Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-04-02

W alt minute. Is there 3nOIler aotelFln
this miserable APOLOGY Tor "A town"
The hotel man replied somewhat
sheepishly. thae the only other hotel in
the place besides lis own WAS closed for
repairs
Huh, Too bad. that said the big mar
Too bad. / promise YOU. sr'-agein al
dressing the hotel man with marked dir
approval-'that If there were so much as
"A cave where l could obtain shelter 10
these distressed people and myself. yuI
would not benefit by any patronage az
mine. VIII you he good enough. sir
addressing me with a courtly boN-'tO
eiucidate in precise terms the nature ~
your difficulty?
That was easy enough to clucidate
simply said that, with a house virtually
sold out for the next days Performance.
Ia arrived in Brewton with my people
minus the price OF advance payment ~
the hotel bin. which would amount to SIS
The huge man couldn't repress a smile
Eighteen dollars. did you say said
ne. wonderinEly. rs it possible that [
hear Alright? Eighteen dollars? All or
TINS misery and wretchedness To be o.
casloned by the lack OF eighteen, id;atic
dollars? Sir. pardon me for laughing
comical" and he threw back his head
ana let out such series OF deep, rollick-
ing laughs that We all had to ease In and
grin bit; bum as We all felt:
southland" said the huge man when h.
had finished laughing. The latch strings
that are always out. The welcome given
to wayfarers. The-faugh,'
s.
He looked very much Disguised He
pinned the hotel man with his eye.
Sir he said, L desire you TO make
ready. and at once. the very best rooms
In this house for the reception of these
ladies and gentlemen. who are struggling
to implant a knowledge OF the dramatic
art in this benighted region. Further
more, L desire that their demands Tor
FOOD and drink. I'm hours or out of hours,
shail DE considered my demands. and thai
they be attended to with the same celct-
lily as IL L had actually given the orders
mat there may be no lingering fear in
your bosom, sirrah, that YOU will no.
be paid, be good enough to subtract SO
from this and render me the change.
lie reached into his frock coat pocket
and produced a large, fine black wallet
lie reached into one of the compartments
ran MS finger over a number of bills,
ana the one that he jerked out between
his thumb and forefinger had $3.50
stamped on it. 1t was not a new bli,
but looked as IL it had had quite some
handling.
gerly took hold OF that bill was funny
He looked the huge man over as IL he
We're some new kind OF Wapiti o.
something. For minute he was almos,
articulate:
Smallest yo' all got, sub?
The smallest. replied the big mar
briefly, sticking his fingers into his YES
pocket ana pulling out a Wad of twos
and fves and running them over. He
is but matter Of $50, and, anyhow,
desire that bin broken
The hotel man, walking like SOMEBODY
In a daze, went over to the old-fashionei
safe behind the Office desk, fumbled with
the combination for a while. and pulled
out dirty canvas bag stuffed with
notes of all denominations up 20 twenty
Meanwhile the huge man addressed me-
Sir, VIII you do me the honor to
present me to the ladies and gentlemen
or your organization he said, with a
sweep OF his arm toward the woman
folks, and presently We found ourselves
shaking hands with Edwin J. Mertoun
or Philadelphia, wandering around this
wretched region seeking Investments
certainly not in search of comfort or
hospitality as Mr.. Mertoun put the
matter. gripping our mitts cordially
and placing his silk tile calamity
against his bosom in addressing the
ladies. He simply waved me off the
earth when L tried to tell him that his
generosity never would be forgotten,
and that the financial end of it would
Desist. 1 beg Of you.' he said. de-
precatingly. to me. The pleasure is
completely mine, L assure you. OF
what possible Use or pleasure were the
poss ession of a competency if portions
of the same were not applied on &C
caSions such as this to amellOrate the
temporary ADVERTISEMENTS of fellow
beingS?'
sentiment, the philanthropist demanded
to know of the hotel man, who APP
preached to count out laboriousiy the
change from the five-hundred-doiiar
the house. The hotel man proudly pro-
duced the eight quart bottles OF hiss
juice that he'd had on exhibition on
the bar ever since he'd opened the
place, as he guilelessly confessed. and
in the upstairs parlor the bunch OF US
did things to that octette of quarts
that made US feel as If wed lodged
all the, quagmires of the earth. The
philanthropist slipped me $50 in the
presence of the hotel man. saying:
"Sir. I am to take the early morn
ing train, and therefore will not be on
hand, to my regret, in case your expecta-
tons of success are not realized tomor-
row. This bagatelle may come in handy.
Tut tut my dear, sir-however, if you
find yourself in opulence at the termina-
ton of your tour, you may forward me
the amount to the Union League in
Philadelphia. But l insist that you DO
not worry yourself as to the matter, my
dear man.
Then the philanthropist made his
adious, looking really shamefaced when
he was thanked by all hands for his
timely pen-handedness, and was shown
to his room by the obsequious hotel
man.
He was gone the next morning. We
had a tip-top house that night and at
midnight We started for New Orleans
all to the good, and business in sight in
the Mardi Gras town.
well, I've been watching the papers
pretty closely ever since. but l haven't
noticed that they've got Philanthropist
Mertoun yet, although the secret service
people were put wise to him the day after
he quit Brewton. The hotel man had
sent his surplusage up to the Montgom-
cry Bank, and Phlanthropist Mertounis
note made the cashier
of that bank laugh real loud and long. We
read all about it in the New Orleans pa
pers. After we'd got all through reading
Mertoun's list of aliases. and taoulated
statements OF the different kinds of nego-
table papers he'd engraved in his time.
and lot of general information about his
ability both as a manufacturer
and shower of the queer. we had all of the
available dope as to Philanthropist Mer-
toun. But IL there was anybody in our