Town he would have to zigzag so as to cover
both sides of the Street and glad-hand all of his Acquaintances.

From time to time he joined Fraternal Organizations and took
blistering Oaths that he would always love his Fellow-Man and stand
for any Touch within Reason. Consequently a good many People found it
cheaper to send for him than to hire a Professional Nurse. He would
travel Miles in order to have the Pleasure of sitting up with a
Corpse. And he was one of the handiest Pall-Bearers in the Business.

Any one who happened to be nursing a Hard-Luck Story would hunt
up sympathetic Jasper and give him the Grip and then weep on his
Shoulder. Usually he promised to do what he could to square Matters,
even though he had to cut in where he wasn't wanted. In flying around,
trying to reinstate No-Goods who had lost their Jobs and secure
Salaried Positions for Nice Fellows who were willing to do anything
except Work, he got many a Jolt, but he was not discouraged.

One of his regular Assignments was to arbitrate a Domestic Scrap,
merely out of the Goodness of his Heart.

In this way he managed to re-unite quite a number of Couples who were
afterward sorry that they had been reuned, and what they said about
him would get the Blue Pencil if inserted at this Point.

When a kind-hearted Herring starts out to be a Relief Bureau and First
Aid to the Injured and a portable Home for the Friendless, nobody
tries to take the Job away from him. His Acquaintances do what they
can to boost his Game.

[Illustration: _A Touch._]

Therefore when any one in that Community sought out a Busy Man of
Affairs and began to unwrap his Tale of Woe and offer to exhibit his
wounds, the B.M. of A. would say, "Here, I'll give you a Letter of
Introduction to my old friend Jasper. He is a Samaritan from away
back."

It came about that Jasper's Outer Office was frequently coagulated
with a Choice Assortment of Pan-Handlers, and all the short-winded
Brothers who want to hitch on to somebody's else Pull, as they say in
Boston.

At times Jasper would become weary of having Folks come along and
turn their Private Griefs over to him, but he did not want to become
a Cynic and lose his Faith in Human Nature. He was frequently Stung,
but still he could not resist any Appeal that was backed up by a few
Weeps.

In the Course of Time he came into quite a Bundle of Money, and then
all the Bread that he had cast on the Waters came back to him, a
Bakery at