An Asthmatic Prisoner

He trns a fut vana, alrnont as wide as tlic oorrick door, and ns lio carne out eme of Uie uewsboy's whixprred : " Wbat a fíiuker ho'd mivke fol a fluh Uno!" "Your name is ltufns Jnokson, in it :'" asked the (!ourt. " Yes - certainly - of ceñirse my namc'a Rufus Jackson," whcezed íhe fat man in reply. " And yon hail from Milwaukee ?" " Why', yes - certainly. ■ Lived therc i twenty-eight years. " " And yon wejfe drnnk last night {" "No, - no, sir - I dény the chatre i ín totum. Ncver was more astonishel in my life, si)-. Pci-lmps yon have taken me totUaíla one clse. " " Perbapfi I have, Mr. Jackfton, bilt íf ■ you weren't driink boV carne yon to be lyinp fl:it on the walk, liat in the guttor, gatehei in the Street, and your f cel spread all over? And vhen an ofllcer raised yon tip, Mr. íacJSaon, yon plainly and distinctly exölaimed : ' Zpn't g'way an' iemme 'lono I'll knoek 't h8H4 off!' Woulrt a aober man make such :t ro; mark ?" ' ' Mny it please the Conrt, " wheezed the fat man', " I am a victim of asthma. _ I was bom of honcst parentSj and my lif( bas been one long epoch of respectability. I am fat. I'd give the world to be lean, but I can't be. I can't run; ! Other men eau skip and gamliol j wliilo I must oreep. I oan't sing. I can't ; whistle. 1 am ;ui enthusia8tio])olitician, ! but I can't holler for the candidatos on i my ticket. If l try to my voice merely miikes a sound like wind sobbiug through i a comigatd stovepipe elbow. This asthma is liillitig me by inches. The doc'tor says that I may live to sce strawi beiries como again, but beyond that I daro not hope. Last night as I carne ! into your beantiful city I was seized with a faintnesa and feil down, nnd if the I officers had not fonnd me T should likely j have been robbed and murderod. I am indeed greatly obligod, and I can't close my remarks without complimenting the efficiënt jiolice forco of your handsomo I and orderly city." 1' at man irom Jiinvaunei1, suu uic j Conrt aü tho prisoner paused, " once I i waa liko n cMld. I looked at thiugs as a i child. I bclieved every story and ment, and my héart waa froe from ; ; picion. Men took advantage of mo ; women deceived me with tlieir crocodilo j toare- -I felt sad for tlifi men -who cut theii' hair cloae and bct their money on dog ilghta. I havo cliangcd, Mr. Jack: son. Tho lnmb has Ipfeome a cougar. i That was .1 good fipeech of yours, but I i cau't.part company un til yon hand tho j clerk a ten dollar bilí." Tho prisoner smiled sadly, paid tlio . mojiov añd wíis not long Ketting out of