The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1916-02-12

at him, you are being made a tool of
| "a chump"a come-on, as they call
it. 1t is a regular put-up job and you
will lose every dollar you risk
Woman, don't you credit me with
having any brains?'. he almost shout
| ed II am not idiot for designing
villain to toy with. Our winnings are
| just as sure to come as tomorrow's sun
is to rise. If you do anything to OBJ
struct our scheme 1 shall never, never
forgive you hundred to one. and as
sure as shooting. Think of it, Mrs.
Bowser-think of it,
Before Mrs. Bowser could answer
Maggie, the cook, who had been duti-
fully listening at the foot of the base
ment stairs, came running up to ex-
claim:
Please, n1a'am, 1 want to help the
heather and get some money from
those wicked bookmakers, myself
''Maggie" chided Mrs. Bowser.
/ But, ma am, you wouldn't stand in
| the way of poor girl making a thou
sand 1ollars?'' was walled by the cook.
Think of how hard 1 have to work
for my money, and think of my going
home to my poor widowed mother and
dropping a thousand dollars in her
lap and telling her to buy whole de-
partment store. Mr.. Bowser, / want
you to put. up ten dollars for me. 1
have got that much in my trunk up
stairs
81 will do it, Maggie answered Mr..
Bowser. You are also a game sport
and shall be given fair show Get
your money here and. Mrs Bowser.
you hand me over the hundred for the
missionary is waiting for me up on the
corner
Mrs. Bowser opened her mouth to
make further protests, but the odds
were two to one and she said no more.
Maggie ran up stairs and got her
money, and the hundred dollars was
taken from the machine drawer and
with all the wealth safe in his pocket
Mr.. Bowser hurried away from the
against an iron fence on the corner
and his solemn face lighted up as Mr..
Bowser came up with smile
You got il? Pr he asked.
Sure" was the reply.
Then we will go along. l am
anxious to see my work among the
heathens advance as soon as possible.
While you were absent at your house I
went over the thing in my mind and
could not see where plucking the book
makers for the benefit of our dark
skinned fellow men could possibly be
construed as wrong"
'It can't be-" replied Mr.. Bowser-
at can't be. 1t is a wonder to me
that I ever held the ideas that 1 did.
and I shall never return to them.
may even take one day a week off and
go up and see the races. I may even
wager few dollars on a horse that is
not more than a ten to one shot. Let
us go to what they call a pool-room
and place our money, and make a start
on the road to wealth. Let us also
think of the African heather as we go
along"
Mr.. Bowser had heard of pool
rooms, but he had never entered one.
In fact, he had never gazed at the
outer side of one. He therefore al
lowed the missionary to take the lead,
and the said missionary seemed to
have the utmost confidence in his
abilities as a guide.
In due time pool-room was dis
covered and their money placed on
Buttercup at the odds named. When
this had been accomplished Mr.. Bow
ser and his friend took seats to wait
for news from the race track. While
they waited they nudged each other.
They also made a clucking noise with
their tongues. They likewise be-
slowed beaming smiles each other.
Buttercup was in the first race and
they had not long to wait for the voice
of the caller making his announcement
as to the progress of the contest. But
tercup was announced in various po-
sitions from first to third, but strange
to relate did not finish first, second
or third. She may have stopped some
where to look at the landscape, or she
may have fallen and broken her neck
Such trifes are seldom mentioned in
a we'll organized pool-room. Mr.. Bow
ser and his missionary friend chuckled
and smiled as the race progressed
and then sat in a daze, and it was
one of the pool-room men who had
to jog them back into Life again by
saying:
Come now, you dubs, get out. OF
here. The race has been lost by your
horse and there is nothing more to be
said about it. What induced you to
put your money on an old skate like
herr"
Mr.. Bowser and the missionary
parted at the door. There were nc
farewell words between them. Where
: the missionary went to is of no ac-
count, but Mr. Bcwser took a car for
his home. Mrs. Bowser and the cook
were waiting for him when he en-
tered the house
4 Gimme my thousand dollars, Mr.
= Bowser!" exclaimed the cook.
5 And give me mine" added Mrs
I Bowser.
/ Mr.. Bowser drew himself up like a
D desperately for his life. but from his
E half-opeE lips no words issued. He
/ gasped once or twice and then fell al
E full length on the floor and rolled his
D eyes and shuddered. 1t was only then
that the women knew the hundred to
one shot had pierced his noble heart
Copyright, 1916, by Mcclure
|