Mexico weekly ledger., 1922-12-28

the hall to meet him. Tycie In con-
yenient tears. The visitor kissed her
and shook hands with the men.
ut is not necessary for me to as
sert THAT I hold no commission, civil
or military" said the vagrant.
'Slt down, sir.s commanded the Cen
eraL And hen.-surveying him slowly
from head to foot: "wIl you please
state as to whether or not you regard
yourself q human beingT'
General" said Tycie, please don't
scold him, for I'm sure he must be
hungry"
my dear, ! shall not scold him; but
I don't see anything about him that
calls for congratulations"
Liberty" said Virgil. tomorrow
Wen go over and have the parish sur
veyor run you of a suit Of clothes"
my dear relatives, / thank you for
these little attentions; and as to your
question, Uncle Howard, let me say,
sir, that my claims as to being a hui
man are somewhat vague. One Of the
first things l discovered about myself
was my unreality. When do we eat?"
Tycie ran oct and returned with q
piece Of frosted cake that looked like
a corner broken of a marble mantle
piece. The General was laughing.
swell, Liberty, we are always glad
to e you, anyway. 1t is the unreal
ity. II / may so speak. that spices our
lives; and when you come with your
gilded worries, you enliven us. Where
have you been. anyhow"
1--WE been wherever there is" said
Shottle. gesturing with his cake.
"First I went to Memphis, to the
races, and gave old Skinny Hughes
two hundred for a sure card on the
entries. Lost ten thousand. Then !
followed the horses to Lexington, with
my bank account leaking like a sprin.
king cart. But why linger when moth
ing can be swifter than the approach
Of poverty Finally I sold my clothes
to a negro preacher and invested my
all In lottery tickets. 1t seemed that
I possessed myself of all the figures Of
the multiplication table. didn't see how
l could possibly miss, but / did. It
wasn't laid out for me to win again.
He gets to a certain pinnacle of for
tune, slips off, and spends the rest of
his life struggling to get back. When
do we eat?"
Long after bedtime Shottle came 10
VirgiI's room.
Virgil, you know I've got to hit on
something of a permanent nature. So
the question is, now that I've quit
gambling, what am I going to do? If
you'll not go to sleep, I'll tell you of
a plan. Mark me: l have observed, |
along with thousands of others, that
nothing digs deeper after rainy-day
money than a circus and menagerie.
1t is known that the poor man of the
South, and especially the negro, will
sell his cOOkstOve to buy a circus
ticket. Now comes my plan, and mind
you, I strive to keep 1t from being too
sudden. Attention! You buy a circus,
and I'll go along as ring-master. That
is the one thing 1 an. really fitted for.
You saw me crack a whip, did
your"
"Don't believe l ever did"
"All right, you've got something to
look forward to. . Yes, I'll be
the rlng-master, and"
"And bet an elephant on the turn Of
a card" said Virgil.
"Ah, one Of my own, perhaps, but
not one entrusted to me. I am not an
embezzler Of elephants. I wouldn't
bet a garter-snake on a sure thing.
Besides, I told you I'd quit gambling
that is, I'm quitting. 1t isn't wise
to expose my constitution to the shock
Of a sudden change. /. Well, good
night"