The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1910-08-04
By ELLIS PARKER BUTLER

'Twould do no good t have wee bit of 1t" said Casey sadly. We would be all sold out of it before tn middle of tn day Twould take sons Of it, tn peo of 1t. Let it sol"
 -seems like pity not to make money when there is chanst to-" said old Billings. nervously. Might n'tmightn't I make some confetti, Mr. Casey?"
 "An' listen to that, nowi" exclaimed Casey. joy fully. Sure. it takes you think of things. MT. Billings! But mol" he said, dropping into sadness as suddenly he had been reused to joy, "ts not t be thought of Ye would get tired before tn job was make enough for . Carnival, an too little is worse than none at all. Ye would tire out before ye made enough, MT. Billings. Let it go"
 'I wouldn't tire out" said Old Billings, eagerly. ~Maain' confetti ain't harder than sawin' wood, is it? I used t be fine wood-sawer when was young. hadn't my beat at sawin' wood. them days"
 He waited restlessly for Casey's reply, and Casey sat rubbing and apparently thinking deeply.
 '9f thought ye could stick to tn job" he said at length.
 .Td stfck!" said old Billings. T swan I'd stick Dog me if wouldn'tl What-what might this here confetti be Gfke?"
 ~snow," said Casey. '1rs like paper snow an when we're havin' carnival throw it at each other till tn streets is fuM of it. That's tn beauty of havin' the monopoly of tn confetti business. MT. Billings Ye make it of nawthin' moro expensive than old waste paper, an tn profit is all profit Tis a grand busiress for tn likes of us"
 q can tear up paper we'll as another man" be- gan old Billings, but Casey stopped him.
 Tear it!" he exclaimed. "An' who ever heard of torn-up confetti? 'Twould be agin tn law. MT. Bill Hngs. Would tn law be a1lowin' ye t throw around paper. with tn sharp of it gettin' into everybody's eye, an mebby putin out hundred eyes or so? cSo. indeed! Iris round tn confetti has to be; each confetti big around as tn blunt end of lead pencil "Twould never do t tear it: 1woud have t be cut-'
 Hngs-
 Scissors said Casey. fBut 'twousd be no ex. pense. for have two pair in tn Times, office. an could sneak ye one pair when Davis wasn't lookin. Ye have fine long fingers t work pair of shears with MT. Bi1ngs!"
 Old Billings worked his rheumatic fingers open and opA oIrod 0vifI, oT,rida fhqn had ever imagined they could give him.
 T could cut out lot et confetti if so be m had had time enough and paper" he said wistfulfy. T w1sht you'd det me try it. MT. Casey"
 Eff was git room for a factory, now" said Casey. meditatively might git ahold of some young teller that would be willn t go into tn factory an stay till had enough confetti. wouldn't want word of what doin to get out till had enough confetti made to do for tn whole carnival An young feller q could lock in an hand him in his meals. Twould be fne job for some young feller. nothin' to do but sit easy all day an shear out con- him gettin' half of tn profit when we sold tn stuff Ye don't know any young feller like that, do ye Mr. sillinss s;,,;1 that could get hold of quick? shut in front of Caseys face.
 There aint no young feller in Kfo got sich long fingers as them" he said braggirgly. "ner no young feNer aint goin' t have tn patience what I've got young feller's always wantin' t move around. an aint Sittin' stills of my strong points You'd ought to take me as pardner in this here confetti business. Mr. Casey"
 Well" said Casey reluctantly. -T ain'r askin' ye go into It. an ain' coaxin' ye, an ye go into it ye1l have t be locked in like would Jock in young fe1er"
 '1 aint askin' nothin' oetter!" declared old Bn fings.
 Well. don't say nothin' about it. said Casey, "an come round to tn Times office this eyenin' after supper, an we'll get t. work at it."
 That was Tuesday, and the Timss came out every Thursday, and the very next Thursday Old Billings began to live up to his news value. Tues day night Casey met Old Billings alone at the Times of1ce and Thursday morning the Times" came out with suptrb red headlines the first page. It was 'Mysterious Disappearance" of the most thrilling kind, and Davis was in his glory. He shook hands with Casey dozen times on Wednee day between his visits to the usual sitting places of Old Billings, and thanked him for drawing his at- tention to Old Billings absence from the we-worn public benches and chairs. He said he guessed that Old Billings had got the fishing fever and had gone to the river after bass he good for a scare-head in Thursdays paper anyway. And all the time Old Billings was down cellar with kero- sene lamp and pair of office shears fourteen inches long and weighing about pound, cutting out fetu the size of the end of lead pencil. He cut nearly a cigar box full Wednesday.
 Thursday morning Kilo read the Times and sniffed dsdainfuly about the mysterious disappear ance Of Old Billings. and then went down to the grocery to talk it with him. but he wasn't there! Kfo was surprised, but not half surprised Day. b was. He couldn't make b out. He had been