The Butler weekly times. (Butler, Mo.) 1881-1918, 1914-11-26

| FEE
t If Never Saw That Ring Before"
| longer rode horseback, and Morton
returned to his accustomed haunts
| where no one made the slightest at
tempt upon his life. In his present
state Of mind he would have welcomed
it.
Whats the matter with jim?
asked the night city editor, raising his
| eye shade.
Il don't know" answered the copy
reader
Goes around as II he'd been eating
dope; bumped into the boss a while
ago and never stopped to apologize
perhaps he's mapping out the front
page for that Hargreave stuff,
laughed the copy reader. Between
you and me and the gate post, don't
believe there ever was man by the
name of Hargreave."
"Oh, there was chap by that name,
all right. He's dead. A man can't
swim 800 miles in rough water, life
buoy or no. They ought to have
funeral services, and let it go at that"
"But what was the reason for that
fake cable from Gibraltar saying that
Orts was alive? l don't see any sense
In that"
"The man who pulled 1t off did. I
think, for my part, that both Orts and
Hargreave are dead, and that the man
picked up by the tramp steamer Orient
was riding some other balloon"
you're wrong there. The descrip-
ton of it proved that 1t was Orts ma
chine. Oh, Jim probably has got a
mans size yarn up his sleeve, but he's
a long time in delivering the goods.
He's beginning to NOPE good deal.
Woman back of 1t somewhere. Haven't
held down this copy job for twelve
years without being able to make some
tOlerable guesses. Jims star man.
When he gets started nothing can stop
him. He covered the Chinese Boxer
rebellion better than any other corre-
spondent there. I wonder how old he
isl"
20, should say about thirty-one or
two. Here he comes now. 10; JIM"
Hello! Where's Ford? He gave
me ticket to the theater tonight. and
I want to punch his head. What's
drama coming to, anyhow? Cigarettes
and booze and mismated couples.
Can't they find good enough things
out Of doors? Oh, I know. They cater
to a lot of fools who believe that what
they see is an expression of high life
In New York and London. And it's
rot, plain rot. It's merely the scum
on the boiling pot And any old house,
wife would skim it of and chuck it
into the Stops. Life? Pifhe!"
whats the grouch?"
. Looking for the dramatic job?"
"No. I've just been wondering how
far these theatrical managers can 60
without Sitting the golden goose"
Norton sought his desk and began
rummaging the drawers. He was not
hunting for anything; he was merely
passing away the time. BY and by.
when the pastime no longer served.
he pulled his chair over to the window
and sat down. staring at stars such
as Copernicus never dreamed of. Ships
going down to sea. ferries swooping
diagonally hither and thither. the
clockwork signs: but he took no note
Of these marvels Of light
mot at home!" he muttered.
He had called. written, telephoned.
No use. The door remained shut,
Jones answered the telephone, and the
letters came back. He began to think
very deeply concerning the PerigoR
woman. Had she played . trick? Had
that limiting spell been buncombe for
his beneflt a well a. F1orences? But
he bad not shadow Of = proof. The
thing that pushed him equally Wtth