The commonwealth. (Scotland Neck, N.C.) 1896-1929, 1919-04-29

Spring chicken" said Mr.. Bacon in .
caVernous voice, getting it over with
While the list WIS fresh in his NOV,
DRY. 'fried and boiled potatoes. heans
succo'stsii' onions, stewed tomatoes and
i-9uSt Il moment, please. Fried
ana boiled potatoes, heaDs-"
Ham ana eggs, potatoes anC q c1,n-
or two OF Coffee said Barnes. SIM
pressing desire to laugh.
And apple pie,,' conclu7ed tho
waiter triumphantly. 'i knew ia rot
1t II you gave me time AS YOU nav
have observed, my dear sir. 7 nm nor
what you would call an experienced
waiter. AS matter of fact, T.
The bell downstairs rang violently
Mr.. Bacon departed in great haste
While the traveller performed his alb
lutlons Mr.. DAlingford. for the moment
dIsengaged, sat upon the edge Of the
bed and enjoyed himself. He talked
We were nine at the start" said he
pensiveiy. Eradually we were re-
duced to seven, notincluaing the man.
aRer. Two Of 'em escaped before the
smash. The low comedian and char
acter old woman. Joe Buckley and his
wife. That left the old mani mean
Mr.. Rushcrcft, the star-LynJon Rush-
crofh you knpw-1nyself and Bacon.
Tommy Gray, Miss Rushcroft, Miss
Hughes and a woman named Bradley.
seven of us. The woman named Brad
ley said her mother was diving in Buff
falo, so the rest Of us scraped together
all the money we had-nine dollars
and sixty certs-and did the right
thing by her. Actors airs, always do
ing darn-foci thiF.gS like that. Mr.
Barnes And what do YOU suppose, she
did? She took that money and horlgIt
two tickets to Albany, one for herself
AND another for The ln;ln;lger of the
co'if;ny-fbe I0vtst Ineanest orner-
lest white man that ever But / am
Grabbing the old mans part You
oush' 10 hci, what he has to say about
Mr.. Manager He can use words
never even heard Of before. So that
leaves just the four Of us here work
ing off the two days board bill of
Bradley and the manager, RuSlrrufts
uHgodly spree, and at the same time
Keeping our own slate clean. Miss
Thackeray Will no doubt make up your
bed in the morning. She is tempo. (
rarily a chalnbern}aid. Cracking f1ne,
girl. too. Are you all ready? I'll lead
you to the dining room. Or would you
prefer u little appetizer beforchand?I
The taprOom is l>ght on the way. You
mustn't call it the bar. Everybody in
that little graveyard town down the
road would turn over completely if
you did. HaltoWed tradition, you
know
Il don't mind having cocktail. Will
YOU join me?''
CAS- a matter Of fact, I'm expected
to- confessed NJ. Dillingford. We've
been drawing quite bit Of custom to
the taproom. The rubes IKE TO sit
arounG and listen to cOnversnti ton
about broadway and Bunker Hill and
Old Point Comfort and other places
and then go home and tell the neigh
hors tF;it they know quite a number
Of stage people. Human nature, II
guess. Listen! Hear that? Rush
croft reciting 'Gunga Din: You can't
hear the thunder for the noise he's
making
The descended the stairs and en-.
tered the taprCom. where q dozen men
were seated around the tables. all of
them with pewter mugs in front OF
them. Standing at the top table-that
is to say. the one farhcSt removed
from the door and commanding the at
tention OF every creature in the room
was the imposing figure of Lyndon
Rushcroft. He was recitinx. in so
norous voice and with tremendous fer
vOr, the famous Kipling poem.
genial smile wiped the tragic express
sion from his face. He advanced upon
Barnes and the beaming Mr.. billing
ford. his hand extended.
s'My dear fellow he exclaimed re.
soundingy, show are you:" Cordial
ity boonled in his voice. Il heard you
had arrived Welcome-thricefold wei