Evening star., 1921-05-15

woodie with glare. "Dunwoodie." he
inquired crushngly, haven't you read
the papers,
Thoroughly" sir replied the secre-
tary. getting red. There was nothing
about the affair."
WHAT
Nothing" repeated Mr.. Dunwoodie,
doggedly.
The face of James Josiah Randers was
study. A hot wave of anger swept
from his gathered feet to his massive
head. Yet, save for fleeting compress
sion of the lips his heavy features gave
no hint Of his emotion.
Well he burst out after a moment.
l. for once those vipers have let us
alone"
I'm afraid they have Mr. Dun
woodie spoke earnestly.
Afraid" MIR. Randers fairly spra wled
on the opportunity to let the jacket of
! his anger burst. Afraid, you simple
ton. Don't you know | have been fight
ing for years to keep my name out of
these scurrilous sheets? This is a vic
tory
Mr. Dunwoodie said something mar
ticulate to show that he had been hep
all along. and withdrew. He was glad
| to get away from there.
Left alone. Mr. Randers seized tho
stack OF c!ippings-the financial clip
pings. minus that social rot" Here.
at any rate, in the Wall street reviews.
the name Randers would recur with
the lot column article on Consolidated
Suburban Traction. AS he ran his eye
! down the clipping his face grew grave.
! Something was surely wrong. Instead
of the name Randers speckling sentence
and paragraph there appeared such
watery phrases as this:
"A well known banking house"
"a financier of international reputa-
tion;'' IAN operator known for his
foresight and astuteness;" "a prouli-
| nent interest heretofore identified
with this undertaking"
Mr.. Randers laid the clipping down
with deliberateness unusual to him.
He picked up another. glance
showed that it was likewise mysteri-
ously expurgated. Beads Of perspira-
tion, popped out on Mr.. Randers'
forehead.
The telephone rang. Hello. Ran
ders." 1t was the voice of an old
associate in the Street. who's sick
| at your house,
Nobody snapped Mr.. Randers.
Who said there was?'
! Nobody" The voice was cheer
/ full. 81 thought maybe that was the
| reason your wife's affair was called
off last night"
who said it was called off?"
Nobody. But the papers haven't
got line about it. and my natural
inference waS--
Hang the papers, beloved Mr..
| Randers.
1T Is an outrage The voice was
| sympathetic.
Get me right" shot back Mr..
/ Randers. unconsciously slangy in his
, fury, II don't want my name in the
! papers. Good-by"
! He swung hercely about from the
i telephone and glowered at the heavy
, rug on the floor. Panics, he knew,
, had followed the wake of punier ru-
mors than reports of illness in a
| capitalists family. Many bear raid
| had sprung from a germ less fertile
| than the omission of his name in
| connection with the c. S. r.
1T was an oversight Of course. The
next sheet Of typewriter fiimsy is
suing from his Office would be seized
! upon and played up by the newspa-
pers as in the past. That he had been
right in his attitude toward the press
| admitted of no argument. The man
| who talked much lost his power of
emphasis: the biggest headlines were
| built over scant material from po-
! tential sources usually dry. Witness
! the case of his friend down the street,
who regarded all reporters as pirates
| and was besieged by, forty of them
. every time he departed for or re-
turned from Europe.
X x X X
DEBATE OF this kind. however, is
- not satisfying. James Josiah
Randers rose guiitily from his desk,
and looked gloomily out the window.
! MIR. Dunwoodie re-entered, cautious
ly There WaS white ring around