Show CAUGHT IN THE thiap THE GREAT SMALLPOX SWINDLE AND HOW IT WAS WORDED A exl well planned scheme y velch two sl tri men kol a hotel keeper out 0 I 1 dare say you never heard of tho great smallpox ox swindle said the hotel manager the facts of that re affair vere withheld at the time for the roost urgent reasons 0 policy and even now I 1 prefer to tell tho story without names or localities it happened in tho tall 0 asso when a certain hotel in a large western city vas crowded with tourists one day at the height of the season tio gen looking strangers put up at the bouse and were assigned to what w 0 call a double room about a w eek later one of them appeared at the of alco and requested a private interview ft ath the manager I 1 regret to inform you be said after the door was los cd that my friend Is down with a seere attack of smallpox the eletor nearly fell out of his chair there was known to be small pox in the city and the bare aton that tl c disease bad appeared in the hotel was enough to empty it in a twinkling to let the news get out meant the loss of thousands upon thou sands of dollars it meant the ruin of the season s business he must be quietly removed at once said the proprietor trying to control his agitation removed exclaimed the other taken through the cold air to a lazo why man that would be mur not permit the hotel keeper was thunder struck do you mean to say he must tay here he gasped certainly said the stranger it w as a ticklish situation the hotel dare not enforce his buggea tion while to let the case remain was like storing gunpowder in a furnace room lie pleaded protested begged threatened and blustered but all in vain abe man was firm as a rock it you attempt to eject m sick friend he declared publish your inhumanity to the entire community 1 anally it occurred to tl e distracted proprietor to sec first whether it was really a case of ox so he sent toi a sore him to secrecy and him up to the room the doctor took one look at the disfigured face on the pillow and reported ahat the mahdy was there in a malignant type he a i isad the man a immediate removal at any coat if you keep him concealed he said the disease may spread and it would ruin ou for life on owe something to your guests again the interviewed tie friend and again the latter refused to budge from his position V here can 1 take him he demand ed iou know very well I 1 cant get comfortable quartet s tor guch a purpose and I 1 won t have him butchered in a to please any landlord on edithl ibe hotel man felt ahli hair stand on end but concluded to let tl ings stand as they were until morn ing next day he sent for the sick man a friend and askel bilm whether he had any suggestions to make es he I 1 thought up a ahn over night which you may adopt or not as you like Vs I 1 mild before he it is useless to try to rent quarters qu aiters foi such a case e might lotterer lott ever buy n cottage an 1 taki him tl en I 1 have floured the thing up nn 1 the total be rubout if iou aie to ban 1 over amount I 1 will take 1 lui away an 1 assume all fenler on I 1 makl the ent liely out of aykui itan for houi gm ats tin I 1 nikloi 1 1 I 1 iro in tl e eye I 1 too ba thought the over be bill antl I 1 m convinced its a con Q leu t gin e uie and simile I 1 m convinced there s nothing tl e mat ter with 3 our frand up stairs but 1 am alao that the t eat brantli of tl i affair would greatly camaci ahe of tl e house As a bus lueis 1 consider it worth j to get rid of you the oil er man smile 1 ironically call a cab and get out our money lie sal 1 an 1 inside an bour the incubus had been spirited through a side door tanu cl in blankets and driven away s tl e landlord shrewdly surmised the whole thing was a confidence game and he the particulars later on through a sport I 1 e had once befriend ed n ere as nothing abo matter with the rascal up stairs excel t that ats face had I 1 ten pricked a little with a quill dined in crotto oil something that makes a horrible looking pustule which i tars in a few days and leaves no mark I 1 aldays thought the hotel man good sense in tak ing tt e couram he dl 1 lie ag caught in a trap and took lb cheapest way out tie bare rumor of aviu a sus titled case would ro bibly line in olvid a loss of or it ag far better to py the and charge it to ew rimes |