Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1921-11-20

tell that by the pleased flicker In hi,

tell that by the pleased flicker in his
eyes.
night?" l asked him once.
! Il don't complain" was all the an
swer l got out Of him.
III you save it all up" says I.
| perhaps you'll be able to buy new
| overcoat by spring"
IF 1 can't I might borrow the dit.
| ference from you; hey. Trilby May?"
he comes back at me.
Then the last Sunday afternoon.
! while Uncle Nels was out for his aft
! ernoon walk, Annette comes back
from tidying up his room and ex-
| hibits some discoveries she's made.
| One is a blue cloth cap. something
| like conductors. with more or less
pinned on the front
| Look" says she: Uncle Nels
| Lets see." says I. What are
| those letters on the badge? A. o.
P. A. Now what kind OF a secret
order is =, that? Where was this cap
"on the top shelf in his closet"
says she. These. too"
The other exhibit was a bunch of
numbered tags, with detachable cou-
pons. and on each tag was printed,
! citation" We were still trying to
guess what it all meant when Uncle
Nels drifted in unexpected and found
the articles displayed on the living
room table.
HUH" says he. Somebody's been
| snoopin' around. eh?'
Looks that way. doesn't itr' says
I. And we're more curious than
ever. You wear the cap, do you?"
and You've gotten to the stage
their cars. have you?" guess on.
"No. I should say that it was rather
| Wright" says 1. II take 1t you
have organized the business a bit?"
| Maybe" says he.
| Are you working more than one
block?" asks.
| He shrugs his shoulders careless
and digs up his old note book. by
tomorrow it will be twenty-five
blocks" says he.
oh, come" says I. You and your
number of blocks"
Partner" says he. That old bum
amt no partner any more I buy
him out long time ago. He works for
me now: Lot Of others. too
| What! says I. You mean you've
developed a little side street graft
into regular enterprise?'
| He had. In about every block
where the police regulations allowed
| parking he had an assistant wearing
a uniform cap. and when you drove
anywhere in the theatrical district
And II you wanted to be sure Of find
ing your car again when you came out
you gave up half dollar.
But how many Of them dot"
| asked.
Most ALL" says Uncle Nels. Some
think they have to, on account Of the
| badge on the cap. Like an officer,
! you know. I thought that out first
| thing. But some wouldn't give money
| unless they had something to show
just like they have in big garages.
Only I prints the price on it, so they
| know they amt gettin' stuck. I start
with one man, Old Pete. Then I get
| another, and more and more. First
of give 'em half. but so many want
night. and If they don't like that they
get the chuck. But they do. Tips is
why. Folks who drive to shows in
cars don't care how they spend
| money. And they can leave robes and
coats. My men watch everything.
L
You mean you go around and
check up each blockT' says I.
You bet" says Uncle Nels. They
don't hold out nothing on me. And
have EN- make the drivers park
their cars in tight. SO I get more to
s : block 1t amt bad twenty-five
II should say not. at 50 cents a
throw" says i. why, II you had
only 100 cars to block that would
be-great guns!-over a thousand
for expenses"
.Uh-huh!" says he. TT counts up"
"Wowey" says I. staring at him.
DO you mean to say, Uncle Nels, that
you can drift around New York and
pick up cinch like that right from
under the noses Of all these grafters
Say. you're some wizard"
"Me?" says Uncle Nels. mo. I'm
just foolish old man who came from
Sweden long time ago and don't know
many Yankee tricks. Yes, did make
little In lumber business. But that
It'll admit I always thought So"
says I. But I'm beginning to sus-
pect some OF 1t was due to shrewd
moves. Didn't you sell standing tim
Der on Indian reservations"
Get OTTA lumber Jacks do that"
- says Uncle Nels. "You could sell
anything them days to suckers from
the east. And some way used to
see the suckers first"
Eyes, I can imagine you did," says
L Those honest blue eyes and the
simple look in 'em must have been
quite a help, too. But to put any
thing like this over in New York
that's what call a regular stunt.
Using the public streets as storage
garage, and getting away. with it,!
| To the tune Of a thousand or more
day, too! Say, I wonder the cops
don't get onto your scheme. or that
| the political bunch don't find out
| what q good bet they're missing"
Uncle Nels gives another bunch to
his shoulders. They have" says he.
Both the cops and the politicians, I
Irant xha cnnu an,,a raA af draf Nth