of red wine, listens to jules hardluck
story. and ends by tellin' him where
to call next mornin before the whis-
tie blows The noble rescuer turns out
to be Emil Bourdonne, none, other.
New one Oh you, Ell? Never mind