, 1921-11-12

ing figures in a notebook. Him Mr..
Gfbney addressed
whats all this herer he inquired.
Jerking his thumb over his shoulder
nj the group.
'Its an old horse sale" replied the
a~uctioneer. without looking Up.
AFR. GIbney Frightened He glanced
around for the stock In trade. but OBJ
serving none concluded thst the old
horses would be led In. one ut a time.
through a small door In the rear OF
the warehouse. Like most sailors. Mr..
Gibney had a passion for horseback
riding. and In n spirit Of adventure he
resolved to acquaint himself with the
ins and outs of an old horse sale.
How much might a man have to
give for n OF the critters7" he asked.
and are they worth a whoop after
you get thenf-
Twenty-Five cents up WAS the an
swer. You go It blind at an old horse
sale, as a rule. Perhaps you get some
thing that's worthless, and then again
you may get something that has heaps
OF value. and perhaps you only pay
half n dollar for,it. II all depends on
the bidding. I once sold an old horse
to a CLAP and he took It home and
opened It up. and what dye suppose
he found insideT"
BOTS" replied Mr.. Gibney. who
prided himself on being something Of
a veterinarian. having spent a few
months Of his youth around a livery
stable.
"A million dollars In Confederate
~greenbacks,"" replied the uuctioneer.
"Of course they didn't have any value,
but Just suppose they'd been q. ST"
THAT'S right" agreed Mr.. Gnney.
81 suppose the swab that owned the
horse starved It until the poor animal
fggered that nirs grass that's green.
As the Teller says. Truth Il sometimes
stranger than fiction IL you throw
in a snddle and bride cheap. I might
be Induced TO invest In one OF your old
horses, s~hipmate."
The a%uctioneer glanced quickly Mt
Mr.. Gibney. but noticing that worthy's
face free from guile. he burst out
laughing.
"Afy scattering friend" he said
presently. when we use the term old
horse we use II fguratively. See all
this freight stored here? Well, that's
never been called for by the consign-
ees, and nfter it's in the warehouse
n gear and isn't called for. we have
an old horse sale and auction It oil
to the highest bidder. Saveyf"
Mr.. Gibney took refuge In a lie. "of
course. / DO. l was just kiddin' you.
my hearty" (Here Mr.. Gibney's
glance rested on two long heavy sugar
pine boxes. or shipping cases. Their
joints at all four were cum
ningly d~ove-tailed and wire-strapped.)
~ was a bit interested in them two
boxes. an seein' as this is q free coun-
try. / thought I'd just step In an make
a bid Oh them" ard with the words,
Mr.. GIbney walked over and busied
himself In an inspection Of the two
crates in question.
The fact of the matter was that 80
embarrassed was Mr.. Gibney at the
exposition Of his ignorance that he
desired to hide the confusion evident
m Ills sun-tanned face. So he stopped
over the crates md pretended to be
exceedingly Interested in. them, haul
Ing and pushing them about and read
ing the address Of the consignee who
had failed to call for his goods. Tho
crates were both consigned to the Gin
Seng company. ia Dupont street. Son
Francisco. There were several Chi
nese characters scrawled on the top Of
each crate, together with the words,
in English: "Oriental Goods"
As he ceased from his fake inspec-
ton Of the two boxes. the King Of tho
Forty Thieves approached and sur
veyed the sailor with an even greater
amount Of distrust and suspicion than
ever. MI. Glbney was annoyed. He
disliked being stared at. so he said:
Hello. Blumenthal. my bully boy.
What's aggravatin' your"
Blumenthal (since Mr.. GIbney. in
the sheer riot of his Imagination
elected to christen him Blumenthai.
the name will probably suit him rs
we'll as any other) came close to Mr..
Glbney and drew him aside. In a
hoarse whisper he desired to know II
Mr.. Gibney attended the auction with
the expectation of bidding on any of
the packages offered for sale. Seek
Ing to Justify his presence. Mr.. GIbney
advised that 1t was his intention to
bid on everything In sight; whereupon
BlumenNhal proceeded to explain to
Mr.. Gibney how impossible 1t would
be for him, arrayed against the Forty
Thieves. to buy my article It a ren-
sonable price. Further: Blumenthal
desired TO inform Mr.. Gibney that his
Mr.. Gibney's) efforts to buy In the
"old horses" would merely result in
his running the prices up, for no benet-
'icent purpose, since 1t was eve the
practice of the Forty Thieves to per
NIT no man to outbid them. Perhaps
Mr.. Gibney would be satisfied with a
fair days profit without troubling him
self to hamper the Forty Thieves and
Interfere with their combination. and