Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1918-06-23
CONTINUED from Second Page-)

me and him and you go look at it right
She did not wait for an answer:
Mr.. Trebbs was so frightened at the
rapidity with which he was being
forced into a piece OF dishonesty he
dreaded to undertake, that he could
not have spoken had he tried.
Mrs. Bunker climbed the stairs
again. AS she entered the room Mr..
Bunker spoke to her.
{ Ma" he said. you know this Mr..
Trebbs that boards here"
Il just. been talkin' to him." said
He owns an ice mine" said Mr..
Il guess 1 know that as well as
you do, Jabez Bunker. Him and me
was talkin' about that not a minute
ago"
Mr.. Bunker chuckled gleefully. Dur
ing Mrs Bunker's obsence he had
hit upon a plan for securing the
ownership of the mine for very little
money. He was sure he could bunco
Mr.. Trebbs out of the mine for very
small part of what it was worth
MA" he said. seems like you al
ways did just the right thing at just
the right time. I was just goin' to ask
you to go down and sort Of start talk
I'm thinkin' Of buyin' that ice mine.
you're a dear old soul Jabez
Bunker"
Il reckon amt no worse than
other folks" Jabez admitted What
Of say to Mr.. Trebbs how nice it
would be II he was to lower down the
price of the ice mine on account OF me
wantin' to buy it to give to the poor
tenement folks. SO they could go over
to the mine and get all the free ice
they wanted"
Il been sayin' that very thing to
him, Jabez."
Mr.. Bunker got out of his chair and
kissed his wife jolly smack.
"And he's willin' to cut the price In
half, Jabez." she said. He'll knock
off $4,000"
'He will. hey?" beamed Mr.. Bunker.
and then a sudden thought came to
him. What was you askin' him to do
that for. MAJ" he asked. What in
terest did you have in an ice miner"
IT wanted it just like you say" she
said. $50 / could give 1t to the poor
tenement folks, SO they could get free
ice"
Mr.. Bunker had had no such real in
tention. He had meant to use that as
a means of getting a low price, and
then, by real bunco methods, to avoid
than a small part OF it, he had con-
templated forming a stock company.
selling the supplemented Mr.. Trebbs
the stock and keeping the bonds for
himself as remuneration for selling
the stock. By issuing enough bonds
at sufficiently high rate of interest,
the ice mine would be working en-
tirely for Mr.. Bunker. There would
be no income left to pay dividends on
the stock. New Workers love such
deals. They own billions Of dollars
worth Of such stock.
But now his thoughts were turned
in different direction. 1t was seldom
Grandma Bunker-bless her heart
asked for anything or set her heart
on anything, and he felt that giving
her this ice mine to give to the poor
would be a blessed thing to do. es-
pecially IL he could get the mine for
little or nothing. He slept that night
most peacefully and had happy
dreams. Not So Mr.. Trebbs. That
gentleman. finding himself driven. as
one might say, by Mrs. Bunker to
take up his old calling of bunco man.
spent a miserably sleepless night.
Any one who has been forced by cir
cumstances against his will to bunco
any one will understand how Mr..
Trebbs suffered.
The next day Mr.. Bunker tried to
find Mr.. Trebbs. but was unable to
do SO. He wanted to begin operations
at once. and had 5000 he wished to