The Argosy, March 1907 — page 165: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

ie ia eke pvt oe = ed PA et <—— re > < ne , * FPR RS ea a SM TAO » / ‘ Npeh’ PA 4 i £4 ASD Civ. é a oy te Se +: Fe ae Svat wry “ead of ated mf lee’ ba A aD le Ee aS, 2 MN A K ay - yt : ie A 4 VY “ k seh oh ey mated Ge 4), iv t NI ; Aa a4 ¥ “A 4 . Fay san s , *. ] pl Get ff tt + ere A RA Nid Pome 88 Tl SUA Vanzea Ce LOVE AT SAN FSR bea \ Pati 4, 4 uy = ~~ ~ fitted as though made for me. a : asin? I was surely the one » intended to -- receive it, for the book had been thrown on my car and, strange as it may seem, I was the only John J. Smith employed by the company. There were other - Smiths all right, but no other John J. On the down-town trip I racked my brain to find an explanation. Should I follow instructions or de- stroy the pocketbook and dismiss the mat- ter from my mind? A savings-bank held a couple of hundred dollars of my own’ money, but should I use it for such an unheard-of purpose? Finally I decided to see the affair through, for I figured that I could easily - dispose of the uniforms, if they were new, ie considerably more than a dollar each. At Foie o’clock I got my relief, and catching a Bridge car, was soon on the _ Bowery and in front of the place where the first suit had been pawned. Entering, I presented my ticket and was informed that it would take one dol- lar and nine cents to redeem the suit. Pro- ducing the money I paid the man and taking the bundle handled me in’ ex-— change, left and hurried to my room. Arriving there I hastily tore open the package and examined the contents. _ It was a new uniform, sure enough, and when I tried it on, I found that it At the lowest estimate the suit must have cost ten dollars, and I instantly saw that, so - far, I was ahead of the game. Examining the garments carefully, I was somewhat surprised to see a figure 1 embroidered on each lapel of the coat. I wore suit Number 1 the next day is and Number 2 the day following, the _ numeration progressing in the order I _. redeemed them. Soon my room became filled with uniforms, and the boys all over the line, noting that I wore new clothes all the time and had a different number each day, began to make fun of me. : None of them had been “put wise,” for I requested Bill Cronin to keep the affair under his hat, and he was follow- ing instructions. Presently suspicious glances were cast -in my direction, and heads were signifi- cantly tapped whenever I came around, lla 7 ad I ied one of re fellows ais another that I was “ nutty.” time I believe I was; many nights I passed without getting any sleep, what with rolling and tossing about, wonder- ing how the whole thing would end. — One day (I remember it well, for I was wearing suit Number 50) it flashed across my mind that it would be a good idea to try to get some of my money back. The uniforms occupied all the available space in my room and I had nowhere else to put them, so after re- deeming suit Number 51 that after- noon I visited a second-hand clothes dealer, whose sign I had seen on the Bowery. On displaying the suit I was told that three dollars each would be paid for any that I might bring like it, and promising to produce a wagon-load the next day, I departed, feeling that the afternoon had been profitably spent. Less the interest pa:d, 1 would be two hundred dollars ahead of the game when the suits were sold. Promptly at five the following after- noon a wagon containing fifty uniforms, the driver, and myself, halted before the second-hand clothes dealer’s store, where the driver and myself were forthwith pounced upon by policemen, who _ in- formed us that we were under arrest. ‘What for?” I demanded indig- nantly. “As if yez didn’t know,” chuckled the officer who held me. “ Why, ‘ Smithy John,’ we’re onter yez, so come along or I'll give ye a thaste of the sthick,” and he waved his club menacingly. Being of an obliging disposition, I complied and within a few minutes the driver and I were brought before the court, where congregated about the outer rail 1 noticed fully a dozen pawnbrok- ers whose faces had become very familiar to me since the receipt of that fateful letter. When my case was called I was sub- jected to a cross-examination that made me tell more about myself than I really knew. The second-hand clothes dealer testified that my actions in his place had ‘been so suspicious that he had at once gone to police headquarters and stated the facts. : Things began to look dark for me. About that — ~— comicbooks.con a