The Dolores star., 1913-04-11
THE WRONG COAT
By HAROLD MacGRATH



r Il hadn't rained 1t Wa.
terloo Napoleon hisht not
have sunk to the obscure
fame Of q cigar label: II
Lots wife twbose name.
- at this particular moment.
- fail to recollectl hadn't
cooked around. many's the rumorist
who would be shy sundry half dollars;
u Ulysses hadn't met Calypso, Pencil
,pe's knitting would have been accom-
olished in n reasonably ANAL commas
of time; thus. II, on the morning OF
March tenth, a blizzard hadn't romped
in from the Atlantic. there wouldn't
before had been treacherously warm
and springlike, and I had gone about
ny afYairs without any coat. II Is al
ways the seemingly infinitesimai
things that count heaviest in the final
reckoning.
I hadn't gone two blocks from Mou-
,uin's that night. when I noted the
sact TINT I was wearing a coat that
iid not belong tn me. With n growi
I turned around and went back. / sim
Nv wasted INV time. INV coat was no
where 10 he found. I stormed about.
sending the waiter. cumming all over
tho restaurant. but to no avail. Final.
ivI cslmed down and admitted that il
vas all NV own fault should have
examined the coat when I shouidered
into II 90 I left word NJ the cashier's
desk and sought the street again.
Doubtless you have lost coat or
Cat in your time. n Won who read
happen to be a man. II is curious.
hut. no matter how much you are bet.
tered in the exchange. Won raise a
bowl-you make the echoes ache with
vour lamentations. There in nothing
m earth Won want save your own coat
and hat To be sure. II. in the pockets
If the wrong coat there hammer To be
several thousand dollars. your howl is
modified and innocuous. ana Won 70 nj
once To look for the other feliow-
oerh.n. Rut as in this instance
there were only thirty.nve cents \
cancelled railroad ticket and a scatter.
,ns of cloves and tabIoids for the
breath INV cries were heard afar.
Hang n, sbsent minded dufYers NV
\elf Included, whose wits 70 wool.
Aathar,n1 NJ had times, The cost vas
i,st uke mine a light srav winter mad.
docr lined WITH heavy sa,,n The oniv
di0erence Law I'm the sleeves. tbese
h.d smaII.chanpe nockets whereas
mine had none II wa. even exchange
ana M robbery hut was none the
-le.. angry The truth In II was inst
{Ss.sr the srst of the month and there
wsrs ,,ur or five unnaid hills in the
in.ide pocket Of INV coat. zone was
the hin for the coatD 90 I climbed the
stairs 10 the elevated station in no
,m,ab,e frame nj mind We'll. we'll.
n really did not matter n the gentle
man who had appropriated INV coat
learned that owed my tailor. To owe
ones tailor as long AZ the law per.
mits In unite customary-not only Gus
tomary. hut also proper and commend.
able. The other bills were for cigars,
gloves and hats. that In To any. OF no
great inheritance
u piumped into a vacant seat and
slowered nj the street below. II had
stopped showing and the wind had
zone down, For once in my life I took
no interest in the advertising sigma. l
wanted my coat. and for all knew the
man who had II might stumble under
an automobile and ruin the garment:
and, even II he didn't ruin It. Il would
smell tolerably strong OF gasoline. l
coniured I'm ali manner Of catastrophes
regarding the ultimate end OF my coat.
The other fellow might be burned up
In Il; he might fall down a greasy ele-
vstor shaft In Il; he might even be
Iugsed to jail In It, which was not at
all unlikely, the cloves and tabloids
speaking not very well for his habits.
Was there ever such luckT
Having no newspaper with which to
pass away the time, ! fell once more
to .rummaging the wrong coat As
searched the pockets my sense OF guilt