The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-04-03

q know just what you are going to say!" declared the annoyed woman to the man who was attempting to argue with her. And you can stop right there! Something about the keen, cf- ficient mind of men as cOntrasted with the scatterbrained mental apparatus of women! H'm!'
 "Well, but" tried the nan.
 You should have seen him.! pro ceeded the annoyed woman. You would have, had you been on the train, for he was the sort of man nobody can help seeing. He made a regular pro cession as he came into the car-big, well-groomed, freshly shaven, calm the kind of man who looks as though he really had arisen when the alarm clock went off and had plenty of time for his daily dozen and shower and two cups of coffee and had remembered to kiss his wife good-by and actually trusted to him.
 "He was important and you knew at once that his desk was a flat slab of mahogany covered with glass and adorned with an instand, pen, and otherwise complete vacancy, thus testi- flying to his inhuman capacity for rapid work You coudd picture him telling a board of directors what to do and how and when. and altogether he revived your submerged sense of being a serf and a menial and wondering how you ever were privileged to ride in the same conveyance with him to the great city.
 'The conductor punched the ticket of the great mains seatmate and coughed politely, as he waited. Oh yesr beamed the gentleman in ques- ton, deliberately laying down his newspaper. Thrusting his hand into a pocket he waited ali instant and the beam became somewhat eclipsed. Re- moving his hand he submerged it in a second pocket with no results. But he was not worried.
 "'Well, wellv he said genially to the interested conductor. It is funny that I cannot find my ticket! The conductor, by facial expression, con- veyed politely that it certainly was a1.3sing, but so far as he was con cefned he had perfect faith in the gen. tleman's ultimate ability to produce it, and that there was no occasion for worry, as it took thirty-five minutes to reach the city, anyhow.
 This man carefully, painstakingly searched every one of his eighty-seven pockets, with no results in the way of ticket. Then he started again, and began to take things out of the pockets, mostly notebooks.
 ''The conductor, standing first on one foot and then on the other, had dashed to the door several times to call out Blueberry Junction or Arcadia Heights and to assist passengers on or off, but he always returned to the side of the man struggling to find his tick ct. It was plain to see that he was completely fascinated by the proceed ing. as were all the rest of the pas sengers.
 Each notebook the man would run through, Tipping the pages with a careless confidence which invariably dwindled to unbelieving surprise. It could plainly be seen that he was not accustomed to having things turn out otherwise than as he had decided they would be. There were little notebooks the kind that always have few names and addresses, the brand of collar Jones wears. a telephone number or two and some figuring to prove the last electric-light bill too big. There were larger ones containing business addresses with secret notes oE the business until about the middle of the book there was laundry list and ex- pense account of the last trip to New York.
 CT suppose I could pay my fare the great man, somewhat congested as to complexion, told the conductor in an attempted offhand way, but it is 60 cents cash and only 9 by monthly ticket, and it is against my principles to waste money. and since 1 have a ticket-he paused beigerently, but the conductor did not even elevate an eye brow.
 q won't say that the man took off