Evening star., 1937-09-24

meSsy-and the other, that there was
no need for them TO be messy. In
the year that Waldo had worked in
the cellar Margit had never entered
the premises that she had allotted To
llin-not because she hesitated 10
invade the working places of others,
~but because she was sure that Waldos
shop would be an outrageous spectacle.
AS matter of fact she was wrong.
Waldo had arranged indirect lamps
to throw an even and bright illumina-
tion from the ceiling through his two
rooms. They were fairly crowded
with instruments, glass retorts and
coils, Bunsen burners, gauges and
microscopes, an electric furnace,
power lathe and other items-but the
overall arrangement was neat to an
extraordinary degree.
Waldo was more than a dabbler
and tinker. The fact that his dispo-
sition was both meek and quiet did
not mean that his brain was unalert.
He had an engineering degree. His
family had left him small income.
His work on Super-chargerS for air.
planes flying at high attitudes was
well known in a limited circle. His
deep-sea graphing hook was securing
ocean bottoms in several places in
the world. He had perfected peat
burning furnace for which he had
high hopes, and he was engaged now
in the attempt to make his furnace
burn, not only peat, but oil-bearing
shale.
AS he worked on this particular
afternoon he was having some diff
Guilty in concentrating. 1t was the
matter of getting married on June
10. One day more was unimportant
in lifetime-but, after all. he had
undertaken 10 change the date-and
failed. Margit had quenched him
completely-extinguished his feeble
resistance the way steam shovel
full of sand would put out candle.
He tossed a little more peat into
his furnace, looked at a thermometer
and said aloud, "She's too darn per-
fect!"
Because his mind was far away
and because he did not ordinarily talk
to himself, he assumed that his own
voice was another's, and so he an
swered himself aloud. "Huh?"
Then he realized what he had done,
and grinned He broke off little
piece of peat, threw it at his stove,
and continued aloud deliberately:
"Too much order! Too much routine!
Everything always on time! Lunch
at /, dinner at ="
He looked at his watch. 1t was
q o'clock. -Four" he continued
moodily. Three hours to dinner and
I'm hungry! But if I asked for a
sandwich in this chronometer- ridden
dump Keough would collapse, Mrs.
Keough would have Mysteries, prob
ably the chauffeur would quit"
He was walking across his laboratory.
At the foot of flight of stairs he
stopped. He raised his voice and
beloved, "Keough!!"
CAe.-=ad a chair scraped and the
cellar door opened. The buffers voice
was anxious: Something wrong, sir?"
mo. Bring me fried egg sand
wich."
There was a pause. Keough's voice
emanated dismay. Dinner will be
at 7, sir. You may spoil your ap-
petite"
"The hell with It'll I'm hungry!"
"Miss Agnew disapproves OF be-
tween-meal snacks-"
. Waldo seethed who uses my
stomach, she or ~"
Eyes, sir. Fried egg, sir"
"Keough!"
Eyes, SIR"
"Keough, you're an inhuman ass
The butler squinted down the STAIR
way. Inventors, he had often read
frequently went mad. II beg your
pardon, sir?"
How can you stand it? Day after
day, year after year, the same beastly
routine! Those tinkling clocks! Those
automatic sprinklers Good Lord!
There was some pride in Keough's
voice. 81 have adapted myself to it
sir. 7 believe Miss Agnew hired and
discharged 81 buffers before she found
one able to comply with her require
ments. Myself. Egg sandwich, sir.
The door closed.
Waldo stared at the place where