Evening star., 1923-09-23

themselves.
1T wanted" said Mrs. CORVALLIS,
timidly, ito talk about Mary"
Her timidity was entirely assumed,
as was the furtiveness OF her lance.
It was a well established fiction De-
tween them that Jonathan was grun
and grumpy and must be approached
deucately, cirouitously.
well now. what is 1t this timer?
demanded the husband. 1T seems to
me that ever since Mary married her
worthless professor I've done nothing
but contribute to their support"
Jonathan CORVALLIS, you ought to
be ashamed of yourself" his wife re-
buked him. you know that you're
prouder OF Mary for having married
Tom curtlss than If she'd married
the President The most dlstin-
guished explorer In America"
And what does the distinguished
gentleman's wife want now?' de-
manded Jonathan.
WELL the university can't send out
the expedition to the south this year.
Mary thought"
"oh, she thought, did she?" Jona-
than's sarcasm was unconvincing.
"And / think went on his wife.
ignoring the interruption, that 1t
would be a very fine thing IL you
presented the university with half
a million in order that the expedition
should not be delayed"
"Humph. Haw! grunted Jonathan.
IT'S a lot of money"
Cant you spare tt?' asked his
wife.
Permit me, madam, to finish my
sentences. AS l was about to say,
it's lot of money. but not enough.
BY tomorrow morning 1 expect that
a certain matter, the details OF which
would bore you. will be settled. The
first thing that shall do will be to
write a check. payable to the uni
versity. for one million dollars"
His wife rose, went around the
table and kissed him. Make IL two
million if you'll kiss me again like
that" he said.
You get silIier every minute" de-
clared Mrs. CORVALLIS,
You get prettier," he countered
gracefully.
For silly man you have amaz-
ing Judgment" she told him.
II wish you'd be more respectful
Mrs. Corvallis" he said sternly.
Good morning, Mr.. CORVALLIS; it's
time you went to your Office and 1 at
tended to my days labors," said his
wife.
But she accompanied him TO the
front door, patted him on the
shoulder as she helped him into his
coat, and gave him, gratis, million
dollar kiss before he left. So that he
was smiling. greatly contented with
the world and his place therein, as
he entered his waiting Limousine.
y 4 **
TODAY, although his wife did not
/ know tit was surprise which
he held in reserve for her-he ex-
pected to retire from the active man
agement OF his business affairs. For
months he had been negotiating for
the sale OF his interest in the Fed
Grated Motor Patents Company. A
combination of that concern with sew
eral other similar companies was al
most effected Once the flnal papers
were signed, he would retire. 1t was
a matter that involved payment to
him of some fifteen million dollars
in bonds of the new holding COM
pany, and 1t had taken months to
get affairs in shape. Now they were
In order. He planned to take his
wife aboard a certain huge yacht. and
set sail for the South Seas. Dreams.
that devotion to business had made
it impossible to realize, were coming
true ct last.
So he smiled, his eyes half closed;
and so he was unaware of the sud
den threat toward his life that the
carelessness of two chauffeurs
created.
Seeing an opening between a taxi
cab and truck in front of him, Corn
wallis chauffeur made for 1t. He
blew his horn thrice as he did so, but
instead of turning in toward the curb
the driver of the truck turned out
ward, to the left. And the driver of
the taxicab, glancing back over his
shoulder seemed to lose his head
completely. He applied the brakes to
his car, and 1t came almost to stop.
Not even the quick braking by Corn
wallis chauffeur could prevent the
Limousine from being jammed be-
tween the two other machines.
Even so, the slow rate of speed at
which the three vehicles were moving
seemed to have precluded the possi-
bility OF accident. The policeman at
the next street intersection was
amazed when Corvallis chauffeur,
who had leaped from his seat and
opened the door OF the car, and leaned
inside. emerged and wildly waved his
hands.
The policeman ran to assist. He
waved the taxi and truck to the curb,
and, noting that, beyond a crushed
fender and some scraped paint, the
limousine had suffered no damage, he
looked inside the body of Corvallis
car.
Shock. I guess" said the chauffeur.
The oficer looked at the financier.
whose form had slumped to the floor
OF the car, and whose face was white.
He saw that the eyes were closed.
Better rush him hime." he advised.
He returned to the chauffeur, but
that person was in the middle OF the
street, holding both hands high in the
air. stopping an approaching ambu-
lance. A white-jacketed man swung
down from the interior and ran to the
limousine. Te laid q finger on the
wrist of the unconscious financier; his
face grew grave; he leaned farther in
side, loosAned Corvallis collar. and
riaced his ear over the victims heart.
Lucky came along when did" he
said He spoke to the chauffeur.