The spectator., 1921-05-10

Hardly" was the curt rejoinder. My name is Norcross. What can l do for you?"
 If I didn't hate slang so bad, l should say that the portly man looked as if he were going to throw fit.
 "Not-not Graham Norcross?" he stammered.
 Well. yes; I am 'Graham'-to my friends. Anything elseY'
 The porty gentleman subsided into a chair
 There is some misunderstanding about this" he said, his voice thicken- ing little-with anger, 1 thought. My name is DiSmuke, and I am the general manager of this railroad"
 "I wouldn't dispute the name, but your title is away off said Mir. Nor cross, as cool as handful of dry snow. "Who appointed you, if l may ask?"
 President Dunton and the board of directors, of course"
 The same authority appointed me, something like three months ago." was the calm reply. 50 far as I know, l am still at the head of the com pany's staff in Portal City"
 The gentleman who had named him. self Dismuke puffed out his cheeks and 1 looked as if he were about to ex- plode
 This is a devil of mess" he rapped out. ''I understood--we all understood in New York-that you had resigned" :"
 Well, l haven't, retorted the boss shortly. And then he stuck the knife in good and deep and twisted it around. There is q commercial telegraph wire in the Hotel Bullard, where I suppose you will put up, Mir. Dismuke, and I'm sure you will find it entirely at your service. If you have anything further To say to me l hope it will keep until after this office opens in the morning. am very busy. just now
 l mighty nearly gasped This Dis nuke was the new general manager, appointed. doubtless in all good faith, by the president and sent out to take charge of things. And here was the l ''N' lAhNAANhtiN iiit pdt oi the oflice-telling him that his room was better than his company!
 The portly man got out of his chair, l pulling like steam-engine.
 We'll see about this," he threat ened. You've been here three months and you haven't done anything but muddle things until the stock of the l Sf' ba the paper it's printed on! If I can get n clear wire to New York. you'll have word from President Dunton to- morrow morning telling you where you get off"
 To this Mir. Norcross made no reply whatever, and the heavy-footed gentle man stumped out. saying things to himself that wouldn't look very well in print. When the hall door below gave big slam to let Us know that he was still going, the boss looked across at me with a sour grin wrin- king around his eyes
 Now you know why I made Gorcher break all the rules of the service get l ting here, Jimmie" he said Pos session is nine points of the law, and in this ease lt was rather important that Mir. DiSmuke shouldn't find the outfit without head and these offices of ours unoccupied" He rose, stretched his arms over his head like tired boy. and reached for the golf cap he kept to wear when he went out to | knock around in the shops and yard. Lets go up to the hotel and see if We can break into the cafe. Jimmie" he finished up Later on, we'll wire Mir. Chadwick; but that can walt. haven't had a square meal in four days"
 With everybody supposing he had resigned and left the country, I guess there were all kinds of minutes wonder in Portal City and all along the Short Line, when the word went out that Mir. Norcross was back on the job and running it pretty much the same as if nothing had happened.
 After supper, on the night of his return from the hide-out, he had sent long code message to Mir. Chadwick, and short one to President Dunton and though l didn't see the reply to either. l guess Mir. Chadwick's an swer, at least, was the right kind, be- cause our track renewing campaign went into, commission again with slam, and all the reform policies took a sure enough fresh start and began to hump themselves, with Juneman work ing the newspapers to a finish.
 We heard nothing further from MT. Dismuke, the portly gentleman in the tan spats, though he still stayed on at the Bullard. We saw him occasional ly at meal times, and twice he was eating at the same table with Hatch and Henckel. That placed him all right for us, though I guess he didn't need much placing.