The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1910-02-08
TOO SMART
Rn HARRY G. ERNEar-


Julius. did you order the supplies ?
Eyes, sar"
ANY one been to my quarters to Sc,
me todayr
Major Leadbeater. He was here 4
see You this mnwnln', sar."
did he say why he calledY
mo, sar; he didn't say nothin' 'bou,
what he wanted 10 see you fo'. sur
but It must "a been somepln very par
ticular, TO- be waited some time 10
you, sar"
Waited. did hep
Eyes, sari be waited IN the room out
thar"
How long did he waitYp
Must a. been bout half an hour,
sar."
''HaIf an hourl What did he do witt
himself all that timer
well, sar, / dunno what he did
with hisself all do time, but once
when was goin' past de winder out.
side looked IN here In de mess room.
and scr him measurin' de legs Of de
mess table"
"WhatF'
The captain was about to put a
piece OF meat into his mouth. but he
stopped his fork a few inches from his
chin and stared at the darky.
"Ho was measuFin' de legs oh de
table, sar"
"what withY
"A yaller tapeline."
The captain laid down his knife
and fork, leaned back IN bis chair, put
bis hands in his pockets. puckered up
his lips and gave low whistle.
There was no change in bis position
for fun ten minutes, when without re-
gard to his unfinished luncheon be
arose from the table. took up his
Iword, hat and coat and left the mess
room. Going over to the officers club.
he found several men playing billiards
Ind then and there entered into secret
conference with them. The results OF
hat conference win appear later
A few days after this Captain Bald
win strolled over to the quarters Of
he infantry, whore he met Majer
Leadbeater.
Hello, majorl" he said. Heard
gou were over to my quarters the 9TH
Or day. Sorry / wasn't there. Any
thing speeialw
~Oh. mol / was around your way
with nothing 10 do and thought l
might as well drop In"
wen, Try again. BY the bye, can't
Fou dine at our mess some evening
This weekT'
Il don't mind"
At the dinner the officers comprising
The mess were present to a man. Dur
ing the coffee and the smoking when
all were feeling comfortable after a
good meal and plenty Of wine, Major
Leadbeater, who was a great hand at
making odd wagers, asked one Of the
officers how high be thought the clock
was from the door. The officer named
height, whereupon Leadbeater Of
fered to bet him a small sum that It
was a certain other figure. The bet
was taken, and Leadbeater lost Sew
eral other similar bets were made By
those present, when Leadbeater pro-
posed a pool as to the height Of the
table at which they were sitting.
There was no difficulty in getting
the oficers into the pool. Indeed. ev-
cry man took the chance allotted him.
Then Leadbeater made a number Of
side bets. He had come to the dinner
after having cashed bis pay accounts
in advance and had plenty Of money.
The dgure be named was three feet
two and one-eighth inches. The other
figures named ranged from three feet
sud three-quarter inches to three feet
one and quarter inches.
When the bets were all made the
colonel and the chaplain came IN to
to smoke a cigar with the T
the colonel, knowing T
Of the pool, asked to be permitted 70 T
take chance. But the chances were
all taken, so be asked Il any one
would make side bet with him. +
Teadbeatar remarked that be woald /
were it not that all his ready cash
was staked The colonel offered to ac-
cept his Il 0. o. IN lieu Of stake,
md Leadbeater took him for $50 The {
ahapialn. too, remarked that be had
never made a bet before IN his life,
but he wouldn't mind taking some
thing on bits guess Bur no one would
make any side bets with him.
when the funds had an been put n
ne Shareholders hands the quarter
master was called on to measure the
height Of the table Procuring a tape
Inc, he proceeded with the work
mid suppressed excitement and many
lances at one another among those
Fhose money was at risk. Finally,
With his thumb on a point IN the tape
the tables height be held
lie tape up to the light and an
nunced:
"Three feet one and a quarter
nches'
'sThere's a mistake thereF cried
leadbeater and checked himself
Measure 1t yourself" said the quar-
@rmaster
Ieadbcater took the tape, made the
and turned pale
. ssf've lost,1 he said as calmly as was
possible under the circumstances.
That ended Maior LeadbeateT's
money maklar BY bets. An inch had
ssen sawed OF the legs Of the table.
Pretty Ancient.
awhat Is the oldest form Of iitera.