The Yale expositor. (Yale, St. Clair County, Mich.) 1894-current, 1921-10-27
PART ~.
The Ascent to Mars.

TICK " reilly, eN-uflNer OF the NludSe
Cab cOmpany's No. 1898 skidded that
vehicle disastrously To the curb in
front of the Poppy club and. as a re-
suit Of his criminal negligence, in con-
junction with Miss ImOgene Pamela
ThorntOn's reprehensible peeking oc-
cupatiOn. hurled that young lady to the
middle of the sidewalk on her hands
and knees, he leaped from his seat on
a spontaneous impulse to help her TO
her feet and administer every kind Of
first comfort that the occasion seemed
to demand.
Two considerations, however. shot
from the double-barreled blunderbuss
of Ridicule ana Honor, caught him on
the wing, as 1t were, and detected
his flight from west TO east with n
sharp turn due south at the corner of
Fifty-seventh street and Sixth avenue.
In the first place, out of the corner of
his eye he had seen his one-time
friends, Mr. NeartOn, Mr.. Verries and
Mr.. Berry descending the shallow club
front steps in an avalanche; In the
second place, he suddenly recollected
that Miss Thornton was an heiress
high above his present station and
intent, as he had gathered from be-
tween the lines in various advertise
ments in the local press referring to
the location of his person, on thank
ing and otherwise recompenslng him
for turning to the right In a matter
of ten thousand dollars a year, un-
earned increment.
AS he gaZed for one too brief second
down into the pleading eyes and adOr-
ably eager face of this lOvable vision
on her hands and knees, which II
seemed unbelievable he had once held
In his arms, only the oft-repeated
favOrite poem of his nurse:
I could not love thee, dear. so much
Loved / not honor more,
kept him from facing the avalanche
of ridicule and giving the eternally
searching Diogenes with his lantern
run for his money. AS previously
stated 1t was not to be. Mr.. Ran
dolph turned from the waiting arms
Of the sweetest temptation ever re-
niged by man and made his swift way
to the sanctum of Mr.. Tourke
O'Shaughnessy, foreman-manager of
the Village Cab company.
"TOurke," said Mr.. Randolph, "Tm
through. Smashed up the two off
wheels of my wagon on the curb in
front OF the Poppy club. Dock me
thirty, please, and make out my pay
check"
Through, Slim? Whadda va mean2"
said Mr.. O'Shaughnessy. Think I'm
goin' to sack you for a skid on day
like this7 Pay for your fun, kid, but
take another wagon"
Robert Randolph, alias Slim Her
vey. shook his head.
"You don't understand" he said.
live lost my nerve"
Lost your nervel" gasped Mr..
O'Shaughnessy. "Whadda va mean by
tellin' me a lie like that2 Come on,
now; draw a mapl Did We kill the
inside?
"Oh, no." said Slim; that's just it.
I mean, the young lady is very much
all right"
81 begin to get YOU" murmured
Tourke. "Skirt on your track, eh?"
A look Of pity followed by one of
loyalty crept into his eyes. Look
here, SLIM" he continued: II know
that tryln' to trick a female is like
playin' hockey with a stick o. dyna-
mite. but we got a lot o. high cards to
draw to. First shot out o. the box,
all the boys here is for you. Then
there's your frien's, the Force. want
to tell you. Slim, you're the first driver
i ever had that could fatten out a cop
on q busy day an make him think II
was a joke"
Thanks" said Mr.. Randolph, but
shook his head sadly.
snow, listen" resumed Mr..
O'Shaughnessy: "rm goin' to have
the boys up here as they come In an
put 'em on. In the enteract, you slip
out for a makeup. Get Sally Painter
round the corner to tone your face
down to the color Of your freckles, do
a little job on yer eyebrows, an fix
a deep scar In the upper lip of yer
speakIn' tube. Get me7"
Mr.. Randolph's widely placed blue
eyes narrowed In an effort to examine
the proposition shrewdly from all
angles. and the light Of hope was inst
beginning to dawn across the trouble
I'm his honest face when there came
a sharp knock on the door. followed
promptly by the rattle Of the loose
knob and the unceremonious entry
Of one birdlike. bald-headed, dapper
corporation lawyer and two corpulent
gum-shOe plain-clothes men.
"Yerei wot the" exclaimed the
outraged Mr.. O'Shaughnessy.
The legal light paid him no heed and
advanced on the fast-wilting Slim Her
sey with outstretchsd hand