Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1911-07-14

His hand trembled as he held h
money extended, and his eyes were
fixed now on his open watch, now on
the face of the tramp.
But the spirit of Snaggles had beer
reused. He looked ut the money, and
Their at the man, and then at the
company In general; and he recovered
his nerve as he spoke.
Was this here money counterfeit?
Oh, no! 1t was as good as gold.
In that case Mr.. Delaney would
explain his position. True, he was a
hobo. There was not any doubt about
that. And he was a hobo that was
in no wise disposed to come to blows
with people who could feed him on
champagne and throw him in a ditch.
But If the ladies' and gents believed
he was a fool, they We're banking on
the wrong card. He was an American
citizen with a vote. And II his time
was worth money to the ladies and to
the gents In convention here assem-
bled, 1t was certainly worth money to
himself. Was it a merry jest they
were trying to put over on him? NOT
them. Ladies and gents. except when
they are drunk, do not pick up ho-
boes, battle them and shave them,
nurse them back to life with cocktails
and then offer them hundred dollar
bills-not for fun. Drunk ladies and
gents were one thing. Sober ladies
and gents were another. And In view
Of the fact that the ladies and gents
In this here crowd were as sober as
crows, 1t was plain they had a game
in their sleeve and that coin was be-
ing passed-with him as the pigeon.
Take the hundred? Well, he would
not exactly refuse, but he wasn't no
drink and hand-out man, and he want
ed his share or be shown.
While he was speaking they were
looking at their = watches, apparently
| Obvious to what he was saying; and
when he had finished. they began
the muttering again. The mutterAng
| swelled into loud and angry impreca-
tons, but they were directed not at
| Snaggles, for he could hear above the
noise of 1t an oath now and then con-
signing "the old fool" 10 places of
spiritual unrest. The manhandler was
reaching for him again, but this time
he was stopped by the gentleman of
the restful eye.
"A moment" he said, in q voice OF
command. Let the hobo retire under
guard"
1t was a pity that Snaggles was
wholly unfamiliar with the climaxes
and cat%astrophes Of the ancient Greek
drama. Had he not been so he would
have been highly entertained by the
story that was subsequently published
in the newspapers, when the matter
became n of court record in which
all details were laid bare. Snaggles
did not read the story, having been
paid a fee of one hundred dollars by
the kindly faced gentleman at an in
terview the following day-a fee for
the part he had taken in the game
and was now busily engaged in spend
ing the money. But here Is what hap
pened when Snaggles, under escort Of
the younger guard. was conducted to
a remote apartment on the second
floor of the house.
"Order!" exclaimed the elderly
gentleman. "The time is nearly up
and I must state the case before clos
ing the business of the night"
They seated themselves impatient
ly. They were obviously tired Of 1t
all. as Of a game they had played
and had lost. But the speaker went
on.
TN the transactions that are rapid
ly nearing their end" he said, II be-
lieve that none of you can justly &C
cuse me of u%nfairness. Perhaps there
are those who regard me as an inter.
Ioper taking advantage Of the law to
distrain from them wealth that is
rightfully If not technically their own.
Perhaps there are those among you
who will say hat in seeking to df-
vert this wealth to channels in which
it would not otherwise flow l have
disclosed in my own character the
common human failing that prompts
us to better ourselves at the expense
Of our ~neighbOrs. Perhaps 1t Is true.
Perhaps 1t Is not. We will pass all
that. My only purpose In mentioning
1t Is to call your attention to the fact
that I am not W Of the suspi.
cion Of the failing or even of the
failing itself"
He paused a moment, as If In
thought, and when he resumed. he
did SO with a sarcastic smile and q
distinctly dry tone in his voice.
1.-THE experiments we have made
together have cost you fifty thousand
dollars, which is precisely ten per
cent. Of the sum that each of the
eight of you would have received from
the partition Of the estate Of your
late cousin, to whom I have heard
some of you refer in recent converse.
tions as the old fool To charge a
man with being a fool because he
sees fit to dispose Of five million dol
lars Of his own money in a rather &c
centric fashion may or may not be
the best of wisdom. l cannot, at the
same time, refrain from remarking
that the event has amply shown that
he was anything but the fool you
think him
What are the facts. my friends =!
The facts, my friends, are these:
Your late cousin, having been left in
his youth to hustle for himself. was
disdained and neglected by yourselves
or at least by the older ones among
you, who had been made the favorite
heirs of an uncle to the exclusion oil
your recent kinsman. Did your cous
= t.. - -. gAz -