Evening star., 1913-03-09

wick poured the coffee. Tommy; the heir
to the Sedgewick hopes and ambitions,
was abstractedly writing the letters X
and w In one Of the damask roses OF
the table cloth with his fork.
..Oh." said Mrs. Sedgewick, the recol-
llection of something stIl unsaid coming
! to- her suddenly. Mrs Scott called this
afternoon" Tommy Sedgewick pricked
up his ears.
And we discussed the advisability Of in
trusting the washing to the care of the
Home Laundry Company. At this seem
Iingly impersona1. and purely economic
statement the damask rose. suffered an
excited probe with the -four prongs of the
silver fork.
Mrs. Scott is very enthusiastic about
it, continued Mrs. Sedgewick. but
"Of course, 1t is more expensive" Mr..
Sedgewick interposed.
"Of course it is more expensive Mrs.
lSedgewick repeated, but, really. dear,
we would save a great deal in SOAP" A
deep flush began to spread over Tommy s
round face
Il simply can't imagine what Jane. does
with all the soap I buy. And don't
dare say any more to her about it for
she becomes angry and unreasonable and
insists that she does not know where 1t
goes! Why. this week for our little
wash she used eight cakes OF laundry
| soap! Tommy's face was now deep
scarlet. / He glanced about him wildly
for some means of escape, then gently
| slid out Of his seat and disappeared un-
der the table.
| What are you doing, ThOmas? de-
manded his father.
''Nothin'.' came the response from the
grateful dark of Tomnly's retreat I'm
just lookin for my napkin"
| Please. can l go?' he asked his
mother: I've got the dickens of Latin
lesson
! When Thomas reached his room he had
food for reflection which greatly inter-
fered with the variations of the Latin
verb. Had Rex Scott persuaded his
mother to recommend the Home Laundry
to the mother of Thomas? Certainly the
affair sayored of the guile of that sneak
ing pink-face; but could it be proved? !?
Despairingly Thomas realized that 1t
could not.
/ With a grunt of rage and disgust
Tommy turned to his grammar. 'Amo,
I love: amas. thou lowest: amat, he or
she loves-O, hang it! Suppose they do
put out the wash!' The boy stared at
nothing, miserab bly,.
| Then he tossed his book aside and went
| over and locked the door. From secret
compartment In his writing desk he drew
out booklet, dOg-eared and thumbed.
in huge black letters the siren legend,
| Premiums for the Black Cat Soap
Tommy opened with the surety of long
habit to page AZ. Here appeared a list
| SCISSOR of "eight hundred squares cut
from our wrappers, bearing the trade
mark Of the Black Cat Soap" Tommy
ran his finger down them:
| A beautiful china tea set.
| A handsome set Of tools.
A set of Ouida's works tcomplete).
| A bronze piano lamp.
/ gold watch, gentleman or lady.
Eight hundred" sighed Tommy. II al
| ways keep hopin' I've forgot and it's only
| six. Lemme see, the eight I swiped to-
| night makes He turned over. the
] booklet and added eight to the column OF
| figures entered upon Its yellow back. ''El
| three hundred and ninety mine. Not
quite half! And they may put out the
! wash!"
| IF my premium game has been killed
by that screw-haired sneakin' sissycat
I'll have to buy the watch, that's all
She'll get one if / bust"
| The first step toward the collection OF
| funds for the purchase of the watch was
taken the very next day, Tommy having
! heard Mrs. Sedgewick inform Jane thai
she had decided to send the clothes to the
] Home Laundry for month. On the way
home from school Sam Slattery. sixth.
| grade boy, caught up with Thomas and
| began to bemoan the fact that his faith
er would not let him keep pair OF
bunnies he had just bought. From that
| he proceeded to dilate upon whether t6
send the birthday gift by mail to leave
| it on the doorstep OF the Weatherby
] homestead, or. to present the profit in
rabbit raising, and, finally, he confided
| pers to get a tool chest, and that he had
decided to trade the rabbits to the fel.
low who offered him the most coupons.
DO your own washin'?" asked Thomas
Yep" answered Sam. But most nc
one else does since the Home Laundry
/ started up. That's why wrappers are
| gettin' SO scarce. I've been round 'mong
all the fellers. and nobody's' got more'n a
hundred"
i've got &c., began Tommy.
ITS CO." cried Sam. Come on home
| and you can get the bunnies now"
| So the, long cherished coupons were
| handed over to Slattery. and the two rab-
bits were installed in the Sedgewick back
yard. But on the day following Tommy
| heard Rex Scott remark to Miss Rosa
| rnond Weatherby that he had just added
| 390 Black Cat coupons to his stock!
| Tommy felt as IL the bottom had sud
denly fallen out ,of the universe. Such
Machiavellian intriguing was almost be-
| yond his grasp.
Time. uneventful, expectant, rolled by.
| and at last rumor was spread about
that the birthday Of Rosamond Weather
by was nigh. simultaneously the cold
L
| ington Sedgewick increased to frigidity.
| At the rear Of the Sedgewick place eight
young rabbits now sported within q neat
inciOsure. and already prospective buyers
! were beginning to call. Accident, more
| over, had added a new branch Of industry
more promising even than rabbit raising
| A stray dachshund, fed and harbored by
Jane, one inclement evening. had prompt
ly. rewarded her with midnight litter
Of pups. Tommy had beheld them after
| breakfast with an air of commercial de-
light. There were SIX, perfect after their
| kind, and dachshund pups were worth
s. apiece. Tommy computed:
six times five is thirty. plus 81 for
the rabbits makes $34. I ought to get a
corkin' watch for that
| News of the new business spread like
| wildflre and almost the entire class &C
companied Tommy home at noon. By
Saturday night every pup was bespoken
at IS apiece. A week before the great
day Thomas announced to his school fell
/ lows that the rabbits and pups were ready
for sale If they would come round to his
house THAT afternoon and bring their
dough" One rabbit had not yet found a
purchaser, and to TOmmy's surprise, Rex
Scott stepped forward and said that he
would take ii If Tommy'd "just as lief.
Sure" said Tommy. warming. "And
you haven't been round to. see the dach-
shunds, have you? Don't you want to &c
lack with me now before the fellows