The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1908-07-12

where the rain would not search him out
and where the door leading to one OF
abe newspaper offices could be seen
When he saw a young chap with a
bright face and all the air of freshness
IN the game step out of the newspaper e
door, tanning wad of copy paper in
his pocket while he wrestled with an
umbrella, that lean shadow in the an
gle of the skyseraper put out restrain
ing hand.
-1Serry to trouble you, but could you
let me have nickel to get place to
sleep this rainy nightf' whimpered the
shadow.
"Nope," said the young man, and he
began to push his umbrella against the
gale that swept around the angle of the
skyseraper.
|AYou are newspaper man, - insisted
the shadow, keeping pace with the re-
porter "and / was once. know
good story when / see one and I guess
you do Just take me in out of the wet
and buy me feed and L will tip you off
TO a slick story"
The fresh young reporter halted in
his tracks He remembered that in all
the books he had read of the romance
eff newspaper life while he was editor
of the Lit at college it had always been
fhe cub reporter who had achieved the
biggest beat of the year just on bull
luck. 1t was always that the raw re-
IaA tho daonaGt m
Keries by just such fortuitous-
i'Come along" said the reporter, and
he led the way down Spruce street to
little place around the corner where one
eats fat German dishes very easily I'M
der case of stuffed birds.
He said not a word to his companion
until they had been seated at one of the
little tables back on the rOstrum where
family parties eat and two orders of
paprika sehnitzel with heavy glasses of
pilsner had been sent back to the
kitchen Then the reporter pulled out
his wad of copy paper, pushed one end
under salt cellar to keep the flaps
down and reached for his pencil.
f'Now,if said he.
The man who had followed him down
from the windy corner leaned across
the table eonfidentially and pushed an
expressive finger out from his fist as If
to spear a buttonhole. His face was
dark and weather tanned and streaked
from left eve to tip of lip by white
scar His black hair was gray over the
ears. There were marks of wind and
strong sun under his eyes. Creases OF
strong drink folded the corners of his
mouth down.
stNot vet, said the reporter IS com
panion eve eat first"
The paprika schnitzel came with the
beer. The man who had come in out OF
the rain ate without ceremony and
without manners He drank his beel
slowly and with eyes closed, washing
the foam cap about in the mug after
zach draught.
When second mug was brought by
x6e blond waiter he lifted it in a de
predatory toast to the reporter and put
all the beer away at a gulp.
tiI suppose You think that you We
been bunked," quoth the stranger.
s'0h, no, not at all, /" the reporter
answered eagerly and with his best
manner ffOf course a fellow IS hungry
once in a while and he can It talk and
eat too. But now that we have fin
lshed-''
sswell, now it's up to me- inter
rupted the stranger. "And I don 4
want you to believe word I tell you
until you prove it all yourself. You Il
have to work on this story. All / dc
Is to give you the tip.
''But first let me tell you a few
things. See this scar on my facet
Well, I got that from a bolo in the
Philippines when I was with the con
stahulary in Mindanao reporting for the
Mamie Cablenews.
"Before that ! was with Volcano
Marshall in Hawaii-you know Volcano
Marshall, who was imprisoned for
treason at the time of the American
occupation and who ran his paper from
Jail for three monthsR Never heard of
Volcano? Well, any fellow that work
ed with him had to be hustler and had
90 eat bayonets every day in the week
except Sunday
''sAfter | got fired out of the Philip
pfsFes by Taft for running little scan
&Bl sheet chat the army officers didn It
Ike | went to Singapore and worked on
the Free Press. Wrote two columns
about how Rojestvensky hanged three
Hutineers on the high seas when he
bruszght that Black Sea fleet around
tHtft anu but SuDSuitoF cut the SbOIN
down to two sticks to make room for
q cricket match; said they only ran
unpleasant stories when the cable broke
down and they had to fill in.
'fNow, don t take any notes of all
this" The vagabond suddenly reached
ever and tipped the pencil out of the
young reporter hand. ''This ism It the
story. This is just dope-about my
se1f Won know OF enurse when Won
get a story you have to know some
thing about the man who's giving it
to you.
'Well, then, I went up to Picking and
ran the bank for nice old citizen from
Silver City, New Mexico, who kept a
gambling house for the diplomats to
sport in. And it was while was there
that I met Ouch 10y with the red hair.
Yes. Qu-oh-put that down, for that is
part of the story. That red hair is the
whole story