More Fables | Page 8

slammed into the Hurry-Up Wagon. Under which
Circumstances the Colonel had the Rabies.
[Illustration: MR. WINFIELD]
At the Police Station he was dragged before a Magistrate and was
charged with Disorderly Conduct, Carrying Concealed Weapons,
Assault and Battery, Assault with Intent to Kill, and Resisting an
Officer.
The Magistrate was a White Man, and to him the Colonel appealed for
Justice, claiming Brotherhood as a Caucasian. He told what would have
happened in Apahatchie if any Coon had dared to lay a finger on a
Colonel.
Here was an opening for the Court. It must be known that the Court
lived in a Ward that was Dark in one End, and he was out for the
Colored Vote in case he ran for Judge. This was his Chance to make a
Grand-Stand Play.
He handed down a Decision to the Effect that all Men are Free and
Equal, with incidental References to the Emancipation Proclamation
and Striking the Shackles from Four Millions of Human Beings. He
Ratified the Constitution and Permitted the Negro to stand in the Free
Sunlight. In Apahatchie County he would have been used for Target
Practice, but Apahatchie County was still Eight Hundred Miles away.
In Conclusion he Soaked the Colonel for $32.75 in Fines and Costs,
Confiscating the Weapon, which he afterward presented to Officer Otis
Beasley as a Slight Token of Esteem.
Next Morning, as a south-bound Passenger Train was crossing the Ohio
River, the Colored Porter on the Atlanta Sleeper jumped eighty feet

from the Trestle into the Water in order to Escape with his Life.
MORAL: A Head Waiter must be Ruled by Kindness.

THE FABLE OF THE CORPORATION DIRECTOR AND THE
MISLAID AMBITION
One of the Most Promising Boys in a Graded School had a Burning
Ambition to be a Congressman. He loved Politics and Oratory. When
there was a Rally in Town he would carry a Torch and listen to the
Spellbinder with his Mouth open.
The Boy wanted to grow up and wear a Black String Tie and a Bill
Cody Hat and walk stiff-legged, with his Vest unbuttoned at the Top,
and be Distinguished.
On Friday Afternoons he would go to School with his Face scrubbed to
a shiny pink and his Hair reached up on one side, and he would Recite
the Speeches of Patrick Henry and Daniel Webster and make Gestures.
When he Graduated from the High School he delivered an Oration on
"The Duty of the Hour," calling on all young Patriots to leap into the
Arena and with the Shield of Virtue quench the rising Flood of
Corruption. He said that the Curse of Our Times was the Greed for
Wealth, and he pleaded for Unselfish Patriotism among those in High
Places.
He boarded at Home for a while without seeing a chance to jump into
the Arena, and finally his Father worked a Pull and got him a Job with
a Steel Company. He proved to be a Handy Young Man, and the
Manager sent Him out to make Contracts. He stopped roaching his Hair,
and he didn't give the Arena of Politics any serious Consideration
except when the Tariff on Steel was in Danger.
[Illustration: AMBITIOUS YOUTH]
In a little while he owned a few Shares, and after that he became a

Director. He joined several Clubs and began to enjoy his Food. He
drank a Small Bottle with his Luncheon each Day, and he couldn't talk
Business unless he held a Scotch High Ball in his Right Hand.
With the return of Prosperity and the Formation of the Trust and the
Whoop in all Stocks he made so much Money that he was afraid to tell
the Amount.
His Girth increased--he became puffy under the Eyes--you could see
the little blue Veins on his Nose.
He kept his Name out of the Papers as much as possible, and he never
gave Congress a Thought except when he talked to his Lawyer of the
Probable Manner in which they would Evade any Legislation against
Trusts. He took two Turkish Baths every week and wore Silk
Underwear. When an Eminent Politician would come to his Office to
shake him down he would send out Word by the Boy in Buttons that he
had gone to Europe. That's what he thought of Politics.
One day while rummaging in a lower Drawer in his Library, looking
for a Box of Poker Chips, he came upon a Roll of Manuscript and
wondered what it was. He opened it and read how it was the Duty of all
True Americans to hop into the Arena and struggle unselfishly for the
General Good. It came to him in a Flash--this was his High School
Oration!
Then suddenly he remembered that for several Years of his Life his
consuming Ambition