Evening star., 1925-01-11

mo, no! MY dear old thing believe
me. I wouldn't dream!'
"Are you going-or aren't your"
'But. 1 say, listen: only want
AT this point, another voice spoke.
"Say!"
Archie spun round. At his elbow
stood long, strongly built young man
in gray suit.
"Well?" said this young man hastily.
And he extended large, freckled face
toward Archie's.
1t seemed to the latter, as he backed
against the wall, that the young mans
neck must be composed of ndia-rubber.
| 1t appeared to be growing longer every
| moment. Archie eyed him with a grow
ing apprehension.
1--WE had my eye on you," said the
young man.
| x X x X
A RCHIE was frankly disturbed. He
L 4 was no poltroon, but he hated and
shrank from anything in the nature OF
a bally public scene.
What" inquired the young man,
shifting his left hand a little further
behind his back, 'do you mean by fol-
lowing this young lady?''
Archie was glad he had asked him.
This was precisely what he wanted to
explain
MY dear old lad" he began.
In spite of the fact that he had asked
question and presumably desired a
reply, the sound Of Archie's voics
man could endure. 1t deprived him OF
the last vestiges Of restraint. With a
rasping snarl, he brought his left fist
round in a sweeping semicircle In the
direction of Archie's head.
| Archie was no novice in the art OF
| elf-defense. He had been watching
this unpleasant young mans eyes with
close attention, and the latter could
not have indicated his scheme Of action
more clearly II he had sent him a
formal note. He stepped nimbly inside;
the fist crashed against the wall, and
the young man fell back with yelp OF
anguish.
| GUS" screamed the Girl Friend.
She flung her arms around the injured
man who was ruefully examining hand
which, always OF an out-size. was now
swelling to still further dimensions
'Gus darling"
A sudden chill gripped Archie. So
engrossed had he been with his mis-
sion that It had never occurred to him
that the lovelorn pitcher might have
taken It into his head to follow the
girl as well, in the hope of putting IN
a word for himself. Yet such, appar-
y,
had definitely done II. Two loving
hearts were united again in complete
reconciliation, but fat lot or good
that vast 1t would be days before
the misguided Loony Biddle would be
able to pitch with a hand like that
And on that crippled hand depended
the fate of all the money Archie had
| in the world! With a heavy heart
Archie prepared to withdraw, 10 De
alone with his sorrow.
| At this moment, however, the Girl
Friend made sudden dash for him,
with the plainest intention of blotting
him from the earth.
mo, 1 say Really" said Archie,
bounding backward. Il mean to
! say"
In a series of events. all Of which
had been a bit thick, this, in his opin-
ion. achieved the maximum of thick
ness. To brawI with a fellowman in a
public street had not been bad. but to
be brawled with by girl-the shot
was not on the board. 1t was dashed
undignified, no doubt, for a fellow to
leg 1t in the face of the enemy
Archie started to run. and, as he dio
so, one of the onlookers made the
mistake Of gripping him by the
collar.
There is a time for all things. This
was essentially not the time for any
one of the male sex to grip the collar
of Archie's coat. There was good deal
of the onlooker, but 1t was all soft.
Releasing his hold when Arches heel
took him shrewdly on the shin. he
received a nasty punch in what would
have been the middle of his waistcoat
| IL he had worn one, and collapsed
4 against the wall. Archie, with a torn
coat, rounded the corner and sprinted
down Ninth avenue.
| The suddenness Of the move gave
him an initial advantage He was
halfway down the first block before
the vanguard of the pursuit poured
out of the side street with a loud and
clamorous noise.
1t was perfectly obvious-he was
aware of this even in the novel ex-
citement of the chase-that chappie
couldn't hoof 1t at 20 miles an hour
indefinitely along a main thorough
fare of a great city without exciting
remark He must take cover. He
looked about him for cover.
you want nice suit?"
The small tailor, standing In his
doorway, seemed In no way surprised
at the spectacle of Archie, whom he
had seen pass at a conventional walk
some five minutes before. returning
like this at top speed. He assumed
that Archie had suddenly remembered
that he wanted to buy something.
| X X y
THIS was exactly what Archie had
l. done. More than anything else
in the world, what he wanted to do
! now was to get into that shop and
have a long talk about gents cloth
ing. Pulling himself up abruptly, he
shot past the small tailor into the
dim interior.
Something nifty in tweeds?" in
quired the proprietor. "Or maybe,
Ives, a nice serge?"
| Archie wanted to talk about clothes,
lbut not yet.