The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-01-08

fellow, "but I am fool to risk my | money on such wild scheme.- Arnold had a clear idea of what he was going to do, but where he was go-
 ing to do 1t he did not determine un-
 til he was on his way to the train. He
 selected a small city, which may be
 called Stoner. That Is not its name,
 but it Is near enough. The city is no.
 far from Chicago. Arnold had been there once or twice.
 In Stoner, after he had registered at the hotel, Arnold went to one of the
 merchants with whom he was acquaint- ed.
 of you wanted something from the City Council what lawyer would you engage?"J he asked.
 ".Iim Ducey," was the answer "He
 is City Attorney and he's quite a pol itician."
 Arnold went to Ducey and talked to him for an hour. Arnold could talk
 most convincingly He did not know
 much about telephones, but he made Ducey think he did. He told Ducey
 the telephone service the city of Sot- ner was getting was outrageous. The price, too, was extortionate. He would give to the city a far better service at a much lower rate He wanted a franchise to do so. He wanted MT. Ducey's aid in obtaining this fran chise. MT. Ducey would be doing a
 great public service in opening the way to the new company.
 Mr. Ducey was young, had some Irish blood and took a fancy to Arnold from the start
 "I'd. like to help you," he said, "but being city attorney I cannot. It pays $500 year and the $50 month comes In handy. I've two months more to serve and want to succeed myself" Resign for the two months," sug-
 gested Arnold. "I'll pay you as much as the city. Run for reelection. An
 nounce that you resigned for the two | months in order to get for the city the new and the cheaper and the im- | measureably better telephone service" Arnold was most persuasive, and the way he put the thing caught Ducey's fancy. It was rather slow in Stoner anyhow, and Ducey saw a bit of ev- citement, so he consented to resign and become Arnold's counsel and help CT.
 And now," said he, "what kind of a franchise do you want?"
 This was a puzzler for Arnold, but he did not show it. He didn't know the form of franchise he needed. In fact, he never had seen a franchise in his life, but, being resourceful, he sug- gested that Ducey get a copy of the one the established company had, and ! they would see wherein they wished to- change the wording in their draft. Next Arnold had Ducey take him around and introduce him to the mem bers of the City Council. There were IA of these patriots There was a butcher, German. among the mum Der, who was not on friendly terms
 with the English language; there was Ia wheelwright who was so deaf that he always guessed what people said to him and then went along answering accordingly, and there were various
 other queer characters in the body. Ar | mold, sprightly, gay, smiling and all together charming, got into the good graces of most of them at once and talked telephone until they got to be-
 lieve the city of Stoner had been most
 shamefully treated by the old company
 and that deliverance in the person of
 Arnold was near at hand. Every one
 of the 14 assured him of support Of | course. this was conditioned upon their | careful examination of the franchise.
 If. however. it pledged everything Ar: