Evening star., 1922-01-01


asked Ed the waiter. Weh'
his fad is money.
The old fellow indicated
he must have been nearly eighty-sat'
eating corned beef and cabbage, IN
little booth in certain deiishlhui'
greasy, old chophouse In downtown
New York 1t was nearly time u
close the chophouse for that day. ior
IL was almost II o'clock at nlght' ~
was nearly time to close the cnop-
house forever, for it was the middle
of June, 1919. In couple Oh "eens
the wartime prohibition act "ouio
be In force, and Ed and l nao oeen
discussing what effect 1t wouid nave
upon our respective lives.
There was no one else in the place
at the time except the cashier ana the
old man whose fad was money, al"
SO Ed had condescended toward me-
as a faithful customer, and was SIT
tinp down to have a drink with me.
His fad is money!" I questioned
elancing at the old gentleman VINO
seemed to be nothing EXTRAORDINARY
as regards face or manner or attire
He had a long, bony New Engianoish
head and a short, white, well trlmheu
heard. he was finishing his nowlse
delicate food with gusto. Il should
saw" added, that his fad was corneo
beef and cabbage" ....
~rhat,s one Of his fads," admitted
Ed the waiter. "and don't know out
that it's as strong in him as his money
fad. At any rate, I've never seen MN
without one or the other was near
him. and both in large quantities
We had been conversing in num-
BILE. so that our voices should not
carry to the old gentleman. And no"
Ed dropped his voice still lower ana
whispered:
'Thats Old Man Singleton"
looked at him with renewed m
terest Every one knew who Old Man
Singleton was and many persons
liked to guess how much he was
worth. Ostensibly he had retired.
leaving to his two sons the manage
nent OF the Singleton banking busi-
ness, with its many ramifications, but
actually he kept his interest in the
concern, and was reputed to be coach
ing his grandsons in the ways OF the
world, and especially that part of the
world known as "the street"
X X X x
CTARTING out as a New England
- yillager who hated poverty be-
cause his family had always known
1t. he had come to New York as a lad
of twenty, with red knitted mittens
on his osseous hands. and Re had at
once removed the mittens and put the
hands to work gathering money; 1t
was rumored that the hands had never
turned loose any Of the garnered coin;
1t was even said by some persons
that he still had the same pair of nit
tens. The details Of bis rise I cannot
give; he had achieved his ambition to
be one Of the very rich men OF Amer
lean because the ambition was 50
strong within him.
"of course his fad Is money" NUT
tered to Ed the waiter Everybody
knows that Old Man Singleton's fad is
money"
Ed was about to reply, when Mr..
Singleton looked up and motioned for
his check. Ed brought it, and gave
the old gentleman his hat and stick
and his change. .....
II hope everything was all right.
Mr.. Singleton" said Ed. palpably bid
ding for recognition and tip.
.'Eh?" said Singleton, looking blank
ly at Ed. you know me. hey7 don't
recall you. Yes everything was all
right. thank you.' He gave tie waiter
a dime and passed out, after another
blank, fumbling look at Ed. and a
shake Of his head. There was some
thing feeble and wandering in the
old fellows manner: his memory was
going: it was obvious that before long
the rest of him would follow his men,
ory.
HE shouldn't be allowed to go
around this way alone at night" MUIR
INJURED Ed, watching the door through
which he had made his exit But I
suppose he's as bull-headed as ever
about doing what he pleases, even If
his legs are shaky."
"He didn't know you." hinted. for I
wished to learn all that he knew
about Old Man Singleton.
Ed is a person who has been in the
world nearly fifty years; he has had
some very unusual acquaintances and
experiences. It Is never safe to pre-
dict Just what Ed will know and
what he will not know. Ono after
noon, after had known Ed for about
q year, was attempting to argue
some scientific point with a friend
who was lunching with me. and Ed.
who was waiting on US and listening.
remarked II beg your pardon. sir.
but 1t wasn't in The Descent Of Man
that Darwin said that; it was in Tho
Origin Of Species"
And yet, If you deduce from that
remark that Ed knows a great
deal about modern science. you will
be mistaken: as likely as not he could
quote pages Of Marcus Aurelius to
you. and at tho same time he might
pronounce "Euripides'' as IL the last
two syllables were one. riming with
shides'; his reading, like his life. has
been elective.
':He doesn't recall you." repeated.
'.And that's ingratitude." said Ed, ff
he only knew it. saved the old mans
life once"
And Ed limped over to the table and
resumed his seat opposite me. He has
O bullet under one kneecap. and at
times It makes him very lame. He