The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1910-09-07
DaiWSborfSforY
A GOOD FRONT
BY A. Il. Groh

MdSSle reach was beloved by
two young men. There was moth
ing very wonderful in that, for
Maggie was pleasing to the eye,
soothing to the mind and salts
flying to the heart.
The first of these two admirers
was Chesterton P. V. Bigg. The
philosophy of Chesterton was
based upon the great and funda-
mental principle of the bluff.
Spread it thick" and put up a
good front" were the two rules of
his life. He wos convinced that
the whole world is run on the prin-
ciple of bluff, and he conceived
that man to be wise who recognis-
ed this fact at the start.
True, Chesterton was only the
holder of a minor position in the
office of the Steelton Bolt Co. But
he was always there with the front
and invested most of his weekly So
in clothes. He had complete lines
of talk on machines and other
like subjects in his repertoire.
Harvey Smith was the name of
Maggie's other admirer. You see,
right at the beginning, what a
fearful handicap he had in the
matter of a name. Names are
free and the letters of the alpha
bet are not copyrighted. So it
seems that Harvey's parents might
have given him a few initials at
any rate. However, this omission
didn't bother Harvey one little bit.
He also had a position with the
Steelton Bolt Co., but not in the
office. He was out in the works,
where he had to get his hands
dirty and wear overalls. He earn.
ed $24 a week. Half of this he
sailed down in the savings bank.
When Maggie happened to men,
ton that a good show was in town
Chesterton would look wise and
say: "Oh, I hear it's positively
rotten. l want to take you to
good show when one comes to
town." Chesterton thought he
was quite clever, thus to outwit
woman.
When Maggie took Chesterton
to church with her he would drop
nickel in the collection plate so
that it sounded like a half dollar.
Its a shame to fool the dear girl
that way" Chesterton use to
chuckle to himself. When Maggie
took Harvey to church he used to
hold his coin covered up in his
fist and slip it onto the plate like
a straightforward artist. But he
wasn't quick enough to escape the
eye of Maggie and she saw that
the coin was half a dollar.
Time passed. Chesterton went
on throwing his bluff, dressins
we'll and looking prosperous.
Sometimes he had to laugh in his
sleeve at the poor old world being
taken in SO easily, and by such
young man., too. He couldn't help
laughing at Maggie. The dear girl
was SO easy. He would win her
from poor, plodding Harvey in a
walk.
Harvey went right on plodding.
His salary rose from time to time.
He spent every minute of working
hours hard at work, for he took an
interest in what he did. Every
minute outside of working hours,
except when he slept, he spent
thinking of Maggie. He longed to
lay his heart and his wages and
everything at her feet. But he was
afraid to ask her. He didn't think
there was any chance that she
would accept. /.
I'm only a laboring man." he
said to himself. "She surely doesn't
care for me as much as for Ches-
terton; he works in the office and
he must pull down a pretty fair
salary"
Thus, pessimistically. did Har-
vey commune with himself. Still,
she kept Maggie supplied with can