Evening star., 1919-03-30

tHtcGuppulSlr Idkc inns case
where they send the limousine to cart
pe way up above Tarrytown. where
Alton /. Frazer has built a near
Moorish palace on top Of a hill.
whats the idea?" l asks Miss
Edith when she rings me on the long
distance. Shall l bring up a set OF
gloves or some gym apparatusr"
Certainly not" says she. kind of
gaspy. why. poor daddys being
wheeled about in a chair. He's very
eick man"
"Say." ] breaks in. ARE you sure
you've got the right numbeT2 This
fs Prof. McCabe's Physical Culture
Studio, you know. and"
rYes, / understand" says Miss
Edith. Il suppose I'm perfectly silly.
but just want you to come up and
TALK to him a little while. You see.
he hasn't seen a soul for the past five
weeks. but doctors and nurses. We've
had four specialists and each one has
discovered something dreadful tbs
matter with him, every time some
thing new. and he is SO discouraged
that IL Well. I'm desperate,
that's all. I've never seen him give
up this way and l just thought
oh, I don't know precisely, but he
used to seem cheerful when he
Syas going regularly to your place.
professor, and if you could only"
Sure" says l. "rll come"
Not that / thought it would be any
Sse. but Old Alihi Frazer had tossed
Hver to me many fat check in his
nay and I'd be a poor sort of prune to
~ nj
Fhen he was about to take the count,
wouldn't I?
I expect you know more or less
Shout him yourself, but whether you
Fate him as Il high-cass flnancier or
rs f1rst-class crook who has lodged
Jail depends a good deal on how
nuch income tax you pay. AS for
quiet talkin little old guy. with the
mild blue eyes and the high broad
shoulders, first showed up at the stu
dio. I had him placed as some up
state banker who was spendin' the
winter in town because daughter was
havin' her voice trained to hold high
O or something. Then noticed that
heavy chin of his and the solid set to
his jaw. 80 l wasn't so much sur
prised to find out that he was the big
traction plute.
Ch-huh. Suburban trolleys are his
specialties. He collects 'em like any
one else would collect liberty bond
posters or pewter mugs or old cam
paign buttons. He'll get his eye on
kood payin' line that's somehow es-
Gaped being gobbled up by some syn.
picate. and the next thing the direc-
tors know the man who's votin' the
ma!"Yity stock at the annual meetin'
will be Alton l. Frazer. Then things
begin to happen. There'll be a new
issue, second or third mortgage Will
Pc clapped on, the bonds will be Jug
kled mysterious, the sinkin' fund will
disappear and most likely the courts
will be asked to appoint receiver.
somehow, though, he will come out of
She deal with a pot of money whose
hbsence doesn't show anywhere on
The books, and the local capitalists
&ho financed the road at the start
Eill be wonderin' what hit 'em. Then
maybe there'll be a reorganization
knd another feeder will be added to
The Frazer system.
iStill, I must say he's always been
eair and friendly with me. l got SO
didn't even lock up the safe when
9e came in and after I'd helped him
Get rid Of a bad case Of nervous in
digestion he sure expressed his grati-
tude in something besides kind words.
In fact, we've been almost chummy
over since. So when the French chauf-
feur comes up and says how the car
tiage waits. or words to that effect,
surns the studio over to Swiftly Joe
For the day and takes this twenty
bnile drive up into Westchester county.
I admit ! was some Jared at the
change in the old boy. Why. it hadn't
Deem moren eight months since he'd
propped into the studio last, smokin'
Rne Of them slim panteflas and hand
III me his usual line of quiet josh. And
here he is bumped over in the rollin'
thair with his mouth corners sagged
knd complexion like the inside OF an
A4h tray.
EHwell, we'll" says I. lookin' him
kver. "Who's been kiddin' you into
$hinkin' you're an INVALID"
h He shakes his head and tries TO
pull that old twisty smile of his.
GI'm afraid they're right this time,
Shorty" says he. lin on the
Scrap heap, 1 guess"
u "Gwan" says I. You got a right
TO another guess. amt you? Been
faving some specialists look you over,
He mods.
Heart specialist, I'll bet" I goes
~; land they found your blood pump
Iii out of whack. didn't they?"
4 He admits they did: also that stom-
3ch specialists had found fault with
bis plumbing. and SO on.
T. YES" says I, "and If you'd had
Foot expert in he'd told you how you
had fallen arches, while a lung shark
would have insisted that your pipes
were clogged. Sure you amt got
touch Of housemaid's knee, or boil
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