The Eureka sentinel. [volume] (Eureka, Nev.) 1902-current, 1914-10-24
AN OLD CLOTHES
MANS STORY
By c. l. PIONEER
Copyright. 1910. BY American Press
Association

clothes from door to door. take them
to my shop. repair them. press them
and sell them for a good profit But
this II not all there IL IN the old clothes
business. 1t Is very easy for small
coins, principally ten cent pieces. to
slip through little holes. or, rather.
rips. In q vest pocket The first thing
I do with the clothing I buy Is to
search the pockets
But the most interesting things that
get into old clothes are old letters.
Few old clothes men pay any atten-
tion to them. burning them without
reading them. I always read them.
Possibly there may be something In
them to render them valuable. have
found letters Of this kind that would
have paid me well were I disposed to
levy blackmail. but I am not In that
business.
l once bought a coat that had Q let
ter In q side pocket sealed and with
. stamp on It ready for mailing. The
envelope was not soiled. The letter
had evidently been placed In the pocket
for delivery TN the mail. forgotten. the
coat hung up without being worn
again and eventually sold to me with
out being examined by the seller.
I constituted myself a dead letter
ONCE. opened the envelope and read
the letter. II was from a wife to her
husband. Offering to make mp" after
= quarrel She proved conclusively
that be had been mistaken In the mat
ter he had against her, vowed that she
had always loved him and would never
love any one else h begged biz .o.
the sake of their children to come to
her and be reconciled.
I wondered what had been the re-
suit Of the failure to mail this letter.
I became interested In the poor wo-
man, who might have been suffering
from some ones carelessness. as well
a. her husband and innocent children.
for there Is nothing more melancholy
than the case Of a child seeing its
father and mother quarrel and finally
separate. 1t appeared likely that the
writer must have given 1t to the man
who had worn the coat to mail and
he had neglected to do so. l felt that
I would like t wiring his neck.
1t occurred to me that, being an old
clothes man. l had never had any OPP
portunity to do any n a kindness. i
couldn't give money. because l made
only enough to keep the wolf from the
door. If l gave to any one l took away
from what my wife and children
needed. So 1t occurred to me to find
this couple between whom the letter
should have passed and deliver it.
Perhaps they did not need it; perhaps
they had been reconciled In another
way; perhaps they had been divorced
and one or both married again. Then
the remarriage Of a parent always
seems to me a far more terrible herit-
age to the children than the parents
death. The latter Is an awful bereave-
ment, but the former is a living horror.
Az the letter was but a year old !
hoped that l would not be too late in
delivering 1t tt at least save the little
ones from this last hopeless condition.
/ didn't know how to go to work to
ind either of the parties. so | went
to the postofice and asked for advice.
The interview resulted In my writing
Z note to the man whose letter l had.
advising him Of the fact that a letter
that might be Of importance to him
had come into my possession. ] ad-
dressed the note as the letter had been
addressed, and the postof1ce men
agreed to deliver 1t II the man could
be found.
Within a couple Of weeks q gentle
man came into my shop with my note
in his hand. saying that he was the
man to whom It was written.
'Have you a wifeY' I asked
NO" he answered bitterly.
~Ars you divorced from q wifer'
Tea"
"Are either you or your wife mar
RED again.
"No."
drew a sigh Of relief and handed
him his wife's letter written a veal
before. He seemed much affected. moi
speaking for some time after reading
Il. and l saw tears standing In BIZ
eyes. l was curious to know wha'
feeling would be uppermost In BIZ
mind, for he would surely give expires
sion to it. This L. the 6rst thing h'
sAid:
srn kill that internal fellow II
hang for it,"
what internal fellowY'
The stupid idiot that was given thil
letter to post"
he had his eyes on the letter, but a
this point looked up at me and con
tinued:
~And now. my good man. ! wish t.
reimburse you for any expense yor
have incurred In this matter. besides
diving you q suitable reward"
There has been no expense. Al t.
the reward. my pleasure In having
done one act without pay In my con
temptible life il a far greater reward
than any you could offer. Let an Ole
49, AAf- -.Rn<{Au |