The Bismarck tribune., 1919-04-09

1u wu,rItl NIT have taIa iiislr waE had
SUE nur al4srasSini III siGnilslr te-alInc.
E'lt liz cauis;n't nIilsiish III.
Z wsicS wi1inluU any e'lj,t4GTvt ut all
tls.lu liz fillIly waIAEt. CUE OF GlAe sta
Hn9n hltt ElIg're.l uFg, Itia STrear. His
tre.hI al caia,;c with his SturF TO amy
@ne who al.sw Hmm h.etcanIe absolutely
IL i3tIecE 1fia n,auIanT h.a fixed ou any
M FnrE1tIIslr., In,d ah.t refleeEB0u game
6tN hiIsl is IL re,El reihat an Ba>g. that
sHn1ir sNIl esrlnsi wNsE!tt1 7 do HnE good
anFNIy- .~
/ @hes1 would have he.an Ills OWN at
| rIEUt1s. = YEAR agn~ to such & request?
SvTpEsesin4r- fer exa napLe- that John
-1herrr0nadne had e',a1.a To him like that.
gsaN h4a wsS DOWN ansf oIT and wanted
a TwerEy-ffve doglar t9lp2 He'd have
sabd to hTnnEseatt- Here II this nxn is
rs:aIFy DOWN anI ssrE he's dear at any
price He WON'T be- nueh go1d at first
and he'll get steadily WORSE aud I'll
/ be saefdEed with him But it, as is
| nf0ra EJkesy- he cpness back. then he'll
! leave me and 90 i'm for himself again
at the end of six months or so, with
afa the inside dope of my office at his
tInZer-FTp<- tMIce as dangerous cstED-
petfeor &s before -
Mo- he knew what he'd say to Aher-
c1 eEbfe I'M these circumstances He'd
say i'm the most optimistic manner he
could manage along with clap ON the
shoulder and the offer of a cigar.
Look here. old uIau- You're tired out.
and you've got touch of liver. You
forget your troubles for a while and
take a good rest. Go down to French
Lick or somewhere. and boil out. You
Will be back again in three months.
lit to give any Of us run for our
money But this twenty-f:ye-doIlar-a
week Stuff-fOrget it." And that. as
sure as to-morrow's sunrise was what
Abercrombie would say to him to-day.
He'd been wandering aimleSxly-
along all the while. stopping every now
! and then to stare down into a building
excavation. or to watch an automobile
with balky motor tryin gto start.
Now his eye was caught by spectacle
almost as familiar to Chica cagoans-the
long file of men waiting outside one
one Of the afternoon newspaper offices
for the first edition. in order that thev
might be the first applicants for the
| jobs advertised in its Want" columns,
The length of that file is pretty good
barometer to business conditions, but.
good times or bad. it is always there.
And Alfred Blair. without any reflec-
ion at all. just because there it was,
and here he was. dropped into place at
the tail Of it.
-Four hours or so later. Il tOrn-Out bit
of newspaper ready for reference in
his OvercOat pocket. he was conducted
! by an office boy through the indesvrib-
able confusion Of a big, dirty. resonant
room, with lot of drafting tables in
it, many Of them unoccupied, to a desk
in the corner. where sat a lahk. oily-
lOking man in his shirt-Sleeves.
TO him, Alfred said. II am answer
ing your advertisement for d drafts.
| map."
The oily man was just back from
lunch, and STILL with the aid Of tooth.
pick, ruminant over it. He was model
, Ing his manners, as we'll as he could.
OH those Of the head Of the firm, who
had just cashed in on his loyalty to
the new city administration, with fat
municipal contract.
The superintendent had been having
MS troubles, 1t must be owned There
were many other loyal souls comm.
around to be taken care of. But q
few men had to be found somewhere
who orknew their business. 1t was this
fact that had led to the insertion or the
! advertisement
The superintendent took two minutes
perhaps. for searching and hostile
stare at this surprising applicant. What
business had d man in his situation to
wear clothes like that?
| He asked mt last, out Of one side
of his mouth, What experience have
you had?'
I'm competent craftsman" Blair
said. II can do anything you want
me to-"
"Where'd you work last!"
Blair said deliberately, II don't csre
to give my references
The superintendent smiIe,l--s sueer.
ing sort Of smile that expressed. how.
ever, real pleasure. The sd,n,sslo,
restored him to q sense Of his own
superiority.
suppose you're tnspze fighter !"
ne said behind yawn, but that makes
no odds to me. II you can deliver M.
goods. There's about stx weeks, ~
two MOuths' work. rak. ..fS .,..