Evening star., 1934-12-09
Illustrated By ETHEL HAYS

OEHND the counter was . woman almost
- too fat for the narrow space between 1t and
the shelves on the wall She was waiting on
small boy who wanted . Scent tablet Of school
paper and he vas having trouble IN deciding
between two o. three kinds.
"Choost . minute mister" she ssid to Fen-
derton. and to the boy. you take this one.
yes? Nice picture on 1t: plenty paper In It"
The boy took the tablet and gave his money,
and the woman turned TO Fenderton. you
want. n1ister?" she asked
you've got . sign In the window" Fen
derton said. You want . boy7"
Boy" she said. eydng Fendeston with sur
prise. You know . boy what wants . job.
yes2"
II want . job" said Fenderton almost
desperately. 1--WE got to have job do you see?
I guess you can understand that wouldn't take
. job Like this unless It was . pretty serious
matter with me. wouldn't take It If It wasn't
Tor circumstances.
"SuccumstanceS?" said the woman you
got succumstances?"
Reasons" explained Fenderton, mastering
his patience.
"Oh. reasonsl' said the woman, nodding
her head you got reasons you want . job.
Plendy peoples got reasons they wants jobs
these days. Choost wait q minute"
Her reason for asking Fenderton to wait o
G.
He was an elderly man and he came to the
counter where Fenderton stood. He smiled at
the shopkeeper, but he said not q word. Mrs.
Gruber turned and opened the wall case behind
her and took down . tin Of Golden Glow
smoking tobacco Without . word the man
laid Is cents on the counter, and took his tin
Of tobacco and went out.
Dumb" said Mrs. Gruber. And deef, poor
feller. Mr.. Blatz, from across the street up-
stairs Efferv day he nv he
tin Of Golden Glow buys. Sometimes paper
yes, or magazine not so often. Amt it q
shame?"
Yes" said Fenderton "And about the
IT don't know hardly" said Mrs. Gruber.
you was plenty big for boy; we amt got
much room for two such big ones Well, maybe
We don't could pay so much"
What is the remuneration" Fenderton
asked
Remuneration? You mean how long you
work. maybe?"
THE pay" Fenderton explained. How
much do you pay?"
Eight dollars IS all For week we pay
So. Only Sunday we stay shut"
'In take 49," said Fenderton
well, guess maybe we try you awhile any
way" said Mrs. Gruber. Maybe you don't
fool around so much like little kid And
anyway maybe the job don't last so long; my
husband he got sick and has to go by the
country; maybe when he comes back he don't
want no boy"
That suited Fenderton well enough. when
do you want me to start to work." he asked.
and 1t was arranged that he begin the next
morning and he hurried back to the theater.
Did you Sleuth them, Fenderton?" May
asked in whisper. Did you detect them?"
"Sh!" Fenderton shushed. Keep it dark,
can't you? This is big case, Maya mighty
big case. Undercover stuff. won't be seeing
you much for couple of weeks I guess; I've
got to lay low and pretend like I'm just dumb
bunny in shop. maybe Throw the crooks off
the track, see?"
why, of course, Fenderton." said May,
although what she saw was that Fenderton had
probably found another job that was SO petty
he was ashamed of it.
HE next morning at 8 O'Clock Fenderton
was on hand at the Gruber stationery store,
and he found that his duties were such that
he could easily handle them. Mr. Gruber be-
fore he had left marked everything in plain
figures for his wife's benefit. and when he
needed to know ANYTHING Mrs Gruber was