The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1913-12-01

6F 6Continued1 TI
 Matt had Ii, .oncel,tIon of what a Picturesque figure he was to those wa tery. bleared old eyes, nor how sin cerely Hunter Hoyt adored him. As for his own looks. he had long ceased to give them much thought. At thirty one most men have outgrOwn that He was scarcely aware that his fine, sensi- tive face was recovering the color it had lost in the tropics or that his wig orous frame and broad shoulders and <avy, clustering black hair were like ly to attract favorable attention. The key to his whole character and the uu- derlying cause of his charming man. ners could be found in the modest es- innate he had of himself. The princi- pal endeavor of the naval academy is to teach the midshipman he is per xon of very small importance, who is to do what he is told, keep his mouth smut and respect the flag, and Matt had not wholly outIived this youthful training which had been put in his bones to stay
 In contrast to Hunter Hoyt the rest of Mrs Sattane's boarders seemed commonplace indeed. One of them was too humble a creature to call him. self boarler at all. Matt lived 8 week at Mrs Sattane's before he even discovered the mans existence - grave, elderly mulatto of kindly, open face and ingratiating manners, who was something in the nature of the boarding house skeleton. His name was Daggancourt, a possible cOrrup- ton of De Goncourt-Victor Daggan- cowt-who. although he paid ST a week. while the others paid only S5,
 
 sftiOn in the house He would wait unobtrusfvely about the porch until the rest had finished their meal, when a second tinkle of the bell would sum mon him to the disordered table Here color prejudice forbade that he should be served by Bridget. who placed the dishes near his plate and left him to shift for himself The sitting room was. of course, forbidden to him, though he might finger for a moment in the doorway without impropriety and listen to the superior race He svas the owner of a small garage and machine shop--sYictor's garage it was calIed-and was a widower without children
 This is a hard world for a colored man. sir he said once to Matt, [" 'spe- cialIy. if he's better educated than the most of his race and is given to think ing little, like I do- The majority of them are no company for me, with their common ways and cheap ideas; and. of course, I am personum non Erata to white folks. Here am, stuck middlewise between the two.''
 Matt conceived a sincere regard for the old fellow. whose lowly, effacing life was not without a certain tragedy.
  and an innate dignity and kindness that commanded respect, not to speak of a whimsical humor that gleamed out even in his most earnest moments You're a man. he once said to Matt --while have the misfortune to be problem That's a bigger difference between us. than color itself. The 6arky can't go anywhere and do any thing but right off, he's a problem. When we eat, we're problem: when we go to hospital. we're a problem: we can't hop on train. but there nrain we're a problem; wien we die. we're q problem, for Lord save us, black bones mustn't lay next to white.''
 Nothing could be got from the board CTS except warnings. Each one ran flown his own business. On Matts appealing to Victor the latter foretold the swift finish of the garage business. "Owners are getting to know too uluch.>s he said. You can't self ten dollar, pair of gas lights for sixty like Sou did once. If I was you, Marse' 3roughton. I'd try mules- There nev- CT has been enough mules, and there never will be!-'
 Matt accordingly. though rather Eiackly. 1t must be confessed, began to look into mules; he accumulated stacks pf mule information; he wrote to Washington and got for nothing the concentrated wisdom of a whole mule e1Il, bureau All this was very encour- n-iug. and was made more so by Vic tors request to come in as partner. Tz-e thought he could sell out his ga rage for S1.4OO or S1.6OO and volun- teered to he Mats man Friday.
 ''I won't be any trouble to you," he pleaded earnestly. ''I know my place, and I'll keep it. no. matter how close we have 10 live; and I'll cook and wash. and do everything till we're on our feet"
 Matt did not commit himself; it was so much easier to dawdIe along and ccquette with imaginary mules, and work out imaginary mule profits, than to bestir himself with actualities.
 One day, after breakfast, while he