Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1906-08-25
him little. as he was engaged in jotting
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him little. as he was engaged In jottinR
down items that swelled the profit side
Of his ledger account enormously. The
ball was bound to give him good lead
in the race once more despite the
heavy handicap the Stock Exchange
had imposed The Little Sons took
of their coats and helped PettinSill in
the work Of preparation. He found
them quite superhuous, for their ideas
never agreed, and each man had q way
Of preferring his own suggestion. TO
Rrewsters chagrin, they were united
in the effort to curb his extravaganza.
He'll be giving automobiles and
ropes of pearls for favors II we don't
stop him." said Subway Smith after
Monty had ordered vintage cham
payne to be served during the entire
evening. GIVE them two glasses first,
IL you like and then they won't mind
IL they have cider the rest of the
night"
Monty is plain dotty," chimed In
Bra gdon, land the pace is beginning to
tell on him."
AS matter Of fact the pace was be-
ginning to tell on Brewster. Work and
worry were plainly having an eject on
his health His color was bad, his
eyes were losing their luster, and there
was a listlessness In his actions that
even determined effort could net con-
ceal from his friends. Little ats Of
fever annoyed him coca 1ionally, and
he admitted that he did not feel quite
right.
Something is wrong somewhere" he
said ruefully, land my whole system
seems ready to stop work through sym
pathy."
Suddenly there was mighty check
to the preparations. Two days before
the date set for the ball everything
came to standstill and the managers
sank back in perplexity and consterna-
ton. Monty Brewster was critically
III.
Appendicitis, the doctors called It,
and an operation was imperative.
THANK heaven It's fashionable"
laughed Monty, who showed no fear Of
the prospect. Kew ridiculous II 1t
had been the humps or IL the newspa-
pers had said, On account Of the
whooping cough Mr.. Brewster did
attend his ball!"
You don't mean to say-the ball 10
OF, Of course" And Harrison was real
ly alarmed.
"Not.a bit Of 1t, hopper" said, Monty.
'Its what I've been wanting all along.
You chaps do the handshaking and
stay at home"
There was an Immediate council Of
war when this piece Of news was an
rnounced,. and the Little Sons were
unanimous in favor Of recalling the in
vitations and declaring the party OF.
At first Monty was sbdurate, but when
some one suggested that he could give
the ball later on, after he was well. he
relented. The opportunity to double
the cost by giving two parties was not
to be ignored.
"Call 1t off, then, but say that it Is
only postponed"
A great rushing to and fro resulted
In the canceling Of contracts, the re-
calling Of invitations, the settlement Of
accounts, with tho most loyal effort to
save as much as possible from the
wreckage. Harrison and his associ-
ates, almost frantic with fear for Brew
ster's life, managed to perform won
ders in the few hours Of grace. Gard
ner, with rare foresight, saw that the
viennese orchestra would prove dead
loss. He suggested the possibility Of
q concert tour through the country
covering several weeks, and Monty, too
Ill to care one way or the other, au-
thorized him to carry out the plan IL 1t
seemed feasible.
To Monty. fearless and less disturb
ed than any other member Of his cir
Gle, appendicitis seemed - inevitable
as vaccination.
1.-THE appendix Is becoming an i'm
portant feature in the book Of life" he
once told Peggy Gray.
He refused to 30 to hospital, but
pathetically begged to be taken to his
old rooms at Mrs. Gray's.
With all the unhappy loneliness Of a
sick boy he crayed the care and COM
panionship of those who seemed part
of his own. DR.. Lotless had them
transform a small bedchamber into a
model operating room, and Monty took
no small satisfaction in the thought
that If he was to be denied the priv
ilege of spending money for several
weeks he would at least make his ILL
ness as expensive as possible. A con-
sultation of eminent surgeons was call
ed; but, true to his colors, Brewster
Installed DR.. Lotless, 4 Little Son, as
his house surgeon. Monty grimly bore
the pain and suffering and submitted
to the operation which alone could
save his life. Then came the struggle.