Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1913-02-19

man wished to see me IN regard 10 a
lost hat.
Send him up. james: send Elm
up" | bawled down the tube Visions
of the club returned, and / tossed
Blackstone into a corner.
Presently there came a tap on the
/ door, and ] flung it wide But my
visitor VAS not the benevolent old
| gentleman. He was the Frenchman
whose absinlhe had offended me. He
glanced at the slip of paper in his
| hand
Il have zee honaire to address zee
gentleman in numbaire six?"
Il live here"
Delight We have meexed zee
hats, have zee r-r-regret. Ees thees
your hat?" He held out. for my in
spection. an opera hat. Il am so abb
sent-mind'-w you call deestraitf"
-affably.
took the hat. which at first glance
! thought to be mine. and went over
to the rack. taking down the old stove
pipe.
This is yours, them" 1 said. smlI-
ing
Thousand thanks. msieul Eet ees
certain mine. / have zee honaire to
beg pardon for zee confusion. My
compliments Good night"
Without giving the hat single
glance, he clapped It on his head,
bowed and disappeared. leaving me
his card. He hadn't been gone two
minutes when | discovered. that the
hat he had exchanged for the stove
pipe was not mine II came from the
same Arm but the initials proved 1t
without doubt to belong to the young
fellow | had met at the table said
some u2complimentaiy things. Who're
the deuce s'"s my hat?s Evidently the
benevolent old gentleman hadn't dis
covered his mistake vet
Tlng.a,lIng It ras the boys bell
again
Wen?"
Another man after a hat What's
goin on?"
Send him up. | yelled It came
over me that the Frenchman Rad
made a second mistake.
| was not disappointed this time In
my visitor. II was the benevolent ole
gentleman. Evidently he had not 10.
Gated his hat either. and might not
for some time to come. began to
believe that had carelessly given 1t
TO the Frenchman. He seemed to be
terribly excited
You are the gentleman who occu-
pies number six2"
Yes. sir This is my apartment.
You have come In regard to hat?"
Yes. sir. My name Is Chittenden.
Our hats got mixed up at Martins this
evening; my fault, as usual am al
ways doing something absurd, my
memory ia so bad When discovered
my mistake was calling on the fam
lily Of client with whom | had spent
most of the afternoon ] missed some
valuable papers. legal documents. |
believed as usual that ! had forgotten
20 take them with me. They were no
where to be found at the house. Ny
client has a very mischievous SON.
and II seems that he stuffed the pa.
pers behind the inside band OF nv
hat With them there was a letter
have had two very great scares
great deal of trouble would ensue II
the papers were lost Just tele
phoned that | had located the hat"
lie laughed pleasantly
Good heavensi here was howdy-
do
My dear Mr., Chttenden, there has
been great confusion" faltered Il
had your hat, but--hut you have come
too late"
Too late?" he roared, or | should
say. TO be exact, shouted
Yes. sir"
What have you done with TT"
Not five minutes ago gave It to
Frenehman who seemed to recognize
It as his It was the Frenchman. IL
you will remember, who sat near your
table in the cafe
And this hat isn't yours. theu?"-
helplesslY,
This" WAS fat brimmed hat Of
the Paris boulevards. the father of all
stovepipe hats, dear TO the French.
mans heart.
"Candidly, now" said with a bit
Of excusable impatience. do | look
like a man who would wear hat like
thatg"
He surveyed me miserably through
his eyeglasses.
No l can't say that you do But
what in the world am | to dor" He
mopped his brow in the ecstasy of an.
guish. The hat must be found. The
legal papers could be replaced. but
You see. sir. that boy put a
private letter OF his sisters In the
band OF that hat. and IT must be re-
covered at all hazards"
Il am very sorry. sir"
But what shall do?"
Z do not see what can be done save
for you 20 leave word at the cafe. The
Frenchmsn Is doubtless a frequenter.
and may easily be found II you had
come few moments sooner !"
With a gurgle Of dismay he fled.
leaving me with half-hnished sen
tence hanging on my lips and the
Frenchman's chspeau hanging on my
fingers. And my hat, wlere was my
hatg
So the boy had put letter OF his
sisters in the band OF the hat. /
mdsed How like her kid brother.
Il seemed that more or less families
had Teddy 0ne-Boys TO look after
Pshaw! what . muddle because
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