Evening star., 1922-12-17

OS. Sdyo 1. ANo" N CAA Q
there's a Santa Claus"
Mr.. Terhune hitched forward in his
chair. excited at that. He almost
teamed at me. '"Then-then you are
ready to accept his offer?" he asks.
"Me?" says I. Say. may look like
a poor fish. but honest, there are mo-
ments when l show almost human in
telligence. This happens to be- one
of them. Sell the Handy Andy Shops
notice it,
Twenty. them" he puts in.
Call off the auction" says I. Didn't
see any red flag out as you came in.
did you? No. Then I'll sketch out
your next move. Mr.. Terhune. You
/ toddle back to your client friend. who
squeezes fortunes out Of cough drops.
skins half a million from a tub of
soap suds: and tell him that Trilby
May Dodge isn't putting her big ideas
on the bargain counter. Not today.
Tell him I'm tickled pink that he
should see a good thing in the odd job
business. only add that I saw it first
and that we're already a going con-
Germ, with copyrighted trade mark
! and our hooks sunk into the field. Lit
tie enterprise, eh? Say. take look
at this map. Do you know what's
! going 10 happen to it within the next
six months?"
\ VIyELL, Id already practiced my
! W. patter on Effie, so it came fairly
! easy off the tongue, but as / fed it to
Mr.. Terhune 1 threw in a few fiourishes
] hadn't thought OF before. I've no
doubt l spread 1t on thick about the
way We were going to grow, and how
we knew exactly how to turn the
! trick, and where to get the men, and
all that
Talk about your chain store sys-
tenn" says I. why. when we get
the Handy Andy Shops established
we're going to make tobacco outfit &!
look like the pop and peanut stands !
outside the main tent There's place |
for us in every town big enough to
have movie house. and we aim to fill
it. In time every family will come to
depend on our Handy Andys. just as
they do on the letter carrier and the |
milkman. We are going to establish |
, q service that will become part of
! the daily life of the people, such as
the telephone and the electric light; !
and when the booster club of a boom
town gets out a board Of trade pam
phlet it will print in red letters on
the cover - Main line freight and
passenger service. four hotels. ten
churches, three banks. and Handy
Andy Shop That's the little enter
prise. Mr.. Terhune. your collar button
plunger wants us to trade in for what
! I'll be charging up to the firm as an
incidental travelling expense item by
next fall. Say, it's wonder he don't
strike the Standard Oil folks with an
offer to take over their pipe lices on
a fifty-fifty basis. Anyway. tell him
he's got another guess coming"
had the old boy purple in the back
of the neck by that time and making
noises like 4 trained seal at feeding
time. "Ye-e-es. Miss Dodge" says
he, Il will report your-er-re-
luctance."
And with that he backs out, fan
ming himself with his derby hat.
OF course. I had to call up my
partner right away and bulletin the
news Now I know we've got some !
thing good, Effie," says l. What do !
you think? Wall street has discov- |
cred u.s.
"Has WHAT" says she.
Shops mean big money" says I. /
1--WE had a grand larceny offer from /
a promoter who must have started !,
his career by robbing the baby's !
bank" J
"How-how much?" asks Effie. !:
what he called his high bid was !
twenty thousand" says ].
Really" says she. "Why, that is |,
twice as much as We've put in, isn't
it? How splendid. What did you tell |
him. Trilby May?" /
IAN earful." says 1. But all it !
amounted to was tee-hee and /
polite invitation to take the air.
"You-you refused an offer like |
that" gasps Effie. |,
absolutely" says I. II sent it !
back to him SO strong that he'll need /
a mask and catcher's mitt to handle !
the throw. Oh, yes, I'm quite sure j
he knows now that were going to ,
skim the cream off this pan ourselves. |
Anyway, I'll bet that particular one |,
don't come back" !
x x * |
TT looks reasonable. That Terhune !
i person must have told his man ;
that he'd met a carroty-haired young |
woman who was either crazy in the !!
head or else she could sniff a million |
Just as far as he could. And being |
stopped suddenly that way ought to !
be enough for him. He'd probably |
drop it and look for another cough !
drop or something.
But, say, those were the thoughts
of last week. Something has hap !
pened since then. Uh-huh! I'm still !
a bit dizzy over it, and until 1 can |
get my lawyer to sketch it out for !
me in plain language I'm more or |
less vague myself as. to what 1t all
amounts to.
But Mr.. Terhune came back. Yes |
With his hat off before he started !
down the basement steps. His client !,