HE COULDN'T FIND THE LIGHT.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LIV, Issue 13637, 16 April 1908, Page 2

HE COULDN'T FIND THE LIGHT.

BY MAX ADELER. I

One night, during the recbnt -troubles in the Pennsylvania coaTregions,' Judgs , Potts' brother, Thomas Potts, was round at a meeting of minejowners, and after 'the adjournment he stopped in at a tavern. There he met some friends, and in the course of an hour or two he became very much intoxicated. On his way home he lost his hat, and a miner who knew him, feeling ';com-. passion for him, clapped on his nead a miner's hat, and. in order to make the dark street rather brighter, lighted the little lamp in front of the hat. When Potts reached his house, Mrs Potts had gone to bed, and the lights were out, but Potts felt certain that the lamp was burning in the hall, but he couldn't for the life of him tell where it was. He loked for the regular lamp, and that seemed io be out; then he hunted around in every direction for the light, but he couldn't find it, although it seemed to shine brightly whereveV he went. Presently he happened to stand, in front of the mirror in the hat-rack, and then he saw precisely where the lamp was. After a brief objurgation upon Mrs Potts for leaving a light in such a preposterous place, ne went up to the mirror and tried to blow it out. He blew, and blew, and blew, but somehow the flame burned as steadily as ever. "That," said Mr Potts, "is the moz extror'nary lamp's ever been my misfortune t' encounter." Then he took off his coat, and, holding it in front of him, he crept cautiously up *to the mirror and tried . to crush the coat down over the light to smother it. He made half a dozen ineffectual attempts, and then, standing off and, regarding the light, which still burned brightly, ne said-— "That'a x;er r nly, yery .extror'nary — very extror'nary I Moz 'stonishin' cirgumstanz ever come , unner my obzervazhion. Dunno how t'adcount for id^" It occurred to him then that perhaps, he might smash the lamp with the umbrella. Seizing tihat weapon, he went up to the hat-rack, and, aiming a terrific blow at the. light, ihe brought the umbrella down.' He missed, and mashed his Sunday, hat intjb chaos-, He took aim again, and caught the umbrella in the hall-lamp overneatf,' bringing it down with a crash. Then he tried a third time, and plunged the ferrule of the umbrella through the mirror, smashing it to atoms. He felt exultant for a moment, as the light disappeared from his vision, but he was perplexed to find that there was another light somewhere, he couldn't tell exactly where. So he sat down on* the stairs", and remarked — "Moz' 'stonishin' cirgumstanz' ever come unner my pbzerva^hunV , Whad in thunder's it mean, anyhow? Light's gone, an' yet id's a-shinin'. Perfegly mcompr'ensible. Wish -t'graahus Mizz Podds 'd wake up n' explain it. Durn if I know whad I better do.'* Then Potts took off his hat to scratch his head, in the hope that he might scare up an idea, and the truth broke upon him. Gazing at the lamp for a minute until he drank in a full conception of the trouble it had caused, he suddenly smashed it down on the floor, in a rage, and extinguished it, after covering two yards of carpet with oil. Then he went to bed, and when in the morning Mrs Potts informed him that some of those awful miners had broken into the house the night before, and left one of their hats with a lamp, which had spilled all over the carpet, Potts turned over* in bed so that she couldn't see hia face/ and said that if the stern hand of tie 1 la\p wasnt laid upon those ruffians soon, nobody's life would be safe.