Evening star., 1924-07-27
c. A s

1ellO"S ndun neaTu OI H.
Seems there have been heaps of cases
like IL, too-sort of epidemic.'
Beasely was dummy. just then, in
the daily bridge game on the four
fifty-tive. He was not one of the
regular players. In fact, he was a
bore, whom his fellow commuters
generally stunned with much indus
try and skill. But even the presence
of bore, at the card table between
the seats Of the smoker. is better than
TO play three-handed. SO when Crib
BILE missed his train that afternoon.
and no other available bridge timber
was at hand, Roke and Denham and
Teunis had asked Beasely to sit in.
None of the others encouraged him
to go on with his recital. But Beasely
seldom needed urging. 4 momentary
gap Of silence was all he ask ed.
Yep" he droned on, happened last
Thursday night. That's why haven't
been aboard since then till today"
The three players excited, tense,
slapped down their cards with the
customary cummuter gesture. But
Beasely was not troubled by any lack
of attention.
Il went out into the garage he
prosed on. Had nothing to do that
evening. Thought it was a good
chance to go over the little car. Cold
night YOU remember-Thursday. SO
I switched on the electric light and
shut the garage doors. Then l
started the engine, to see if / could
locate that knock 1 was telling you
about Well"
'If you'd held back that ACC
began Denham, frowning at his part
ner as the hand ended, eff you'd held
it back that time, and played the
Huh" grunted Beasely. "Oh. l
thought you were talking to me.
Let's see; where had l got to? Oh,
yes Well. there 1 was. shut up there.
with the engine purring as sweet as
you please, and the lights all on ana
me tinkering away at the old boat.
And I thought to myself: Now, this
is real cosy" And the next thing L
knew 1 was on the parlor sofa, with
Doc Merriam working over me with
q pulmotor, and the wife blubbering
and
1.-TWO clubs" interposed Teunis,
riff1ng his cards.
-Four diamonds" said Denham.
with rashness bred of low stakes.
You see" gabbled Beasely. hurry
ing through his yarn in the moment
which even commuter card etiquette
allowed for Roke to decide on a bid,
you see it was the carbon monoXlde
from the exhaust that got me. Doc
Merriam told me all about it. SAID
if Danny hadn't happened to come out
to the garage to tell me about a
phone call. and caught me just as
keeled over, I'd have been a deader.
Dozens of folks have been killed that
way, Doc says
ITO Beasely's relief Roke had sud-
denly begun to pay the most
fattering attention to the long
drawn-out tale. To the disgust of his
fdgeting fellow players. he laid aside
his hand, and asked:
..What's the main ideac How could
the gas from a car kill anybody? I've
puttered around the exhaust OF my
car a hundred times or more, ana IL
never did anything worse than make
me cough
.Ah:" exclaimed Beasley with an air
Of utter wisdom. That was because
YOU were in the open. The gas was
dissinated bv the outer air. l asked
Doc that same thing; and he told ME
so. tt
"Does-" began Roke.
"F'or heavens sake" stOrmed Teu-
mis- Are we playing cards or are
We
station after next is mine. grum-
bled Denham in the same breath. cut
out the
"Here's the idea" doomed the in
sistent Beasley, thrilled at the rarity
of having one civil listener, as near
as could understand Docs long
words: When there's imperfect COM
bustion-and there always is, OF
course-it generates carbon monoxloe
pas 1t fills the room and 1t nils any
one who has the bad luck to be in the
room. First of all. it hits the lungs
md nuts them out of commission.
That's why I've been in bed for three
days, Then it stops the heart. Anu
bv that time, the victim is ready Tor
white lily. Doc says dozens OF
"Play cardsr fumed Denham.
Poke with a mutter of apology,
nicked ND his hand and proceeded 10
turn a deaf ear to Beasleys 1urlher
calculations. Roke was good payer
which was lucky! For during the
rest of the game he played wholly oy
tho aid of his subconscious mind. Ills
conscious mentality was miles away
from the stuffy smoker and was rae
ing as never had a suburban tram the
power to race.
And that night after dinner, Roke
went across to the Paignton PUBIC
Library. where for an hour, he read.
And the books piled UP in front OF
him on the shiny table were all con-
cerned with chemistry and popular
science generally. From time to time
he made a note on scratch-pad. Then
he returned homeland lay awake un-
til dawn
MAXWELL CLIVE and Roke had
4VA started life as law partners.
Give, within a few years. had broken
loose from the partnership and had
forged ahead-scoring brilliant sue
cess, in a small way. while Roke had
remained a mediocrity. Next. Give
had won and married the fluff-brained
girl to whose volatile heart Roke had
been laying siege for the best part of
two years. Always it had been like
that Always the pair had been thrown
together by destiny. And always Give
had won.