Evening star., 1927-11-10
The Executive Speaks.

rAMES CRAWFORD. lone clerk In
tha oftaces OF Morrell Bates,
with duties that ranged from
offiee boy to hookkeeper. snooh
his head dubiously as the other
man large of stature and noria Vi
countenance. poked his finger at nun.
"Come. now." the other ". I.ain
mon. spoke with jovial seVerius NY.
scome. now. own up! You Ieei
guilty, don't you? l BET you uo. ,,o,,
know you, Crawford, ana l MY" M. w.
want to do the right thlns.
"am. ,,noa was a pause. Both men
,ooi.ed at a stretch of ground at their
foot "Of course" Harmon cleareo
bis throat-"of course, if 1t was hot
,ilre Won as a neighbor. why. tnen
xou know there are ways or lofcins
Tho issue" The words seehleu ~
nlease him, though Mr.. Crawforo ;
Zoo went a trifie white, FORCING
The issue, It's like the time bates
one of the head men of the Amai.
cated-and / had run-ln on JUG,
tbe same thing. Tuppers head man
Crawford groaned internally. ne
knew Tupper by hearsay. one OF .ne
biggest and shrewdest lawyers In the
citv-"'Tupper's head man and were
ont to supper and he said
Mr. Crawford did not want 10 near
what he said, he wanted to get away
to think. He feared TINS Dig t,ial, a..
before him, this man who seemeu ~
know all or most of the people Va IA
knowing. h;s tone
offhand. bold, surely! wan, " "
the right thing" If he hao oniy s'op -
ned II might not have soundeo 50
had but he had to add pleadingiy'
.you know that, George" Clerklns
IN an office for twenty years, raising
sweet peas and flowers and getting
the grand sum Of $50 every SATURDAY
c;cht does not, however, inspire great
George Harmon nodded.
+houcht sov' He stepped forward,
riebt-Iames nearly cried out pro
test-right into the middle OF tne
fower he'd. There he paused. lie
looked blandly at Mr.. Crawford. l
f,rure" he said, "the line should De
here. OF course, If we measure
from YOUR corner stake you might
not get as much, but them" magnan'
imouslv. this will fix things so you
don't have to move the garage. klent
across from the garage" ne souln.eu,
'.to here! Now you and Will ]ust
drive stake or TWO 10 ue'e' i''''io
line"
"But." Mr.. Crawford tried to sum,
mon up stern words like Get on
"Keep off"
Il remember" Mr.. Harmon. squlnt'
ine. did not hear the but" "Remem-
ber when Jim Lowell of the Arcade
fixed up a similar case in just the
wav we are going to settle this.
But" this time the panic IN MI
Crawford's tone drew attention.
''but." weakly. II want to think II
over. Georgei You see-I thought
owned this"'
"Ohw The exclamation was long
drawn out. Mr.. Hammon's features
were stern. He stood silent, gazing
at the man. Then, after a pause,
"Ohw There seemed to be menace
In the tone. Then, well. it's like
told you-like / said Judge Tupper's
head man told me that day-the mat
ter can be forced"
"Of course Mr.. Crawford knew he
was squirming. "Of course, I'll do
the right thing. George, only. only. l
want to think about il"
"It's got to be settled and settled
right" Mr.. Harmon, to Crawford's
relief, had moved back a pace or two
out of the flowers. Better see me
tonight
Once safely at home, Mr.. Crawford,
clerk in the Office of Morrell & Bates,
wiped the sweat off his brow and
sank Imply into chair. He knew
what the end would be. 'Twould end
the same as the painting of his ga.
rage--the same as the sweet-pea bed.
He would give in. Mentally he swore