After one or two of these Gift Enterprises had been slipped to him, he
began to back water and be a trifle Sore. Yet he found it very Hard to
be discourteous to one who came in and did the Brother Act. Besides,
the Bunk who has the Joint Note already made out and ready to be
signed, usually has a Talk calculated to make a Heart of Stone mellow
to the Consistency of a Baked Apple.
What really did more than any other one Thing to cure him of his
Innate Goodness was an Experience with a Sweet Girl who was being
courted by a Hound quite unworthy of her.
The unselfish Benefactor who tries to sidetrack Weddings that are sure
to turn out unhappily is always a Candidate for the Hospital, with a
Long Shot at the Morgue.
The Sweet Girl in Question was the daughter of an Old Friend, for
whose Funeral Expenses he had been landed. She was a Confiding Thing,
and did not know that the Bachelor who had started in to Rush her
seven nights a Week was a Rounder and a Poker-Player and somewhat of a
Lush.
Every one who knew the Sweet Girl said it was too Bad and that some
one ought to go to her and warn her. After the Old Ladies and the
Elders had talked the Matter over on the side, it was decided that
Jasper was It. He was known to be kind and disinterested and was
accustomed to dealing out Good Advice. Anything that he said would go
a long Way to head off the Deal.
Accordingly he did a Fatherly Talk to the Daughter of his Old Friend,
giving her a Straight Line on the Conduct of the High-Roller who was
trying to warm up to her.
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