Why He Became Alarmed.

Otago Witness, Issue 2085, 8 February 1894, Page 49

Why He Became Alarmed.

The old gentleman was absent-minded and forgetful, and so he had purchased an engagement calendar. When one of the young men in the office spoko to him of anything that was to ba attended to at a later date, he would say: "Put it down on the calendar so that I shan'c forget it." And so it came about that there were all kinds of handwriting on that calendar. Now it is not known who conceived the idea of fooling the old fellow, but someone evidently did. After consulting the calendar one day, he started out to attend a shareholders' meeting of some sort, and returned in about an hour, fuming and fretting. "Most remarkable thing!" he exclaimed. "No meeting has been called, and there won't be any till next month. Strange I should make such a mistake."

A few days later he left the office an hour earlier than usual, so as to have plenty of time to dress for a dinner to which he and his wife were going, and learned when he reached home that the dinner was not to be given until the following night. He studied the calendar pretty olosely when he reached the office the following day, but he could not find anything wrong with the day's entry. Then he went to Mb club to meet a friend by appointment, and, after waiting two hours for him, learned that the appointment was for two days later. That was too much for him. He was thoroughly frightened, and he rushed back and sent for a specialist in brain disorders. " Yes, yes," said the specialist thoughtfully. " You think your brain is affected ? "

"It must be. First I lost my memory, and then I found I couldn't even get things straight on my engagement calendar. Two out of every three entries wore wrong." °

The specialist glanced over the engagement calendar, and looked wise.

"Most of these engagements are entered twice," he said. " They seem to be entered once under the proper dates, and then again anywhere from a day to a week ahead."

•' As bad as that ? " gasped the old fellow in alarm. "I never would have believed that I was as far gone_jas that. What would you advise me to do, doctor ? "

"Well," Baid the doctor, slowly, "you might do either of two things : you might discharge some of your clerks, or you might lock up the engagement calendar where they can'b get at it."

The old fellow looked at the doctor for just a moment , then he picked up the calendar, and walked out into the outer office and put it down on a table.

" There's something wrong with that calendar," he said. " I don't pretend to know just what it is, but the dates are always getting mixed. Of course you're not to blame, but I'm going to leave it here to-night, just to see if it gets straightened out. And, by the way," he added, as he reached the door of his private office again, " it's just a little whim of mine, but I'm going to discharge a man every time that I find a false entry in the future."

He found the calendar in excellent shape the following day, and he hasn't discharged a man yet.