Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1910-01-27

The drummer smiled. at is talt
way sometimes" he said, but NOT II!
ways. have known inventors 10
have the1 ideas come to them in
moment, in fash of thought. Eut
suppose we fix this thing now"
! He opened Il notebook and wrote for
! some seconds, then tore out the leaf
and handed 1t to Zeke.
Its a sort of agreement for you to
| put your name to" he said. Read 1t
first. though. Never sign anything un-
/ Ill you know what 1t Is. Later l will
have regular papers made out for both
of us"
! Zeke read the paper and signed his
name with the pen which the drum
mer held ready. Then he resumed his
came burrying back.
| "The drafted horse ate n full peck
! of good corn," he began wrathfully.
mo supper II be get this night. Now,
! what is 1t bout that gate biznessf
How's there money in it?"
! by getting the invention patented
answered the drummer carelessly, but
Zeke and ! have fixed that up. We'll
3 | must be going
/ But, looh herew exclaimed Tillson.
''Ye must talk with me bout that gate.
d It's mine. Zeke amt nothin' to do
with it."
! "Oh, don't want the gate said the
drummer coolly. ITS only the idea,
and that. believe, belongs to Zehe.
Goodby."
Tilson stared at him as he walked
away, the wrath deepening on his face.
Suddenly he swung round to Ze'e,
"Whut did We Fct?" he demanded.
Come, hand it over
81 didn't receive anything in money"
Zeke answered.
Stop" roughly. Don't tell any
yarns. Didn't hear the man say you
an him fixed it up? Now, how much
money did he give ye for my gate?
Look at me straight"
/ Zeke did so, with half smile. He's
to pay for getting out a patent" he
replied, "and have half what we make"
AN ye didn't get any money!
! mot q cent"
| Tillson looked at him sharply, but
| there was no deceit in the straightfor-
ward face. Even he realized the fact.
"Then ye're an IDIOT" he snarled. The
man was set on the idee; l could see
/ that from the way he spoke. 1e
could have got fifty or q hundred dol
lars Jest as easy as nothin'. Mebbe
we could have made trade for a lot
! of his tools. An now-huh!-ycll
4, tn, tf,,p
Zeke did not answer, and presently
/ Tillson went toward the barn grum-
| bling. But his words did not disturb
! Zeke in the least. He scarcely eX-
( pected to hear from the man again.
/ In spite of what had been said, he
/ could not bring himself to believe tina
1 the simple contrivance was of any
value. Even when the regular pa
pers" came. with imposing seals and
blank places for him to sign his name,
he regarded them more rs interesting
novelties than as anything that would
affect his future.
But one day n letter came which
caused his eyes to open wide with
amazed delight and which after half
hour Of hard thinking carried him into
! the house after his Sunday clothes. 1t
was nearly dark when he returned
from the town. Old Tillson met him
/ at the barn door his face dark.
"What dye leave work for without
nv say SO" he demanded.
Business" replied Zeke. 81 heard
you say t'other day the mortgage had
run by and that if you didn't raise the
money soon they'd be selling you out.
So I've been to n lawyer and had it
fixed over in my name, to save you
trouble. You can pay me whenever it
suits. You see," in answer to the look
on Tillson's face, 81 got check for
two thousand on the patent and am
likely to get rs much more every year.
think I'll buy Dickson's big farm
that Joins ours"
Tillson stood looking at the young
man with mouth and eyes wide open.
TIE expression on his face was n
study. One would expect to see some
shamefacedness there, but there was
none. Tho e was not even gratitude.
For the moment there was surprise
mingled with feeling of suspicion
? lllui /stft li'lh 'oNuil-N' ''AF' ~ " '''''N
he might make something by it. one
who always acts from mean motives
suspects every one else of doing the
same thing His first words indicated
that such was the condition of his
mind.
What interest you goin' to charge
me?"
Never mind about the interest. You
can pay whatever rate you please or
nothing at ALL"
"Waal, suppose you've got to be
paid suthin'. What is it you want?"
| Jane"
"Oh. that's the pay you're after
The moment the old curmudgeon'S
interest came to the front he was less
concerned about that Of his niece.
"You and she can settle that. sup
pose. AS long as she's satisfied ] sup
pose I'll have to be-
Jane was perfectly satisfied. and be-
fore long there was a wedding.
But Zeke didn't buy Dickson's farm.
He drifted into the employ of firm
engaged in the development of me-
chanical contrivances and is now a
very rich man.