Evening Star Newspaper, February 20, 1921, Page 56

THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, FEBRUARY 207 1921-PAR%T & A Story of Business Life by FrederickOrin Bartlett keep house for Grandpa Eaton, and I]graceful neck adorned with the famous have a great deal to do.” Mihdred-thousand-dollar necklace. There That's kind of tough after work-|i wonder if his own eves ing all day,” he sympathized. sparkled in -return: small wonder wha )t a bit of when the glasses were raised in a toast “You mean to her he found it difficuit to put down “Certainly his own glass untasted. “And_you don’t “Eh?" commented Fifi to him with her break the monotony dark: brows lifted. “I don't have time." “If vou will allow me to drink the “Well, honest, 1 don't see toast in something else,” he sald. actually afraid to listen to the cries|enough to Waye his servic of the newsboys with their special|gave a low whistle editions; and when she passed a tele- | - “yo ; e - Dthont d""”!;'h e mnm:d“"‘ ,uz some sport,” he com. stopped. ere was no reason she| Talbot gri knew of why she Should mot deter- | anceeecds 1 Seurs anithe o iadar s mine for herself how he was getting| e started on the job in less than along. Still, even after she picked up | five minutes by dropping in on Miss the telephone book, she was not fully | Wadsworth to see how the multigraphs - decided. It was only after she had|machine way working. It was slipped in her nickel that she. knew | ing only toé well, She hud her she was going to do it. Then _shelioward him as he entered and ap- asked the clerk if Mr. Talbot was still | peared very pusy . ere, meaning only to find out if he | «y ? ¢ Was ST BMIve, and she was &t once | besan amenpat SorionnE T Sonnected with Taibot himself. She| If the machine itself had spokem most dropped the receiver when she | her she aimoat deopped her sh d hardly have been F INTANGIBLES —Jjust mone: Give him that—not a picayune little salary, but a real kill- ing that would allow him to stuff his Pockets full—and the world was his. There was nothing to it after that. ‘These rows upon rows of houses that now bordered the streets like barrier walls when he went out upon tilem at the ciose of the day’'s work would then swing open their hos- why, also, his career seemed to the press so undramatic. * ok ok ok HE did not paint the town red, be- way. cause his tastes did not run that Even though champagne corks were popping in those days, he did not pop any because he did not care about his nerve and his coolness, which was right; but when it was all over he was as lifeless as a dead bat- tery. He needed recharging. He went uptown, engaged a room at one of the big hotels, crawled in between the clean linen and slept for twenty four hours. Which Talbot finally: did awake, it was to some of the most satisfactory He had, as HE least important person in the luxurious offices of R. F. Knight & Son of New York city, dealers in oil securities, was, undoubtédly, Miss Nathalie ‘Wadsworth, who operated the multi- graphing machine. She dld not ou enjoy it ever hanker to what you ameunt to a hill of beans or a row of pins or anything else of minor conse- quence, for, although she fllled her position capably enough, it was more pitable doors. Cafes, stores, theaters, dreams of his young life. homes, which now had posted at their entrances flupkeys to warn him away, would pass the word along to these same flunkeys to greet him they say. the world by the tail. ing now remained but for him make the most of this position—to make the world give up Noth- to commanding to draw upon resources of the next day to heighten the excitement of a single evening. He preferred to get out of th ‘m living, Iy. “And it ‘That doe don't she answered earnest un just to live, isn't it? n't look to me like living. vourself ¥rom pique she turned to him with fresh interest. She noted his clear, flushed cheeks. Her eyelashes dropped and she held slightly above tho table, if for her own critical inspection. “Who is it?" he demanded. “No on she answered, paradoxi- heard you were hdrt and——" tat him, coyll surprised. | T unable to speak quite Iandsome po—a bit all the more attractive for didn’t _you urning quickly, she She looked frightened. beg telephome me D he who was of val- [with a_smile. Gay colors, to Wm all X & With- [ have his fun more evenly distributed. | Why ou give the m?:'"n: "':‘ ok asaeta | pretty’ faces. silks Y qCoiors, music, | fo Wm all that so far It bad wlhi|This was, in 2 wav. a handicap. It |chance? Come along with me the fingers flashing with emerald and ho demanded. R ue. Viewed ub a met qui entertainers 'to make him laugh and | from now on he meant to live. took out’ of Broadway 90 per cent|evening and lct me riby and diamonds. L ———— feature R. F. Knight & Son were al-| weep and sigh and keep him on the| No one ever started with more con- |2f its possibilit Tt cut him down i ng. s P In these? questioned as though T are ot Haea e {, mean it ways obliged to consider in their|sharp edge of life, stood waiting |fidence or enthusiasm. I knew ex- |3t once to those things which are| She shook her head. “I haven't|to test him. A L s meant4o find out how you were, business—she would not have inven- | UPGE his Sl actly what he wanted. In brief, it f"fi;':m'%n:nt n(‘zrmkl. heallgy-hod[i‘pd time to'find out what I'm missing.” ||~ “If those are what you want.” he an- et Pe;ximra\r ("h elerk and the operator “Hurry.” they seem . W o ing | ¥ an who stays sober. is o - e o toried as much as a desk. are ready ’r?m onx;dl:an.s::git 'vrw"e‘ g?“w;::g (f)grp{;g'lngrltr):‘:p:nrn::x“';\: case is not s uniq\?u tad as it -4 tan i she replied with a cynical V{'l(?d-bb".lns“ih‘?‘ipedi he was ane kind little operator ™ Tt can easily be understood. then,|need is a bit of gold. Get it quickly | had been deprived for lack of means. then. But evervthing else was|THEY had reached the dairy 1uneh |'¢mije. “We shall see. e e i e e e oIt tyre you-dofg here?™ she that to those accustomed to dealing jand join us.” There were certain obligations to|at his command—all those things she patronized every da She If you'll tell me whéfre to send e s oh:cn"_ o | asked suspiciously, I torprises placed on the market| And with a bit of luck this bit of | relatives and acquaintances that he|Which he had missed as a fifty-doi- | \1yceq, expecting him to go on. But| * 1 will do better. T will tell B N onDeia An e R AT ¢ Back at ek, « -3 in million-share lots, par value $5 a|Rold was 8o easily gotten. He saw | meant to pay off as debts. but the lar-a-week man tied down to work |PAUSEd €1 G ’ { where to find me tomorrow afterno ”Pr iot!:"e D“d h i :hx e!t‘;‘\l!r - Then you did 16se—-** ¥ Mhare Miss Wadsworth looked like a [ it done every day upon the street.|reat was his. It was pecuiiarly his [for the best part of every day. All|he dld not wish fo o on. He much | 444 1 will assist you in the selection tion to her.'and vet when she sat| “Lost agsin” he broke in. “But 4 pretty small proposition. |He had seen Knight & Son do it a | because he had no immediate family | {he tangible things of life awaited | preferred to remain with her. and| 1f she had expected to embarass Billy uow A ob mhoco i Der leeks con- line on something real now.” . To ather ways. however—intangible | dozen times and helped them do it.|and mno close friends. He had gone |his choosing. Every morning when|vet i (here was one thing he con- | Talbot when she threw back her head | tinued a brilliant scarlet “Then—g068d 1dék again.” she smiled. little ways—Miss Wadsworth showed | The firm was alleged to have made |out on his own and played the game [he awoke he had only to plan what | sl ® and flashed her white tecth at him, she| £ * K% % Whereupon she resumed the work up fo better advantage. Yet no one|half a million in Golden Flow, and [ alone and won alone. Now his win- | he Should do during the day and|gratulated himscif on having perma- ¢ have been disappointed. FALBOT. pacing the heavily carpet- | Hpas D D Beemed to appreciate this except Billy | before this had made again and again | nings were for him to enjoy alone. evening, and at night it was his|nently abolished from his life, it was he answered. o Dl PeL-| That was all right as far as Talbot Talbot, who -represented Knight & |half-millions. Tt was as easy as ¥ %k privilege to review them again at yhe dairy lunch. He had looked at ¢d iroom (with'hisihiead bandnged § was concoroel. jiin exhectel Bt Lt Son on the curb and himself every- | Making half-dollars if only a man his leisure. knowing that he could f 0 CCUE HOCE LR T 0 dered like a woynded Turk,-repeated over | S S00n as the curb market closed he ead-white e dde where else. And he realized that to refer to Miss Wadsworth's personal | did it on a big enough scale. He could do it himself once he got a 'OR an hour Talbot gave himself up sleep as long as he wished His program as a rule was to break- at thought of it. And the thick heay: At three. From the other end of the table Bangs and over to himself a fool phrase. It planned to be back again _Just as she was getting ready 1o Ietributes as real assets was mereiy |Start. He might be doing it within to one dizzy plan after another. | g "¢ 10, enjoy a stroll down the |mugs. And the battered silver. Ani 4. somewhat peeved : was this Jeave, sure enough he appearéd, a pretty figure of sneech. They were | SIX months if the gusher went well. He had not yet had time to read the | zvenue and back for a bite of lunch|the food as soulless as photograph the joke? “She cared—enough to telephone™ |looking somewhat tired after his Tet oven substantial enough to be| Tomorrow—that is what kept Biily | papers, and so he did not know how lat 1; then a movie in the afternoon.of food joke between Monsieur Offhand this did not seem. to be | StTenuous day. He had been obliged taxed, which is getting assets down to as fine a point as it is possible to | get them on this plane. or were they easily inventoried. Studied in detail, Miss Wadsworth ‘was not strikingly beautiful: and yet Talbot, when out of the office, could call her to mind as idly as though she stoed before him, when the most he eould ever recall of prettier girls was the fact that they were pretty. Miss Wadsworth never attempted to do_anything in particular with her hair, and yet it was difficult to forget the finen#ss and gloss of it. There was nothing especially significant about her gray eyes except that they were impressively honest, or her straight nose, or her gentle mouth; but she had not been established in that outer office a week before he found himself carrving around in his mind, as in a locket, the picture she made when seated pertly independent before her work. E ok ok ok S!u: was quite as unrelated to this work as the machine she oper- ated—quite unrelated, in fact, to the ‘whole office. Somehow Talbot placed Rer in = class with the gallery of debutantes who appear in the photo- Sravure jection of the better Sunday e spapers. She possessed the same *poise, the same direct challenge that Linegts a man eye to eye, the same su- perjority to setting or circumstance. } Intangibles! = Talbot was not given to that kind of preciation ‘either. His standard of beauty was based upon the successes of reot gardens. where graces were displayed upon the surface and 2 man was not obliged to guess at much -of anything. There was Fifi Collette now festured, who could have had Talbot for the asking and did not ask, Derhaps because in the dollar seat which: was his limit she could not see bim. But, man dear, she had golden hair that toek all serts of marvelous turns, eyes that flashed to the ‘last row of msdmiring men, color and curves and rustling silks and jewels— .all go clearly and definitely displayed hat 3 pressagent could catalogue them ‘witheut .mg as exhibit A, exhibit B, exhibit C. could Talbot, while he observed her on the stage. But after that it wes necessary for him to pay another dollar in order to refresh his memeory. This was & decided disadvantage be- csuse at this time he did not have many dollars, On the salary of fifty a ‘week he lost pretty consistently one- half of it in optimistic attempts to beat the market. Out of what was left he was to waste something on board room. The remainder he invested in dress and entertainment. He dressed as weil as his means al- lowed as a matter of personal taste, fer he enjoyed. d clothes and wore jum height and wil ; nervous face, alert tense mouth, he Jegn_ selected in a crowd &k _one of a half dozen ng intelligence, ve. - o something of this first baing the only ome of the fellows who hustled office of Knight & the fact that Miss 18 not quite the usual y:asnployed in the down- A4S Me revealed the ‘other 4m venturing to speak x‘na nothing whatéver #anch of the business. late one rainy aft- iden Flow, par value Bhad bought at 50 cents, e 46, cleaning him out of kalf 3 weak's €alary and leaving him a bit lonesome. “I hope you didn't read any of those Jast circuigrs you sent out on Golden Flow.” he obgerved. Talbot going. The next day might See the golden snowball start rolling down the golden slope,' growing in size with each click of the ticker, until finally he. gathered it into his walting arms. * Tomorrow is what made it possible for ly Talbot to edge Into a whit utomatic lunch that evening Ichral splendor ine at ~“time on breakfast food: toi s what made it possible for #m to hold his head erect when hurrying along Broadway toward his dull room; to- morrow is what made it possible for him to wave his hand in gay greeting as he Pllled the poster still annouac- ing Mlle. Collette at the Roof Garden. And yet, oddly enough, when he final- ly reached that room his thoughts switched swiftly to Miss Wadsworth. “She’s probably home by now.” he though! Then below his breath he added, “Poor devil!” * % % ¥ 'HERE are those on the street who| still talk about the gusher be- cause it did the last thing in the world that Knight & Son expected of it—it gushed. Purely for adver- tising purposes, and to cover the law, Knight, senior, actually sank a well. Nothing makes a more dramatic pic- room. ney. “Well, else?" - “You execution. “You ar ~I want to get a story of your first day as a millionaire” explained Bar- | “I'm assigned te follow you until you turn in tonight.” 8re you?” -snapped Talbot, t cut can’t do that, Mr. Talbot. a public character now.’ “I don’t know.how. you figure that. It it's advertising do; I'm out of Gusher.” “Planning a cam; betch swered Talbot. the market “You must have hit it right. hang -around until you've ‘eaten. want to get a line on what you order.” Talbot sidled away; the word had been passed around, for he found the head waiter addressing expectantly a large public was wait ing to see him put some of these into | or comedy in the evening, It was not until he came down to breakfast that this new phase of success was, called to his at- tention by an eager young reporter intent upon a Sunday special. had been waiting around ever since 7 that morning, and it was now 1 hotel clerk pointed out Talbot as soon as he appeared, and Barney stopped him as he wes entering the dining arney The it out, will you?" You're Pe you're after, paign on something on breakfast,” an- “I'm through Wwith rm 1 but evidently IN ORDER WAYS, HOWEVER—INTANGIBLE LITTLE WAYS—MISS WADSWORTH SHOWED UP TO BETTER ADVANTAGE. TO APPRECIATE THIS EXCEPT BILLY TALBOT. followed by dinner, a musical show vith a look in at the roof garden afterward. He ordered his seat now of an agency which landed him in the front rows. If Mlle. Collette did not see him these days, it was her own fault. In evening clothes he made rather an unusually good-looking figure and might easily have been mistaken for a wealthy young collegian. There were times “when Talbot felt quite sure she did see him. There was a feature of her act when she came close to the footlights and tossed into the audfence a silk garter. This fell into his lap one evening, and somewhat sheepishly he stuffed it into his pocket. He examined it later with considerable curiosity. In some ways Mlle. Collette was not as rayishihgly beautiful from the front row as from the balecony. Her rouge and stenciled brows were some- what overemphasized. This, however, he understood to be a requirement of her make-up. He saw her three times that first week and she saw him, he was sure, ut least onc It was one morning after breakfast that Miss Wadsworth popped into Talbot's head—quite without invita- tion or apology. It was as he was starting rather aimlessly down the avenue, for his morning stroll had _{den, and half YET NO ONE SEEMED “Do vou mind if I come in you?” he asked. he frowned. Then she tossed up her chin and with a slight shrug of the shoulder led the way. 4 He ate nothing because he’could not. She dined with apparent relish on a sandwich and a cup of cocoa. He tried to appropriate her check, but she balked him. In less than ten minutes they wer upon the street again. } s “I must take my walk now," informed him “I may eome?" “But surely you must have a great | many things to do,” she suggested. Nothing just at present “With time and all New draw upbn for amusement TI've been at it a whole wee “That is Such a little while “True, but there’s another coming. She 'started at a brisk pace on her constitutional and he followed. That {s the best that can be said of any invitation to accompany her that he may have thought he had. But it served his purpose. I had a fine little party all plan- for us he explained. Really?* Dinner at the Ritz.” he nodded indifferentl with she week and me,” she answered. “H drinks my health tomorrow in a new €. \lbot was game from the start. He met Mlle. Collette the afternoon follow- ing the dinner—met her for the first time in ‘broad daylight. She did not appear quite as fresh or quite as brilliant, he thought, when he looked her fair in the face; but faking her as a whole. includ- ing Wer wonderful Paris raiment, ‘she was decidedly striking. At any rate she cas still Mile. Colictte of the Roof Gar- New York recognized her as such on sight. Her own car was waiting to take them to the avenue and when she stepped out before the city's Lsmartcst jewelers a dozen stopped to turn and when she entered a dozen clerks nt the news around. Billy was a bit nfused, but at that he did not suffer by mparison. Tall, erect, flushed with suth, Immaculately, if somewhat quietly drossed, he s escort of whom mademoiselle could well be proud. At the gem counter she turned to him with her dark eves brilliant. “What's the limit?" she asked. “No limit,” he answered coolly. murmured Fifi in delight. * k X K O FOR a half-hour she toyed with this pretty stone and that, match- ing each upon her slim white finger. holding each to the light, demanding Billy's opinion of each, but in the end relying always upon her own sure taste. Bagerly as a child she played ith them, picking them up and’put- ting them down, and like a child find- ing it dificult to decide among SO many. Talbot watched her with a certain pride of being here, with a certain sense of power in his position which allowed him this privilege of pleasing her, with a certain apprecia- tion of her charm and daintiness, but on the whole with not as keen a re- action as he expected. That was curi- ous, because now he was dealing quite definitely in tangibles. Mile. Collette called for no effort, of imagination, and, théugh he knew nothing about stones, they were con- Vertible into terms of money, 50 that one was left with a clear conception of their value. Yet when Fifi made her decision—a ruby of rare coloring and size—and the clerk announced the price as $10,000 Billy Talbot sought this check book with scarcely more than amused surprise that he was not 1t ore for his money ge""{n?sm‘w.. much questioned Fifi, more concerned, oddly enough, than he was himself, “Not if it exclises me he answered. “Ah,” .she whispered, “it does more than that.” & “Then everybody's happy,” he con- cluded. The stone was left to be mounted. They returned to the car and he or- dered the driver to Sherry's. As he for last night,” sank into the seat beside her Fifi {placed her ungloved hand upon hisj and, throwing back her head, looked him through smiling. half-closed Gyes. But somehow Talbot did not feel the thrill that was his due. It was not Mlle. Collette. but her friends, or, rather, the friends of Ted Bangs, who persuaded Talbot into the little card game which later in the week cleaned him out of fifty thou- sand more. He vould not have blamed any one for it had the game been straight, but toward the end he discovered that it was not. Even s the thing he got peeved about was that Bangs deprived him of a gam- bler's chance and so took all the pep out of the proposition. And, of course, it was a grave breach of etiquette to lmention this, but Talbot did. He made out a check on the spot, much to get excited about. The ef- fort had cost. her only a nickel and a few moments of. her time—just a nickel and a few moments of her time. But that was the very fact that Impressed him. He himself had just spent some seventy thousand ldollars and a whole month without receiving in return a tenth part of the. honest-to-God joy she had fur- nished him through that trivial in vestment of hers. Viewed purel from a business point of wview it proved that she was the better finan- cier. Yet when he tricd out something definite along this line nothing sensible resulfed. For example, hre considerad convert- ing his whole two hundred and odd thousand dollars into nickels and handing them over to her—four and a half million of them. But this did dot get him anywhere. The practical difficulty in transferring to her that- many nickels. And even if he succeeded in doing this he feit sure that to ask her to slip these one by one into a telephone slot for tlie pur- pose of ringing him up would be to ask for too much of her time. Be- the rest of his life He meant, as a matter of fact, to get out as soon as the fool doctoriwould unwind his head. In the meanwhile she might telephone at least once more. She did not, but oddiv enough it was this hope that kept him alert this hope and nothing else. cared enough to ring himi up once; she might care enough to ring him up twice. It would only cost her a nick- el—the twentieth part of a dollar. a8 the showmen used to explain. Then why didn't she do it? He could not ring her up except at the office, and she would not approve of that. Be- sides, i. would not be the same Furthermore. as the days went by sides he did not intend to remain here | 3 {whep, She had, to figure | 1. to stand a good deal of chafling and it got on his nerves. Going home”' he asked. <" she nodded aliy he watched her as she ad- justed her ha would " have- mate smile,. and yet a coming hat MHle: he had kno®m her as she pickégd up auarter. and his heart. begansio. fmostbut of Br. u‘% fad—just hom t—a little old hat that Cottette wonderfulty » e Nngers bl tohmd Cha mm. |unjeweled fingers bus iple cloak sie had wnrn'a‘..? He watched. her r purse that ably contaiped nothing larger t And hus cyes grew efger - Kim- ince il o “ras .t that: was all. Ws where this home waf ur what i ! That was not impor- tant. lofiz as it ebBthined her, that wag enough. sharp hour before he ‘was i the desolate, wempty city! GHE stagled 1rol trempbiing with e ik e must, Tgie! Took kbl like a~princess. Lord, if he have only an hour ©of il to take thei cdge off the - nightarsust an it back into B somm ‘and. % Fement e ven- -, He did not know’ 1d cpul ‘So”in silente thes came to the creseing’ where the u;:_: policemah “8tood. “Good night, Mr: Talbot. past them. seized her hand. - “Don’t send me back.” he “Lordy. iU's terrible to be left It must be that A home-going crowd was pressing Under cover of them.he he forgot to re- the less he felt he would be satisfled j lcase her hand, because it remained . in merely hearing her voice. wanted to see her—to talk with her. He wanted to touch her hand. wanted—good Lord, he found himself anting a thousand things centering | tfiis chance.” 'he confeksed. around her; a thousand little things 2 hpusand {tangiple things; » thow sand:things jewelefsnever heard of; It swas & week béfore Talbot £it out,” and thén the first thing he aiij as the simplest He | ted. ay of"getting i) breath. He | within *his. —L'm sorry for you,” she admit- * job_just “for “T've got™ , but it won't_buy a beggar, I ook fa The big_policeman glanced “I returned,to the ol enough money lefi anything I want. 'I'm yau, funfess Yoydet me el fi‘i el 1 eves hadt ek touch with a certain person was fo)toward them and swung his sign. 80 to the office of Knight & Son ard| Talbot seized her offer his services to the firm in his former capacity and at his old salary. good spender himseli, but he knew what Talbot had made and knew that a man never came back to work un- less it,was necessary. He was glad HE street level halls of the New National Museum building have taken on the aspect of a war museum. They have been giv- en over to the display of articles that illustrate most of the phases of the great war. In these halls all find much “that interests them, and really a very large percentage of the visitors seem to find their greatest in- terest there. A large scalc model of a trench Is oe of the popular and striking ex- hibits. Most persons study in silence the bit of terrain and subterrain and “See,” he panted. And-as Talbot hur ‘Good old sport!’ (Copyright. ington. her dizzily The Son of Knight & Son was a pretty on he turned to the blye-coat. he exclaimed.; Printel by arrangement Metropolitan Newspaper Kervice and The Wash- tu Interesting War .Reliés for New National Museum: great' cookingakettles: and the ‘cans—~ as big as garbege cans—and the big 4 1 th g cases for food. . These cans and owses of food are carried by men, and the food served to legend says: “Liberty kitches those wantimg It “The for bringing hot food to soldiers ‘in the front lfne. The “portable disinfector,” used by the medical department, comaes in for a large measure of notice from v It is as big as the engine of a ors. large threshing machine. it- Groups of strangefs may mnearly al- ways be found locomotive” an ound the “light ga the section of nar: row-gauge railway on which it stands. It is, of course, an_automobile, but then. so, too, is a lGcomotiv, are “auto-mobile.” ‘They But this machine “It mewer eecurs to me to read any |ture than a skeleton-like derrick | him by name a ® |now become enough of a habit to ‘The theater afterward—best in |, handed it to Bangs he said: [seem tensely interested in the grim |looks like a queer railroad locomotive, of them ™ Miss Wadsworth - replied | erected beside a small _shed, with | [n2 p¥ Teme gnd solicitously Sonsult- | e;ve him time to think, This was to- | town . et Eo0d Bport, becaupe YOU | ind tragic suggestiveness of the pic- | and it 1x. run by gasoline on auto: Pleassntly enough. “But why?’ steam coming from pipes. It might| ““ppywhere out of sight of { | ward the middle of April, arid the sun| “It was thoughtful of you to re-|qgid not give me a run for my money.| ... - mpere is a deep and relatively. mobile principles. It has a cab at the: ure. “It would probably have cost you “The stuff slumped ten points to- “Really?” she answered. with less nterest than she would have shown r-d be iInformed her it was now rain- ng. T ought to have known better my- @elf. byt this' one sounded so darned ®ood 1 theught I could get in an: out. Well, 1 got out all right. ‘You mean you lost?" 1 sure did. Our Mr. Knight is now picking the bones.” properly be used as an emblem in industry. Knight had these snap- shots sprinkled all over the cheaper Sunday papers and on the strength of them boosted the stock from 10 cents—par value, $5, of course—to 40 cents. i Out of a conservative part of these proceeds he kept boring to lend flavor to his daily reports that he was now down so many feet. The stock went to 50. Then one after- noon Knight received a frantic tele- gram. And somehow Billy Talbot got wind of that telegram. What he did in the next hour is remembered by those who perhaps have forgotten Talbot. deposit Trust. in Libertys, with ‘When hawk ‘of a newspaper man, He was given his choice of corner tables and selected the nearest. here for the enjoyed himself. his time was his own and he chose from the menu thoughtfully and at will, with not the slightest respect for ‘the tiny adjacent figures heretofore had always governed his taste and curbed his appetite. had that morning some $300,000 on And next hour he thoroughly He -was hungry, that He the Knickerbocker he had time to invest s he intended, he would have an income of around $12,000 a was getting high. Its warmth as it moved across the blue sky suggested spring. But as far as Talbot knew this suggestion had nothing to do with Miss Wadsworth. He just hap- pened to think of her, that was all, and, thinking of her, began to wonder what she was doing with herself. The Gusher, he knew, was still giving Knight & Son plenty to do without starting any fresh enterprise, and so the multigraph could not be very busy these days. In that case she ought to have more or less time on her hands. In that case—well, he had not dropped into the office since he left, and it would be only decent to pay his re- i remainder of the distance untii they member me. That much ate.” she said sincerely. But you won't come? She shook her head. Then Talbot made the mistake of gelting peeved. “Oh, very well,” he concluded with | an indifferent air, not nearly as suc- cessful as hers because it was not nearly as sincere. She appeared relieved, and In her relief chatted on almost gavly the 1 appreci- were in sight of the office entrance. Then she stopped and held out her hand. I'll leave you here. you.” Good luck to This game was crooked.” gs was encouraged by the fact that. his five friends gathered in close behind him at this point. “You must learn to be a better loser,” he answered, with an ugly smile. Talbot was young and he had not been drinking. He looked over the group—five of them—and replied, de- libarately “No. 1 must learn to keep from thieves. “That's rough talk.” growled Bangs. “I'm ready to back it up. Then Bangs lost his temper. He stepped forward as though to strike, away narrow ditch with a wooden-slatted walk-way at the bottom to save, if possible, men from wading in water. IThs nearly if not quite perpendicular {taces of this deep ditch are revetted with logs—that is, faced with logs (llid somewhat in log cabin style—and ifrom the bottom to the top of the forward revetment lead broad ladders ’ul) which it would seem that two men abreast might climb in going over the top. Small burlap bags filled with earth are laid and packed along the edges of the ditch. It is not a straight itch, its 1éngth being interrupted by l l l back for the “engineer,” ‘the “hood’ over the engine takes the place of.the boiler. ing rods. Attached to this exhibit which tells this: Light gas railway locomotive — During the d there are two smail wheels on each side, connected up with driv- is'a card, worid war a'vital neeexsity arose. for'a means {of transportation -for relieving the immense | burden-of trafii on the highwaye, and foday & | vast petwork of narrow-gauge railwars exists along the entice western front. The primary function of light railways s to deliver ammunitic ylies promprix in the front lipe, and they ficiency troops. rations and sup. r of the immediate h their greatest ef- a wur of position suck as developed “I'm”sofry vou lost” she retu sincerely, which was the last ‘;‘;;: u..' tguhsher.dli‘?r ::El::x:t::pol';;\‘yfl: year—a thousand dollars a month |SPeOts to the firm. : )(;c'lun;( her havl|1d. but no snr‘nf!lund Er""“.,';a‘ Fame ot [hehe-(\ning vas | “traverses” or cross D;cllo‘n!hso that o The westers frant. in the world Talbot expected h what he made in | Not an extravagant sum, hut 2| With a smile Talbot recalled that|had he done so thag it with- [on. Talbot waded into the six with- [, shell exploding in the ditch wou! 7 o S e er 10| the stock sky-rocketed to $10, the | o0 an extravagant sum, but more | o A on fa toad ereen hee to|drawn, and, with a bright smile, she |out a chance in the world, but for five {afect only one section of it. Out to-| Among the exhibitsare various opti- may. He had not been looking for| sympathy, for he was not even pitying himself. A man must take his losses press seized upon him and created for the entertainment of thelr read- of those cternally fasci- | z=f oo gence in the matter of meals, then he could draw on not It not, principal. 0 with him to the movies. to redeem himself for that. a position He ought He was in her a real was on her way to the other side of | the street. He started after, but at| that moment the big pol in man| minutes he kept them excecedingly busy. It was always a source of in- tense gratification to him that before ward the enemy country is green and llow earth, tumbled in places and ttered over with stones. The far- cal instruments, among these being a monocular a Freuch French for ranging: high-burst viseur periscope with his gains. On the stre P Fabid e " intend to be held i now to glve s . T A eatel Oulthe afreneth o0 [£5iins characters, “The Boy Broker.” | Londage by that. He qid oo e T A e T him (e | the middle xwung seross lis path [he was stunned by a blow from behind | tior edgo of this tract is marked by | enabling troops in trenches to observe hour he was already planning a cam- | U, A5 OLTe chote to € | b he Sheld in” hondase Ty usird | Boment 1t was: born: ‘bt not wholly | the blunt red sign. which read. |he laid out both Bangs and Einstein— i 'zig-zag barbed-wire barrier. | the terrain in their front, and a peri- paign — on . Gusher—u proposicion| The Boy Plunger” o esti-| He meant to use this money—all of |on the grounds ’of redemption. He|*Ston {knocked them " flat with fair blows |*That feature on which most visit- |5cope and stethoscope "used by Amer, Knight & Son were just placing on | S, NiNInEs Were N iion (o fAive, | 1t-—a8 he chosc: to test to the limit her something that TR % fromin fronG . |ors comment is the dugout. At the|ican troops in the front-line thenches the market. If this well did 10 per| Moo to e from oaKe | the best that life contained. when she had steadied him in a crisis, |y ¢t "t webk -elop- | . When he came to he was in his own | pottom of the ditch and through the he reflectors of three sixty-ineh cent of the gushing the firm ‘was 2nd his picture was taken b"mxwx")‘;l That was his mood this morning, | When he needed steadying. He was a| VY THIN the next weck develoP|room with a very sore head, and itiforward revelment is cut a passage | searchlights are exhibited in the hall Soing Tor It. Mis fortune wa. for the| InE and leaving the omces of Kighc|but. even so, he was surprised af | cad for not having remembered it ments oceurred in_the life of [took him a moment to recall how he |which slants down so sharply that a jdental field equipment, ambulance. twentieth time that vear, assured. & FOUnE SOMAL e how little headway he made in this | before. Talbot that promised to justify the|¢ame by it. Then he smiled. remem- |jong. steep flight of steps is needed to ?;éd s e e 'm sorryv 1 made you sorry. swered. “To prove it T'd A a that. Te planned it on the instant; a : iy 3 : : the movies tonight if vou'd go N T St fact, when Billy Tal- derloin. i coffee and roll, he was |dinner at tha ineat hotel in town. a | the beginning because he w ""“,3' fehe o ;h&f:‘t‘:?p?ttll;;‘?filt‘wfl‘:\ the! o “Thank you, but ver go 5 2 scaped f rough. he . everything con- | taxi to a real show, the two best seats | engaged just then in satisfying the | e el width o : A e I never go to thelhot finally escaped from the bedlam | gigored, was not so much, and less | in th house with a taxi home. As hel publle interest In the life of an ab-| L hio Was the episode that Barney|ditch and the wire barrier. is quite The Wrong Standard. . The remark Talbot made to himself was, me class! but out loud he endeavored, as jauntily as possible, to cover up what he felt to have been a bad break. Though he ran the risk of committing himself beyond his re- sources, he ventured boldly: “There's a good show at the Roof Garden* “Really”” “How'd that suit you>" “I have an idea it would not suit fme at all. but I've never been there s both daring and hand- eous Tt Timits which within certain which for forty-eight hours had sur- rounded him on the curb and in hectic sleep, and found it possible to collect his thoughts sufficiently to do problems in simple addition and sub- traction, he learned that he was worth, minus the odds and ends of a few hun- dreds, some $300,000. Which was not so bad considering the fact he had started with only $100 and his nerve. Three hundred thousand dollars in cold cash—for before he quit he turned in the last scrap of paper he ssed. Here is where he showed “You After his grapefrui bet. fly in the ointment I" Cut it out, will you “Oh, don’t mind me." % “Very well, I won't,’ his first venture. bit of ten- than a full hour had been consumed. Barney was waiting for him. “Enjoy it?” inquired the reporter. You're the only little ‘e found so far. answered Tal- bot. ‘Which is quite the wisest stand he. could have taken. before the press dropped him. After it had described what he ate, what It was not long But, lordy, he would make up for quickened his pace he added details like violets and bonbons. He was even tempted to enlarge his munificence beyond its legitimate fleld of action by including any little article that took his fancy in the store windows he passed. There were jewels he felt sure would please any woman, and lacy and silken things, but there seemed to be no way of including these in a dinner invitation. It _was 12 o'clock when Talbot reached the office, which offered a new hope of the press, but Barney missed | sconding bank cashier who had tried, on a salary of twenty-five hundred, to support a wife and three children and at the same time hit the high places on Broadway. It made good reading. * Talbot was dining alone one evening after the Roof Garden show, in a res- taurant famous for its gavety and its ng the expression of pained sur- Sinstein’s face when he fell. got hold of, for it seems that at the last moment some one had called in the police. This was the item that Miss Wadsworth heard bandied about the office the next morning. “They say,” declared Miss Mooney, who.heard it from young Larkin, who overheard the son of Knight & Son talking about it, “they say they trimmed him good, and he's down and reach the chambers and passages. The depth-of these chambers, in rela- impressive. Little figures of men are lying on cots far below the surface of the land between the ditch and barbed wire. The official description of this ex- hibit is as follows: | _“"Model of Standard Type Trench and Cave Sheiter Chamber, ‘Dugout’.—This madel shows a firing trench of the traverse type With types of entrances. The traverses localize the effect of bombs and shells dropped in any particular purt of the trench and are also useful in fiank- ing adjoining sections of the trench in the case of the capture of one section by the enemy. { things of war. {{QOME of us,” sald Bishop Mitchell %" at 2 St. Paul missionary meelin‘..;: “are prone to judge everything by the money standard. A book is no- good unless it's a best-sellér. An ar- 23 tist is mo good unless he's getting | rich. “When we judge things that-way o we're as bad as little Samuel. “Little Samuel went out one day to:4s 3 et Trive prices. He had come here not because out even if he lives.” he was hungry—it was rare indced that| “You mean he's hurt?” 4 4 deone Miss Wadsworth. at down to a dinner with any real’ "gona one hit him with a chair, ‘The ladders placed against the revetment are called ‘sortie ladders’ and are used in going over the top.” This model was built or dug by » he wore, and his new quarters at the Barchester, into which Re moved most immediately, they were pi suggestion. Instead of going in he waited outside to catch her on her way to lunch. He was successful to I more nerve, for Gusher was still going strong. Down there by the well heavy yellow fluid was oozing all buy his brother a_birthday, present He bought a jar of goldfish. g “'Goldfish! Don’t it sound rich * he’ : Like to try ‘o, thank ‘Well, what exclaimed | ! in thunder do yvou 4 1 = REUBEied = out hopefully, but nothinz sSensa- 5 ' L5 other alterna of going b the hair ovar her eats, “They had to|other exhibits in the ball are engi-| “And he carried the goldfish gaylydw { | was oozing all over the floor. was a ecurious spectacle, and no one in a detached way enjoyed it more than Miss Wadsworth. She had lifted hat but greet. smile, ‘Back at work again?’ she ask he was surprised enough, him with a good-natured upstairs to his room. But a half houss!s he rushed down ‘to his fatherges Ll ‘we've been yq ne exhibits. One of these is a arabolic listening device “used for directing searchlights and determine ing the direction of airplanes at night, “1 g0 hom That was < finding anyway the nd retiring stupid business, and he difficult to sleep soundl wanted the light. the all an ambulance to take him home.” Home—where royal suite at the Barches- I wonder will they let tional developed, and they finally dropped him altogether—dropped him. as they 8o often do, at the very point % % ¥ JI¥ SHOT a swite glance at the| it | He tense a. " e groan jn = , Gola good. aeal (Of. Sp3 t this| whe ¢ bega interest-{ ugao el e spose. fourih Seger oCher left nand. No| 8 wod) deslief Spats 0, Jhorit gt st b O R No." he answered uneasily. “I'm | laughter, the association of others who| Him lic In state?" Unabling the searchlights to pick [done. Them ain't gold. They wouldn'imgy Ting of any kind was in evidence. Peased almost entirely. She watched| If Barney had only known it, the | tKInE & vocation Rl were drinking deep of life, rexponding to |~ Considering now little an affair of | them up. The legend attached to this |stand the acid. ) He nodded sympatheticaily. the excited traders hurrying in and |tip to have followed up was Miss |, YOU look as though it were doing|the thrill of it. to the sparkliig Joy| this sort was any of her business: | remarkable exhibit says that it was Py, “It's hell to be poor. But, beljeve|out. listened to the babel of frantic| Wadsworth, and yet he might not - “c""gl'm:‘n“" wox er aswift|of it. His soup had been brought | considering, too, how little in the| “an important development in the ¢ s fme, little woman, luck is bound lolwh‘en‘ and noted the disheveled ap-|have got very far with it at that, |Blance at him. you on Jour way to| e and removed when & party of|forin the unatrative resched her, it jcontroling of alr raids by the enemy. The Heavywelght. oy €orn. The oid man is planning tolDearance of wild-eyed Billy Talbot. It|As a matter of fact, Talbot himself |, o} 2™ ¥ to | half a dozen entered and grouped them-| could be expected to appeal to her|All that the layman sees in thisisa| . - did not. She was too much of an|'" selves about a table near his. Among| sympatnies, it was curious how dis- | circular sheet of metal about ten feet GOVERMMENT official was-talk-+" was she who, on the impulse of the moment, caught his arm once a8 be waus bolting past her and said in Der low even wvoice: “Keep your head, Mr. Talbot™ Billy stared at her as at some being from another world. “I've got it this time,” he exclaimed in & volce grown husky from shout- left |0 “Yes,” she nodded. “I wish you'd lunch with me today.” “Thanks,” she answered. “But I think I'd best not.” “I'd get you back in time.” “And_I'd miss my walk—the best part of my lunch. Please, I must hurry as it is She started on and he kept by her eplurge on this Gusher proposition sd I'm going to climb aboard.” o TAUN what JeuididiiLatoce; ek “Right. But this time Tl know when to get off. “Good luck.* she smiled. Then she tnrned back to her work in s0 decided @ fashion that it in diameter, slightly umbrella-shaped, with the concave side toward the enemy. The sensitive diaphragm for multiplying the sound and the in- struments for registering direction and perhaps for indicating distance are there, but the very average man will probably grasp only the sketchy outline of this interesting devicy. ing at wIuncheon about campaigny . adventures. -t “In a country town one night™ hed.. said, ~they put me up at the banker'ss house. The banker’s house was very (" imposing, but it was jerry-built. A 1 walked abouj.my room while ungm, them was Mademoiselle Collette and Ted Bangs—Bangs, who had made a fair- sized fortune in coppers. The two men caught each other’s cye and nodded, and a moment later Talbot saw Bangs wh per to Mademoiselle Collette. Then Bangs strolled across. S “Alone?” he questioned. “Yes,” answered Talbot turbed Miss Wadsworth was about it. But in a way, she felt a certain re- sponsibility in the matter. 1f she had only accepted his invitation, perhaps —well, anyhow, she knew he had no family in New York. And if now he was badly injured and penniless and alone, she was sorry for him. Yes, that was it, she was sorry for him. intangible. It was at the end of his first week at the Barchester that she came bob- bing back into Talbot's thoughts. ‘That had been a wonderful week—a soul-satisfying week. If the press had only been able to get below that beautifully taflored exterior. of his Talbot nothing to do but to go on| ' iHon & to the center that registers sensa-|side. o | i s 4 Don't let it get you,” she warned e v v - . “ome uand join us then. We've aniiwful sorrv. Of course, it was his|The whole thing is mounted on a |dressing, there were such creaks an Ebout hie ewiw: afiaire. \This was al-|sisadily fons, it would have had material| "urhen tonight, or some night, will | extra Seat and Fifl wants to meet Sou | swn fauit, and. of course, it was none | four-wheel truck. and the big concave | groans from_the floor and furnityrfys enough. the kind of report- |ing that counts. But Talbot was h own reporter and own public—for at least seven days Relaxing, himself up vtlerly to the sheer lux ury of indulging to capacity his fiv senses. His only limit was the limit of pleasurable reactipn he was able to @ecure. This of course cut him off & ot of stuft becau that I couldn’t héar myself thipk. = “But worse was yet to come. I hadf'® no soomer got into ‘bed than the glat gave way and down I went 16 the sfloor. A * A liberty kitchen has been set up in | he banker té6re’ upstairs. the exhibition hall. Tt is a portable| -"What's the matter? he shouled. kitchen. @ heavy two-wheeled cart|‘What's the miatter? - Anything 1 can having a “trail,” by wh::h it may be | do for y;l“l?.lll . attached and detached to and from e | _*Oh, Figh b -of front wheels. The | “but if you don't. jently engrossing p him thoroughly ¢ «d during business hours It wntil the urb was osed Yad cleaned up the odds and ends o «wietailn arourd the office that he be 16 grow restless, began to feel keen they were fifteen looked |ha‘:unlllnin_llehn o his posi i . Every point meant $30,000. &reat city. There was only one thing | That was a lot of money—easy money. $0 mesded to have this old town throw| But he sold. And after tho last eale resigned from his job “I—I'm afraid I'm buttin Nothing to it. Come on. So there he was—as quickiy 2 in the company of Fifi Coilctte he Also in_the company of one Etustein, and a Blanche George. and one C: ruthers, and Mrg. Brown, and Jimmy Bangs himself. It was Jimm. As far as they were concerned, the and ho seated Talbot at Kii Varn was complete and sufficient and g her beautiful arm | gatiafactory just as it stood. and the radiant| The got on her nerves. ou have di the theate; Why, it's kind of you to think of me this'way, Mr. Talbot, but really— you see 1 go out so little.” “Then what do you do?’ I go home she laughed at his frank perplexity. “Of course, when there lsn't any- thing else to do. “X home because X ks to disc can be swung on its own axes in any direction horizontally or verti- cally. The legend attached to it says that it was deposited by the Engineer Corps. of her business, but—she was sorry for him. All the morning she listened. half afraid, for any rumors. But she heard none—just the same old story over and over again. No one seemed to cape-greatly about later developments. | He was off again, but somehow her -lwords stuck in the back of his head. He heard them at the moment the {stock crossed ten, and he was tempt- led to hold on for fifteen. He had set it but with things mov- M I ner with me and go to!