The Tomahawk., 1925-01-22

MI known to. the plain-clotheS
Nv l. force of Mulberry street as
"Chfcago Fred" leaned
against the polished bar of the Bijou
cafe and rested his chin on the knob Of
a fat cane. Mr.. FELTON, was studying
character. The eyes peering through
The half-closed lids missed few Of the
happenings within the room.
A stout man slouched carelessly by,
brushing roughly against FELTON, as he
passed.
1.-TWO suckers from Pittsburgh down
the mahogany" he whispered. 1.-The
two in the zebra rigging"
Mr.. FELTON, gave no immediate indi-
cation that he had heard. He did not
change his position, and he continued
to gaze listlessly at the talking groups.
The fat man lurched down the room
and, seating himself at an empty table,
ordered cocktail.
Presently the man with the cane
stirred himself. He stood upright,
picked up his gloves and sauntered in
the direction taken by the man who
had given him the information. But
the deep-sunken eyes were extremely
watchful. Mr.. FELTON, scented game.
Halfway down the room, two over
dressed young men were disputing
loudly. FELTON, halted within a yard Of
them and busted himself in lighting a
cigar. The occupation gave him an
opportunity to listen to the dispute.
1T was Jack Hickey played that
year." cried the eldest of the two. "He
was"
you're wrong! 1t was Murphy" in
terrupted the other. I'm willing to
wager. I'll bet"
Chicago Fred, holding a lighted
match in his fingers, leaned slightly
forward. "At Pittsburgh" he queried
Pardon me, I overheard your argu-
ment"
The two men turned. 1T was at
Pittsburgh" answered the eldest. Last
year when the Tigers played"
''Then you are right" murmured
Mr.. FELTON,. 1T was Jack Hickey. /
know him WELL"
The fat man leisurely slipping his
cocktail, eyed the three stealthily. The
"butting-in" act performed by Chicago
Fred interested him greatly, and he
breathed compliment into his glass
as he noted how successfully his pal
had performed the trick.
And Mr.. FELTON, deserved compli-
ment. He backed his assertions con-
corning Hickey with such a mass of
detail that the younger man acknowl-
edged that he was in error and, as a
proof that his acknowledgment was
sincere, he Invited the arbitrator to
drink with himself and his compan-
lon.
FELTON, accepted, but when the
drinks had been served he remembered
that he was suffering from sprained
ankle, and using the injured limb as
an excuse for preferring q sitting po-
sition, he adroitly steered his two COM
panions to the table where the fat man
was sitting
That person shook himself out of an
apparent slumber and, wonderful to
relate, found, after listening to a story
that Mr.. FELTON, had related to the two
young men, that he knew one of the
principal characters. He seemed
childishly overjoyed at making this
discovery and he insisted on the three
joining him in drinking the health of
the absent one. Mr.. FELTON, and the
two young men laughingly consented,
and the conversation grew louder.
After some fifteen minutes had
passed, Chicago Fred thought of an.
appointment and, with evident reluc-
lance, took leave Of the three and hur-
ried away, leaving the fat man and the
other two in the midst of hot dis
pute over baseball. The fat man as a
conversationalist ranked high, and he
cemented the newly formed friendship
with every word he uttered. He
proved himself baseball authority Of
the first order and the other two were
apparently delighted with his freely
delivered judgments and speculations.
In a luH in the conversation, some
few minutes after Felton's departure,
the fat man discovered that Chicago
Fred had forgotten his walking stick.
and he laughed heartily as he picked
the cane up from the floor and exhib-
tied to the two others.
"It's only cheap POLE" he gurgled
Its fifty-cent-"
He stopped suddenly and a look Of
surprise spread over his fat face. He
had. while twirling the stick around in
his fingers, accidentally unscrewed the
knob Of the top, disclosing little re-
ceptacle containing ten-dollar gold
piece.
"Gee!" he gasped. He keeps his
bank here!"
The tw" young men examined the
stick with evident curiosity, while the
fat man showed much excitement over
the discovery. He chuckled loudly and
pointed to his own smartness In max
ing the find.
"WeIl have a lark" he gurgled,
winking knowingly at the other two.
"WeIl take out the coin and hold 1t,