A  very  seedy-looking  vagabond  passenger  got  out
of  the  stage  a  moment  to  wait  till  the  usual  baUast
of  silver  bricks  was  thrown  in.  He  was  standing  on
the  pavement,  when  an  awkward  express  employee,
carrying  a  brick  weighing  a  hundred  pounds,  stum-
bled and  let  it  fall  on  the  bummer's  foot.  He  in-
stantly dropped  on  the  ground  and  began  to  howl
in  the  most  heartbreaking  way,      A  s^onpathizing


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S  ROUGHING    IT

f' crowd  gathered  around  and  were  going  to  pull  his
"boot  off;  but  he  screamed  louder  than  ever  and  they
P  desisted;  then  he  fell  to  gasping,  and  between  the
*  gasps  ejaculated  "Brandy!  for  Heaven's  sake,
..  brandy!"  They  poured  half  a  pint  down  him,  and
;  it  wonderfully  restored  and  comforted  him.  Then
he  begged  the  people  to  assist  him  to  the  stage,
;  which  was  done.  The  express  people  urged  him  to
have  a  doctor  at  their  expense,  but  he  declined,  and
Isaid  that  if  he  only  had  a  little  brandy  to  take  along
:  with  him,  to  soothe  his  paroxysms  of  pain  when  they
came  on,  he  would  be  grateful  and  content.  He  was
quickly  supplied  with  two  bottles,  and  we  drove  off.
He  was  so  smiling  and  happy  after  that,  that  I  could
not  refrain  from  asking  him  how  he  could  possibly
'be  so  comfortable  with  a  crushed  foot.
"Well,"  said  he,  "I  hadn't  had  a  drink  for  twelve
houi^,  and  hadn't  a  cent  to  my  name.  I  was  most
perishing — and  so.  when  that  duffer  dropped  that
hundred-pounder  on  my  foot,  I  see  my  chance.  Got
a  cork  leg,  you  know!"  and  he  pulled  up  his  panta-
loons and  proved  it.
