Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1913-12-12
Three Red
Heads
Each Was Used as q
Pawn by Fate
By EDWARD 6. ALSTON

OHo uuy us 1 was entering u court
room l met lawyer coming out.
Something in my appearance attracted
his attention. knew very well what
it was, for from childhood had been
used to exciting the attention of all
who saw me- 1t was not l, but head
of hair Of peculiar redness. Words
describe only color; they seldom sug-
gest an especial variety Of color. Mine
was of a variety that few persons had
ever seen before. The lawyer stopped
me with the words zone moment" and
stood looking at me, turning something
over in his mind. Presently he said:
"Your name, please"
gave IT,
Come in here"
He led me into an office and said some
thing to man at desk, who filed in
blank and read me a subpoena.
was ordered to be present that after
noon in the courtroom as witness.
When l appeared found that was
wanted in trial for murder. What
astonished me was that the accused,
who was a very respectable looking
man, possessed head of hair the same
color as my own.
I was placed beside him, and a wo-
man who was giving testimony was
called upon to say which Of the two,
myself or the accused, was the man
she had seen kill her husband. She
looked us both over with puzzled ex-
preston and finally pointed to me.
The incident produced quite sensa
ton in court and naturally filed me
with CONSERVATION. The lawyer at once
called for the discharge Of the prisoner,
which was granted. AS for me, was
required to prove where l had been at
the time of the murder, and had no
difficulty In substantiating the fact that
l was not within thousand miles of
where the deed was done.
The only feature about the man
whose acquittal l had secured that
fixed itself on my memory was his
hair. He was between thirty-flve and
forty, while was not more than TWEEN
ty. Being in limbo, he had no oppor-
tunity to thank me for having saved
him from the gallows, where he would
have gone had 1t not been for tho sim
ilarity Of our hair, but / noticed him
looking at me with great interest. l
did not live In the place where he had
been tried and left 1t as soon as had
proved an allbi. So did not see any
thing more of him.
Twelve years passed, years that had
not brought me success l was thirty
two and had not a cent in the world.
Neither had ! wife or children or
home. | think 1t was the color Of my
hair that told against me. On apply
ing for position the person to whom
/ went would look at my head and
simultaneously reply, There are no
vacancies just now" And wherever
applied received the same reception.
The consequence was that from TWEEN
ty to thirty-two was most Of the time
out of employment
But the end Of this period brought a
change. One afternoon just before the
closing hours of business ] entered a
mercantile house and asked to see the
head of the concern. A gentleman
with coal black hair, In which there
was, despite his fifty years, not sin
gle gray strand, sat at desk in a pri-
vate office. So great was the contrast
between his and my own top adorn-
ment that ! was sure l would receive
a curt refusal and was about to turn
away when he lifted his eyes and saw
me. His gaze was first fixed on my
head, then was directed to my coun-
tenance. There was nothing for me to
do but approach him and make the
usual request.
"Pm hunting job" ! said. i've
been hunting one for months. Indeed,
I'm so run down financially that I'm
rendy to work for song"
] received no reply for awhile. The
man sat staring at me with n strange
look In his eyes, and ] suspected that
he was thinking OF something else.
Without waiting for his answer ! was
turning away when he stopped me.
"What can you doT he asked
ANY ordinary work"
"Your nameW
! gave II TO him, and. taking up
check book, he wrote a check for $50
payable to my order and handed 1t to
me looked at It dumfounded
81 haven't earned anything yet"
stammered.
"You look tired and hungry" was
the reply Report here tomorrow
morning and you shall have a job"
was 80 used to attributing my mis-
fortunes to the color OF my hair that
/ now laid my good luck to the same
cause had an idea that the mans
action had something to do with the
contrast between the glosslness OF his
raven locks and the disagreeable red
ness Of mine. Probably his had
brought him good fortune as mine had
brought me misfortune and made him
sorry for me. At any rate, this was
the only Interpretation ] could put
upon II.
found It very easy TO cash his
check and spent n part Of It in buying
a good dinner. The next morning !
reported myself TO Mr.. Marston-such
was his name-and after brief con
vePsation during which he questioned
me with n view 10 learning what line
OF work would prefer, he said that
perhaps had better try several DIFF.