Evening star., 1921-06-05

He passed two garages with an IN
curing eye. The The Sc second snox WAS IVA The rhe
place was full of hivvers awaiting
repairs. The yard outside contained
more fiivvers and several trucks.
While he stood watching. a farmer
drove up with a big truck to inquire
IL there was any chance of getting
the valves ground before Saturday.
The proprietor shook his head. No
chance" he said. mo chance before
the Fourth of July"
|, The farmer swore and moved on.
T. Gannett approached the garage
man. Are you the boss?" he asked.
Sure" he said. but didn't you
hear what l said just now to that
fellow? We're SO full up now we
can't take care Of our regular GUS
toners"
want to do some" T. Gannett said.
The boss looked at him sharply.
you a mechanic?" he asked.
"Yes." said T. Gannett.
whats the matter with you-why
aren't you workin'?"
ing-yours is the first place I've
hit"
Again the boss gave him sharp
appraising glance. "I've got work al
right-work for ten men. But what
I'd like to- know in advance is are are
you on the gas pump?
"Tm a real guy" said r. Gannett.
Can you lap in piston"
How lonll you stay?"
"All summer-f the price is right y
I'm payin' IS cents an hour to
real mechanics" the man admitted
"but-"
How much for overtime!"
I'VE work ten hours these days
double time on SUNDAYS aid
"I'll start at that" T. Gannett said'
"When?"
I'm half an hour"
"All right" said the Kansas, you re
on. What's your name?"
r. Gannett."
"Tom." said Prof. Trumbull Gan
nett. without a flicker.
MY names Smith" the boss said
That night Prof. Gannett sent the
first letter on to Minis to be remailed
to Dorothy and wired Minis his ne"
address. ;,
For a week r Gannett suffered all
the tortures that await the man who
is not accustomed to physical labor
His hands were bruised. biistcTed
| skinned; his fingernails we're Spit
| and broken: he ached as II he had
been beaten with club. Those first
| nights he took off his shoes and
dropped on the bed. and slept-too
tired to undress. But gradually ms
hands hardened. the soreness lett ms
body, he adjusted himself to his task
The unaccustomed exertion came
| easier. He no longer gritted his teeth
when he applied wrench to a
| frozen stud. He swung the weight
of his body against II easily. conn
IDENTIFY. He had ceased seriously to
try to get the grease out of his skin
! II was enough if his hands did not
smudge the paper when he wrote te
+, Dorothy. He worked ten hours day
! seven days week.
After three weeks he began ac'
! tually to enjoy himself. One night
he drove twenty miles out into the
dusty country with d wrecklng cai
! to bring in q disabled machine. II
was one of those July nights Wher
| westerners say they can hear the
corn grow-one of those still ho'
nights when no one. can sleep hap
came over the dash of the flying ca'
| cooled his sweating body. He hoist
ed the wreck with swing. ~
liked it. He liked the feel of hit
own physical strength.
| In the weeks following he Otter
tdrove the wrecking-car at night. afte
| his days work. Sometimes he dix
emergency repairs by the light of ;
narins gasoline torch. sometimes will
only the light of the harvest moor
coming up out of the wheat stubbi'
like a great red wafer No member o
recognized him in his grease -staine.
overalls, his crumpied felt hat. witt
the cud of tobacco il his cheek. Hi
manner. his walk, his speech had al
changed. He was developing some
thing very like second personality
old one. He had almost wholly los
his old sense of being watched. o
having to live and act in a certain
way, the way of college professor
He was free.
Not until the first days of septem
the thought of the $500 again obses
him. He had been averaging $50
week. but it wasn't enough. He ha
had to spend. twenty. Most of tn
twenty went for food. He ate as h
'had never eaten before. There wa
no controlling such an appetite a
lhe had for food. 1t had to be satisfied
Dorothy would be back in Monro
pon the goth. He must be there firs'
He had safely only two weeks more !!
which to make that five hundred. Tn
work was already stacking and h
had less than $500 in-the money bel
next his skin. The loss OF II singl
!sunday at double time would Gu
down his weeks wages by SIS. II
wouldn't make it. And he had t
make it, Had he set his heart on max
ing that five hundred clear. on arr;v
ing in Monroe with that $500 in casf
He began to hang around the garag
after supper. whether there wa
emergency work or not He WASH
going to miss trip into the countr.
with its extra pay.
lNNE afternoon. just as re was wash
I fala nhn,
rang Somebody was in trouble ou
on the Pawnee road. five miles wes
THE wrecking-car was away on a triI
but Gannett assured the man he'd b
out in half an hour. He threw a tow
rope into the boss flivver. cranked il
and started west in q cloud of dust.
The wrecked car proved to be
19lS Fortner six. The farmer VIII
owned it had tried to turn shar
corner at twenty miles an hour an
struck a telephone-pole head on. Th
impact had sent him through tn
windshield and dropped him astrid
the hood. His face was cut up h
broken glass. but his only other in
juries were to his temper. The ca
glance. The telephone pole fitted neat
ly between the spring horns. Tue ia
diator was dished. The front axle ha
been bent in a semicircle. There wa
no telling whether the motor ha
been driven back on the frame or no
"How long will 1t take to get it re
paired?" the man asked.
Couple Of weeks"
couple of weeks" ,the man re
! peated, "I.need 1t tomorrow. I've &C
to have it by Saturday I'm going o
a trip Saturday. Promised to take til
whole family to Kansas City"
r. Gannett shook his head.
"By Monday, them