The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1917-11-22
vent of the illustrlous jennings (who

the eye OF Jennings was sharper lnal |
All eaele's, and, though he seemed to
be wholly at his ease, he was always |
On the watch for the danger signal.
Now, gentlemen" he was saying, |
I'VE will give you all chance to ex-
anime this mechanism to better advan-
tase than is possible while it is being |
operated at high speed Miss VIII
liams, will you obl!ge me-
Miss Williams Obliged" Despite her
innocent and girlish mien, she was an
expert with the automatic, trained un-
der the inventors eye for many
that the moment had come when the
machine must be stopped or it would
cut such capers us would set the crowd
bowling She smiled sweetly at Mr..
Jennings and turned Off the power.
The automatic came to rest
Gentle as lamb said the invent
| or, patting the iron child Of his brain.
as II moved by affection for 1t. but
really to see how hot it was in various
| places. Now, gentlemen, l will re-
move certain parts SO that you ma:
understand how we get these remarka-
ble results"
Mr. Ely meanwhile had passed be-
hind the machine and stopped beside
the pile of plated straw with which
the automatic was fed. 1t happened,
then, that he noted the unlighted cigar,
and, kneeling there, he took out the
box of matches which the little peddler
had sold to him. He was about to
light one of them when his attention
was stricken by voice, and he listen
ed. mOtionless.
1t was squat, dark, oily skinned
man who was speaking. Ely had
glimpse of his face through wheel of
the machine and recognized him for a
curb broker named Stendhall, IN re-
| gard to whom he had received warn
ing that the fellow might try to work
an unfriendly game with the stock.
"Mr. Jennings" said Stendhall, "some
of us are not satisfied with this exhibit
tion. We would like to see test of
four hours continuous operation-fou
hours ut least We
But Ely heard no more. There was
ringing in his ears, with a dizziness
that made him put hand upon the
floor to steady himself The bare floor
was cold to the touch, being made of
slabs Of stone. An idea seemed to leap
from the tips Of Ely's fingers to his
brain. He cast hasty glance over the
pile of straw. No one was observing
him. Ten seconds later he arose with
lighted cigar between his lips. The
incxtinguishable match was briskly
sizzling In the straw.
Ely stepped behind Miss Williams.
who had got down from her place at
the machine. He had no special inter
est in her, but she was the only wo-
man present, and he felt responsible
for Ecr safety.
Fire" yelled somebody, and Oh the
instant beautiful squirt of flame leap
ed straight for the vitals Of the auto
matte. There was a wild rush for the
doors, and Ely observed Stendhall, with
his head down, butting his way to
safety and roaring with panic.
Beyond few scratches and the rend-
ing Of garments no harm was done.
The fire burned itself out OIL the stone
fircmen to do when they arrived. After
it was all over the inventor, pale with
excitement, laid hand Oh Ely's shoul-
der and stared into his eyes.
by George, sir!'' said he. You're
the quickest man to think that ever
saw. You saved our bacon that time.
sure"
''IIow do you know l did it,"
We'll" said the inventor, sllivering
and grinning, Il hope I've got as much
faith in Providence as any person
reeds, but there's a limit, sir: there's
a limit. This was no miracle-no, sirr'
speaking of miracles rcjoined Ely,
"you've got forty-eight hours to ac.
complish one. We can claim two days
delay on the ground of damage to our
machine. At the end of that time the
; automatic has got to run four hours at
high speed or there's an end Of us.
"I'li 10 it.' cried the inventor. by
George, I'll do it,
1--WE heard that before," responded
K I
It was after O'Clock when Ely en-
tered his private Office and sank heavi-
ly into his chair His desk was closed.
There were some letters upon the leaf
and OH tep of them d sheet of paper
bearing Il memorandum in pencil
This was the usual summary Of the
situation prepared by Ely's right hand
man. Jane, Mcknight The. total.
S9.0s., showed the amount which must
he raised to meet these obligations.
The statement was usually worse.
Tomorrow, as Mcknight had remark
: ed. was an easy day" Ely knew
where he could raise S0.0s5, but what
he did not know and never had known
. and never expected to know was how
long he could keep On doing 1t. The
catastrophe must come some time-it
had never seemed so near.
The stock of the Jennings Automatic
Straw Hat Machine company had al
ready begun to be dealt in OIL the curl
{ aad was quoted around so. Mr. Stend
| hall had been selling it short" for sew
: eral Gays, and lie redollbled his efforts
! after the open attack which he had
: made. but Ely. having raised somt
! money by stroke of genius i'll the
1 discounting Of airy and unsubstantia
notes. succeeded in holding the price d
tile stock at very small decline. Bu
l,,mnrs were stalking abroad. an'l tin
/ a.tual sale Of the stock as result o.