Montana oil and mining journal., 1935-11-23

80 - ~A-@@%0AA ~ EA4AA AHA
: He'd been bemused by the sensu
GUS lit of a silly verse somethinl
about take the cash and let th
!. credit go Peter wasn't much Of q feI
4 low Tor poetry. Margaret herself drov
!, serious romance out Of Peters thought
wnen she told him q fellow names
Omar khayyam, notorious Persian
> sos, composed that line IN the firs
place.
: "Omar Khayyam is a horse" Peter
VINO read the sport pages, assured
: Margaret
III he is 8 horse. he Is 8 horse on
you, retorted Margaret, who was az
assistant librarian and therefore uE
On literature. He was q pagan poet
VINO wrote scandafous things"
What could q poet know Of cash
ana credit2" Peter demanded, and iu
one more minute his tender deterlnin-
alton was heap OF conversational
SO now. on a damp and shiverInR
November morning, Peters native
timorouSness again held sway The
stumbling block 20 their marriage was
money. What was the sense Of getting
married when it only meant pushing
himself more irretrievably into the eco-
nonic mire2 His job was safe enough,
put he hadn't had a raise in nine
years. Worse, he had taken two cuts
4 and third was within the probabili-
Ties. Far better that he and Margaret
should both hold onto their jobs. They
could go on being tacitly engaged and
ne would be careful in the future TO
avoid the pitfalls laid by bearded
authors who wrote tantalizingly Of love
but had never weathered a depression.
Peter climbed out Of the subway
and buttoned his overcoat against the
Diting gale that whipped up out Of the
lower bay. Slithering through crowds
OF other white-collar men, all wear
ing worried, harried expressions and
rushing to get to work on time, he
coliided with pudgy fellow sweeping
OH the sidewalk in front Of a cigar
store. Peter uttered an annoyed 'gee,
goodneSS, damn, and charged on into |
the teeth of the wind, head down. like |
a buffalo, after letting the fat chap |
nave an angry elbow IN the ribs
IE1ls was New York; metropolitan /
jungle OF scratching, contentious hui
mans. Peter loathed this great, sprawl
ing city, alive in its towering glory and
majesty and pride, its giant power
and tiger1sh ferocity. Loathed It with /
q devouring, cOrroding hate, because
ne was small town boy, forced to the
city because there was no lob for him
at home. His heart did not go with
him when he set bravely out with his
commercial school diploma In his poclr-
ct, and now, at 40, he stin cherished
Cumming memories Of lush green
fields, clamoring streams, and his own
folkSy sort Of people People who met
you halfway or q little more, friendly
Iolk whose eyes did not glitter with
the hard hostility that is born Of in ,
cessant, unnatural struggle.
Through the mere act Of stepping
INTO the jobbing headquarters of By
products, Inc, Peter became another
man, his real self, cheerful, good-tem- ,
pered, even gay with the subdued gay ,
ETY. that befitted the head b0okkeeper !
and office manager Of far-flung en-
'erprise. Peter had mounted to that
sminence by virtue Of 18 plodding
7ears OF faithful service. He was mold 5
ID to the groove that was his, a groove 7
Is wen worn and comfortable as an
I'D hat. Here was the theater Of his =
mail trilumphs, victorious daily grap-
liings with countless columns of fig
Tres that moved upon him only TO be :
lntrapped and mercileSsly conquered =
n the deadly calculating machines
Iver which he held absolute mastery. =
Peter was king in this minor realm. !.
iut the satisfaction he found ia his 3
Iork was not the whole-souled, posi-
I've happiness that he craved and
isioned for himself when, ct so, he
hould cash in on his endowment pol
y, marry Margaret, and retire to
arm so far from city noises that he
ould hear a katydids chtrp a mile
way.
At noon, going out for luncheon, he
let Henry Melaney, the warehouse
lrenian, coming in.
Sure BLOWN some weather up the
ay today, Peter" Henry remarked
Q one ever thought Of abbreviating
eter to Pete. Peters slender, spec
icled dignity somehow forbade it.
It'll be another hard winter Just
1e last year, maybe worse. Snow and
set and ice. Broken arms and colds
the head. Hell Of q town"
No town that's got Goofy Gomez
I'd Carl Hubbell both can be q hell
q town." Henry Melaney retorted
lemnly.
Peter turned into a restaurant a
Ock from his office. Once this place
I'd been flagrant vioiator of the
oh1bition law and Peter had sli1n-
d IT, Repeal restored its respecta-
ity and the appetite Of its customers
cocktails and liquor made IL Dos
ne for abstinents to eat there cheap
and well AS Peter was dallying over
! coffee, the waiter asked:
Was you here for the drawing, Mr..
Idley?"
The drawing2 What drawtng?"
For the turkey. Number $50 cops 1t"
What are you talking about?r
Nick's rattle. You see that big tl1r-
Z In the window? Him. You got a
ket. Nick give all the regular Gus
ners a ticket with lunch yesterday,
nenber?"
so he did / didn't pay any atten-
q. Who won the tlIrkey?1
Dunno. The winner hasn't showed
Maybe you win"
hHe2@
WelL you might as wen look and
did you win"
eter drew out his wallet and
nght out q yellow slip OF paper.
What number did you say won9"
asked. after examining the ticket.
Eight hundred and sixty"
Wen, gee, goodness. damn, Fritz
( here, I've got II right here"
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