Evening star., 1929-11-17

WTE 'N'F
Here a servant came In with Q card. ''See
who it is, Phil, will you?"
The secretary crumpled the card IN his fin
gers and grinned. well, as q matter Of fact,
it's Noel Kent"
He went out to the drawing room, where six
or seven people were, by special diSpensation,
awaiting the pleasure Of Mr.. John Bradburn,
imprisoned In his own house with fheuma-
tism. He made his way at once to the side
of a girl who looked even more ApprehenSive
than did the other petitioners
WELL" said the secretary, why this air of
a delicate martyr who hears the lion being
paged?"
Because I'm scaredi" she announced in an
undertone. $50 do hope your fathers IN q
temper. Men are at such gorgeous 0isad-
vantage when they're in q temper. Then
could CRY. DO you think It would DO any
good?"
Never saw it tried out But his foot,s fairly
skittish today Is dampness the best thing
for it?"
He escorted her to the door, gave her arm
a little squeeze, said Good luck, old ladyI"
and Stroled away down the hallway.
Inside the library, Mr.. John Bradbu1n was
standing by a window and smoking Q cigar.
When he turned his eyebrows lifted almost i'm
perceptibly
I'm afraid there's some mistake, madam"
he said gravely. II am seeing no one except
by previous appointment"
But did have an appointment, Mr.. Brad
burn"
He stared at her. '"The name was"
Noel Kent"
'What?" he said "Are you Noel Kent?"
"Why, yes"
$50 it was you who wrote me those extrava-
CANT letters?" His eyes twinkled. 'T should
have suspected this"
But how?"
From the spelling"
"Oh, what did I misSpell?"
WELL for one thing, octopus The majority
of us content ourselves with one s."
She laughed. did I really do that? If
did, it was a slip of the typewriter. Still, you
must have known who meant, no matter how
I spelled him. And it wasn't personal de-
Scription anyway; it applied to your methods"
"Ah!"- he Said as an indulgent schoolmaster
might have said it. "and what's wrong with
them-in your opinion?"
why implied a sort of grasping tendency,
that's all"
Him. said Bradburn, with q trace Of sar-
casm Did you ever hear Of any sound busi-
ness that didn't expand?"
mo, don't think I ever did. But things
that expand too far sometimes burst"
do you think that Bradburn's Chemical
Works is likely to burst, then?"
IT certainly hope not" she said because
my lands too close to 1t for comfort"
"Ahl" said Bradburn "That brings us to the
matter at issue. Your land-Im going to buy
IT,"
Don't you mean you hope III sell it to you?"
THE president threw away his cigar. my
dear young woman won't beat around
the BUSH Your property out here Is assessed
at $40 a front foot-can it $1,000. My original
offer to you was 5000. Since then I've gone
up as high as nine-and nine Is my last word"
She smiled at him. eyes," she said, "you
told me so two lette5~ ago. But II It was really
your last word WY did you ask me to come
out and see you today?"
He leaned forward with an aggressive thrust
Of the shoulders. "Then why did you Gomez"
'Wen," she said, "it was largely from curl
osity"
He shook his head. "Your humor Is refresh
ing. asked you to come here because I
thought that possibly could explain the sit-
uation to you better than any one else could.
To put 1t briefly, except to myself, your land
isn't worth a dime. I've got it flanked on two
sides. You'd have hard work to make any
body else a present of it. So you're going to
transfer it to me for precisely three times its
assessed valuation. plus a thousand dollars for
your expenses. Ten. Am right?"
The girl drew long breath. 81 know, Mr..
Bradburn, that If don't sell to you I prob
ably can't sell at all. But I'm not here to be