The Washington times., 1925-10-31


banks and other business institu-
lions in the smaller towns. The
other paper knew nothing of this
move on our part, and we had
clear sailing. During the last
week got very little sleep. Mont
gomery one night asked me to
have a drink with him.
How I got through with my
end Of the work after that don't
know. When the special finally
came out I was hors- de combat,
laid up in my room with bad
case of alcoholic poisoning. Mont
gon1ery attended to the flag ends,
and then, by ruse, got me onto
a night train for Cisco, where a
friend OF mine ran daily paper.
This friend had suggested that
Montgomery and / stoy off at
Cisco on our way back to Dallas
and talk over the proposition Of
getting out an Educational Num-
Der" for his paper.
We arrived at Cisco late in the
night and Montgomery got a doc.
tor for me. Next day he wanted
me to go down to see my friend
and get things started, but I
demurred. I was still very Ill.
It was not until two days later
I was able to get about. The
educational" number was decided
upon, and we put in ten intensive
days at Cisco, finally returning to
Dallas several hundred dollars
ahead.
A Rosy Outlook
During my absence / had re-
ceived many letters from Mil
dred, and I had talked lot to
Montgomery about my wife and
boy. He seemed genuinely In
terested, and had made me prom
Use, I. would take him out to the
house to. see them. 1 did more
than that. I invited him to come
out and spend q week with us,
using our guest room. So when
our train pulled in to Dallas we
Jumped into a taxi and were
driven to Oak Cliff. i
Donnie was playing on the.
lawn, and when he heard my
voice came dashing fast as he
could to meet me. It was about
5 o'clock in the evening, and
Mildred was at home. She heard
the greetings through the open
windows and came out on the
veranda, making a very pretty
picture in her white dress and
chestnut hair.
felt glad was alive, especial
~ when few minutes later, in
the privacy of our own rooms,
her soft arms went about my
neck and she murmured how glad
she was to have me back and
how much she had missed me.
l had, of course, concealed
from her my lapse in Abilene
She had no idea I had been
drunk while away. had
cautioned Montgomery not to
give me away. Mildred was good
to look upon, and she talked most
enthusiastically about her work
at the office. ana now much hap
pier 1t made her to be doing it.
She showed me some Of her
signed articles. They were ex-
ceptionally good, written in an
original style. I praised them,
and got Rugged half to death in
response. Altogether, everything
looked rosy.
Montgomery and I ad appeared
at my home without any previous
announcement, and when I told
Mildred had asked him to re-
main for a week she was q, bit
flustered. Mrs. McCulIoch, the
woman who worked for US, had
left for the day, and Mildred
announced that she, couldn't pos
sibly have dinner ready before
7:30. I offered to help her, and
Montgomery, too, volunteered, de-
claring that formality bored him,
and that he would feel much more
at home IL he could act just like
one Of the household.
Laughing, we all went into the
kitchen, where l got one of the
surprises of my life. There was
a five-galIon bottle filled with am
Der colored liquid sitting on the
window shelf in the pantry, and
when asked Mildred what it
was she astonished me by ex-
claiming, Its home brew, and
everybody says It's perfect"
I looked at her in amazement,
not unmixed with sort Of re-
lief. was amazed that she
should have the stuff in the
house-relieved that it provided
a mitigating circumstance for me,
in case / ever fell" again. I
could scarcely believe my eyes and
ears.
Mildred Boasts Of Home Brew
Mrs. Mccarthy showed me
how to make it while you were
away" continued Mildred, land
my first batch beats hers all hol-
low. It really isn't quite ready
yeti ought to stand another
week or two, they tell me-but
it's good, even now"
She made this statement quite
proudly. l didn't know whether
to express disapproval or appro.
baton. Montgomery had stepped
into the pantry and proceeded to
remove the big cork from the bot
tie and sniff at the contents.
Smells fine" he said. II con-
graduate you"
Wont you try some?" asked
Mildred