Evening star., 1907-08-24
"HOT" BOOK AGENT

And then. again. Mique Scanlon. the ana
BILE assistant manager up at the Old White
Sulphur Springs and lust hotel clerk
when in Observation-Disclosures besides hav-
ing been an actor. and everything else ex-
cept a barber and a policeman as related
heretofore In this place. was once-for
about twenty minutes-a book agent.
Mique as everybody knows in and around
Washington. at one time owned stable OF
badge horses He thinks and says they
weren't badge horses. but they were. Monk
Waymap was one of them. Any dead
game. reading this will at once appre-
hend that the man who owned Monk Way
man must have had nothing else but badge
horses in his string. The last horse that
Mr.. Scanlon owned was a little thing
primed for a hog -slaught tering at New Or
leans The people Mique knew got the
money down. ana Friendless finished on the
following Tuesday come Martnmas. Two
days later FrendlesS went to the post
again. There was no coin to be got down.
because all of MiQue's friends were
cleaned. and then Friendless swung home
all alone, pulled to the conformation of a
fried cake. the boy looking around and
just laughing fit to kill. Then they took
the purse away from Friendless-and
Mique-because the stewards claimed
Friendless was a ringer 1t was at this his
hotel clerking business. right here in little
old Washington.
All of this merely to show that Mr.. Sean
lon once really did fool around with the
horses. He was foolng around with them
when he tried the book agent thing It was
in 1873. and the horses had just trimmed
him for the seven thousandth time.
There wasn't anybody to lean upon
said Mr. Scanlon, in mentioning his book
agenting experience the other night. '.and
the Truck Drivers Union was out on a
strika. and We < the thing I needed
not the thing mat l wanted, but nee&ed.
Zone morning, in New York-that was
where the ponies gra bbed me that time-I
black-letter ad. in the want column.
1t told about worlds fair ILLUSTRATED book
that was going like hot corn at Conay Is
land-people making hundred day pc!
ding it. and all similar. 1t sound ID pretty
good-a aundrei day was almost as much
I could make at thu track. ye-es.
so / went down to see the man. 1t was
a nice book all right-just full of pictures
of the White city. in four or five colors.
and only two bucks-a nickel down. / be-
lieve and a nickel a week for the rest of
the purchasers life.
There wasn't any chance for me to
flag try at that book-agenting thing. for
I was only one bone strong and my room
rent was due.
so took a copy of the White city work
and started out. I made my start on
Broadway, a little above Chambers street.
I rubbered into lot of stores along that
way. but the people I saw standing around
in them didn't look pleasant. l remem-
bered. too, al the gags I'd read about book
agents getting the boots and the toss
down and the heave-out. and I was some
to the curdle when it came to just walking
right in and asking somebody to take a
peek at my worlds fair book.
FINALLY. though. l passed by a sporting
goods store. and. e5ging up to the show
window SO that could peer IN to see what
the people at work in there looked like.
fsaJfptYf 1fVhf a
front. who struck me as being the boss of
the plant. He was big and fat and good
natured looking, and l said to myself that
I had to make beginning some time and
might as we'll try it on that fat one. He
was leaning on tall wicker basket filled
to the top with boxing gloves wh7n I
stro'led in-me trying to look airy and In
different like-and he shot me pleasant
glance out of the corner OF his eye.
'Er-h ware you? said l. stopping in
front OF him.
HE turned around to me- stiIl looking
pleasant.
".How are you. sir? he asked mel was
still there with a front. and of course he
figured ma as a customer l knew that.
Probably l thought, he doped me as the
prospective purchaser of a canoe. or a
rifles. something such.
Il knew the minute had come then for
me to. swing that book that l had uEd"r my
arm around in front of me and begin to
flicker the pages: but. try as l would. l
couldn't get the initial movements toward
doing that a-going. My arms were para
lyzed., l could see. mentally. the express
sion of expectation on tn: fat mans face
change to one of aStoniShment. and
What can / do for you today Sir?' he
asked me. rousing me from these consia-
erations.
Il strove frantically to fetch the book up
in front of him. and in my effort to do it.
think l excited some suspicion in him.
for I caught him lowering his eyes to the
book. and thought slight change of ex-
preston rippled across his fat countenance,
and l began to quail inwardly. l couldn't
tolerate the idea of his thinking
"'What can 1 show you now, SIR? he
asked me again.
"Wel. it my cue to say then. that
he couldn't show me anything. but that
wanted to show him the finest book that
would ever be got out about the Chicago
worlds fair, 219 illustrations in colors,
bound in half-morocco. also in limp
leather. with
But. nix. the speech wasn't there. l
gave the fat man one deSpairng look. felt
Of that last dollar in my jeens, and then
said to him:
Gimme half a dozen bluefsh hooks
''He looked disappointed because l didn't
ask him to show me the latest thing in
naphtha launches. and just nodded me
over to one Of the clerks in the rear, and
got the half-doZen bluefish hooks and dug
up 90 cents. the price of a whopping meal
for me at that time-for them, and then
walked out, and returned the book to the
man. and I've never tried book -agenting
since