The Glenwood post., 1914-01-31


sorts of figures and for all sorts of
articles, from diamonds to gasoline,
from charity to faro. The arrival of
the sympathetic Rankin. who believed
his master had a headache, with a
note from Mrs. Gerard, interrupted the
bookkeeping which. for the first time
in his life, Broadway had begun. 1t
had not been encouraging, ~ Tar a.
he had gone.
He read the note and foand ii T. BE
an invitation. Deciding to accept 1t.
he decided. also. that 1t must - the
last one OF the sort he must acospt.
1t had become intensely plain to him
that now had come the time vhsa he
must cease his gaieties and And more
money.
He was a gloomy figure at the feast
that night, and his gloom grew with
every aged smile which Mrs. Gerard
cast in his direction. 1t vas plain
enough to him, to everyone, that this
exceedingly rich lady. of uncertain age,
regarded him with very friendly eyes.
She even sometimes called him Jack
son" After the dinner he took Robert
W dlldte uo~ hto~H WIN ulu IN nl6
sixty horsepower touring car
Mrs Gerard" he ventured. seems
. well-preserved old-er| mean that
she seems well preserved
We'll canned. you mean" said Wal.
lace. But too much chemical preserv-
ative in females is as dangerous as
it is in food. How did We happen to
go there tonight? You roped me into
that, Broadway. You didn't tell me
where you meant to take me. You
merely said we'd go to dinner with
some friends of yours"
We'll, she's a friend of mine"
Broadway defended rather hotly. An
idea, so terrible that it was fascinat.
ing had occurred to him.
She might have gone to school with
your grandmother. 1t makes me sick
to see her ogle you. think she wants
to marry you
Broadway burst into a laugh which
he was well aware was quite too loud.
too cackly and too hollow; he feared
acutely that his friend would recognize
its falseness.
TO marry me! Ho, ho!" Instantly
his manner changed. But l don't like
the way you speak about her, Bob
Remember-we have just enjoyed her
hospitality"
Enjoyed it! Speak for yourself old
man! If l had known where you were
going, do you suppose I would have
gone with you? l can meet grand
mothers schoolmates at the Old La
Niac' don't 30
ner with them"
Now, Bob"
Wallace burst into a laugh. 81 BE-
lieve it is pure charity" he guessed.
you are trying to make others happy.
You smile on her as you would throw
q dollar into a Salvation Army cash
pot around Christmas time"
Bob, I'm thinking about getting
married"
His friend sat straight and looked at
him In dumb Amusement for q second.
Married! And is grandma In some
way related to the bride who may be-"
Bob. I need"
He stopped. Almost he had told his
friend he needed money: but he had
not the courage. To confess poverty
on Broadway 10 like confessinS muir
der In 4 church.
Need what?"
"A rest. I'm going to-ee-taka
some sort Of . vacation. Don't know
what Maybe back to the old home.
Anyway, you won't see me around for
quite . little while"
Never mind. old chap! I'll tell
them all that you have had to go
away on business. Go somewhere and
get Strengthened out. You need it.
There's something wrong with you. or
you would never have gone to that
dinner where that ancient mariness
could ogle you the way she did
We'll, you won't see me for = week
or two"
Drop me a line If you want any
thing"
Jackson Jones went away early ON
the following morning. As ignorant Of
business and of business methods as
baby, yet he tried to scheme some
way by means of which he might re-
coup his staggering finances. Wild
ideas, all impractical, whirled through
MS brain.
He must have money. that was GER
tain. He had not the least idea Of
just how he had accomplished 1t. but
he had spent his patrimony-spent it
all and more than all Of it. II he had
paid up the debts he owed-which all
the world seemed glad to have him
owe-that was the hard part Of 1t:
everyone seemed anxious to have him
go In debt to them-he would have far
less than nothing left.
For days he stewed above his ng-
ures In q room of which he kept close
guard upon the key. He told Rankin,
who was curious, that he planned to
write = book.
Indeed. sir? Fiction, sir?'
Fiction? Cad, no! Fact"