The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1915-02-16
EASY MONEY STORIES
BY REpFlELp A

When the tale of the successful
crook came Cor came back into the
literary field a few years ago. and
Rallies and his brilliant brothers be
gan to vie with Sherlock Holmes and
his n the favor of the public. the Up
to-Date Magazine, Of which ] vas
subeditor. was N OF the first TO real
lie his Importance
We were lucky In securing Mont
gomery. Tuckahoey Purser-M T
Purse" his friends called him-as q
regular contributor.
His famous hero. Easy Money Pat
terson, soon became the big feature
of our every edition.
Month after month the Up-toDate
ran his adventures, and then, without
the least warning Monty Purse disap
peared and the stories ceased In the
middle Of q series.
We jumped into the breach with q
new line Of features: but We missed
him.
We all missed him Monty was one
Of the best fellows I've " met. He
was really modest to begin with.
Then he was as nearly as possible
the opposite Of his hero; the soul Of
honor, generous to q fault, as trust
ing, unsuspicious, and ingenious as an
o. Henry rube. irresponsible 30 q
child-and always broke.
He simply couldn't keep money:
didn't seem to know It's value Many'e
the time he came to me TO make q
touch Of Q few dollars to tide him over
the month, though be might have got
his check Srom us the week before on
the strength Of hts next esory. which
be would write IN Q day or eo-~just
az soon as ! mad the idea old man."
And he never failed to pay I'D as
punctiliously as though bis life De
pended on T.
The boys ali liked him b conse-
quence, and there was no mockery In
the IN. T. Pursa~ Il was himself
He was alone In the world, 20 we
did what we could to keep IN eye ON
him But be never got into any real
troubtA
And. 70 cop II all, be bad genius.
WHY don't you write something for
the big monthlies?" I've asked him.
"you can surely get away with ~
because I'm not cure Of my
ground" he'd insist. aThey want
stories about Europe and society, or
the West. or the East, or the North.
or the South. OF the Fiji islands !
don't know those places and people.
In the face Of Kipling,s dictum that
Accuracy is the touchstone Of all art
] wouldn't dare write about 'em. It's
easy enough to make up plots for
those Patterson stories"
But Monty Disappeared
II dawned on me one day that he
hadn't been around for q couple Of
weeks to be tided over. Nobody else
had seen him, I found. and when the
third week went by without q sign of
him, I started to investigate at a hint
from the editor In chief. His next
tale was long overdue.
At his lodging house In West Four
teenth street the landlady told me,
with genuine regret, that he had left
suddenly nearly a month before. with
out a word as to where he was going.
And there the hunt ended.
Without hiring private detectives,
we could do nothing until he chose to
send us word.
A day or two later he did, but It
didn't help much. I got q picture post
card from him, dated at Cairo, Egypt.
Having the time Of my life," II
said. Sorry I couldn't get around
to say good-by. VIII WRITE But he
never wrote. I was considerably sur
prised and inclined to be angry with
him. Where had he got the funds to
travel?
Six months went by.
For four OF them we ran the Pat
terson stories, as usual; then the sup
ply gave out The chronicles Of the
brilliant master-rogue were not In the
magazine for August.
x1dAuty u6u thc 0cptcupCk nuuuucE
reached the newsstand when q storm
Of protest began.
Readers all over the country wrote
indignant, facetious, or aggrieved let
ters, wanting to know why we had
failed twice In succession to print the
"Easy-Money" stories.
Looks as though we were going
10 lose some subscribers" said the ed
itor in chief. and with that to think
about I went out to lunch.
In Fifth avenue, not q block from
the Office, I ran square into the van
ished author.
Monty Purse!. I cried where
under heaven have you been?"
why. blessed II It isn't Sponablel"
he exclaimed heartily, squeezing my
hand In strong. brown fingers. Gee,
I'm glad to see you! Isn't this old
hamlet a JOY and delight OF the heart
and a comforter Of afhictions. Come
and have a drink. I've forgotten what
q cocktail tastes like"
AS we turned through the crowd I
sized him up. It was q new Monty,
no longer our beloved m. T. Purse"
Gone was his careless dress; gone
the worry that used to shadow his
face. That face was now tanned q
rich brown and was lighted by an ex-
preston that belongs by divine right
only to persons OF wealth.
Where have you beenf" repeat
ed as we found seats IN . cafe. He
turned to q waiter.
Bring me-" he said with decision,
"a Manhattan. Make It two"
Hold on" I began.
Two" repeated Monty firmly.
What's yours. old man.? And
when the man was gone: why, I've
been studying Europe and society, and
the West and East. and various other
things.
And left US In the lurch Just four
stories TO the good. and now-see what
our readers think about It" I showed
him n of the letters.
Monty Purse returned 1t with rather
q guilty look
Had no idea I was so important
he defended himself. Il suppose
really shouldn't have done 1t: but.
Lord. man. 1t was q temptation"
But what on earth did you dor
II told you-went abroad. Took in
Europe and Asiasa and sections of AT.
RIGA. I'd be there yet II I hadn't got
30 homesick for a certain ~insignif-
cant village on the Hudson. And I've
learned a heap. Sponable. I'll be able