for April (1901), was his formal and somewhat lengthy
reply.

"I have no prejudice against apologies," he wrote. "I trust I shall
never withhold one when it is due."

He then proceeded to make out his case categorically. Touching the
exaggerated indemnity, he said:

To Dr. Smith the "thirteen-fold-extra" clearly stood for "theft and
extortion," and he was right, distinctly right, indisputably right.
He manifestly thinks that when it got scaled away down to a mere
"one-third" a little thing like that was some other than "theft and
extortion." Why, only the board knows!

I will try to explain this difficult problem so that the board can get
an idea of it. If a pauper owes me a dollar and I catch him unprotected
and make him pay me fourteen dollars thirteen of it is "theft and
extortion." If I make him pay only one dollar thirty-three and a third
cents the thirty-three and a third cents are "theft and extortion," just
the same.

I will put it in another way still simpler. If a man owes me one
dog--any kind of a dog, the breed is of no consequence--and I--but let
it go; the board would never understand it. It can't understand these
involved and difficult things.

He offered some further illustrations, including the "Tale of a King and
His Treasure" and another tale entitled "The Watermelons."

I have it now. Many years ago, when I was studying for the gallows,
I had a dear comrade, a youth who was not in my line, but still a
scrupulously good fellow though devious. He was preparing to
qualify for a place on the board, for there was going to be a
vacancy by superannuation in about five years. This was down South,
in the slavery days. It was the nature of the negro then, as now,
to steal watermelons. They stole three of the melons of an adoptive
brother of mine, the only good ones he had. I suspected three of a
neighbor's negroes, but there was no proof, and, besides, the
watermelons in those negroes' private patches were all green and
small and not up to indemnity standard. But in the private patches
of three other negroes there was a number of competent melons. I
consulted with my comrade, the understudy of the board. He said
that if I would approve his arrangements he would arrange. I said,
"Consider me the board; I approve; arrange." So he took a gun and
went and collected three large melons for my brother-on-the-
halfshell, and one over. I was