Evening star., 1917-09-16

had a plunge in a marble pool so as
to be in shape for little dinner Mr.
some dinner, There a jolly trip
out to an amusement park later on. Oh.
the Wonder folks were no tight-wads
when II came to shown special agents
OF the Corrugated around.
I tried another day of 1t before givin'
up. 1t was no use. They had me buf-
faloed. So l thanked all hands and
hinted that maybe I'd better be gotn'
back. | hope | didn't deceive any one,
for.I did go back-to the hotel. But by
night I'd invested s11.45 in Il second
hand outfit-warranted steam -clea ned
and ] had put up s6 more for week $
porch faced the ten-foot fence guardin'
the Wonder Motors main plant. Also.
Mrs. Petersen had said it was cinch
! could get a job. Her old man would
show me where in the mornin'.
And say. mornin' happens early out
In places like that BY five-thirty a. m.
l could smell the bacon grease, and by
six-tifteen breakfast was all owe and
Petersen had lit his corn-cob pipe
COON" says he in pure Scandinavian.
This trip, | didn't make my entrance
in over the Turkish rugs OF the priva te
office. | was lined up with a couple
of dozen others against a fence about
tenth from a window where there was
a Men Wanted" sign out. Being about
much of a mechanic as l am a bru-
nette. l made no wild bluffs. l just ga Id
l wanted job. And got it-riveter's s
helper. whatever that might be. By
eisht-thirty my name and number was
on the payroll. and the foreman of
shop No. 19 was introducin' me to my
new boss.
Here. Mike" says he. Give this one
a try-out."
His name wasn't Mike. 1t was some
thing like Sneezowslii. He was a Pole
who'd come over three years ago to
work for John ID. at Bayonue. y. j., but
a got fn Ii ind nf fro, 10
! didn't wonder. He had wicked little
eyes, one Topped ear. and a ragged mus
tache that stood out like tushes. But
he sure could handle pneumatic
riveter rapid. and when Il came to re-
provin' me for not keepin' the pace he
expressed himself fluent.
In the course of a couple of hours.
though. / got the hang Of how to work
them rivet tongS without droppin 'em
more'n once every five minutes. But
think 1t was the grin I slipped Mike
now and then that got him to over
lookin' my awkward motions. Believe
me, too. by o'clock I felt like GRIMM
than any time | could remember.
never knew you could ache in so many
places at once. From the ankles down
l felt fine. And yet. before the week
was out l was helpin Mike speed up.
1t didn't look promisin for sleuth
work at first. Half dozen times l was
on the point of chuckin' the job. But
the thoughts of hayin' to face Old
WIN a DfdnR report kept me
pluggin' away. | begun to get my
bearin's bit. TO see things, to put this
and that together
We was workin' on shaped steel
plates, armor for the tanks. Now and
then one would come through with
some of the holes only quarter or half
punched. Course, you couldn't put
rivets in them places.
How about these" I asks.
"Aw. wotteil!" says Mike. Forget
it
But what if the inspector sees?" |
insists
Nike gurgles in his throat. indicatin
mirth.
"Th' inspec'"' he chuckles. Him
wink by his eye. him. va. You see,
Him COON Sat day
And ] swaps chuckles with Mike
Also by settin' up the schooners at
Carlouva's that evenin'. / got Mike to
let out more professional secrets along
the same line. There was others who
joined in. They Dragged of Clipped
gears that was shipped through with
the bad cogs covered with grease. OF
fiawy drivin shafts, of cheesy armor-
plate that you could puncture with a
tack hammer.
While it was all fresh that night
jotted down pages of such gossip in a
little red notebook. L had names and