The Washington herald., 1913-01-26
-oung fellow walked of with the good

young fellow walked of with the good
hat.
Angrily 1. strode up to the cashiers
desk and explained the situation, leav-
ing my address and the number of my
apartment; my name wasn't necessary.
Troubles never come singly. Here i
had lost my girl and my hat, to say
nothing of my temper-of the three the
most certain to be found again. 1 passed
out of the cafe. bareheaded and hot
headed. 1 hailed a cab and climbed in.
had finally determined to return to
my rooms and study. Hang these old
buffers who are so absent-minded! For
was confident that the benevolent old
gentleman was the cause of all this con-
fusion.
After all, the old gentleman would feel
the change more sharply than i. Per-
haps he would soon discover his mistake.
return TO the cafe and untangle the snarl
L sincerely hoped he would. AS l re-
marked, my hat had cost me IS.
1 soon arrived at my apartments and
got into a smoking jacket. ] picked up
Blackstone and turned to his ''promis-
sorry notes" l had two or three out my
self. II was o'clock when the hall boys
bell rang. and 1 placed my ear to the
tube 4 gentleman wished to see me in
regard to a lost hat.
Send him up James; send him up"'
bawled down the tube. Visions of the
club returned, and l tossed Blackstone
into a corner.
Presently there came a tap on the door
and / flung it wide. But my visitor was
not the benevolent old gentleman. He
was the Frenchman whose absinthe had
offended me. He glanced at the slip of
paper in his hand.
Il have zee honaiTe to address zee-ah-
gentleman in numbaire siX?"
Il live here"
Delight, We have meexed zee hats.
l have zee r-r-regret. Fees thees your
hat" He held out for my inspection
an opera hat. Il am so absent-mind-
what you call deestrait?''-affably
took the hat. which at first glance
l thought to be mine. and went over to
the rack. taking down the old stove
pipe.
This is yours. them l said, smiling.
Thousand thanks. m'sieu! Eet ees GER
tain mine. have zee honaire to beg par
don Tor zee confusion. My compliments,
Good night"
Without giving the hat a single glance
he clapped II 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 stovepipe was not mine. 1t came
from the same firm. but the initials
proved it without doubt to belong 10
the young fellow / had met at the table.
said some uncomplmentary things
Where the deuce was my hat? Evident
" the benevolent old gentleman hadn't
discovered his mistake yet.
Ting-a-linG, 1t was the boys bell
again.
''Wcll?"
Another man after a hat What's
goin' on?''
send him up'"I yelled 1t came over
me that the Frcnchman had made A sec
ond mistake.
l was not disappointed this time in
my visitor. II was the benevolent old
gentleman. Evidently he had not To-
Gated his hat either, and might not for
some time to come. began to believe
that | had Carelesslv given IL to the
FrcnChman. He seemed to be terribly
excited.
You are the gentleman who occupies
number six?'
Yes. sir. This is my apartment. You
have come in regard to a 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 mem
orr is 50 had When I discovered my mis-
take l was calling on the family OF "A
client with whom ! had spent most OF
the afternoon. l missed some valuable
papers. legal documents. | believed. as
usual that ! had forgotten to take them
with me. They were nowhere 10 he
found at the house. My client has a
very mischievous son. and it seems that |
he stuffed the papers behind the inside
hand Of my hat. With them there was
a letter have had two very great |
scares. \ great deal Of trouble would
ensue if the papers were lost. I just |
that ] had located the hat"
He laughed pleasantly.
Good heavens, here was howdy-do. |
My dear Mr.. Chittenden there has |
been great Confusion / faItered. Il |
had your hat. but-but you have come |
too late
Too lste?'' he roared. or I should say, !
to be exact. shouted.
Yes. sir
What have YOU done with it,"
Not five minutes ago | gave il to a |
who seemed TO recognize 1t |
as his. 1t was the Frenchman. If you |
will remember, who sat near your table |
IN the cafe