Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1911-08-02

| Der WOulQ OUNCE SOIue person 4Ot
whose name the letters X. Y. q. were
placed Who was desiring to find me
and for what purpose could not con
! ceive. at once mailed my address as
requested and waited in anxious ex-
\ pectation-
| The next afternoon a carriage was
driven up to my house by a coachmar
in livery, and a handsomely dressed
! man got out and came TO my door.
was looking out of the window at him
| and it seemed that had seen him or
some one like him before. Having
neither the luxury Of a servant nor
anything to do, went to the door my
self. As soon as 1 opened it the gen
tleman said:
"Ah, Professor Pengreei How DO
% do. subj"
Where had 1 heard that voice, that
accent2
Come IN, SIR" I said
al doubt, sub, If you remember me"
he said, with a look of disappointment
az do and yet don't. / can't place
you. You are
~Yo' partner, sub"
-'Partner?"
Eyes, sub. Yo' partner in business"
"What business?'
"The manufacture of the Achme
grease remover. Some seven yeas ago,
you may remember, we fo'med a part
nership~fo that purpose, you furnish
ing the receipt and yo' professional
recommendation. The business has
prospered, and I have been hunting yo'
for a long while in order to render yo'
an account. fortunately have at last
found yo' by means of a personal ad-
vertisement. Advertising is a great
thing. sub. Next to yo' receipt and
professional recommendation 1 have
found it my chief element OF success.
Here. sub, is a balance sheet 1 have
had taken Off the books Of the Achme
Grease Remover company" He hand
ed me a paper. 1.-THE capital stock is
81 100000, consisting of 10000 shares,
5000 of which are in yo' name"
1 wondered If I had not been op-
Grated on ina hospital and was recov-
ering from the effects of an anaesthet-
ic. 1 took the paper, but l did not
even glance at 1t. 1 looked at the man
before me, expecting to see him go up
in cloud or blue smoke
"The stock is not on the ma'ket, sub.
but have been offered 260 fo' mine"
Then for the first time 1t flashed
upon me that this man was the shabby
genteel Confederate colonel who had
called upon me years before. In one
sense he had passed out Of my mind.
in another he had not. ! had taken a
great fancy to him, and he had inter
ested me as a study of a man reduced
from an Importance sustained by
wealth to the pathos Of poverty. But
never for a moment had remembered
him as anything but n fine specimen
of the shabby genteel
would you mind explaining what
all this meansT' 1 asked, endeavoring
to throw off a dazed condition.
at means, sub, that with yo' valuable
assistance 1 entered upon the manu-
facture and pe'sonal sale of the grease
remover. 1 never solicited any one
who refused me-"
"Quite likely" l interrupted.
81 soon accumulated sufficient CAPT
tai to enable me to manufacture in
large quantities and, what l found to
be equally essential, to advertise. In
two or three years l built extensive
wo'ks, and from that time fo'wa'd
money has been pou'ing in on me. At
that time, sub, l called upon you at
yo' laboratory and was disappointed to
End that you had left. / obtained yo'
address in South America and wrote
you there. After going to other places
my letter came back to me with many
postoffice marks on the envelope
have been inserting personal adver-
dsements To- yo' TO years. am much
relieved at finding yo', To- / began to
fear that my honah would be impeach-
ed by not rendering 20 an account Of
my stewardship"
The colonel paused. stood mute
for awhile, then asked:
"And do you mean to say that for
the trifing service did~you l am now
the possessor of 5000 shares Of stock
worth $1,5O0O0OT'
''That is yo' share in the property,
sub"
well, colonel, all 1 have to say Is
that this is the most remarkable cpl
sode 1 have ever read or heard Of
This is an air castle and will soon be
tumbling about my ears"
eff yO' will drive with me, sub, to
ou' wO'ks I will convince you to the
contrary"
I accepted the invitation, and he
proved to me that I was a millionaire