The Elbert County tribune., 1919-12-26
,pyriEht By Doubleday. Page Z compsz
CHAPTER xxlI-continued.

At this he laughed. but not very
heartily, and walked slowly to the
aouse. leaving her bending over a rose
push, and shade more penslve than
he most pensive garden lady in any
Victorian engraving. Next day
happened that this same 'vendo-
,ah'' or "Rides-Down-Every be.
.ame the subject of a chance conver-
sation between Eugene and his old
.riend Kinney, father of the fire-topped
Fred. The two gentlemen found them
chairs beside broad window at the
:lub. after lunch.
Mr.. Kinney had remarked that he
expected to get his family established
at the seashore by the Fourth of July,
md, following a train of thought, he
,aused and chuckled. Fourth of July
.eminds me-" he said. "Have you heard
what that George Minafer is doing?"
mo, haven't" said Eugene. and his
friend failed to notice the crispness of
he utterance.
"Well, SIR" Kinney chuckled again,
1T beats the devil My boy Fred told
ne about 1t yesterday. He's a friend
II this young Henry Akers, son of r.
?. Akers of the Akers Chemical COM
,any. 1t seems this young Akers asked
fred if he knew fellow named Nina
'er. because he knew Fred had always
ived here, and young Akers had heard
iome way that AIinafer used to be an
I'D family name here, and was sort of
curious about 1t. Well, sir, you re-
member this young George sort of dis
appeared, after his grandfather's
ieath, and nobody seemed to know
much what had become of him
though 1 did hear. once or twice, that
lie was still around somewhere. Well,
Iir, he's working for the Akers Chem
cal company. out at their plant on the
rhomasville road"
He paused, seeming to reserve some
hing to be delivered only upon inquiry,
Ind Eugene offered him the expected
question, but only after cold glance
through the nose-glasses he had lately
found it necessary to adopt what
aoes he do2"
Kinney laughed and slapped the arm
Of his chair. "He's a nitro-glycerin ex-
peril"
He was gratified to see that Eugene
was surprised, If not. indeed, a little
startled.
Hes what?"
Hes an expert on nitro-glycerin.
Doesn't that beat the devil Yes, sir I
Young Akers told Fred that this
George Minafer had worked like a
houn'-dog ever since he got started
out at the works. They have special
plant for nitro-glycerin. way off from
the main plant. O. course-in the
woods s0mewhere-and George Nina
fer's been working there, and lately
they put him in charge of it. He over
sees shooting oil wells, too, and shoots
'em himself, sometimes. They aren't
allowed to carry 1t on the railroads.
you know-have to team 1t. Young
Akers says George rides around over
the bumpy roads, sitting on as much as
three hundred quarts of nitro-glycerin !
My Lord Talk about romantic tum-
bles If he gets blown sky-high some
day he won't have bigger drop. when
he comes down, than he's already had !
Don't 1t beat the devil Young Akers
said he's got all the nerve there is in
the world. Says he gets n fair salary,
and should think he ought toi Seems
to me I've heard the average life in
that sort Of work is somewhere around
four years. and agents don't write any
Insurance at all for nltro-glycerin ex-
2erts. Hardlyw
"No,' said Eugene. II suppose not"
Kinney rose to go. "Well, it's a
pretty funny thing-pretty odd. mean
and l suppose 1t would be pass
around-the-hat for old Fanny Minafer
If he blew up. Fred told me that
they're living in some apartment house.
and said George supports her. He was
going to study law. but couldn't earn
enough that way to take care. of
Fanny, so he gave 1t up. Fred's wife
told him all this. Says Fanny doesn't
do anything but play bridge these
days. Got to playing too high for
awhile and lost more than she wanted
70 tell George about, and borrowed
a little from old Frank Bronson. Paid
him back, though. Don't know how
Fred's wife heard 1t. Women do hear
the darndest thingsl"
They do" Eugene agreed.
"Well, I'm of to the store" said Mr..
Kinney brlskly; yet he fingered. II
suppose we'll all have to club in and
keep old Fanny out Of the poorhouse
II he does blow up. From all hear
it's usually only a question Of time.
They say she hasn't got anything else
to depend on"
II suppose not"
"Well-I wondered" Kinney hesi-