The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1913-03-06

SILdIu mIHe' uaNe Ae6 AOuaAG "
beg pardon for zee confusion. My
compliments! Good night"
Without giving the hat a single
glance, he clapped It on his head,
bowed and disappeared, leaving me
his card. He hadn't been gone two
minutes when l discovered that the
hat he had exchanged for the stove.
pipe was not mine.
Ttng.a.ling! 1t was the boys bell
again.
"Well?"
goin' on?"
Send him up" yelled. It came
over me that the Frenchman had
made second mistake.
/ was not disappointed this time in
my visitor. 1t was the benevolent old
gentleman. Evidently he had not 10.
Gated his hat either, and might not
for some time to come. I began to
believe that | had carelessly given 1t
to the Frenchman. He seemed to be
terribly excited.
you are the gentleman who Occur
pies number six?"
Eyes, sir. This is my apartment.
You have come in regard to hate"
Yes, sir. My name is Chlttenden.
Our hats got mixed up at Martins this
evening; my fault. as usual. am al
ways doing something absurd, my
memory Is SO bad. When I discovered
my mistake was calling on the fam.
lily Of client with whom had spent
most Of the afternoon. I missed some
valuable papers, legal documents. I
believed as usual that had forgotten
to take them with me. They were no.
where to be found at the, house. My
client has a very misclievous son,
and it seems that be stuffed the pa.
perg behind the inside band Of my
hat. With them there was a letter.
have had two very great scares. A
great deal Of trouble would ensue II
the papers were LOST, I just tele-
phoned that had located the hat"
He laughed pleasantly.
Good heavens! here was howdy.
do.
my dear Mr.. chittenden. there has
been a great confusion" faltered. 81
had your hat, but-but you have come
too late"
"Too late?" he roared. or I should
eav IN hh aVact Shoutah
Yes, sir"
what have you done with it?"
mot five minutes ago l gave 1t to a
Trenchman who seemed to recognize
It as his. It was the F'renchman, II
you will remember, who sat near your
table in the cafe"
"And this hat isn't yours, them
hclplessly.
"This" was a fiat.brlmmed hat Of
the Paris boulevards the father Of all
stovepipe hats, dear to the French
mans heart.
"Candidly, now" said ] with bit
of excusable impatience, edo look
like man who would wear hat like
that?" ~
He surveyed me mserably through
his eye-glasses.N
NO, can't say that you do. But
what in the world am to dog" 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
private letter of his sisters in the
band Of that hat, and it must be re-
covered at all hazards"
az am very sorry. SIR"
"But what shall do"
II do not sec what can be done save
for you to leave word ut the cafe. The
Frenchman is doubtless a frequenter,
and may easily be found. If you had
come few moments sooner. :"
With a gurgle of dlsmay he fed,
leaving me with half,fnished SEN
tence hanging on my lips and the
Frenchman's chapeau hanging on my
fingers. And my hat; where YVES my
hat?
So the boy had put letter OF his
sisters in the band Of the hat, l
unused. How like her kid brother!
1t seemed that more or less families
had Toddy-One-Boys TO look after.
Pshaw! what muddle because n
man couldn't keep bis thoughts from
wool.gathering! ..a4
Fool that I was! rushed over to
the table. The Frenchman had left
his card, and had forgotten all about
1t. And | hadn't asked the benevolent
old gentleman where lie lived. The
Frenchman's card read: IN. de
Beausire, No. - Washington Place"
| decided to go myself 10 the address,
state the matter to Monsieur de Beau
sire, and rescue the letter. knew all
about these Toddy-one-B Boys. and I
might be doing some girl a signal
service.
So l reluctantly got into my coat
again, drew on a topcoat, and put on
the hat thatFfitted me, ] had scarcely
drawn my stick from the umbrella
jar when the bell rang once again.
l'FIello!" 1 called down the tube.
Why couldn't they let me be?
Lady wants to see you, sir"
"a lady"
Eyes. sir, A real lady: lady. She