The Hope pioneer. [volume] (Hope, N.D.) 1882-1964, 1919-11-27
Copyright by Doubleday. Page & compan,
CHAPTER xXlI-continued.

SS1SNT Eli
-16-
At this he laughed, but not very
heartily, and walked slowly to the
house, leaving her bending over a rose
bush, and a shade more pensive than
the most pensive garden lady in any
Victorian engraving. . . Next day,
it happened that this same "Vendo.
nah" or MISUNDERSTANDING" be-
came the subject of Il chance CONVEX
sation between Eugene and his old
friend Kinney, father Of the fire-topped
Fred. The two gentlemen found them
selves smoking,i in n%eighboring leather
chairs beside a broad window at the
club, after lunch.
Mr.. Kinney had remarked that he
expected to get his family established
at the seashore by the Fourth Of July,
and, following a train of thought, he
paused and chuckled. Fourth of July
reminds me-" he said. "Have you heard
what that George Minafer is doing?'
mo, l haven't" said Eugene, and his
friend failed to notice the crispness of
the utterance.
"Well, sir" Kinney chuckled again,
"it beats the devil! My boy Fred told
me about it yesterday. He's a friend
of this young Henry Akers, son of T..
p. Akers of the Akers Chemical COM
pany. 1t seems this young Akers asked
Fred if he knew a fellow named Nina
fer, because he knew Fred had always
lived here, and young Akers had heard
some way that Minafer used to be an
old family name here, and was sort Of
curious about it. Well, sir, you re-
member this young George sort of dis
appeared, after his gr%andfather's
death, and nobody seemed to know
much what had become of him
though I did hear, once or twice, that
he was still around somewhere. Well,
sir, he's working for the Akers Chem
Zeal company, out at their plant on the
Townsville road"
He paused, seeming to reserve some
thing to be delivered only upon inquiry,
and Eugene offered him the expected
question, but only after a cold glance
through the nOse-glasses he had lately
found it necessary to adopt. "What
does he do?"
Kinney laughed and slapped the arm
of his chair. Hes a nit~ro-glycerin ex-
perth"
1 He was gratifed 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!
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 a special
plant for nitro-glycerin, way off from
the main plant, O. course-in the
woods somewhere-and George Nina
fer's been working there, and lately
they put him in charge of it. He owe
sees shooting oil wells, too, and shoots
'em himself, sometimes. They aren't
allowed to carry it on the railroads,
you know-have to team it. Young
Akers says George rides around over
the bumpy roads, sitting IN 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 a bigger drop, when
he comes down, than he's already had
Don't it beat the devil! Young Akers
said he's got all the nerve there is in
the world. Says he gets a fair salary,
and I should think he ought to! 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 nitro-glycerin ex
perts. Hardly!"
mo" said Eugene. II suppose not
Kinney rose to 90. swell, it's I;
pretty funny thing-pretty odd, I NEAR
and I suppose it would be pass
around-the-hat for old Fanny Minafe,
if he blew up. Fred told me tina
they're living in some apartment house
and said George supports her. He wa;
going to study law, but couldn't earl
enough that way to take care 0
Fanny, so he gave it up. Fred's wifi
told him all this. Says Fanny doesn'
do anything but play bridge thes
days. Got to playing too high 70
awhile and lost more than she wante
to tell George about, and borrowe
a little from old Frank Bronson. Pal
him back, though. Don't know no,
Fred's wife heard it. Women do hea
the darndest things!"
"They do" Eugene agreed.
swell, I'm off to the store" said NJ
Kinney briskly; yet he fingered. :
suppose We'll all have to club in an
keep old Fanny out of the poorhous
If he does blow up. From all l hef
it's usually only a question Of tim
They say she hasn't got anything els
to depend on"
II suppose not"
"Well-I wondered" Kinney hes